Chapter 22- Arrogance
Bastian regained his consciousness and opened his eyes, dumbfounded by what he saw before him. While still a little dazed, he propped himself up, Bastian absorbed the sights. The room was more like an arena to be precise. The walls were black and had many weapons hanging on it. The roof was as black as night. Yet that was not why Bastian knew it was an arena.
The real reason why Bastian knew that this was an arena was because in the arena besides Bastian was a group of chained people. Each person was chained to one other person.
Having realized this fact, Bastian looked at his shackled feet to see who he was chained to. It was a shivering teenage boy with long white hair. His upper body was bare whilst his lower body only had a loin cloth. This was no different from Bastian and the rest but what made the boy unique was that he was awake, yet his eyes were as lifeless as an abandoned ruin.
His pupils were strange, they were grey. This meant that this boy could have been blind. Yet one look at his eyes and one could tell that, although he was blind, it seemed like he was looking at something and he could actually see whatever he was looking at.
In that particular arena, only this boy and Bastian had been lying on the floor. Everyone else was wide awake and alert.
This is bad. Just where the heck did that woman send me.
Bastian did not need to be told what this was to figure out what this was. The question was, where was he and how did he get here.
Where is V?
His little companion was also nowhere in sight. Just one sniff and Bastian could tell that she was not anywhere nearby.
This was most likely some sort of arena where slaves were forced to fight each other. Such a thing was not uncommon on the Sovereign Continent. This was the main source of entertainment in this one particular region, the Eastern Islands.
In terms of pure size, the Eastern Islands was the largest region on the continent. It was only the only region that was still mysterious. The other four regions had already been mapped and explored but the Eastern Islands were a mystery.
It was a collection of isolated land masses east of the continent. Although the region was filled with islands, it was the only region that hadn't been fully explored and was in contact with the rest of the continent. It is said that if one continued travelling east, one would find lands far bigger than the rest of the Sovereign Continent. Although common folk considered such tales to be rumors, truly knowledgeable humans knew otherwise...
As far as the explored parts were concerned, they were home to many nations, tribes and clans, for example, the Inkume. Their island was relatively small, but it was still one of the most feared places on the continent.
In the Eastern Islands ships were the main form of transport. This had led to a large maritime trade society. They traded a lot of things in the region, slaves included.
The people in this region were rich and one of their favorite pass times was death arenas. These were arenas where people could fight to the death, often as slaves and often without the use of their cultivation.
Slaves in the arena were always wore enchanted shackles, preventing them from cultivating. They were supposed to fight using only their bodies and their skills.
There were many different types of matches, one of which was called the twin rumble. Two slaves were paired and thrown into the arena. They were then forced to fight for their lives. Only one pair was allowed to come out alive.
As a noble, Bastian was aware of such practices. The moment he looked at his surroundings he quickly understood and adjusted.
Somehow he had been enslaved again and thrown into a twin rumble death match.
This looked like a high class arena. The roof was probably an illusion, with rich spectators on the other side. "Damn, this is a problem," Bastian mumbled to himself.
Low class arenas were open air and exposed, sometimes very large. These were arenas for commoners. Then there were special arenas for the rich. They were often small, with illusions powered by mana, preventing the fighters from viewing the audience.
Bastian signed in resignation as he looked at his partner. Just one look and Bastian could tell that this blind boy could not move. When Bastian had arrived, he had been unconscious. The organizers had tried everything they could to wake him up but nothing worked. Due to other circumstances and his state, they just joined one useless guy to another.
No one was doing anything at the moment. The signal for the fights to start had not been given as yet. In such a high class establishment, they had strict regulations. Everything moved on schedule. None of the fighters dared do anything strange.
Bastian looked at the weapons on the wall and frowned. He had hoped to find a shield or some sort of weapon he could use in a defensive manner but unfortunately, it just was not his day. All the shields had been taken by the other contestants. At that moment, the only weapons only left on the wall were the left overs.
Old rusty swords, slightly bent spears and chipped axes were all that was left. That was what Bastian thought, until something caught his eye.
It was a pair of steel gauntlets. They looked worn out and old, so they were not appealing. They were easy to miss. That was until Bastian activated his e-vision. The reason he did this was because of their aura. Something about these gloves seemed off. Bastian could not tell what it was, so he decided to activate his e-vision.
If there is something special about them, then this will tell.
As soon as Bastian switched on his e-vision he saw quite the sight. Water and fire World energy was swarming around the gloves!
They are enchanted weapons with an elemental attribute!
Enchanted weapons were weapons that had been enchanted by a mage to boost a particular property of the weapon. For example, swords were often enchanted to increase their sharpness. Such weapons could not be used by just anyone.
Enchanted weapons, with an elemental attribute however were even rarer. They boosted a property and were able to channel qi! Only a user with the corresponding elemental affinity could channel qi into the weapon. Increasing its power even more!
When Bastian realized what the gauntlets were, he could not help but salivate. With a quick pace he walked to the wall to retrieve them. He was so happy; he even dragged his partner with him. When the other fighters saw Bastian dragging the white haired youth on the ground, they started laughing.
"Haha what is he doing?"
"I think he wants to go get a weapon."
"How useless, all the good weapons are already gone. That boy is as good as dead."
"How pitiful, to think he was partnered up with the blind disaster. I pity him."
The contestants chatted amongst themselves as they saw Bastian move to the wall. Some laughed and some looked on in confusion, whilst others merely shook their heads in pity.
Some of the more sharp eyes ones noticed the gleam in Bastian's eye and the spring in his step. They waited to see exactly what he was so happy about.
Bastian ignored them and simply reached out to the gauntlets and put them on as fast as he could. The other contestants were baffled.
"Oy, he chose those old things. Is he not ok in the head?"
"Haha! As expected of the blind disaster's partner! How entertaining."
A myriad of different reactions spilled out from different directions. But Bastian did not care. He merely put on the gauntlets and filled them with his yuan qi, that is yuan in qi form. That's right!
Enchanted shackles were able to prevent someone's soul force from operating in their body, but one did not need soul force to operate yuan. That was one of the factors that made it unique. One needed Soul Force to manipulate qi or mana but yuan did not need such a thing.
Although Bastian was curious as to why someone would just leave such a valuable weapon to slaves, he did not hold back.
The moment he filled the gloves with his yuan qi, something incredible occurred. Before Bastian had a chance to marvel at what had just happened, a loud voice rang out in the arena.
"This is a twin rumble competition! There shall only be one team surviving. The winning team will be offered a spot in the qualifying tournament for the Elite Gladiator League!"
The entire arena went into an uproar as soon as the announcement was finished.
"Wow that means I can make it to the big shots!"
"T-this, is this real?"
"The Elite Gladiator League! Man the prize this time is serious! No wonder there were almost no newbies in the match today!"
Elite Gladiator League?
Although Sebastian knew about some of the death match customs, he realized then that he only knew those which had spread to the Southern Grasslands. This Elite Gladiator League was something he had never heard off. But one thing was for sure. Its name made all the contestants enter into frenzy.
Even though they had already been forced into a situation where they were fighting for their lives, the contestants had not been this fervent before.
It seems this league is something big. This will be troublesome.
As the saying goes, a man will reluctantly sell his house to keep his life, but he is more than willing to sell his home for glory.
Bastian quickly put away such thoughts and came back to what was important. The gauntlets!
Normally the enchanted shackles also prevented one from taking World Energy in. Yet when Bastian put his yuan into the gloves, World Energy rushed into his body like an avalanche.
How is this possible? The gauntlets act as a World Energy conduit?
The original purpose of creating such an enchanted tool was to speed up cultivation, but it seems this function had an added bonus as well. It could bypass the restrictions set by the enchanted shackles.
This means that as long as I have these gloves, I can cultivate! Incredible!
As Bastian was enthralled by his discovery, the voice once more rang out.
"Fighters, take your positions! The battle will start in 50 breaths worth of time!"
As soon as Bastian heard this voice, he suddenly realized an important fact.
Doesn't this mean I'm about to kill someone for the first time?
Ever since coming into this world, Bastian had not really been in a battle against other humans. His only experience was facing the Kalari scorpions. This meant that the person he killed first in that arena would be the first life he had ever taken!
How intriguing!
Due to the power rush he felt from the gloves and the mindset he was currently in, Bastian had a rather devious thought, which he immediately put into action.
"All of the walking corpses in this arena! Face me immediately!" shouted Bastian at the top of his lungs.
All of the contestants who were readying themselves were caught off guard. They looked toward Bastian's direction with a confused look on most of their faces. Bastian smiled and nodded when he saw that he had everyone's attention.
"Listen up. The first person to die by my hands today will have an incredible honor! That honor is, that person will be the first person slain by my hands! If you name yourself and volunteer your life without resistance, then I will name you as the first man or woman who fell by my hands and history will forever remember you! Tell me friends, what greater glory is there than this?"