Jade's fingers curled around the hilt of the rusted sword, and a wave of pure disgust washed over him. It was an insult to his very being—a crude, poorly balanced length of pitted iron, its edge dull and flaking rust onto the dusty arena floor. It felt like lifting a piece of rotten timber.
Before he could further contemplate the indignity, the first gate groaned open. Ten hulking figures shambled into the light, and floating above each of their rocky heads was a crisp, blue system tag:
[Stone Grunt - Lv. 4]
They were humanoid mounds of packed earth and rock, their eyes glowing with a dim, malevolent orange. Each footfall was a dull thud that echoed in the vast space.
Jade's first experimental swing clanged uselessly off a Grunt's chest, sending a jarring shock up his arm. Zero, in contrast, was a study in lethal efficiency. Gesshilla left a silver blur in the air, and a single, lightning-charged horizontal slash cleanly bisected three Grunts, which crumbled into piles of inert rubble.
Gritting his teeth, Jade activated Observer's Eye. The world slowed, and he saw them—fine, hairline fissures spiderwebbing across the Grunts' stony hides. Adapting, he stopped swinging and began thrusting, driving the pathetic sword's tip into these weak points with pinpoint precision. The Grunts shuddered and collapsed, one by one. It was inefficient, exhausting work.
No sooner had the last Grunt fallen than the ground itself began to smoke. From the swirling grey vapors, eight slender figures rose, their tags materializing in a smoky grey font:
[Ash Stalker - Lv. 4]
They were composed of swirling ash and embers, their long, clawed fingers trailing smoky tendrils. They phased in and out of sight, moving with unsettling silence.
The rusted sword was worse than useless; it passed through their semi-solid forms with little effect. Jade was forced to rely on raw agility, ducking and weaving through their attacks while unleashing concentrated blasts of Obliterate from his free hand. The mana drain was immediate and taxing. During a frantic parry, a Stalker's claw met the already-weakened blade. With a sickening crack, the sword shattered, leaving Jade holding a jagged, foot-long shard of metal.
He stood panting, surrounded by dissipating ash, clutching the broken hilt. The air grew hot, smelling of sulfur and ozone. A third gate slammed open, and six bestial forms bounded forth, their tags burning with a menacing red:
[Magma Hound - Lv. 4]
They were monstrous, wolf-like creatures with hides of cracked black rock, molten lava glowing fiercely within the fissures. Their barks sounded like boulders splitting, and they dripped sizzling globs of fire onto the stone.
Cornered and weaponless, instinct took over. Jade poured his will into the broken hilt, channeling Nether-Flame directly through it. A volatile, sputtering blade of pure black-and-purple energy erupted from the stump, humming with unstable, annihilating power. It was no elegant weapon; it was a raw, dangerous conduit of his fury. He learned to use it like a whip, its silent, cold fire severing the Hounds in two, freezing the magma in their veins solid upon contact. It was devastatingly effective, but he felt his mana pool plummeting with each swing.
As the last Hound dissolved into frozen, blackened shards, the entire colosseum trembled. A final, massive gate, larger than all the others and carved with menacing runes, began to grind upwards. From the darkness within, two pairs of burning crimson eyes ignited. The ground shook with the thunder of hooves as two colossal beasts charged out, their names and levels flashing in bold, intimidating gold text:
[Kragnos, The Inferno Bull - Lv. 7]
[Torvath, The Mountain Breaker - Lv. 7]
They were living mountains of obsidian muscle, their horns glowing like molten rock, intelligent malice burning in their eyes. Kragnos fixed its gaze on Jade, snorting a plume of smoke, while Torvath zeroed in on Zero, its hooves cracking the stone floor.
Zero met Torvath's charge head-on. In a breathtaking display of speed and precision, he used Storm-Severing Step to vanish and reappear on the beast's broad back. With a single, decisive thrust, he drove Gesshilla deep into its spine. A concussive blast of lightning erupted from within the bull, and Torvath collapsed with a ground-shaking finality, its golden tag fading away.
As Jade braced himself, his makeshift energy blade sputtering in his grip, he expected Zero to move to assist him.
He did not.
Instead, Zero calmly walked over to a large, flat piece of rubble from a shattered pillar, brushed off the dust, and sat down. He even pulled a ration bar from a small pouch.
"Don't mind me," Zero said, taking a deliberate bite. "This is a valuable training opportunity. Your form with an unfamiliar weapon is... educational."
Jade had to throw himself into a desperate roll to avoid Kragnos's charge, the heat of its passage searing the air. "I WILL END YOU AFTER THIS BULL!" he roared, his mana dipping dangerously low.
"Statistically unlikely in your current state," Zero replied, his voice perfectly calm. "Focus on the bull. Try aiming for the legs. It usually works."
Jade, alone against the Level 10 Inferno Bull with a failing weapon and a snacking partner, realized this was a new kind of hell.
Kragnos, The Inferno Bull, lowered its head, molten horns aimed at Jade's heart. The ground trembled with its impatient stomping. The sputtering Nether-Blade in Jade's hand flickered and died, the broken hilt clattering to the stone. He was out of mana, out of weapons, and out of patience.
Zero took another bite of his ration bar. "The legs are still a viable target."
Jade ignored him. He didn't need a sword. He didn't need flames. The memory of a thousand mental repetitions, the grueling drills under Alter-Jade's cruel tutelage, surged through him. This wasn't about skill. This was about foundation. This was about proving that the body he had forged was a weapon in itself.
The bull charged.
Instead of dodging, Jade planted his feet. The air around him seemed to grow cold and still as he tapped into the sheer, physical power honed in his mindscape. As Kragnos closed in, horns ready to impale him, Jade moved at the last possible second. It wasn't a flashy teleport or a blur of speed, but a precise, economical shift of weight. He let the bull's momentum carry its head past him, and as it did, his hands snapped out, not for the body, but for one of its massive, glowing horns.
Muscles straining, tendons cording in his neck, he used the beast's own charge against it. With a grunt of pure effort, he twisted, leveraging his entire body. There was a sickening CRACK as the horn, a solid shard of superheated mineral, snapped off at the base.
Kragnos bellowed in pain and shock, stumbling sideways. Jade didn't let up. He discarded the horn, its heat searing his palms, but the pain was just data. He lunged onto the bull's back as it staggered, his fingers finding purchase in the fissures of its obsidian hide.
The bull bucked and roared, spinning madly, trying to throw him off. Jade held on, his body whipped around like a ragdoll. One of its thrashing hooves caught him in the side, and he felt a rib crack. He gritted his teeth, a spray of blood flying from his lips, but his grip only tightened.
This was the test. Not of power, but of will. Of endurance.
He saw an opening. As the bull reared up, he scrambled forward, onto its neck. Ignoring the intense heat radiating from its body, he wrapped his arms around its thick throat in a vice-like grip and began to squeeze.
Kragnos thrashed, its bellows turning to choked gurgles. It slammed itself against the colosseum walls, trying to crush him. Jade took the impacts, his body screaming in protest, but he held on. He poured every ounce of his strength, every bit of frustration from the broken sword, the vampire guards, the political games, into his arms.
Minutes felt like hours. Finally, with a final, shuddering convulsion, the great beast's legs gave out. It crashed to the ground, its massive form lying still. The golden tag above its head flickered and vanished.
Jade lay on the bull's neck for a long moment, breathing in ragged, painful gasps. His side was on fire, his hands were burned, and he was covered in blood and dust.
Slowly, painfully, he pushed himself up. Instead of moving away, he dragged himself to the highest point of the bull's carcass—its broad, still-warm back. He sat down, cross-legged, right between its shoulder blades.
He closed his eyes. The Obsidian Core within him, starved and dormant, began to spin. A faint, chilling aura erupted from him, and tendrils of visible, black-and-purple energy seeped from the defeated bull and flowed into him. He was farming the ambient energy, the residual life force of the powerful beast he had just conquered with his bare hands.
He sat there, on his throne of obsidian and muscle, a bloody, battered king claiming his due.
From his seat on the rubble, Zero finished his ration bar.
"Acceptable form," he stated.