Chapter 16: Ch 16: The Gladiator Arena
"Everyone, welcome our gladiators today. Our champion is still waiting for a worthy challenge and we received a lot of requests. We shall have a fun time today."
The announcer spoke in a loud voice to get the crowd hyped up and it worked. People cheered and clapped as Iris entered the arena. The mark on her face looked fresh but no one paid attention to it.
All they were interested in was seeing her fight and be defeated.
"Hey, I heard that someone brought another MED today. But this time, the magic is far beyond anything we have seen."
"Oh really? Then should I change my bet? I might make a fortune today."
People seemed excited to watch Iris fight and Kael felt better knowing that their excitement was not going to last long.
After all, he had already prepared a surprise for the owners of this gladiator arena.
Now, it was only a matter of time before his note was found and the whole place went up in flames.
Below in the arena, the fight had already started. Iris had taken down two people and a wild animal. And the MED was being brought out next.
"Everyone, we have another magically enhanced doll today. However, it has been sponsored by our special guest, Mr. X. I have been assured that it was even more amazing than anything you had ever seen before."
The announcer informed everyone and the doll came in.
It was seven feet tall and did not look very intimidating. Seeing it confused the crowd and many even started to question if this doll was worth all the hype or not.
"What the-"
"This looks even worse than the one they brought out yesterday. There is no way Iris is going to lose."
"Tsk, I changed my bet because you told me it’s an amazing MED. But this looks so much worse than yesterday. Did you scam me?"
People did not look happy with the reveal, but Kael had the opposite reaction.
He could see the magic inside the doll and it made him tense up. Not only was the doll enhanced physically, but there were also explosives and other dangerous things in it.
This was not a fighting partner but a killing machine, and whoever sent it clearly wanted Iris dead.
’I need to stop this. I cannot afford to lose Iris right now. I guess I have no choice but to help her out.’
Kael did not want to get directly involved in this conflict, but he was left with no choice either. He readied his magic to cast a spell when Iris suddenly turned to look at him.
Her eyes were dark but resolute. They were telling Kael not to interfere in her fight or else things would get ugly.
Kael dropped his half-chanted spell and decided to trust Iris.
With her strength, she must have sensed how dangerous the MED was as well. But she still chose to face it head on. Kael needed to trust her judgment.
But that did not mean he was happy with what was going on.
[Iris’s trust +15]
__________
Iris stood in the arena and the announcer stepped behind her. His presence made her tense up, but the announcer seemed to not care.
He was busy getting the crowd excited after they had looked so disappointed.
They seemed to think that this MED was not powerful or dangerous, but that was a misunderstanding on their part.
Iris could feel that this thing could go off at any moment.
And not only that, but it would be strong enough to take out most people in this arena. She needed to handle this before it could hurt anyone.
She got herself ready when she felt mana rising in the stands. It made her look up sharply and her eyes met Kael’s in the crowd.
He was chanting a spell, likely having sensed the same thing she did. And that hurt Iris’s pride.
She knew that the safest thing to do here would be to let Kael do what he wanted. This was her domain, and unless he proved himself by freeing her, she was not going to let him do as he wanted.
Iris was ready to do something drastic when Kael suddenly dropped his spell and calmed down.
He was...backing down? Was it because Iris signaled him to?
But...Kael had no reason to do that. Iris had given him no reason to trust her and she had left a bad first impression as well.
And yet, he was respecting her decision. It made her feel...weird. No one had ever trusted her like this before...
’Maybe he’s not a bad guy. I still don’t trust him, but I guess I don’t have to be so suspicious of him either.’
She decided before she gripped her sword tighter. It was almost time for her to start fighting. She could not afford to get distracted right now.
’Alright, time to get back to work. I have to defeat this MED before it explodes.’
"Everyone, are you ready? Then, let’s start the match."
Iris attacked first, making sure to avoid striking the areas that could trigger the MED. She could not afford to use her aura because she was afraid that it would set the MED off.
Not that it would hurt her. But the other people were at risk.
It made this fight look boring and people even said as much in the stalls.
"Eh, this is a boring fight. I told you that this MED was weak."
"We totally wasted money on today’s fight. We should ask for a refund as soon as we can."
People commented, not even realising how close they were to dying.
Iris gritted her teeth as she parried another attack before making another futile attempt to kill the monster.
’This is so hard. Why is its skin so tough?’
She questioned as she kept trying to break past its defences. But it was of no use.
"Boo! Give us something interesting."
"We want a refund!"
People yelled and Iris noticed the announcer panicking. That was usually not a good sign. It meant that the announcer was losing his judgment and would do anything to please the crowd.
’Hey-! Don’t be a fool-!’
Iris wanted to yell but unfortunately, the announcer did not hear her thoughts before he acted.
"Everyone, I understand your frustration. Then, shall we make this match a little more interesting? I shall unveil the true potential of the special MED now."
The announcer snapped his fingers and the MED immediately started to mutate.
’Darn it! This is a mess now.’
