Chapter 88: The Black Stone Arena

  "Emilia, are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need a healing elixir?" Rumi asked hurriedly, her eyes scanning Emilia incessantly for any sign of blood.

  Emilia, however, was not okay. She was covered in numerous wounds, even if they weren’t particularly deep. She quickly activated a healing talisman, then pulled Rumi into a tight embrace and began to cry softly.

  "Thank you, Rumi. Those birds damaged the formation and broke through my armor. I hurt all over. Luckily, I have a potent potion made by Chief Nikos's second wife."

  "Chief Nikos? The head of the hunters?"

  "Yes. His second wife is a skilled herbalist. She supplies the hunters with potions like this. For serious injuries, though, elixirs and pills are still necessary."

  "I have a few pills. Do you need one?"

  Rumi started rummaging through her backpack, but Emilia was quick to decline.

  "There is no need. The wounds might be many, but I used several healing talismans, and besides, they were mostly superficial. Save those valuable pills. We are still at the beginning, and you might need them later. Come, lets see what lies ahead."

  They pressed on, Emilia limping, crushed by exhaustion. She had used countless talismans, and even with her powerful soul and vast spiritual reserves, she struggled to remain standing.

  After about ten minutes, they reached a massive hall containing a stone arena made entirely of black stone, smooth as glass. Its polished surface reflected the light despite the deep darkness of the material, creating an unsettling contrast.

  Near the entrance to the arena stood three enormous golems with glowing yellow eyes.

  "This is an arena where participants can fight each other for rewards. Anyone who wishes to proceed further must fight at least three times. On the other hand, one can simply surrender. Look, the rules are written at the entrance to the arena."

  Emilia looked, and indeed, the rules for rewards and combat were inscribed in an ancient style with very exquisite calligraphy. The letters were gold and stood out sharply against the black background. They did not reflect the light, evidently made from a different material.

  "I will wait here. If anyone wants to fight me, they are going to have to wait a long time." Emilia gave a weak smile, patted Rumi's hand gratefully, and lay down on the soft grass beneath a tree.

  "Are you sure you are alright?" Rumi asked with concern, offering the pill once more.

  "I am certain. But I am completely exhausted physically. Let me sleep for a few hours."

  Rumi looked around and, after a brief hesitation, moved away to speak with some of the others. A battle was currently underway, and one of the golems would signal the winner.

  There were several ways to achieve victory. One was for the opponent to lose too much of their life force or be killed. The second option was voluntary surrender—the participant had to clearly state it aloud or circulate their mana within their body in a specific way.

  Those who visited this private dimension were not ordinary people—everyone had their own backing, and a murder here would lead to severe consequences. Furthermore, many of the known challenges required cooperation between participants, so there was little point in attacking one another.

  Despite everything, such an arena carried serious risks. There were no restrictions on weapons, so the participants tried to voluntarily introduce their own rules.

  "Lets fight only with wooden weapons."

  "And where will we get them?"

  "There are trees around; we can break off some branches."

  "Yes, but some rely primarily on magic to attack anyway. What happens if a lightning bolt hits someone in the face?"

  They argued for a long time before agreeing that all battles would be fought only against golems. This solution brought its own difficulties, but direct disputes would be resolved by results instead. Whoever defeated a higher-level golem would be declared the winner, and the other party would be required to surrender.

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  "But battles against golems cost mana crystals!" shouted a stocky boy.

  "If you don't have mana crystals, you can just surrender," another retorted.

  The others continued to bicker, but Emilia was no longer listening. She let herself go, her vision beginning to blur as she attempted to meditate to recover her energy. The arguments could drag on, however, and after them would come the battles themselves...

  "What are Boss Titus and the others in the group doing now? Maybe they are exhausted like me after a heavy hunt and are eating delicious monster meat. Right now they are probably teasing Petra while she turns bright red. Or maybe Zevan is telling jokes... and Garik has probably brought some of his uncle's wine again..."

  Emilia thought of the good old times, gradually drifting off into a deep sleep. Her body and mind needed rest, and she felt safe here, next to the golems guarding the arena. Who knew when she would be able to sleep like this again.

  ---

  During this time, the others finalized the rules they would follow and even began a series of battles.

  Emilia slept undisturbed. Time passed, day seamlessly turned into night, and early the next day Rumi won two matches and lost one.

  Elion forfeited directly three times, as he did not possess the expensive items needed for direct competition with the stronger participants. He did so in a calculated manner, however—his losses went to people close to the Church, so the rewards maintained a karmic connection with both him and the institution.

  Emilia continued to sleep; in the morning she was nearly woken several times by impatient youths wanting to challenge her. But Rumi stayed close, explaining to everyone about her brutal battle with the paper birds and her wounds.

  "So what if she is wounded—all the better. That way she is guaranteed to lose!" said one of the nobles. He had focused on weapons and techniques whose sole purpose was to preserve his life—at the expense of any real offense. This made him particularly ill-suited for a competition against the golems.

  "Do you not have a shred of honor, challenging the weakest?" Rumi snapped, unable to restrain herself.

  "Ha, honor? This is combat tactics. A surprise attack against a weak opponent. It is the best strategy."

  "Yes, and that way everyone will realize that you are the weak opponent, and the younger generation of your family will have to turn their faces away every time battle is mentioned."

  The boy, who was at least twice as large as Rumi, grew angry and began to speak in a heated, loud tone, spit flying from his mouth.

  "Look, not all of us have a father like yours or spears that throw lightning. Whoever is that weak shouldn't have entered this space."

  "Ha-ha, exactly! Since you are so weak, you shouldn't have come in. I will tell everyone every day about your great exploits... and your 'great strategy.' Everyone will know that the Karomolis family aims for the weakest because they are the weakest themselves."

  "You... you... My grandfather!"

  "I... I... What about your grandfather? Do I see him on the battlefield? Every time he makes the excuse that he is sick and sends a few blood servants to fight in his place."

  Rumi continued trying to protect Emilia, but everyone knew she was the girl with the weakest equipment. Especially for a fight against those stone golems made of polished black rock.

  When Emilia finally woke up, she was quickly forced to follow Elion's example and surrender to the appropriate participants, those with ties to the hunters and Chief Nikos.

  Thus, late in the evening, the final battle came to an end, and almost everyone decided to spend the night near the golems and set out only on the following day.

  Emilia had time to rest and restore her mental strength, as well as heal her wounds. She asked Elion and Rumi not to wait for her but to press on ahead. She wanted to rest for one more day and craft a few talismans.

  Rumi did not want to abandon her, but in the end, she decided to leave.

  "I will see you at the next challenge," she promised.

  Emilia hugged her and thanked her once more for her help from earlier.

  "Ha, that was nothing. But you promised to teach me how to play Knights and Dragons with the others from the neighborhood. Look, I even carved my own figures."

  Rumi showed her a wooden figure that was quite clumsily made, but Emilia had explained to her that the tradition in such games required everyone to craft their own pieces.

  This rule wasn't strictly followed by everyone, but if Rumi showed up at the house of Tobin and Parima with some incredibly expensive figures, it would have looked quite strange.

  "It is great, Rumi. I promise that later I will teach you how to play many games. My mother will make a salad of turnips and carrots, we will drink juice and eat sandwiches."

  "Eh, no, I don't like turnips."

  Rumi made a strange face, like a cat that had bitten into a lemon. Emilia couldn't help herself and burst out laughing, while Rumi pretended to be offended and walked away, shouting back over her shoulder.

  "You laugh now, but I will bring something delicious instead of turnips, and everyone will love me, and no one will eat your turnips!"

  "Ah, what a low blow," Emilia sighed mockingly, unable to stop laughing.

  Gradually, everyone moved forward, while Emilia stayed by the arena, sitting with her back against the wall, slowly circulating her mana and taking periodic sips of the medicinal decoction from Chief Nikos's second wife.

  She then directed the healing elements within it to various parts of her body, attempting to absorb the medicinal power. Occasionally, she took out mana-rich honey mixed with various herbs and prepared different teas.

  She had learned this technique from the hunters. They often suffered various injuries but did not use healing pills. This was not only because pills were more expensive, but also because they exhausted the body's natural reserves. Doing it this way meant Emilia would lose more time to healing, but her body would not grow weaker, and she wouldn't risk losing a month of development.

  The hunters were extremely careful with their recovery; after many years of hunting, the more impatient among them often accumulated hidden wounds after battles that never fully healed.

  Part of the damage remained in the body and built up over time. Thus, instead of growing stronger, they reached a limit they could never surpass.

  Emilia was still young and did not want to rush and sacrifice her future potential.

  And so, she spent the entire day healing through meditation, stopping briefly at intervals to draw more talismans to replenish her supplies. An entire day and night passed this way, and early the next morning, she set out to follow the others.