Ultimate Level 1

Chapter 304

Three days later they passed the rigorous inspection by the guards at the gate and made their way into the next ring of Quan Ma.

“Never had I imagined seeing any of this.”

Max felt like he could understand a little bit of how Kauakan felt as the man stared in wonder from the-open top carriage they were riding in.

Two cowkin pulled the cart, their hair shining and perfectly arranged as they moved along the stone streets.

Not a single building was made of glass. Everything here was made of stone, and at least half of them had statues and carvings on their larger properties and walls.

Grass grew in the yards that were filled with dirt, and Max could smell that the air was cleaner.

“I can taste it,” Jazzjak stated as his nose moved constantly. “No matter how many times I have been allowed to come in here, it always leaves me longing to return.”

“How much? How much does it really cost to live here?”

“Do you have any idea of how much I must have to live where I do?”

Slowly, the insect nodded.

“Multiply that by twenty or more.”

A gargled cough came from Kauakan as he stuck the tip of his hooked claw between his teeth, pulling out a piece of flesh from somewhere.

“What do the ones who live here do to stay here?” Max asked as he ignored the different beastkins, insects, and he wasn’t sure what the demon-looking beings were that stayed hidden in shadows watching as the three of them rode down the street.

“Old power and money. Slaves, crops, building skills, crafting skills, and more. Many will fall in the coming days, making wagers, risking fortunes, all for a chance at what lies beyond the last gate.”

Jazzjak motioned to the tower that rose into the sky, a sun on each side of it, framing it in a special way.

“If one can make it there, the potential for true power is possible. None have ever lived there and then returned to this section of the city. Once you reach the center, you stay there forever, or you die.”

Max felt a weird sensation at that truth.

“And yet the risk is worth it,” Kauakan muttered, earning a nod from the rabbit.

None of them talked as the three of them sat there, on full display as the true inhabitants of this ring of the city openly watched their arrival.

Max suddenly laughed, his outburst not only surprising his two companions but also making a few of those on the sidewalks take a few steps back.

“Sorry, I’m just thinking about how much fun it’s going to be to ruin so many lives here.”

Both rabbit and insect joined in, the trio of them laughing at the mayhem they hoped to cause.

***

“Remember, each of these fighters will be like Sheoraoa or better,” Kauakan stated once more. “You cannot hold back, but you must still make them suffer before ending their life.”

“Seems like it’s not fair if the fights are this difficult and yet the crowd expects us to put on a show,” Max replied, gazing out the open window that looked down upon the arena.

A hundred rows of stone seats, each one carved into the row, ran in a circle underneath him. Nine large opulent boxed areas sat on the opposite side of him, reserved for those he had yet to learn much of except that many of them could go toe to toe with the ones he would face. The center one was a good deal larger, and Max had learned it was Igarra’s. A curtain was always pulled, and no one ever knew if she was watching, but Max didn’t feel like he would have to wonder about that.

There is no way she won’t be watching.

“Are you two about ready to leave?”

Max nodded and turned to where Jazzjak was waiting at the door.

“Tell me, are you allowed to bet on me?”

Both of his companions chuckled, and Max waited to hear why.

“We are not allowed to bet on you,” Jazzjak replied, rising up and down on his feet. “We are forced to.”

“Forced? What or why?”

“I told you I took a risk bringing you in. The risk is if you lose, I lose everything.”

There was no emotion in the tone of the rabbit’s voice.

Next to him Kauakan nodded.

“So if someone's fighter dies…”

“You are not a fighter,” Jazzjak stated. “You are a champion. A warrior is something we toss out there, waiting to see if they will rise to be worthy of the title we give. The moment you defeated the first champion in Kauakan’s arena, you became one. Every fight since then, both of our livelihoods are on the line.”

The rabbit moved closer, stopping when he was a few feet from Max. He had to crane his neck to look up.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He huffed and then sighed.

“Kauakan rejected my offer to buy you outright. He could have taken more tokens than he would earn in years and returned to his ring, biding his time to find a new champion. But he didn’t. It was that conviction I saw in his eyes that made me risk everything.”

“And the fact you were a smooth skin,” Kauakan added.

Chuckling, the vorpal bunny nodded.

“That did help. Still, we are with you until you reach the center or die. I do not say that to add more weight to your shoulders, but know that everything we say and do is because we need you to win. Our lives depend on it.”

Nodding, Max glanced over his shoulder one more time at the arena, ignoring the fact he was trying to figure out where all the spectators would come from to watch this event, instead considering the words he had just heard.

The weight of others’ lives never gets easy to carry.

“Let’s go. I need to sleep,” Max said as he moved toward the door.

***

Everything Max had witnessed before was like child’s play.

Above the arena floor a crystal like the one back in his colosseum hung, now showing the fight that was almost over.

Orange blood and goo covered the patchwork of stone and sand, all from the creature Max had no idea could exist.

It used to have a larger body, almost like a blob or slime that was twelve feet tall and had long stretchy arms and legs. Now it was only about four feet tall and was barely more than a pile that reacted slightly to each block that struck it.

“I thought it would be tougher than that,” Max said as he stood next to Kauakan and watched the mantis that had a very high level of Stone Mastery, from what Max had seen, move closer and closer.

“I’ve never seen one of those before. I don’t even know what they are. I think it’s from the center of the city.”

“They can fight here?”

“Ask Jazzjak; he would know. I’ve heard of some being sent here to put on a show and to be a challenge, but this one hasn’t done much since the bells rang. The truth is there are over fifty different beastkin variations, some mutations of them, countless insects like myself, and even a few abnormal ones from experiments. It is only here and the next arena you get to see a real variety of what’s out there.”

Nodding, Max watched the fight, surprised at how it had gone down, but he understood one could use the power of the stones scattered along the arena wall. It made sense to do what the mantis had. Dodging and weaving away from the opponent’s slower attacks, it had never let up on the constant barrage that removed chunks of the goo-based body.

The crowd laughed, watching as the shape was squished on two sides, the goo being forced out on all the edges, falling to the arena floor.

Loud boos came occasionally but stopped as their efforts did nothing to change the fight.

Moving to the place where the stone blocks had smashed the goo together, the mantis slammed a bladed claw into a pile.

Triumphantly it raised its claw, orange gel dripping from the edge.

Suddenly its claw jerked forward, right as the crowd had cheered, and a string of goo reached up from the pile on the floor.

In two seconds every bit of the orange mess that was spread around the hundred yards of the arena floor was moving, racing like arrows to the spot that had been held upward in victory a moment ago.

Max watched as the mantis slashed at the strands that were forming to the bit on its arm, cutting them, but they stuck to that blade now.

In ten seconds the blob had grown large enough to almost cover the mantis as it tried to escape, using blocks to rise upward on, only to be pulled down by the goo, tipped headfirst to the arena floor.

More and more piled on, and the flailing insect’s movements slowed down as the weight of the mass pressed it into the sandy floor.

The blocks that came trying to assist got stuck inside, not penetrating like they had before.

“Well, that’s new,” Kauakan stated. “How do you win against that?”

“Not with stones,” Max replied. “Who picks these fights?”

A whistle came from the insect next to him, and Max knew he had just snorted.

“These are supposed to be random. Tokens in a jar. If it is, that Stone Master’s luck just ran out.”

***

“You have been waiting for this match all night! Our final one for the evening! All the way from the slums to your arena: Ifrit!”

Shaking his head in disgust, Max moved down the stairs from his waiting area, listening to the shouts of everyone he passed. Some invisible barrier kept them back as a few pressed themselves into it, shouting things he couldn’t understand over the noise.

It was a frenzy as he made his way down the hundred levels, wondering still if everyone in this ring had come out tonight just to watch him.

Kauakan had been right. There were so many different beastkin in attendance, and he saw at least twenty he had never known existed scattered amongst the crowd.

Finally at the bottom, he jumped down into the arena, easily landing on the sand below, and rolled before standing up. Picking up his staff, he had tossed down, Max moved to his spot that was marked with a big X like all the others had stood on.

“Ohhh… this might not be good for his opponent!”

No one knew who his opponent was, or at least Max was told it would be this way.

Each person in the stand had a small metal tablet, and he had seen them all place bets, holding up a glowing rune before wagering whatever they felt was a fair amount.

“Our betting people aren’t going to like this matchup at all!”

Glancing up at the screen, Max saw a floating image of his head, hair and all, rotating around the center crystal.

A few seconds passed, and then his opponent’s image appeared.

The crowd went ballistic.

Next to his head was a tree-based creature. In some ways it reminded Max of the ents they had fought in the tower but more like a person and not an actual tree.

“Let’s welcome Toorg to the arena tonight! May he find a way to leaf here in one piece!”

Laughter came as a fifteen-foot walking stick moved from a box all the way up.

Max could see that Toorg was shaking even from down here, apparently not excited with the matchup that had been given to him.

For a moment he almost felt sorry for the creature, knowing how hot things were going to get.

‎