Zhen Liu and his friends were no stranger to no arenas.
The latter and his clan had been involved in multiple tournants in the past, and they even now owned the major arena in their ho city.
As for Lythero and Olstenna, the two warriors from Dozing Salamander had their own history when it ca to prize fighting and the like. Hell, they even fought side-by-side not too long ago.
However, this arena in the [Mines of Malevolence], this fight pit, was sothing they were definitely unprepared for.
'This ain't an arena...it's a slaughterhouse.'
From the mont they entered the outer periter of the arena, they beca overwheld by the presence of death and violence.
All six of their senses was inundated by the aforentioned energies to the point of nausea.
They saw and heard dozen upon dozens of Kaijin, all roaring, cheering and being general nuisances as they watched a pair of slaves, chained by the neck, fight each other to the death.
If any of them were to take a closer look upon the grounds on which these slaves were fighting, one could see the occasional skeletal body part poking out of the dirt. As well, they would be able to notice that the dirt had long seen been dyed in a dark crimson hue.
Earlier, Lythero and Olstenna attempted to use aether to block out the stench of stale blood and rotting corpses that filled the air while Zhen Liu had no choice but to go in without protective asures in order to keep up his act. Evidently, both choices led to the sa overwhelming conclusion.
That aforntioned scent was much thicker inside the arena proper, so much so that the group began to taste it in their mouths and feel it on their skins.
The taste was that of stale blood and rotting at mixed with bile, while the feel on their skin was sticky and just plain gross.
But above all of these physical sensations, what they were picking up on a spiritual level was so much worse.
[The Hellfire Mountain Range] was already a cursed place to be, with all of the cursed energy flowing through the ground and air.
Places where death was commonplace, like cities ravaged by war, mass graves and battlefields, had a tendency to have rich concentrations of death aether and produce undead monstrosities.
[Chaos], by and large, tended to be considered cursed by those who were unfamiliar with its complexities.
And when all three was combined, it produced an absolutely terrible energy that caused most people to feel as if an ominous presence was hanging over their heads.
The type of presence one would only feel if they were about to face their impending execution, or enter a place that had been the ho to dozens upon dozens of intimate murders.
In other words, this place sucked.
Unfortunately for those involved, this wasn't going to be shared experience of pain. Instead, two out of the three humans present were going to get an up close and personal experience, while the remaining one was about to deal with sothing he hated more than fighting.
Awkward social interaction.
Following the baboon-otter kaijin's lead, the trio eventually ca to a flight of stairs next to a doorway.
Standing in front of the forr was big, four-ard Kaijin that vaguely resembled a cyclopean goat mixed with a tarantula.
[Alright, punching bags. You two are going to follow this ugly bastard into the fighters resting area. Feel free to fight back if you want, he'll probably eat your brains though.]
[And I'll enjoy it too,] the four-ard freak growled in a voice that was unnecessarily sensual. [By the way, you can call Choker.]
^...right.^
Visibly uncomfortable but not wanting to start an unnecessary fight (yet), Lythero and Olstenna quietly followed after the Kaijin called Choker.
[Now then, Mister Tar, follow and you can enjoy the upcoming slaughter show from a seat of luxury.]
"Right..."
Instinctually speaking, Zhen Liu wanted to do nothing more than bash this weird otter Kaijin brain in and just go on a rampage. The longer he stuck around this place, the more he could feel a part of his brain wanting to lash out.
Logically speaking though, Zhen Liu knew that the best way to deal with an evil bastard is when they least suspect it.
The enemy from within, ard with a knife, can be more effective than an enemy from without, ard with a gun.
Or sothing like that.
Either way, Zhen Liu did his best to act pleased over the invitation.
"Well gee! I've never been to one of these private boxes before. My master would just have tend to the pets back ho."
[Hehe! Then you're going to be in for a treat.]
'I feel like the word, "treat", is doing a lot of heavy lifting but whatever.'
The ti it took for Zhen Liu and the escorting Kaijin to arrive at the viewer box, was the sa amount of ti it took Lythero and Olstenna to arrive to the fighters area.
Needless to say, their experiences at these closely related places were rather...different.
...Down Below...
[Here we are, boys. I hope you'll be able to fight your way to freedom. Ha!]
^...^
Last night, Olstenna and Lythero had slept in a dark, dirty prison cell that reeked of death and sadness.
This resting area ant for gladiators was also a dank, dirty prison cell that reeked of death, sadness and the added twist of violence.
Not only that, but they weren't by themselves this ti around.
^Oh joy. More lambs to the slaughter.^
^I don't know. They look like they'll last a little longer in the ring against those monsters. Like that monk.^
^Didn't that monkey eventually gets eaten whole?^
The warriors occupying this rest area varied in quality by a wide margin.
So of the warriors appeared to be nothing more than strong or defiant-looking slaves that had been tossed into this place for no reason other than to serve as cannon fodder.
A common sight for those lived in slave-owning nations, but those type of slaves were a touch more vicious.
The ones in here looked like they were regretting their decisions to act up by the second.
Others appeared to be of middling quality, mostly bandits or captured soldiers.
These warriors were normally the type to volunteer to participate in these arenas for the sake of extra coin and possibly fa.
Normally a vicious bunch, they looked rather subdued in comparison to the vulgar lot that would be seen elsewhere.
Lastly, the duo could make out the auras and appearances of warriors that were of noble descent or old masters that had been crippled.
These type of warriors would never be seen in places like these unless they were the ones running the show, as they were full of pride and condescension.
When Lythero and Olstenna looked them over, they could see that whatever pride they had left was on their last legs.
It didn't take Lythero and Olstenna much imagination to figure out why all of these warriors were united by their shared gloom.
^Safe to say these poor fuckers had learned about the annoying iron wall that is fighting against [Chaos]?^ Lythero asked.
^From the looks of it, yes,^ Olstenna nodded.
The two warriors were just about to settle into place and figure out what they needed to do in order to escape this place. Unfortunately, life has other plans for them.
As soon as they were about to sit down, another Kaijin entered the area from the direction of the arena's main floor.
This one resembled a hippopotamus, an anteater and a peacock all smashed together.
[Alright, fighters! The slave chain death match is about to co to an end,] the flashy Kaijin shouted into the cells. [I'm going to need so fighters for the next fight. Don't worry about volunteering, we're just going to take ya.]
An ominous feeling began to fill the room as Olstenna and Lythero recognized the surge of [Chaos] probing the room.
Having been around so major sources of the stuff before, the two warriors associated with the Kaijin Lord were able to keep their cool in front of this energetic probing.
The sa could not be said about the others in the room with them.
^NONONONONO!^
"FOUL MONSTER! GOD WILL PUNISH YOU FOR THIS MISTREATNT!"
Regardless of the angry protests, several warriors were literally picked up by the strange energy and forced out of the cell.
Needless to say, Lythero and Olstenna were part of this batch as well.
The two of them wanted to imdiately lash out against the encroaching energy, their pride as warriors demanding it.
However, they didn't do that.
Instead, the duo kept quiet and allowed the energy to wrap around them.
[Well that's no fun...oh well!]
As they were moved, the duo began to plot exactly how they were going to fight their next opponents.
^Do you want to go first, or should I?^
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