Nero took a bewildered step back. The man was tall and very muscular. He had disheveled brown hair and was probably around thirty to forty years old. Madness gleamed in his brown eyes. He had only bumped into him lightly, and given Nero's emaciated frame, it was unlikely that it had been more than a light push for this muscular man.
Yet now he lay on the ground, trembling and lashing out at him, as if Nero were some kind of poison. On top of that, this man was clearly a mortal; his clothes were shabby, and he held one of the stones in his hand—the kind given to mortals—yet he was rambling about being a chosen magician of God? Nero clicked his tongue as a crowd of onlookers slowly gathered around him and the man. A bad feeling spread through him.
"He must have found a new victim..." Nero heard one of the mortals murmur.
"Oh no, that poor boy," said another.
"He is so unlucky. It's only one week..."
Nero's suspicion grew stronger. He was certain that this man couldn't mean anything good.
Speaking of, the man finally calmed down and stood up. He looked at Nero with a kind of hatred that even surprised Nero. It was so profound, so extreme, so all-encompassing—utterly out of place given what had happened.
Nero took another step back.
"Who gave you the right?" the maniac hissed.
"What right?" Nero asked, even more confused.
"TO TOUCH ME!" he screamed so loudly that the people around them flinched back a few steps.
Nero sighed and simply turned around and walked away. There was no reason to deal with this lunatic. Nero groaned heavily at this nonsense. There was no point in wasting any more time on someone like that, so Nero simply turned on his heel and strolled away.
Silence fell over the crowd, followed by murmurs of concern and surprise. Some even laughed at this reaction, which only served to enrage the man further. "STOP. RIGHT NOW!" he yelled, stamping his feet like a toddler, but Nero paid him no mind.
He was just another mortal. For a moment, Nero thought he was a mage; if that had been the case, he would have been in real trouble. But Nero was in Koal's good graces, and as far as Nero could tell, Koal was one of the most influential mortals in the camp. So why on earth would he listen to such a lowly worm?
"YOU WILL REGRET THIS! I'M CHALLENGING YOU TO A FIGHT IN THE ARENA! I'M GONNA KILL YOU THERE, YOU HEAR ME? I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Nero paused for a moment, tilting his head to the side.
-Arena? - he asked himself internally, then continued on.
Two days later, Nero returned to the community leader's house.
The rumors had spread quickly, and no matter where Nero went, people murmured with concern and sympathy at the sight of him. This only deepened Nero's worries, but there was something else that was weighing even more heavily on his mind.
The pain he had felt when he bumped into the man had grown stronger.
At first, he simply ignored it, but with every passing hour, it grew a little stronger. Whatever it was, it wasn't painful yet, but Nero was afraid that something inside his body had torn or that he had some other kind of internal injury.
The problem was that he had experienced a lot of different injuries in his life, from broken ribs to ruptured stomachs, punctured lungs, and so on, but he had never felt anything like this pain before.
Nero feared that the pain came from something very dangerous, but he could do nothing but wait. He had already searched for a doctor, but, of course, there was none qualified enough to do open surgery in this camp.
After about five minutes, he arrived at the community leader's house. He knocked on the door and stepped back.
Soon after, Christina opened the door. She looked at Nero with concern as he greeted her warmly.
"There you are. My father has been waiting for you. Come quickly!"
Nero furrowed his brow. "What's going on?"
"He will tell you. Just follow me!"
He followed her into the house, where they led him into the large living room, where Koal was sitting in his favorite spot, sipping a small glass of wine. He seemed relaxed.
"Father! How can you lie around here when Nero's life is in danger?"
Nero blinked. "My life is in danger?"
Nero suspected it had something to do with the deranged man from two days ago. Was he that dangerous?
Koal opened his eyes and yawned heartily. "Don't exaggerate, Christina. Nero's life is not in danger. The rules forbid murder in the arena."
"And what about Haruto?" she asked defiantly.
"That was different. He was already seriously injured."
Now Nero grew somewhat impatient. "Excuse me, what is going on?" he asked, confused.
Koal looked at him. "You don't know yet?"
Nero shook his head. "Unfortunately, I don't know what exactly you're talking about."
Christina raised an eyebrow. "That's ironic. You're probably the last person in this district to find out, even though it concerns you."
"Nero," Koal asked, "What do you know about the arenas?"
Nero pondered for a moment. He had a suspicion, but he wasn't sure.
"Unfortunately, nothing," he then replied.
"The arenas are specially designated places in the camp where mortals engage in combat against each other. And in a week, you will be challenged to a duel by Kiel," Christina explained.
Nero sighed. "Kiel is the madman I encountered recently, isn't he?"
Christina nodded. "Yes, Kiel is a deranged man who lost his sanity a long time ago. He believes he has been chosen by the gods themselves to become the most powerful magician and that he will be their successor, ruling over the galaxy. Of course, that's utter nonsense. He is just as mortal as we are."
Koal continued, "The arena is a fundamental rule in the Ascension Camp. Every person can challenge someone to a duel once every six months. The winner then can demand up to three thousand credits."
"Can I simply decline the duel?" Nero asked, not very hopeful.
Koal shook his head. "No, unfortunately, you cannot refuse this duel. But there are rules in place to prevent the arena from being exploited. Children or teenagers under twenty have the right to decline every challenge. The age difference cannot exceed ten years, and there can be no gender crossing. So, if a man challenges a woman, she has the right to decline at any time. Additionally, community leaders like district supervisors and I are completely free to decline as we wish unless someone of equal or higher rank is the challenger."
Christina took over again. "However, one can still exploit this rule. Since Kiel arrived in this camp, all he does is engage in duels. He always seeks out people who appear much weaker than him. Unfortunately, he's only thirty-two, which means you cannot decline the challenge. You have to fight him, but it won't be a fair fight. Kiel may be insane, but he's incredibly muscular and talented in combat. In the twelve years he has been doing this, he has fought thirty duels and only lost a like two or three battles. In the first few years, people still challenged him, but after one year and eight fights, they realized they didn't stand a chance against him. You stumbled into his path at an incredibly unfortunate time. It's now been half a year since his last duel, and next week is the time."
Koal nodded. "But don't worry. Killing is prohibited during the duel. He won't risk it because he would face severe punishment."
"Still, he can break your bones, scar you for life, or even paralyze you, as he did with the poor Jake. Christina said fearfully.
"So how is the outcome of the duel decided?" asked Nero, who had by now gotten a rough idea of the situation.
"Well, normally..." Christina said hesitantly, "The fight ends when one of you gives up."
Nero blinked, then smiled broadly, "Then I'll just give up right away. What's a few credits compared to my life?"
Koal sighed heavily, "That's exactly what a lot of people thought, so many started giving up right away, but entering the arena costs credits, and even mages are there from time to time to watch the fights. So a few years ago, they introduced a rule that you can't give up until at least five minutes have passed. Before that, the fight can only end if one of you is unconscious… or dead."
"After this tournament, will I get a break, or can I be challenged again immediately?" Nero inquired.
Koal shook his head. "Of course not. After the tournament, you can be challenged again, but you have the right to decline any match for six months. There are exceptions as well. For example, if someone has a very good reason, such as if you've cheated or harmed someone. So, after the fight, you should lower your head, go into hiding, and try not to give anyone a reason to forcefully challenge you. This rule always applies and supersedes all others. For instance, if Christina stabs someone in the thigh with a knife, they can still challenge her without her being able to decline, even if it's a fifty-year-old man."
"That helps maintain balance in this camp without judges or law enforcers. Unfortunately, there are always people like Kiel who exploit such situations to their advantage... Can you fight?" Christina asked Nero.
He nodded slightly. It wasn't that the fight was impossible; after all, he had been trained in every form of physical combat by Shire, the greatest warrior he had ever met. But now he was just a weak mortal; he didn't have the strength or stamina to keep up with a man like Kial for long. Nero feared he might die from a single blow.
"Do we fight with weapons or bare fists?"
"That's for you to decide. I would recommend using weapons. Sword combat would be best if you're skilled in it since Kiel excels in hand-to-hand combat, and you don't have the strength to harm him purely through brute force," Koal assessed.
Nero sighed inwardly. Why did this have to happen?