Numbers x Casket-Chapter 4: Arena

Several months earlier, in a human settlement near the borders of Sunless Cradle, it was raining back then; the sound of droplets pouring on the roofs produced a continuous series of plinks.

Down the street, where people were scarce, a man soaked in the rain halted in his steps. He was wearing a long black suit, and a hood covered his facial features. Two blades were strapped on both of his legs, and a casket earring dangled on his right ear.

He began to look around the area as if searching for something. There was this peculiar light coming from his left eye.

'There's nothing similar in here,' he thought upon seeing several digits written in blue and black.

Then he looked above him and stared at the number zero floating on his head. Its hue was a mixture of red and black. Its shade had no concrete pattern, more like an abstract.

However, this odd set of colors left a deep puzzle in the young man's mind. Since having the ability to see anything or anyone's growth, he saw no other shades aside from blue and black, but he always believed that there were more colors than these two, and he was not mistaken.

After discovering it by accident, he learned about the existence of the third color, a tapestry of red and black, but it was not the most shocking part; it was none other than the number he viewed, which was a complete zero; it was the first time he saw a growth rate lower than one.

In light of this fact, he trained himself to the extreme; he ran back and forth on the dangerous terrain of the mountains to enhance his vitality, and he accepted several missions, including fiend subjugation, hoping that the number zero would increase.

However, even after finishing all those tasks alone, it remained the same; nothing had changed.

So he embarked on a journey to look for clues about his eye even though the only hint that he had was the casket dangling from his ear.

. . . . .

"Unbelievable," the captain uttered, leaving his mouth partially open.

He couldn't believe the scene that transpired in front of him. In a blink of an eye, Efraim managed to kill the fiend, assassinating it in a small fraction of time possible without giving it any chance to react.

Along with the admiration that the old man felt, he began questioning his abilities as well. Being in the third string throughout his life, he couldn't execute what the young man did.

Aside from this, his class was an appraiser, a title that was not fit for battle; compared to him, who had a swordsman's classification, what Efraim showed was beyond the norm.

"The guild should really stop assigning a class based on their Flairs," he stated.

After contemplating for a few more seconds, he went towards Efraim's position. He saw him looking above and noticed his left eye glowing in an unusual cyan-colored hexagram.

'Is that his Flair? I wonder how that thing works,' he thought as he approached the young man.

"You really never failed to amuse me!" he exclaimed upon closing the distance.

Efraim looked at his captain; his left eye was now back to its normal black color. The next second, he wore his smile and swung both of his blades on his side; the blood dripping from them was removed in an instant, and then he unsheathed his weapons and greeted the captain.

"You flattered me," he said.

The next moment, the old man handed him a black handkerchief.

"Wipe those bloodstains, or we'll attract other beasts," he suggested.

Efraim didn't even think twice; he grabbed the piece of cloth from the man's hand and cleaned the traces of blood from his face.

Afterward, the two of them went towards the laboratory to continue the scouting, and like in the coliseum, they found nothing.

"The night is getting deeper," Efraim commented as soon as they walked outside the laboratory.

"I hope we find something in the next area. It's the last one for tonight, isn't it?" he added, asking.

The old man nodded, confirming the young equator's query before speaking.

"The place for honing warriors, the arena. If we still find nothing in that place, we'll be going back and advancing tomorrow with the whole team," the old man replied.

"But what if we discover something?" Efraim replied with a curious expression.

The old man looked at him and smiled.

"I'll let you decide; I believe more in an appraiser's judgment," he said.

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His answer made Efraim's lips curl upward. Afterward, they moved towards their target location. Upon arriving, shattered walls and broken gates were the ones that greeted the equators. The arena was a large spherical dome with half of its roof damaged and crushed.

The two people walked towards the stage; the seats were scattered onto the ground, and several skeletons could be seen still sitting in the audience's wing.

"There's nothing in here as well," the captain conveyed his thoughts.

However, Efraim didn't respond to his words; the young equator was busy staring at the opposite end of the arena.

The next second, the cold wind blew, causing the dust and ashes to rise while the candle lights hanging in the cracked walls lit up one after the other. Then, the silence was broken as loud cheers coming from the audience seats echoed in the hall, though there were no other people present aside from the two equators.

Efraim put his hands on the hilts of his blades, preparing for what was about to come.

Meanwhile, the old man stepped closer to Efraim; his shoulder stiffened, and beads of sweat formed on his head. Then he noticed the casket dangling from his companion's ear; it was glowing with a strange white light.

"Do you think we should head back?" he asked, ignoring the light coming from the casket.

Then he let his eyes roam around.

"I don't think we have the luxury to do so," Efraim imparted, and a thunderous roar followed.

The cheers continued, and the clacking sound of sword against sword reverberated inside the arena. Then, Efraim drew his blade and raised it in front of him. However, something struck him on the side, sending him flying into the debris of the broken walls.

"Efraim!" The old man shouted and ran towards the appraiser, but he was grabbed in the leg and was soon thrown near the audience seats.

The never-ending cheers were replaced by laughter, and the ground began to tremble. The old man stood up and pulled out his sword, but the next moment, he found himself suspended in the air, with his feet above and his face almost kissing the ground. He tried to kick and thrust his sword upward, hoping to injure the entity that was holding him, but instead, he was sent flying once again, though this time, Efraim managed to catch him and prevent him from crashing into the walls.

"We're being played," the black-haired man stated.

Then, he activated his left eye; its pupil shrank, and a cyan-colored hexagram appeared on his iris; however, there was not a single number present in the area, and it only meant one thing.

"This place is filled with apparitions!" Efraim exclaimed as he dodged and pulled his captain to the other side.

"What do we do, then?" The old man cried out, asking.

The next second, a sound of arrows being launched resonated in the dome.

Without knowing the exact trajectory, the two people just ran away from their positions. They searched for the exit, but the path where they came from moments ago was nowhere to be found.

With this development, Efraim took a second to glance at the roof, and then he pulled out his blades.

"Follow me," he gave out a command before leaping up into the air.

Then, he created a platform of energy in front of him and used it as a foothold; he repeated it several times until the distance was close enough for him to cut the roof.

Without wasting another second, he swung his blades several times, creating a hole big enough for a person to fit. Afterward, he jumped onto it, and the next second, he looked back and extended his hand to the old man.

"Here! Grab it!" He yelled.

And as soon as the captain held his arm, he pulled him outside. Then, the silence and darkness returned as the cheers inside the arena died down along with the candle lights hanging on its walls.

. . . . .

The two equators headed back to their camp; everyone was already asleep aside from the night guard and the person sitting next to a tent.

"Lindsay, you're still awake," the old man said, his voice laced with concern.

"I can't sleep at all knowing you two are still out there, venturing in the ruins," Lindsay replied.

Then she stood up and smiled.

"So, did something happen?" she asked, but upon seeing the expression on their faces and the bloodstains on Efraim's clothes, she already knew that it was not a simple one.

"We found nothing about beast traffickers, but..." The old man conveyed, then he paused for a while and inhaled a deep breath before continuing. "We entered a place filled with apparitions, and we almost died in there."

. . . . .