Chapter 6 - Revelations

A short staircase had led the Contestants up into the Arena, not any part of the Arena that had remained underground, but the main central Colosseum and the bright orange-yellow sands that formed the fighting zone. Here, it was clear the fights occurred, with concentric stone staircases and stands where spectators would watch the fights as they happened. In this case, the Colosseum was more than half empty, and the spectators didn't seem too enthused by the events unfolding before them. But the spectacle was truly something to behold and just looking around, Titus could imagine the atmosphere that a full and excited crowd would’ve brought.

Titus hadn't said a word to Petra since she'd saved him from Henderson, but they'd remained close together until they took their seats in the arena stands, next to each other. They were in a segregated, covered area that had been set aside specifically for Contestants, watching the fight away from any of the ticketed individuals in the crowd. Mr Sinclair though, after his disappearance was nowhere to be seen.

Titus had felt grateful to the girl for saving him from Henderson though. Perhaps she hadn’t really saved him from a physical confrontation but the moment the larger boy had moved to aggression, Titus had wanted to back down and apologise. But then he knew he would’ve regretted it, and that’s what he was thankful to Petra for.

The only thing was, was that he didn’t want to go in too keen, to seem too grateful for her assistance, otherwise she could’ve simply viewed him as weak, and not worth her time.

A moment later, into the arena of battle from one of the iron gates that led out from the labyrinth below, stepped three individuals, all wearing blue armbands. One of the individuals, a large-looking boy, held a huge tower shield in two hands but otherwise had no visible weapons, while the other two, both girls, wore long, dark robes. One of the girls was holding a long wooden staff, and the other was completely empty-handed.

The three all walked right out into the centre of the sands and eventually stopped to face a spectator's box high up in the stands, which Titus could see housed Miss Kane, along with Mr Sinclair and Mr Avery.

‘So that’s where he went,’ thought Titus.

"For the people!" the Contestants on the sands shouted at once, beating their fists against their chests. It was the phrase Titus had heard already, and it kind of made sense to him to be hearing it here.

Trumpets blared, followed by a voice that echoed around the Colosseum as though it was being somehow magically amplified. The voice belonged to Miss Kane.

"Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests, Contestants, and our ever-beloved season ticket holders, thank you for joining us for the first of this season's arena battles! I hope that you enjoy yourselves as much as always, and as always, donate generously when given the opportunity. Our first battle may not be as illustrious as some of the bouts we've seen over the last few years and certainly not as explosive as the very last bout of the last season, but nevertheless, where there is work to be done, our Contestants are always ready to meet the challenge!"

Miss Kane raised her arms to her sides before proclaiming, "And our challenge today is to be somewhat of a staple. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you, the ferocious Deadlands Boar!"

Titus watched as another much larger gate rolled open to allow what he could see was a Deadlands Boar to streak into the arena like it had been lit on fire. He just about managed to analyse it with his new ability.

Deadlands Boar

Level: 4

HP: 130/130

There wasn't much to say about the statistics that Titus could see of the boar, mainly just its level and health points. But that alone was far more than he'd ever been able to see in the past when simply looking at things. He thought about how useful it would be to know how much health an enemy would have left before it would perish, and how one could adapt their fighting style to suit.

The boar was a terrible-looking creature though, larger than anything Titus had ever seen before, with two enormous tusks protruding from the end of its nose that culminated into two sharp, deadly points.

There was no proclamation to begin the fight; the boar simply charged at the three Blue-Ranked Contestants. Titus hadn't yet had the chance to stare at the three to see what their names or classes were, but now that he took the time, he saw that they were named Benjamin, Olivia, and Sophia. Benjamin was level one, whilst the two girls were level three.

He could only assume that they would be up for the challenge, given that Miss Kane, the other Instructors and the rest of the crowds were allowing this to happen in front of so many people, no less. But he worried that the creature had them beat in levels. That was surely not a good thing.

His assumption was proven correct a moment later when the two girls rolled out of the way of the charging beast, and Benjamin presented his shield for the boar to charge into.

A loud thud thundered around the arena as the boar impacted the young man's tower shield. Titus felt his breath catch as he watched what was surely going to be an instant massacre as the huge beast barrelled into the much smaller human Contestant.

But his worries were squashed when he saw exactly what the young man was doing. Because when the boar impacted his huge and heavy tower shield, Benjamin was not sent flying as Titus expected. In fact it was the boar that came to a halt, pushing against the shield and the young man, for no more than a foot of gained ground.

Titus exhaled loudly, letting go of the breath he'd been holding as it started to burn his lungs.

The arena was still for a moment; the boar seemed confused that it hadn't managed to push back its much smaller opponent. The young man kept his tower shield between the pair of them, a look of effort plastered across his face as he gritted his teeth.

Titus had no idea how the boy was managing to hold back this powerful creature, but he watched in amazement to see what the other Contestants could do next.

The girls had returned to their feet, and it looked like they were preparing for something, though Titus had no idea what that could've been; he'd never seen an arena fight before and the fleeting comments and stories he'd heard as he worked behind the counter in his father’s bakery were nothing compared to actually sitting there, watching the events unfold before his very eyes.

Olivia was the first to move. She held her wooden staff to the ready and pointed the weapon at the boar. She closed her eyes for just a second and then released something that made Titus' eyes bulge. He watched the bright orange ball of flames erupt from the tip of the staff and hurtle through the air towards the boar, which was still locked in a battle of strength with Benjamin and his tower shield.

The watermelon-sized fireball flew through the air and impacted the creature before it could move out of the way.

As soon as the fireball impacted its target, the boar’s skin sizzled, and a puff of black smoke wafted into the air where the spell had hit, but the boar was not done, not by a long shot. Watching the Deadlands Boar's stats, Titus saw that its health pool had dropped by just fifteen points. And it still had one hundred and fifteen points left.

"Magic," Titus exhaled in wonder. He'd never even heard about it being a real thing.

It was such an impressive attack, but it had only taken a tiny chunk of the creature's health. Titus quickly reassessed how he thought this battle was going to go because if the boar had been free to attack its opponents rather than get caught up, locked together with the young man with the tower shield, Titus wondered if they'd be able to stand up to it for even a few moments. It seemed like they had a mountain to climb, and if it managed to break free from Benjamin then they’d all be in trouble.

And then with a tearing and splintering crash, the boar ripped the tower shield from Benjamin's desperate hands and flung it aside. The heavy shield hitting the ground with a loud thud like it was in answer to Titus’ pondering.

The boar turned its attention back to its nearest opponent: the young man, who now stood unarmed and defenceless, and the creature let out a snort and then a loud squeal.

But then, as it was about to charge, something strange happened. Around its head a dark cloud quickly formed. It was almost opaque and certainly would've reduced the boar's vision to nothing.

Titus quickly scanned the arena sands to figure out what was happening, and eventually his eyes fell upon Sophia. The second of the robed women was holding her hands out at shoulder height before her, clearly casting some spell that did not require a staff to cast.

Another fireball shot across the arena sands from Olivia and impacted the creature again, though this time it had hit the creature in its head, and Titus watched as its health fell by thirty points this time. The strength of the attack must've been determined by where the creature had been hit.

Again, the tide of battle had swung in favour of the three Contestants, but it didn't mean the battle was over because a second later, the black fog surrounding the boar dissipated, and it was left able to see unimpeded again.

This time Sophia, who'd cast the dense fog didn't seem able to repeat her action, and the boar lowered its head. With its tusks pointing forward, it charged at Benjamin who was still without his shield.

Another fireball whipped across the arena, but as the boar was moving so quickly the magical attack completely missed and the creature was free to crash into the young man.

Titus heard Benjamin’s yelp of pain as the Deadlands Boar reached him head first. One of the beast's tusks had penetrated straight through his thigh, and the sheer force of the impact caused him to be thrown high into the air and back a clear ten feet. When he hit the ground, the sand puffed into the air and he let out a cry. Blood had already started pouring from his woind and caused a small but ever-expanding red pool of blood to darken the sands around him.

Titus tried to analyse Benjamin again to check on his health points but he still couldn't see it. Presumably, Benjamin had limited what others could see of his stats.

The boar readied another charge. It lowered its head again and trampled across the arena towards the young man who was still lying there moaning, unable to move after the first attack.

Titus could barely watch. This was going to be the end of Benjamin he had no doubt.

Half the distance covered. No sign of movement from Benjamin.

A few steps left to go.

Still no sign.

And then, out of nowhere, a thick wall of flames erupted from the sand just in front of Benjamin between him and the approaching creature.

The boar squealed and veered off course, and the flames disappeared a second later.

Again Olivia had amazed Titus, doing something he'd never even thought possible for the second time in as many minutes.

"It's amazing, isn't it," Petra spoke up from beside Titus for the first time. "She's really something. Focusing on fire like that, she's going to be a beast one day."

Titus nodded, his eyes still fixed on the arena. He wanted to engage in conversation with the girl, but he simply had nothing to offer that wouldn’t make him sound like he knew absolutely nothing about this place.

Eventually, he knew he had no choice but to risk it.

"Can anyone do that?" He asked.

"Well, of course anyone can learn, but would you want to? You heard what Mr Sinclair said. I bet if she gets hit even once it's going to be bad news for her. You can't be everything out there. That's why the boy there's only really good at defending, drawing focus so the others don't get hurt while they attack. I bet he's useless with a sword."

Titus wondered if he'd even need a sword if he could throw fireballs like the two girls could, but he understood the point.

His attention returned to the fight just in time to see Benjamin hobble over to his tower shield, hoist the thing into the air and shout loudly at the rampaging boar whilst bashing his fist against the wooden shield like he was some kind of enraged madman.

The boar then immediately turned and again charged at the young man.

It crossed the arena sands in a moment, getting hit by another fireball along the way though the spell did nothing to alter its path or focus.

A moment later the boar crashed into the tower shield again and somehow again, Benjamin managed to stand his ground with the boar once again getting its tusks stuck in the wood of the thing.

It was a repeat of how the fight had started and Titus watched with wide eyes as the final events of the battle played out.

Another fireball impacted the boar's head and this time it proved too much for the creature to bear.

The creature’s health points dropped to zero, and the Deadlands Boar fell to the ground, its life well and truly coming to a burnt and singed end.

Titus couldn't help but think that if any one of the three Contestants hadn't been in the fight and it had just been a two-on-one, then it very well could have been the boar who stood victorious with its enemies lying dead on the ground at its feet.