[Somewhere in one of the arena's corridors]
Bam. The sound of a punch could be heard echoing through one of the arena's corridors.
"Damn it, this is humiliating!" Golias exclaimed, still irritated by his earlier encounter with Demian.
"If he weren't a mage, I would have crushed that little bastard—and all of this just because of that useless guy," Golias said.
"And this hurts like hell… it must be broken." At that moment, a purple bruise could be seen on Golias's stomach, probably caused by Demian's blow.
Bam. Golias struck the wall once more. "Fights to the death are only allowed if requested by the sponsors, so I can't get revenge on that guy—and I don't think I could beat him either."
"Damn it, I can't even get revenge," he muttered. "But I guess I can at least relieve some stress by beating up that useless guy."
Golias broke into a malicious smile. "I'd better go talk to Miss Mira."
...
[Cafeteria]
"So, this is the cafeteria," Alan said, stretching his arm forward.
The Colosseum's cafeteria was an incredibly large area, filled with several long tables and chairs. At that time of day, the place was packed with people eating everywhere.
"You seem to eat very well, considering the kind of place we're in," Demian said.
"True, right? But that's all thanks to Miss Mira."
"What do you mean?"
"Miss Mira only became the director of this place six years ago. Before that, this place was very different."
As Alan began to speak, Demian noticed that people were staring at them.
"You know, in an environment like this, people usually fight—even outside the arena."
"From what I've heard, it really was like that before Miss Mira arrived. But when she took over, she banned all kinds of violence outside the arena. She even managed to establish two types of fights in the arena now."
"One type is fights to the death, which are organized by her or requested by the sponsors. The other type is just a fight until there's a winner."
"Normally, this second type of fight happens quite often."
"If she banned all kinds of violence, then what was that earlier?"
"Well, that…" Alan scratched his head.
"It's because, technically, I should be able to use magic, but I can't even use my mana."
"I see. So that's why those people are staring at us," Demian said, pointing at everyone around them.
"Yes."
"I understand. Then how about you continue showing me the rest of the Colosseum?"
Alan gave a sincere smile. "Sure."
...
[Mira's Room]
Mira was pouring some wine into a glass, but she was facing a serious dilemma.
"Which should I drink, white wine or dry wine?" Mira asked, wearing a thoughtful expression.
She kept switching between one bottle and the other until she suddenly had an idea.
"What if I mix the two? It should be good, right?"
And that was the brilliant idea of someone who was called a genius.
Mira then picked up a wine glass and poured a little of each wine into it, then gently swirled the liquid.
Just as she was about to drink, a knocking sound was heard at the door.
Knock, knock.
A hint of irritation could be seen on Mira's forehead.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Miss Mira," Golias said from the other side of the door.
"Golias? So it was you. You may come in."
After hearing the permission to enter, Golias stepped into Mira's room. At that moment, she was sitting on the sofa, with the two bottles of wine in front of her.
Looking at Mira, Golias coughed and prepared to speak, but before he could say anything, Mira spoke first.
"So then, Golias, what do you want that made you interrupt me at a very important moment?"
Noticing that Mira was irritated, Golias quickly knelt down. What he didn't know was that the reason for her irritation was something quite trivial.
"I'm very sorry, Miss Mira. If I had known you were busy, I would have come at another time."
"Just forget it. Say what you want so I can get back to what I was doing."
My lack of drinking wine is already killing me, she thought.
Golias then continued.
"Miss Mira, I would like to propose a challenge to someone."
Mira looked at Golias with curiosity.
"Really? You? You never look for challenges, since you're always saying you're the strongest in the arena."
"This time, I have a personal reason for it."
Mira looked at Golias with interest and asked,
"Who is the challenge for?"
"I want to arrange a fight between me and Alan."
"Alan? The one who's supposed to be able to use magic?"
"Yes, that's him," Golias affirmed.
Hearing that, Mira only grew more curious about the reason, but she decided to set her curiosity aside.
"Very well. I'll announce the challenge later. You may leave now," Mira said, waving her hand as if dismissing him.
"Thank you very much, Miss Mira."
Golias then stood up and left Mira's room.
After Golias left, Mira waited a moment before finally turning her gaze to the wine glass, her eyes shining. She picked it up with one hand.
"Come to me, my precious."
Mira then took a sip of the wine, and at that very moment her face turned green, then purple. She quickly ran to the bathroom in her room, reached the toilet, and threw up everything she had drunk before and now.
"What a horrible taste. Now I know I should never mix wines of different types."
.....
[ Somewhere in a corridor of the arena ]
"Now that I think about it, I don't think there's much to show you besides the cafeteria," Alan said, scratching the back of his neck.
"Don't worry, Alan. Just seeing the place is enough for me."
"I can already tell there's no apparent exit around here. It's likely the exit is near Mira."
"Alan, where does Mira usually stay?"
"Miss Mira usually stays in her room. Why do you ask?"
"Just curiosity, nothing more."
"I'm curious, Alan. How did you end up in this place?"
"Well, that was because—"
Before Alan could continue, the sound of an alarm echoed throughout the entire arena.
"Attention, everyone. This is your hostess, Mira. I hope you can hear me clearly."
"This is the same thing as when she announced my fight," Demian thought.
"So, everyone, I'm here to announce a challenge, and as you all know, challenges cannot be refused."
At that moment, everyone in the arena was paying attention to Mira's announcement, waiting to see who would fight.
At the same time, Alan had his hands clasped together, praying it wouldn't be him.
"So, the fighters for this challenge will be…"
"Alan and Golias."
Silence. Only silence could be heard at that moment, because Alan's breathing had stopped, and not even his heartbeat could be heard.
Demian looked at Alan, who was frozen, and asked,
"Are you okay?"
And the only thing that came out of Alan's mouth was,
"I'm screwed!"