The old man wasn't ordinary. Usually, if someone had an extremely high level, the system would mark them with '????'. But this old man had no information hovering above his head. Yet, Arthur could feel the power, the aura radiating from him.
"Hello?" Arthur said.
The old man was seated in the corner of the cell. As soon as he saw Arthur, he stood up and moved close to him.
"You finally arrived," the old man said, smiling and revealing his rotten teeth. "Why did it take you so long?"
Arthur stepped back. This man reeked, and he was terrifying. Anyone with a sound mind would be afraid of this old man.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Arthur replied. "I ended up here by mistake."
"Mistake?" the old man started laughing maniacally. "Who do you think I am?"
Arthur's mind raced, trying to find an answer to the old man's question, but he wasn't sure.
"If all of this is part of the test, then maybe this old man is part of the test too?" he thought.
He looked at the old man and said, "The Sovereign who wrote that letter to me? Or maybe... the primordial serpent itself?"
The idea crossed his mind. What if this old man was actually a fragment of the serpent, here to guide him through the test?
The old man smiled, satisfied with Arthur's response.
"You're right. I am the Sovereign who left you the letter. Well, actually, I'm a small fragment of my soul. And as for my appearance, I chose the bizarre appearance of my former master."
"You're here to help me then?"
Arthur felt a spark of hope. If a piece of the Sovereign's soul was there and wanted to help him, maybe he would get the help he needed.
The old man seemed to understand what Arthur was thinking and quickly dashed his hopes.
"I won't help you now, only after you pass the test. You're going to enter their coliseum, and if you lose any fight, they'll sacrifice you alive in the name of the serpent," the old man explained.
A chill ran down Arthur's spine.
"What? Sacrificed? What kind of bullshit is this?" Arthur asked.
This small village didn't seem as normal as it first appeared.
"If you pass the test, I'll explain everything. Remember, I'm here to help you receive the mark, but I can't interfere with the primordial serpent's test."
At that moment, the fragment of the Sovereign's soul would be of no help to Arthur. The only thing he could do was sit and wait.
He didn't have to wait long.
After about an hour, the priestess returned to his cell, flanked by guards. She stopped in front of him and spoke.
"We have decided to give you a chance to walk out of here alive. The Serpent God contacted me and vouched for this opportunity. However, to earn it, you must enter the coliseum and fight for your life. Are you ready?"
Arthur nodded. "Yes, I am."
The guards swung the door open and hauled him out. The old man was standing silently in the corner of the cell. The priestess glanced at him.
"Old timer, want to come and watch? You've been rotting in here so long, I figured you deserve a chance to see something entertaining."
The old man knelt before the priestess, bowing his head in gratitude for the invitation. He was handcuffed and escorted out alongside Arthur, heading toward the exterior of the temple.
During that hour Arthur had spent locked away, the villagers had constructed a makeshift arena in the center of the village. This was where the bloodshed would take place.
As soon as they arrived, Arthur saw the villagers waiting anxiously. They were thirsty for blood. They craved death. He also noticed a significantly larger number of guards surrounding the area.
"It's going to be hard to escape with this many guards," Arthur thought.
But escaping wasn't the answer anyway. He needed to pass the test.
The guards shoved Arthur into the center of the arena, his hands still bound. The priestess stepped forward to address the crowd.
"The Serpent God came to me and commanded me to give this poor soul a chance. And so, we shall have fights to the death!"
The crowd went wild at the proclamation. Cheers echoed from every corner, and some people even jumped with joy.
"The battles will be between our prisoners," the priestess announced. "The winner shall earn their freedom. Let the games begin!"
They removed Arthur's handcuffs. Other prisoners emerged from the same dungeon he had been in moments ago. From the group, one stepped forward to face Arthur.
The man was thin and filthy, with visible injuries marring his body. The level floating above his head was 7, higher than Arthur's own. However, it was clear the prisoner wasn't operating at peak power given his weakened physical state.
"I need to distribute my points," Arthur thought. "It's now or never."
He decided to dump all 10 points he had available into Strength and Agility.
After the distribution, his new attributes looked like this:
[Name: Arthur Roberts]
[Class: Soulbound Sovereign (SSS)]
[Level: 3]
[Attributes:]
[Strength: 8]
[Agility: 11]
[Endurance: 2]
[Intelligence: 1]
[Spirit: 8]
[Charm: 2]
It was an increase of 5 points in Strength and 5 in Agility. He felt a power course through his whole body. Intoxicating.
Arthur chose those stats for a simple reason: the fights in this arena would be hand-to-hand—punches and kicks. Pumping points into Strength and Agility seemed like the best call for the moment.
His Endurance was still low, but Arthur felt confident because of his Agility. It had been his highest attribute since level 1, suggesting his class was geared toward speed, so having even more agility was nice.
Arthur looked ahead, staring at the prisoner who would face him.
The prisoner looked starved for blood, like a wild beast that had finally cornered its prey. Arthur knew the man would do anything to win this fight; after all, this was his only chance to escape this hellhole.
But Arthur would hold nothing back either. He needed to pass the test.
On top of that, the system had just given him a massive boost of motivation.
[New Quest Acquired]
[Win the fight in the arena]
[Reward: 1 Level]
The reward was simply too good to pass up.