"Jashua, I can't put the whole plan in danger. I won't be around here for a while, meanwhile, you go check out the place they call the Blood Arena!"
Completing her words, Nora spun like lightning on her one foot and jumped from the middle of the structure towards the depths of the valley.
"At your command!"
The Young Count bowed his head towards the direction Nora jumped; he had just turned his back and was proceeding towards the door when a voice echoed inside his head.
"There is no need for you to hold back!"
Together with the crooked smile settling on Count Jashua's face possessing harsh facial features, his steps accelerated too. He went out shattering the door leaning against the wall in a state about to collapse with a single punch. Now he started running; no he wasn't running, he was literally flying.
There was one more person really flying together with him; Nora, gliding down the steep slope with every step, was dealing with the thoughts in her mind while passing through the fog clouds.
"How long can you restrain a wild creature? Until I find a way to fix my outward appearance, I can allow Jashua to draw attention to himself, after all, he is the first Blood Prince coming after the Blood Princess Mora."
When Nora, drowning in thoughts, opened her eyes, she saw she was in a place she had come to before; her steps had brought her to the small lake she took her water from.
While the noon sun hit the clear waters and the magnificent green painting around it, Nora saw her reflection in the water. One side of her face belonged to a world-beautiful human, the other side had a much more familiar shape Nora saw for years; green and wild.
The Blood God didn't wait; leaving herself to the waters, she swam towards the bottom of the lake with all her strength. Her target was clear, she was going towards the rock she marked beforehand.
With every stroke she was getting one step closer to her target, then there was no need for her to do anything anymore. A power coming from the stone whose surface was like a mirror wrapped around her and started pulling her towards itself.
A vortex started forming on the surface of the stone; before this happened, Nora saw her own reflection on the mirror-like surface. A half-human, half-orc face.
Three breaths later, Nora's entire body entered inside the stone and disappeared. What remained were the swaying flowers of the lotus leaves whose places the fluctuations on the surface of the water changed.
No one was aware of these happening, but hundreds of eyes were watching Count Jashua's entrance to the place named Blood Arena.
The Young Count was wearing his head-to-toe black clothes identifying with himself; although he wiped the blood on his face and hand, a slight red color could still be perceived from his skin.
The Blood Arena was a battleground tens of meters below ground level, possessing tribunes consisting of steep steps around it. The stairs starting from exactly where the battleground possessing a solid black floor ended had risen with the steepest angle possible.
The steps following each other with wide intervals looked as if they were made of ordinary stones; the presence of traces engraved on them and obviously remaining from previous wars attracted attention.
According to the information on the stone Nora took from the man who was the Library Guard, this place was where the trade among disciples was experienced most intensely. This was the only place where disciples could fight freely inside the Holy Blood Sect, and everything from betting to mutual exchange was determined according to the results of the fights.
The strong had a say everywhere, but a few simple rules had been put in order to prevent domination.
First, killing was forbidden; this rule might look like it doesn't suit the Holy Blood Sect, but the truth of the matter wasn't quite like that. Injuring your opponent as heavily as you wanted was free, and in such a wild environment, the stopping of cultivation meant falling into situations worse than dying.
The second rule, you had to fight until coming to a state unable to fight; giving up and running away when understanding one would be defeated wasn't even within possibility. This meant this, once entering the Blood Arena, coming out was up to either your power or the opponent's mercy.
The last rule said a person could participate in a maximum of ten fights. This board had spoken to prevent overly strong disciples from taking the arena under their own monopoly, but anyway, thanks to the arrogance brought by power, most old disciples only contented themselves with watching the fights.
When Count Jashua came and sat in his place, a fight was continuing inside the Blood Arena; it was the match of the young girl swinging the whip in her hand and the short youth moving his two short swords in his hands with circular movements.
"This business will end here today!"
The girl cracking her whip couldn't hide the rancor in her eyes; unlike her, the short male across her didn't seem to feel the need to hide his grin.
"Yes, it will end and as a result you will be mine. Otherwise I will continue to do my best to hinder your cultivation!"
Count Jashua sat in the fourth row; generally, people were sitting in this row and the steps behind it. A very small number of people were watching the fights from the first three steps; especially in the first step, there was no one.
The Young Count examining the surroundings couldn't see any protection shield; thereupon he understood why people sat in the fourth row. The Holy Blood Sect hadn't taken any precautions for the spectator rows of the Blood Arena. Whether you were fighting or a spectator, you had to ensure your own security yourself.
After the fight started, getting up from his place, Count Jashua went down to the third row; this movement of his didn't escape the curious eyes in the area, the short young boy trying to corner the young girl with his two short swords was included in these too.
"Take this!"
A purple energy wave started accumulating in the sharp parts of his swords he crossed above his head, then shouting, the short boy released these. Even the air coming out of his hook-shaped nose had taken on a purple color; as for the address of the attack, it was the young girl who had just pulled her whip to herself.
With an agile movement, the nice-looking girl jumped to the side; she had escaped from the attack proceeding in the shape of a cross, but the purple-colored energy was continuing its journey. Its destination looked like the third row; it was about to hit one of the few disciples standing here.
In response to the attack coming in front of his eyes, Count Jashua grunted tilting his head slightly to the left. At that moment, a part of the cross-shaped attack dispersed. As for the part that didn't disperse, it hit the stone floor on the side the Young Count emptied by dodging; a trace four fingers wide formed in the place it hit.
"Ha, ha, ha! The Blood Arena is pregnant with all kinds of accidents, be careful friend!"
The words smelling strongly of condescension came from the ten-person group sitting on the right side of the large-built young man; it was obvious these types, all dressed in identically purple color, had a relation with the short man fighting inside.
Turning his head in that direction, Count Jashua looked at all their faces for a while as if he was struggling to engrave them in his memory. While all this was happening, the struggle in the battleground was about to reach its conclusion too; the beautiful girl, on whose leather armor more than one cut formed, had collapsed on her knees, as for the short and hook-nosed type, he was standing at her head.
"This is my last warning to you, either you come with your own feet tonight and warm my bed or your days here come to an end!"
The fight was over and the young boy, taking his short swords to his two sides, was watching the beautiful girl laughing with guffaws. Actually, this couldn't be called watching, he was forcefully possessing her using his eyes.
"Damn you, without those behind you, you are a nobody! You hide in the shadow of your elders coming from the same clan and bully, you dishonorable!"
The young girl shouted as if her lungs would tear off; despite this, the attitude of the short boy didn't change.
"So what if I am doing that, I am seizing what I want! I cut all your resources, hindered your cultivation opportunities, but no one came out and could utter a single word against this. If there is anyone with courage, let them come out and stop me. I am waiting for him right here, is there such a brave young man?"