A brief intermission followed the gruesome display of mana that had happened just moments before. Surprisingly, it was that hard for the arena to rejuvenate the cracks and weathering it suffered from the battle. It was the blood that was soak-stained into the very foundations of the earthen floor. 

The crowd had gone wild during the break. Victory chants, conversations, and even mourning could be heard, although I suspect the mourning had more to do with the money lost from betting. Without even looking for it you could find people exchanging bags of coins that were known commonly as Vataries. 

*Pronounced (Va-tear-ease)*

There were 3 different forms of the coin but they all still share the same emblem, a simple V with three stars etched above it. Each coin was made of either Gold, Silver, or Bronze and each had a different meaning.

Bronze-the most common-was the least valuable of the three. For five bronze coins, you may be able to buy a loaf of bread or maybe a cool glass of water. It wasn’t until you had 50 or so coins to where you could actually buy substantial meals and basic necessities. 

One Silver Vatarie (Va-tear-e) was worth that of 100 bronze. This was the coin that was most commonly used to purchase certain commodities and to pay for bills and rent. The typical rent for an average family home was about 45 Silver Vataries.

Gold. The most valuable coin was worth 1000 Silver Vataries. This was the currency of the elite and wealthy. House Aphelion had an estimated net worth of 2,400,000 Gold Vataries. Third most in the entire Empire. 

It was fair to say I was living lavishly. 

I would make sure to do as much good with my wealth as I could. After my enemies were dealt with.

********

“Spectators of the Arena,” a familiar voice boomed and echoed, “Prepare yourselves as we begin the second matchof the Semi-Finals!”

“The winner of this match will go on to face The Witch of Ettera for a chance to become The Champion of the Gladitorial Summit Games.” 

The chants started to pick up again as two new gladiators emerged from their respective gates. 

I started to open my mouth but James already knew why, “That pretentious brat on the right is Rollo, he’s a water user, and that meathead to your left is Titus, he wields rock” 

I wonder what those two did to deserve such a brief introduction. 

“Now for the second match, we have the HONORABLE ROLLO of HIGHSTAR VALENTINE!”

A cheer rippled through the crowd, young ladies all over ogled at the gladiator before them. The better word would-be child. Rollo stood no taller than 5’4’’ and couldn’t have been any older than 15 years. He wore a tight-fitting blue suit that had silver armor protecting his vital areas. Topaz gems were engraved along his armaments and even on the back of his white gloves. 

Upon hearing his name, Rollo unsheathed what appeared to be a wand of silver. Whirling it in a circular motion, Rollo began to surf around the arena under a tidal wave of his creation. The young gladiator came to a slow stop as he relinquished the wave just meters from his opponent. 

“Against his fierce competitor, TITUS, SLAYER OF MOUNTAINS!”

HuYaHuYaHuYaHuYa. Despite the significant amount of overall support, Titus seemed to have a cult of followers throughout the stands. Ironically enough, most of them looked just like him. Bald, older, overweight, and maybe a bit drunk. The only unique thing about this man was his eloquently laced wool trousers. Aside from his pants, he was completely bare.

 Personally, it didn’t appear like this gramps was worthy of such a title. 

“He’s a little old for this isn’t he,” I asked James, ignoring the spectacle Titus was performing.

“He’s a Pitaahian.”

Seeing the look of confusion on my face James continued, “Their primes usually last up to 100 years, Titus is 96, so technically he still has a few more years left in him.”

“Oh, I see, so umm, how long do Pitaahians usually live for?”

“I don’t know if any of them have ever died from old age, they all tend to live 100 years or so, they don’t usually have the will to keep living much longer than that, most become adventures or gladiators towards the end of their primes so they get to die a warrior's death.” 

“So they throw away their lives for a warrior's death,” I questioned.

“Their ideals I guess, who am I to judge,” the quick-witted ginger replied deadpan.

“Sounds foolish to me, they would be much more useful remaining as teachers or leaders for their communities,” I countered.

“Yea… probably,” James replied with perhaps a hint of sadness.

Titus had just finished his display of destroying mountains when the announcer declared, “GLADIATORS! TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!”

The boy confidently strolled to his position while Titus sluggishly made his way.

“So why don’t you like those two,” I asked, breaking the silence.

James gazed as Titus signaled that he was ready, “Rollo, his type just annoys me, he doesn’t honor the sport,” he took a short breath before continuing, “Titus, he just reminds me of someone.”

Before I could ask what he meant my good ole friend Barkley intervened, “IN THE NAME OF THE VESTARIAN EMPIRE AND THE 7 CHANCELLORS WHO RULE HER… I, BARKLEY OF HOUSE TORANT, SANCTION THIS AN OFFICIAL GLADIATORIAL EVENT AND THEREFORE I SAY… FIGHT.” 

A torrent of mana swept throughout the ether. I somehow even felt the bloodlust oozing out of the two competitors. But where was the fight? Such tremendous mana but nothing to go with it. The gladiators were just standing there staring at each other.

Quite anti-climatic.

~Kavushhhh

Sprouts of water violently ascended from the labyrinth underneath. Through the holes in the earth, it became obvious what had occurred.

They had been fighting underneath. But how? How could you lead and counter attacks when you couldn’t even see what was going on?

A giant earthen wall was erected just in time to stop a stream of water that would have otherwise obliterated Titus. Dismantling the beaten wall, Titus left the dirt under him cracked as he began his own offensive. 

Reinforcing his body with earth, he also formed two gauntlets of solid dirt over his hands as he advanced. Adding onto his attack, he conjured a small sandstorm that hid his presence from the outside. Titus continuously began erecting a series of earthen spikes that forced the young water mage to stay on the defensive. 

The only thing Rollo had to go off of was the ever-so-quickly approaching storm of dirt that circled Titus.

I watched anxiously as Titus slowly approached Rollo. Unwavering, Rollo didn't even flinch as he continued dodging the spikes. Then I noticed something. Rollo was being trapped in a fence of fabricated earth. The ring of spikes was quickly becoming nearly impenetrable yet Rollo didn’t seem concerned. In fact, he seemed almost confident. 

The sand had reached Rollo now. If it wasn’t for a bubble of pearly water surrounding him, I would have just been staring at a barren sandstorm. 

Without panicking, Rollo dodged the spikes forming around him and made his way inwards.

‘The eye of the storm huh? I'm getting more and more impressed with this kid.’

It's a little ironic for me to be calling anyone a kid but technically I was 20 years older than him.

“QUIT YOUR DAMN GAMES AND FACE ME, PEASANT,” screamed the young mage as he stood in the eye of the storm. 

‘Peasant? This kid was definitely royalty.’ 

I heard it coming long before I saw it. Burrowing in the ground Titus was closing in on Rollo’s location, and fast. Shooting beams of water Rollo managed to dodge the brunt of the attack as Titus shot up from under the ground like a giant deathworm. 

*A deathworm is a Tier-4 monster-a much bigger version of an earthworm with razor-sharp teeth circling all around its mouth-capable of beating even entire platoons of mid-rank mages.*

“NOW WE’RE TALKING, YOU UGLY SON OF A,” Rollo’s sadistic smile came to an abrupt end when his face collided with the gauntlets of Titus. 

Leaping off a flying mound of dirt and sand Titus had effectively managed to change direction and strike Rollo who was caught completely off guard from the sudden burst of speed. ‘For an old fat man, he sure was fast.’

If I had to compare their speeds, I would say they were both relative to the speed of a lion or cheetah, maybe faster. 

Regaining his footing, Rollo wiped the trail of blood spewing from his lip before he laughed and said, “Surely you can punch harder than that.” 

Disregarding the taunt, Titus pursued his prey. In a clash of earth and water, the two continuously struck each other back and forth. Deflecting with shields of mana and using his wand to counter with slashes of short-ranged water moves Rollo began chipping away at Titus’s defenses. But by no means was this lopsided, Titus was making contact with a few of his punches, each time afflicting more and more visible pain onto Rollo. 

The younger mage began to become more and more tired as his attacks began to slow and defenses weakened. Despite Rollo’s attempts to make space, nothing was being allowed. Then Titus stopped. Or rather he couldn’t move. With tremendous effort, the Pitaahian lifted his foot in an attempt to move but instead he just quickly sank even lower.

“You didn’t think I’d actually lose to you, did you,” Rollo said with a lot more energy than he had appeared to have just moments before. 

The earth beneath Titus began shaking but it was no use. Titus was stuck in layers of mud. 

“Ironic isn’t it, an earth user about to lose to a little mud,” Rollo mocked. 

With an ear-shattering scream, Titus thrashed desperately as he depleted his mana into escaping.

“Why,” Titus asked, giving up.

“Why, What,” Rollo asked innocently. 

“Why can’t I control the mud?”

“It’s simple really, the mud’s full of my own water particles that are making each grain of dirt equivalent to the weight of a mountain.” 

“How. How can you do that?”

“Easy, I’m superior to the likes of you,” and with that simple statement, Rollo formed a massive boulder of water dozens of feet into the air.

“Yield,” suggested Rollo, though it was much more likely to be a command. 

“To you, huh,” Titus replied defiantly before he sent a bullet of spit which hit Rollo directly on his foot. 

Enraged, Rollo flicked his want down which brought the full force of the boulder crashing onto Titus.