The Arena

"If you wish to register into the Arena as a Gladiator, fill out this form. The application fee is 50 Aquila, while the registration fee is an additional 100 Coin," a 20 something man with brown hair and glasses said, wearing a fake smile.

"I understand," I said as my voice was muffled from the mask. I reached out my left wrist and swiped it over a small box on the counter. With a ping, the screen showed a green checkmark with the amount underneath it. Once I checked it was the right amount, I clicked the checkmark and approved the transfer.

The clerk gave me a clipboard with five pages, all filled with questions, blanks, or legal information. I sat at the waiting area in front of the front desk and skimmed over the pages. Once I memorized all legal information, I supplied only the relevant information. Less than five minutes later, I returned to the clerk and turned it in.

As the clerk flipped through it, he said, "Umm, you need to fill out your age, address, mark type, and affinity, if you have one. In addition, we're gonna need your real name."

"No, you don't. Dr.Joseph Crane said, 'The Arena will welcome anyone, regardless of them being marked or not. Regardless of age, religion, sex, sexuality, race, or ethnicity. The Arena is a place of growth and possibility; it will not be denied to those who choose to improve themselves.' If I remember correctly. Additionally, he was the founder of the Arena and is currently the CEO, is he not?" I said, my expressions hidden behind the featureless white mask.

"Well, yes, But..." the clerk began to say but stopped.

"But, what?" I echoed.

"No, it's okay. Just let me put the information into the system, give me a minute," the clerk said as he started typing the data into his computer.

In the meanwhile, I glanced around the lobby to distract myself. The entryway was gigantic and open, with hundreds of people of all ages walking around.

Some people were wearing traditional fantasy styles like full plate armor, chainmail armor, and wizard robes. Others were wearing their own unique styles, some for fashion, others for function, and some wore almost nothing at all.

'Bikini armor, how ridiculous,' I couldn't help thinking.

Here there were few rules regarding clothing, as some people's magic depended on their skin exposure for one reason or another. It was not uncommon for some to end up 'accidentally' fighting naked for an advantage.

Admittedly, those strategies only worked in the Arena; in the Gates, the Otherworlders couldn't give a crap how much skin you expose; they would rip one to shreds, just given an opportunity.

The other people found in the Arena were civilians, who came to see the fights, or teenagers who came to see the half-nude gladiators.

"There we go, Mr. Ghost?" the clerk said, looking up from the screen handing me a small card.

"Ghost?" I repeated.

"Well, we have to call you something. Since you didn't give any stage name, I took the liberty of choosing one. Should I change it?" the clerk asked.

"No, that's fine," I responded.

"Since this is your first time registering, here is the basic information you're going to need," he said, handing me a small chip, "Ghost, Unclassed, Mark Unidentifiable, Unknown affinity. Is that correct?"

"Yes," I responded.

With that conversation over, he handed me a small copper-plated badge and bid me farewell. I headed deeper into the Arena; on my way there, I placed the chip on Moxby, and a holographic pamphlet popped up.

The information was divided into 4 groups, Arena rules, Benefits provided, Basic terminology, Class Advancement Rules.

The Arena rules were a joke; basically, just don't kill. All others were simple pleasantries and behavior recommendations. The benefits provided were the additional services they gave, gyms, spas, physical training, combat training, and a 5% discount at the Arena stores.

----

Basic terminology:

Mana Affinity refers to the elemental affinity provided by the Mark to the user. Mana is divided into 8 base elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Darkness, Time, and Space. Mana Affinity can be divided into Elementalist, Affinity, Affiliate, and No-affinity; in decreasing elemental connection.

Mark Type refers to the 5 unique shapes that can be present on a Mark. A circle, triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon.

A circle represents Summoners, those whose magic specializes in summoning creatures, beasts, monsters, or tame wild creatures to fight.

Primary occupation: Tamers

A triangle represents Emitters, those whose magic specializes in enhancing or boosting the abilities or properties of organic material temporarily or permanently. Primary Occupation: Healers.

A square represents Enchanters, those whose magic specializes in enhancing or boosting the abilities or properties of inorganic material temporarily or permanently. Primary occupation: Crafter.

A pentagon represents Conjurers, those whose magic specializes in manipulating magic and mana in the environment to enhance or alter. Primary occupation: Wizard.

A hexagon represents Augmentors, those whose magic specializes in manipulation magic and mana within one's own body to enhance or alter.

Primary occupation: Warrior.

A Mark can come in many unique patterns, colors, and styles. When only one type is present, one is called Pure Marked. When two types of shapes are present, one is called Hybrid Marked.

Power system:

Rank refers to the state of a person's Mark level. At the moment of a Mark awakening, 10 hollow four-point Stars appear below the Mark type. As a Mark one grows more powerful and more efficient in their magic and mana usage, a Star becomes more opaque until it becomes solid. Once a Star reaches full opacity, a rank-up is achieved. The Rank is commonly referred to as the potential of a Mark one. Ranks go in decreasing order from Rank 10 being the lowest to Rank 1 being the highest.

Class refers to the skills, experience, and ability of a person. The Class is independent of Rank. While Rank is called the potential, Class is the actual capability of the person. Rank notwithstanding; a higher Class user will be better than a lower Class user. Class goes in decreasing order from 10th Class being the weakest to 1st Class being the strongest.

Grade is similar to Class, except where Class is independent, Grade is dependent on the Rank of an individual. The Grade goes from ascending order from Grade 1 being the weakest within the Rank to Grade 10 being the Strongest within the Rank.

----

'Hmm, they are not wrong but also not entirely correct, either. There's a lot this time period doesn't know yet.'

Just as I was about to continue to read the Class advancement rules, I Arrive at my destination.

I could only stare in both awe and disappointment; since I'm unclassed, I had to come to the lowest grade ring arena. The room was gigantic, with well over 50 individual square rings filling up the floor; while there were a few feet between each platform, there were people packed in, waiting and watching.

'Damn, with so many people, it'll take ages for even one fight. I should have known that they are gonna be filled this time of year.'

The reason why I came to the Arena wasn't just to punch people in the face with justification; it was because fighting was one of the most effective ways to accelerate the growth and synchronization of a Mark.

In defeat, I headed towards the wall where a dozen consoles and screens were laid out off the wall and placed my Arena card I.D. on the device. The screen then showed my info, points, and other information like past fights, etc. Since I had fought no one, it was all blank; I then clicked on one of the tabs on the side label 'Fight Selector.'

According to the pamphlet, there were three forms of fights and three forms on how to get to fight. One versus One. Team versus Team. Group versus Group. The three ways to get to fight were the duel, challenge, and randomization.

Duel consists of two parties or individuals agreeing to fight and officially duel each other. Their contract is then placed in the system and allowed to fight once a ring becomes open.

Challenge is when a person claims Ownership of a ring and fights the person they challenge or challenge them. Ownership is declared when a person wins 5 fights in a row while refusing to leave the ring. As long as they remain undefeated on that ring, they own it.

Randomization is when a person places their name into the system and the system, as the name suggests, randomly pits you against a random opponent.

One advances Classes by a point system; after one reaches a specific number, they move to the next Class. The system is a reward/punishment system; you earn points for each victory and lose points for each defeat. In a draw, you neither lose nor earn points. How many points one receives depends on the Class one is in and their opponent's Class.

In my case, I earn 5 points for every person who is unclassed, 10 points for someone in 10th Class; since the highest here is only 10th Class, those are the highest points I can obtain per match. In order to enter the 10th Class, I need 100 points.

The fastest way to class up would be to challenge and obtain the Ownership of a ring; as I am now, I would not be able to fight more than 3 fights in a row. My Mark is too weak and currently produces an insignificant amount of mana relative to a regular 10th Rank Mark. While I have my techniques and skills from the future to use my mana more efficiently, they are not miracle workers.

Dueling is mainly done between parties familiar with each other. Dueling is seldom done between strangers, so that's out of the question.

That only leaves me with a random chance; I clicked the randomize button and logged out. I then returned to the edge of the ring perimeter and stared at the screens on the ceiling showing the fights across the room. Additionally, it also announced the next fights to take place on what ring. That was mainly for the audience. As the gladiators were informed when and where they fight via their Arena I.D.

While I waited, I observed the other fights; I could only say they were boring since most of them were novices and rookies, just starting to learn how to fight. There were one or two who knew what they were doing, but their opponents didn't. As a result, the fights ended quickly.

"Hmm? That technique. What's it doing here?" I subconsciously said out loud.

A young boy around 13 or 14 wearing a hoodie and gym shorts was fighting a girl around 16 wearing all black using throwing knives; they seem to be evenly matched. The boy's foot glowed red as the air around it shivered from the heat, then he stomped the ground as hard as he could, causing the flame to leave his foot and traveled across the floor towards the girl. The attack was too slow and clunky for the assassin girl, as she easily dodged it, but like everyone who witnessed the attack, was stupefied.

The boy was able to transform an augmentor spell into a conjurer spell in one move; although inefficient, it should not be possible at this time. Even if someone had a hexagon and pentagon as their Mark, they should only be capable of casting one type of spell at a time.

'Haha, is it him? I didn't think I was going to find him here or this early.'

The girl quickly recovered from her shock and ran up to the boy and kicked him straight on the chest, sending him flying out of the ring. He had used so much of his mana he suffered temporary paralysis due to the backlash.

"Victory to Aila Sherwood, 22 victories and 9 losses. Defeat to Monroe Tennyson, 0 victories and 25 losses," The referee announced.

'It really is him. What the hell is he doing here in Athens?' I thought to myself.

Not standing still, I walked over to where he had landed, which was behind me. When I got there, he was still on the ground, breathing heavily. I stood there in a second of hesitation and said nothing, just looked at him. 'He really is younger than I remember.'

"What? You, coming over to laugh at me too? The failure of the Tennyson family," Monroe said with a pain-filled expression on his face.

'Failure? Ha! You? A failure?' I almost laughed out loud.

"No, I was looking at the genius who got so close to the impossible today," I said as genuinely as I could. I wasn't faking it but trying to exaggerate it.

"Genius!? If I was a genius, I would have perfected it already; instead, I'm almost 15 and can only cast one spell. An incomplete one at that!" Monroe said, covering his eyes with his forearm.

"Alright, then. You're a fool," I said in a monotone voice.

'His personality doesn't change much, huh?'

"What? Who's a fool? How can you call me a genius in one sentence and a fool in the other?" Monroe almost yelled, and he stood up and put his face close to mine.

"You just said you were a fool yourself," I calmly replied.

"You aren't supposed to agree with me. Call me a genius again!" Monroe said, almost pleading with me to praise him again.

"You are a genius, but you're also a fool," I said back.

"What? Who the hell are you anyways?" Monroe asked as he took a step back as he scanned me from head to toe.

"I'm the fool who's gonna help you complete that spell of yours," I replied.

"It's impossible to complete. You said it yourself," Monroe said as he shook the dirt off his shorts, dismissing my statement.

"It's only impossible until someone makes it possible," I said, looking straight into his eyes from behind the mask.

Monroe stood still, for a moment contemplating my word. After a few seconds of internal conflict, as he shook his head from side to side, he spoke, "I'm Monroe, you?"

"Call me, Ghost," I answered.

"Seriously, you're going with Ghost?" he said as he looked suspicious at me.

"Once we complete this spell, I'll be an invisible partner. So Ghost fits," I responded simply and to the point.

He stood there, and after a second extended his hand, I then extended mine and shook his hand.

'Monroe Tennyson, The Hero of the Flame, we meet again.'