The Ghost in the Arena

"Hey, a thought you said you wouldn't be here today?" Monroe asked, padding my shoulder.

I was wearing the ghost disguise, but this time the mask was a gray one instead of the white one I used to wear. The white one broke after one of the gladiators got lucky and landed a hit straight at the mask. I managed to hide my face quickly enough, but I had to get a new one.

"Well, I had something to do, but it was postponed till a later day," I responded while stretching my shoulder across my chest.

Today was the original date that we were going to the lake to hang out; unfortunately, a gate appeared at the lake, causing all recreational activities to be canceled. So, we have to wait until the security committee opens the lake up again. I was already aware this would happen, so I wasn't as disappointed as the rest of the group who looked forward to the lake.

"Since I have nothing planned for today, I decided to try and class up," I added.

"Oh right, one more fight, and you'll have enough points for a class up. Seriously, it's only been two weeks since you came, and already you have a 14-0 record," Monroe smiled as if reminiscing something far from the past. "But you know, you'll get a better reward if you wait."

"A better reward?" I asked curiously; since I hadn't heard of this before.

"Yeah, a lot of people don't know this, but while the class ups in the Arena are dependent on points, the more battle earned points one has before they rank up, the better benefits they get once they do rank up. Additionally, they also reward you by the number of wins against losses and the quality of those fights. Especially how many of your matches were against opponents of a higher class than yourself," Monroe explained.

"So, if I wait until, let's say, 20 victories to 0 losses and the majority of my fights are against 10th class gladiators, I get better rewards? What kind of rewards?" I asked, curiosity taking the better of me.

"Well, for the 10th Class, the rewards aren't that great, but you get a bonus in points awarded for a Class up. Since anyone who manages to Class up gets a set pay, you could get anywhere from 30% to 100% bonus for your Class. You could also get other rewards like discounts that compound when shopping for equipment or resources in the shopping center, or some random rewards like potions, elixirs, weapons, armor, or other helpful items. That's why a lot of the upper-class gladiators wait to class-up in the Arena. Until they fix their win-to-lose ratio or fight against a high-level opponent." Monroe explained.

"Is it worth it for when you enter 10th class?" I asked.

"Mmh, well no, not when entering the 10th, but it's good practice to do it because it does become worth it when you enter the 9th," Monroe answered.

"Then, never mind. I'll just class up on my next fight. It's not like I'm short on points I've made quite a bit from betting on the cast fights," I said.

I've been doing the same thing here in the Arena as I did in the card houses, betting on the fights I already know the outcome to. While I wasn't very much into following the Arena or other sports, Kevin and Chen were. They would spend hours during school or on the group chat talking about them, and while I didn't pay attention to all of them, I nonetheless memorized some.

As a result of this future information, I've been racking in points and money. Currently, I have over 10,000 spending points to use. While I only have 95 combat points in two weeks with a minimum of 4 hours a day at the Arena.

'This whole Arena thing is going much slower than I anticipated. I have only until May of next year at the latest to finish synchronization if I want to make it to April 20, 2093, with a competent mana heart. It may look like I have time since it's only June 6, 2091, but once school starts, I'll only have weekends and holidays to fight. I have to make the bulk of my progress during Summer, or I might not make it in time to stop the massacre.'

"I need to fight more competent opponents the more, the merrier," I said, making a fist.

"Mhm? If all you want to do is fight and don't care about the points, you could always head over to the Zero Zone," Monroe said, stretching his back.

"Was I talking out loud? Wait, the Zero Zone, what's that?" I asked again when it comes to the Arena; I'm a complete novice.

"The Zero Zone is a section specifically allocated to allow people who want to fight, without having to worry about their points and win/lose ratio. You can challenge whoever you want, regardless of Rank or Class, as long as they are within 3 Classes from you. For example, as an unclassed, you could challenge 8th Class gladiators if you wanted. Whether you win or lose, you lose nothing but also gain nothing; that's why it's called the Zero Zone, it's for pure combat only," Monroe said.

'He's becoming more and more normal every time I meet him. The hell happened to the lovable, annoyingly optimistic, and narcissistic goofball I knew?'

"So, call me when you get your teeth knocked in, so I 'The Unparalleled Genius' Monroe can come and save your ass," he said, roaring in laughter.

'There he is; I just had to wait.'

"That's not a bad idea. Let me win my last fight, and I'll head over; it won't hurt to check it out." I responded, ignoring his last comment.

"What makes you so sure you'll win?" Monroe asked. "I mean, you're good but not that good, at least compared to me. Hahaha!"

"I have enough mana to fight around 4 average fights; even if I meet a good fighter in my next fight, I should at minimum have enough mana to fight two good battles at the Zero Zone," I said, talking to myself.

"Hey, don't ignore me! Listen to me, damn it," Monroe complained in the background.

"What's your current ratio?" I asked, ignoring his previous statement.

"6 to 27," Monroe answered.

"So how many until you class up?" I asked.

"Well, if I get all 10th Class and win every fight, 7 since I have 35 points right now. So assuming I don't lose a single match between 7 and 13. Why?" Monroe responded.

"Why else? So I can wait for you to Class up. In the meantime, while you try to class up, I'll stay in the Zero Zone," I said.

"You'd wait for me!?" Monroe said, almost visibly crying as he jumped on me and hugged me.

'Well, I do need my Arena guide, after all. Who better than somebody whose entire family fortune and fame came from the Arena itself. Of course, I won't tell him it's just to have insider knowledge.'

While I waited for my last fight, Monroe got called to fight twice in a row, against one 10th Classed and one unclassed. He somehow managed to win both matches identically by blocking his opponent's sides, forcing them to be stuck in between two rows of molten rock. Before they could react, Monroe would throw another narrow attack forcing the opponent to take the full force of his attack. The first opponent wasn't strong enough and got knocked out. The second opponent managed to block the attack; unfortunately, she got knocked out of the ring boundary in the process.

While a simple strategy, he used the natural benefit of augmentor spells, their short casting time, to his advantage and struck before his opponents could act.

'Once he manages to alter the shape and path of his attacks to his will, he'll be a force to be reckoned with. Until then, he's getting better and better at a visible rate.'

"Fuh," Monroe let out as he sat on the floor, wiping the sweat from his brow. "It's been awhile since I had to fight two matches in a row that was a lot harder than I thought."

"Well your efficiency is still crap. You have a tremendous amount of mana, but you burn most of it up just making your spells. If you could increase your mana efficiency by 10%, you'd be able to fight 5 matches straight without rest," I said, with a hint of envy in my voice.

"Yeah, but that toilet paper thing you taught me is only making me, waste mana not control it," Monroe said, laying his back on the floor.

'You always did have trouble with it even in the future.' I thought, slightly shaking my head. 'While Monroe has incredible mana, his mind is so chaotic due to his ADHD or whatever the hell he has if he has anything at all.'

"Maybe, but you've gotten better at your mana loss. You lose a lot less energy when you want to use a spell than you did when we met only 2 weeks ago," I said as Monroe stood up and began just walking around.

Just as I was about to walk over to the convenience store embedded into the wall to buy some water and a snack bar, my card vibrated.

'Ghost. Jenn. A3'

"Cool, Follow me," Monroe said, looking over my shoulder and running off toward the designated ring.

I instead walked towards the ring and walked past the distracted Monroe up to the platform. I followed the same procedure as always and waited for my opponent. Since a gladiator can be anywhere in the building, they are given 5 minutes of leeway before they forfeit the match, counting towards their loss. So I waited and waited.

As the referee was about to call it, a girl jumped up to the ring, huffing, and puffing as she ran to the referee. Without wasting a second, she scanned her I.D card and got into position.

The match began, and the girl immediately got into a defensive position, waiting for my move, but I just stayed still. Waiting for my move, she got confused and looked behind hands at me, still only standing still.

"Catch your breath. I'm not going anywhere," I finally said to the flushed girl.

She was confused but took a step back nonetheless and took a breather, but still never taking her defense down.

'I can see it. The girl's mana is refined and pure; she should be at least 9th Rank. In addition, her mana control is incredible for her age; there's hardly any mana escaping from her body.'

My eyes behind my mask glowed a faint blue hue as I scanned her from head to toe. She was around 14; her black hair had a purple sheen to it, almost like the feathers of a crow. The girl was wearing an outfit incredibly similar to mine, but hers appeared to be the real deal, Gray combat pants and a dark gray military-style jacket over a simple gray t-shirt. Her blue eyes had an intensity to them, not of coldness but of determination.

Once she grew up, she would definitely be a beauty, and even currently, she gives Rose a run for her money.

'A military brat? How come I don't recognize her? I know I started off as NCO, but I quickly got commissioned and met the military families; I should know almost all of the Military brats around my age.

Additionally, how come she's in the Arena? The military and Adventures are always competing and disagreeing, but they both agree on their disgust of gladiators. The soldiers and adventurers see themselves as rivals, but they both use their power to help the world to fight against the Gates. Gladiators only use their power to benefit themselves for fame and glory. But they can't hate the Arena that much since good soldiers and adventures start off as gladiators, but that dislike is still prevalent.

No self-respecting military brat or adventure's blood would be found in the Arena of their own free will.'

As I finished my thought, Jenn got back into position, ready to finally start her fight. With a simple nod, we both got ready.

Immediately, Jenn started by throwing a small fireball the size of a baseball at my head and rushed in behind it. I responded by redirecting the attack with the back of my forearm covered in a medium-thick layer of ice. As soon as the fireball was out of my line of sight, Jenn appeared with a tactical knife on her right hand aimed at the exposed left shoulder. I stepped my left foot back, moving my torso out of the way, and used my already ice-covered right hand to smack her on her back. With the added force to her momentum, she stumbled a bit, trying to regain her balance. But she still managed to stop herself and pivot back to face me and slash at my torso with a flame-covered knife extending its reach, almost scorching my white jacket.

'This is what I get for not buying a weapon. Sure Jason, don't buy a weapon; you need to challenge yourself. If I need a weapon, I'll take one, I told myself,' I berated myself as I dodge strike after slash after strike.

'She's good. Her mana control is incredible; she can extend and retract the flame edge, as well as its width. Her footwork is not bad at all; although lacking in experience, she makes up with talent.' I thought, once again dodging a knife thrust.

Following the thrust, she pivoted and followed up with a turning kick. I expanded the ice bracer into a full shield, and as her flaming kick landed, I used the ice to lock her leg, allowing me to strike her with an open palm to the sternum. Jenn stumbled back, having the wind knocked out of her. I followed with a fire fist attack, where I created a small fireball just in front of my fist and used them to aim and fire the explosive spells.

'I can't use Monroe's version publicly until he does. Until then, I'm stuck using the standard spell variations.'

Not resting for a moment, Jenn regained her footing and enveloped her body and her immediate surroundings in a dark cloak, disappearing within the void.

'If I can't see her, I can't aim at her. Clever girl. And since she's covering herself in mana, I can't use mana vision to try and find her. It would be like using night-vision goggles on a bright sunny day.'

The fireballs would pass unfettered through the dark mist. Since Fire Fist wasn't being practical, it would just be a waste of mana to continue. I stopped the spell and prepared myself.

"You're not going to continue?" A sweet voice came from the void.

"What for? It would just be a waste of mana," I responded.

"Who are you? How come you also fight using the army's hand-to-hand techniques? I'm pretty sure I know all the military brats in Athens, and I don't know anyone who fights like you." Jenn said as the cloak disappeared, and she reappeared, holding her knife in a reverse grip.