Colosseum's Fight (2)

Jagu, with his massive body made of natural stone, began rampaging through all the gladiators, minotaurs, and centurions.

The team members watched in awe and disbelief. 

With his claws, Jagu struck down a centurion and then tore through its abdomen.

A minotaur that attempted to strike Jagu's snout was easily bitten by him.

The gladiators who tried to slash Jagu's legs were flung away by the swipe of his tail.

However, suddenly from the door leading into the maze below the arena, several more minotaurs and centurions came running. And there were quite a few of them.

All the team members held their breaths as they watched the minotaurs and centurions attacking Jagu.

Ash gritted his teeth and then stood tall.

He channeled his magical energy and concentrated. Suddenly, a blue glowing circle appeared on his forehead.

"Liberare animae et corpus ex folio!"

He shouted his spell loudly, and the blue glow on his forehead shone even brighter.

Suddenly, a blue smoke emerged from the circle, forming to be a giant spider in the middle of the arena, standing still and watching Jagu as he fought against his enemies.

"Praecipio vobis, hostes nostros impetum facere!"

Ash shouted again, and the giant spider began to move and attack the minotaurs and centurions.

The arena turned into chaos. Jagu and the giant spider ferociously took down the minotaurs and centurions.

Ash's teammates watched the scene before them with their jaws dropped and eyes wide open. They had expected to be babysitting their leader's nephew, but instead, it was they who were being saved by this young boy.

Ash gritted his teeth again and focused his attention on the minotaurs and centurions. Then he cast his spell again,

"Vinculum animae et corpus in folio!"

The eyes of the team members widened even more as they saw some of the surviving minotaurs and centurions suddenly transform into blue smoke and enter the circle on Ash's forehead.

Ash smirked and commanded Jagu and Spidy, the newly named giant spider, to finish off the remaining gladiators, minotaurs, and centurions.

Within minutes, the battle was over.

Spidy returned into the circle on Ash's forehead after he cast his spell.

The blue circle on Ash's forehead vanished, and Ash fell to his knees, feeling extremely weak.

He called up the system and checked his stats. It turned out that his magic stat had dropped to almost zero.

Gabriel ran over to the kneeling Ash and caught him.

"Ash! Are you okay?" he shouted.

Ash weakly shook his head and said, "I'm just exhausted."

Gabriel hurriedly opened his Inventory and pulled out a bottle with a light blue liquid, then handed it to Ash.

"Here, drink this. You're nearly out of magic stat," he said.

Ash took the bottle from Gabriel's hand, removed the cap, and gulped down the liquid in several swigs.

Instantly, his body felt refreshed.

"Ahh, thank you so much, Gabriel," he said gratefully.

"Oh no, we should all be thanking you. Without you, we might all be dead," Gabriel replied.

The other team members, including the now-recovered Liliana, approached Ash and expressed their gratitude.

"It's fine. No need to thank me," Ash said with an embarrassed expression, as the team members surrounded him, expressing their joy.

"We've never seen a player with skills like yours," Yuki said, followed by the others' agreement.

"Haha, come on, we need to find the item," Ash said, scratching his nose, which wasn't itchy. He felt truly awkward with all the praise.

All the team members quickly remembered their task of finding the item, and with joyful laughter, they began their search.

Ash followed Gabriel, who was also followed by Jagu, as they entered the door leading below the arena.

Unbeknownst to the still-awkward Ash, Liliana continued to watch him with a meaningful gaze.

Suddenly, a loud noise was heard, and stones fell from the walls of the Colosseum.

Ash and Gabriel immediately drew their weapons and turned around.

They saw Jagu's face inside the room, but his large body was still outside the door. It turned out the loud noise came from Jagu forcing his way through the entrance.

Ash and Gabriel exchanged glances and laughed. Ash approached Jagu, who was whimpering softly, and gently stroked his face.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot," Ash said with a laugh, then gave a mental command for Jagu to return to his smaller form.

Jagu circled around Ash's legs happily. Ash laughed and continued walking into the underground maze with Gabriel.

The items they were searching for were Titan's Bracers, the Legendary Shield, and the Oracle's Pendant.

Titan's Bracers were special bracers that gave the wearer incredible strength, allowing them to perform powerful actions beyond human capabilities. Legendary Shield was a shield with magical protection, and Oracle's Pendant was a pendant with ability to foresee future events.

All the team members spread out across the Colosseum to search for the three items.

Gabriel, who was tasked with searching alongside Ash, informed him that teams like theirs were specifically assigned to find items or to go into battle against other player groups.

These tasks were not mandatory, so anyone willing to join the team could do so with the support of the entire population and also John.

The residents simply register their quests at the Town Hall, and the Sassi Hunters, as they are called, will find the items for them, no matter where they are.

With Gabriel's explanation, Ash finally understood why the residents of Sassi appeared happy and cheerful. They no longer feared an early death because the Sassi Hunters were there to protect them and helped them in fulfilling the quests, and they could level up without too much difficulty.

"But what's in it for you? You're risking your lives for them?" Ash asked curiously, while carrying a torch.

Gabriel replied, "We get everything for our families. There is no shortage for them."

"Do you have a family?" Ash asked in surprise. "Oh, sorry, that's a rude question."

"Hahahaha, it's okay. You might already know my mother. She owns the only inn in Sassi."