“What is a pipsqueak doing here?” Malaya glanced up to see a tall bulky beast folk standing in front of a skinny and small boy. He had the mane of a lion. Obviously, he was a lion beast folk. He was only dressed in a Doric tunic with a loincloth to cover his lower part. He was carrying a long, massive sword on his back.

The boy took a few steps back. He only wore plain greyed clothes and had messy dark brown hair. If it weren’t for the long rake he was clutching, he could be mistaken for a beggar. The said boy appeared to be her age or much nearer. Malaya wasn’t sure of what kind of beast he was due to the two small horns on his head. He could be a goat, reindeer, or something with a horn. The boy’s orange eyes tried their best to glare at the predator in front of him.

“That’s Algero from the Lion Tribe!” Malaya heard whispers in the background..

“Sh-shut up!” The boy yelled, his voice trembling. “Not because you’re big, I’ll be afraid of you.” The youngster attempted to reason with himself. But his hands trembled too as he held the rake.

‘He’s putting forth a lot of effort.” Malaya’s attention was drawn to his rake. ‘And he’s not even wielding a proper weapon? Is he just seeking a death wish?’ Malaya just shifted her gaze away from the boy. ‘I can see how this is going to end. Right now, he’d be crushed here even before the start of the tournament.’

“What exactly are you doing here?” The beast folk grabbed the rake of the kid. “Are you going to farm here?” Having stated that, the individuals observing the event laughed at the bulky beast folk’s remarks.

‘Well, even if I try not to watch it, I can’t help but see it since it’s occurring only a few meters away from me.’

The youngster attempted to retrieve his rake. The big guy, on the other hand, lifted it considerably higher, making it impossible for the youngster to reach. “I’ve come because I want to make a wish!” He screamed. “I’m not going to let you deprive me of that opportunity!” As he attempted to reach for his rake, his voice was laced with resolve.

“Wish? You wanted to make a wish? Do you believe you’ll be able to beat everyone here?”

“I will!”

The audience burst out laughing once more.

“You’re a moron!” The beast folk crushed the rake in half. When he saw how his rake had been wrecked in such a way, the boy looked as if the world had fallen apart. “Go home, kid; this isn’t a place for you to play.”

“No.” The boy knelt as he attempted to reattach the rake. “No, no, no.” He continued doing it. “This is my last opportunity to save my family.” When he learned the rake couldn’t be repaired any longer, the boy sobbed.

When the burly beast people saw this, he seemed to lose interest in the boy. He turned away from him and began to walk away. People watching the show, too, lost interest in him and returned their focus to their own selves. No one dared to look at the boy, who appeared to be in total shambles now.

‘It’s too depressing to watch this. Aish.’ Malaya couldn’t stand it any longer and rose up to approach the boy. ‘I should tell him in a nice way, that this place is indeed not for him. He said something about his family. I shall just look into it later so that he wouldn’t risk his life here.’

Malaya tensed at the sight of that familiar white unruly hair before she could move. Half of his face was concealed under a black mask, revealing just his sharp-ruby eyes.

‘Kayden?’ Malaya sat back in her chair as she fixed her hood. ‘What is he doing here?’

Kayden approached the boy and whispered something to him. Malaya couldn’t see his mouth, but she did see his eyes gleaming with malice. He handed the boy a knife and then patted him on the shoulder. The kid stood up, his fists clenched over the knife.

But that was not what alarmed Malaya. The knife was oozing with a mixture of black and dark blue Lifa. The looked in the boy’s dull brown eyes were filled with anger. ‘This was not going to look good.’ The surrounding people back off as they felt the sudden discharge of Lifa.

“No way! He’s an 8th tier dark mage!”

Malaya stood up again. ‘No. It’s not the boy’s magic. It’s Kayden!’

When you were blinded by emotions and fury, two things could happen. First, many people lose their ability to reason. And this may lead to the second thing, which was far more dangerous. And that was, you may do something you would regret forever.

“Die!” As he ran towards the massive beast folk, the child shouted in fury. The massive beast-folk whirled around, but it was too late to prevent the boy’s impending strike. Not only that, but for some reason, his body refused to move no matter what he did.

Kayden smirked as he observed the sight in front of him. ‘That’s right, if someone hurts you, make them pay with their life.’

Malaya took off running. She was only a few meters away from them. ‘I wouldn’t make it at this speed!’ She grabbed a talisman and tore it up immediately away. ‘I have to make it!’

When Malaya materialized between them, the knife was just inches away from piercing the beast folk’s stomach. She stopped it by clutching its blade.

Malaya squirmed as she felt the knife’s sharp blade penetrate her flesh. Because the boy appeared to be surprised by her unexpected arrival, she took advantage of the opportunity and kneed him on the abdomen. As a result, the boy let go of the knife.

“You can have it back.” Malaya flung the dagger back at Kayden. Then she turned to face the kid, who was huddled in distress on the ground.

“Boy.” She yelled at him. “I understand why you’re upset. But don’t do something you’ll come to regret afterward.”

“No! I didn’t mean any of this!” The youngster crawled back. His expression held fear and anguish. He stood up and dashed out of the room. “I’m sorry!”

—⚓⚓⚓—

“Greetings to everyone! The long-awaited moment has arrived! Please enter the arena immediately for all today’s participants!”

The sudden announcement from the blue orbs floating near the pillars got everyone’s attention drawn to it. As the room’s ceiling began to open, the earth started to shake. The level of the ground began to rise.

‘Excellent timing.’ Malaya thought. She took a glance at her right hand, which was becoming black. She took her white handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped it around her wrist. Her hand’s blackening stopped spreading through her arms.

‘Tsk. How inconvenient.’ She was more worried about the curse from the dark magic that came with the knife than the wound.

Curses are what you called to the damages inflicted with dark magic. It couldn’t be fixed with a simple healing potion. Only light magic and the purest healing magic from the four elements (water, earth, fire, and wind) could cure curses, and if the caster of that dark magic removed the curse he created himself.

Kayden was nowhere to be seen as she looked around.

‘Darn, that demon lord.’

Malaya looked down at her index finger, which had a single ring with a blue gemstone. ‘No. I won’t use it in this situation. This curse has not yet taken effect. This is no problem for me. But…’ Malaya ripped a piece of her coat apart. She then took it in her hands and wrapped it up.

‘I can’t risk Dorris and Rein seeing this, since who knows what they’ll do. ‘Those two are already concerned about me being here; I’m not going to add more concerns for them.’

“All competitors have now entered the arena!” said the announcer once more.

‘I have to focus on my fight now,’ Malaya thought. Her eyes squint when the bright sunlight was directed towards them. Finally, they were in the arena. Everyone in the colosseum burst in rapturous applause and cheers.