Chapter 14 - The Arena

Quin had been walking on his own for a while. He would have been running at the speed that he was with Fenres, but it was difficult to navigate now that he’d lost his guide.

Mosar had begun setting into the horizon. 

The area that had reached was just as mountainous, but far less purple. The trees and brush were sparse, likely due to the lack of rivers flowing in the area. 

“If I’m on the right track then it should be just around the corner,” Quin spoke to himself.

He continued on the trail and circled around part of the mountain.

“I better keep an eye out, the entrance is probably hidd-” he stopped himself as something big and bright entered his eyes, “Are you for real?” he yelled.

A massive sign lined with sparkling lights read [MOSAR’S SHADOW ARENA]. It was accompanied by an arrow pointing at the entrance.

“Isn’t this an illegal business?” he asked himself, “Whatever, I guess.”

He walked towards the door and entered. 

The building was small – far too small to be called a proper arena. A series of four elevator doors lined the backmost wall as well as two large staircases on the sides of the room. 

There was a Veetan girl manning the counter. She didn’t look towards the door as Quin made his appearance and was instead scrolling through her mod. Both her stance and expression gave the impression that she was bored.

“Welcome to Mosar’s Shadow Arena,” she spoke mundanely.

“Uh…” Quin tried to speak as he approached the counter, “Um…”

“Hi. What can I do for ya?” she asked as she turned her lifeless eyes towards Quin.

“I uh… would like to enter the pit fight.”

“Did someone dare you to do this?” she asked.

“Nope.”

She sighed and sat up in her chair, sliding a small packet over the counter, “Just read this over and sign it.”

“Aren’t there any background checks or anything?”

“Why would there be?” she asked rhetorically. 

“I mean, isn’t this operation…?”

“Illegal?” she finished his sentence, “Yeah, but we’ve got so many politicians and powerful people who want this place around that no one dares to try to stop it.”

“I see,” said Quin.

“You a cop or something?” she asked, “Not that it really matters. I just work here – pay taxes and everything.”

Quin ignored her rude question as he flipped through the packet.

Were this waver made on Earth, it would probably be dozens of pages long, but on Talis, it was only a few pages, two of which were dedicated to explaining the rules of the arena.

The first thing written explained that Mosar’s Shadow Arena was not responsible for the deaths of any participants. Although the arena was outside of the law’s jurisdiction as it was, being responsible for anyone's death was likely crossing some sort of line that the politicians would no longer be able to defend. 

The first page also contained information about how doing excessive harm would result in a disqualification from both the arena and the prize money involved, and how the arena would reimburse all participants for any hospital bills that they might need as a result of the fight.

The second and third pages were about the rules of the pit fight itself. There was a fair amount of information, but it could be summarized.

The pit fight was to be a free-for-all with everyone for themselves; however, there are no rules against forming truces or working together with others.

Anything that could constitute a weapon was to be confiscated at the entrance to the battleground.

Once a fighter gives up or is knocked out or otherwise incapacitated, they are to be considered no longer able to fight and are to be escorted out at the earliest opportunity. A participant isn’t considered out of the game until they are fully removed from the battleground.

Quin was rather frustrated, as both his armband and the little-room that he had been gifted and stuffed full of weapons were useless.

After three minutes and forty-three seconds after the official start of the pit fight, any bets made were to be finalized.

Participants were to arrive at least twenty-seven minutes before the official start time.

“Hey,” Quin looked to the receptionist, “it says here to arrive twenty-seven minutes in advance, but where is the-”

“It’s all underground,” she pointed toward the elevators, “Participants enter through the elevators, spectators climb the stairs.”

“I see.”

After ensuring that he understood the rules, he signed his name at the bottom.

“This isn’t gonna be publicly listed or anything, right?”

“Only if a legal issue comes up,” she answered as she pulled out a binder and opened it, “Put whatever you want to be called here.”

There were only around eighty names under the date that Quin was signing up for. Some used their full legal names, while some got creative.

Two aliases only a couple of slots up from where Quin was to write his stood out.

[Ass]

[Lass]

It was clear that this was Ashur and Lasia trying to be funny.

Quin attempted to come up with something that would continue the trend, but drew a blank.

[Q]

The receptionist closed the book and pulled it back under her desk the instant that Quin set the pen down.

“Is there anything else I need to know?” asked Quin.

“Not really. Have a nice day,” she said without a hint of enthusiasm.

“Alright. Thanks, you too.”

He walked out the door, and as it was closing, he heard the receptionist’s voice.

“Damn tourist.”

Quin wasn’t sure if she wanted him to hear that or not. 

**

Quin arrived at the hotel where everyone was waiting for him. He entered the room, only to find a complete mess. He had only been gone for a few hours, so it was quite jarring to see the room in such a state. 

Glass bottles were scattered about the room.

“Quin! You’re back!” yelled Teek. He ran up to Quin and gave him a warm hug, “I was worried you weren’t gonna make it home safe,” he hiccuped.

“You stink!” exclaimed Quin, attempting to back away from Teek’s embrace.

“Eheheh, yeah,” Teek giggled as he slowly released Quin.

“Alright, buddy,” Seil stumbled over, “Let’s get you to bed, buddy,” Seil was almost slurring his words, “C’mon, buddy.”

“No, I don’t wanna,” whined Teek, following Seil into one of the rooms anyways.

“You want a drink, Quin?” asked Fenres.

“I’m seventeen!” yelled Quin, clearly frustrated.

“Lighten up a little,” said the one who epitomized gloominess, Vaichehen. 

Vaichehen was sitting on the couch, surrounded by over twenty empty cans, none of which seemed to have affected him at all.

“Huh?” Quin forced himself to ignore the situation and spoke to Fenres, “I’m back now – weren’t you supposed to tell me the plan?”

“Oh… about that…” Fenres grabbed a bottle off of the counter and took a swig. He put on a big smile, “I can’t remember! I’ll tell you when I’m sober! Ahahahaha!”

“You’re drunk too!?” Quin yelled once again.

“Eheheh, yeah,” Fenres scratched the back of his head with a stupid grin on his face.

“Great.”

“Still, though, I’m a bit worried about your lack of a Manifest, Quin,” said Fenres.

“About that… I’ve been thinking of ways to make up for it, but I’m kind of at a dead end. You got any advice for me?”

“You can try meditation,” said Vaichehen who was staring off into space.

“Meditation?” asked Quin.

“Yeah. Just sit down and find better ways to move your aura around. When it comes to power and control, you’re okay as it is. It’s best to look elsewhere to be more well rounded.”

“Alright,” Quin excused himself and started to walk toward the bedrooms.

“You sure you don’t want anything to drink before you go?” asked Fenres who was extending a bottle out towards Quin.

“I’m good, thanks,” said Quin as he marched off frustratedly.

He opened the nearest door, which he thought was to his bedroom, but instead it was the bathroom. The lights were on.

Quin peered into the bathroom and heard a voice coming from inside the shower.

“Can I help you,” asked Chugol.

He was fully clothed, and laying down on the floor of the shower in a fetal position. His head was slightly raised as he looked toward Quin.

“Uh, wrong room,” said Quin, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Quin,” Chugol said as he laid his head back down into the shower’s floor.

Quin shut the door. 

He opened another door, this time it was the correct door leading to the bedroom that Quin was assigned to. He sat down on the bed and closed his eyes.

As he sat, he slowly moved the Arima radiation that was inside him about in any direction that it would go.

He had no particular goals, he simply moved it.

After he got comfortable, he started attempting to form shapes. Nothing of significance managed to take shape, but Quin could tell that this would be worthwhile.

This evenings events became something of a pattern. Time continued to pass.

The squad drank and hung out every day. It seemed that they weren’t getting serious about the mission at all, but Fenres did find a good point to tell Quin the actual plan.

Quin continued his meditation whenever he found the time to. 

Eventually, the day of the pit fight arrived.