Ethan adjusted his grip on the Sword of the First Warrior, his breath steady despite the tension in the air. The moment he and Lisa had stepped through the stone archway leading into the dungeon, a wave of power had pressed down on them, sealing the exit behind them with an unseen force.
They now stood in the center of a vast underground coliseum, its circur walls stretching high above them, lined with crumbling statues of forgotten warriors. Flickering spectral figures filled the stands—whispers of the past, their ghostly eyes watching with silent judgment.
A voice boomed across the arena, deep and filled with ancient authority.
"Enter, challengers. In the Coliseum of the Forgotten, only the worthy may leave. Three trials await. Fight, or be erased from history."
Lisa tensed beside him, her bow materializing in her grip.
"I don’t like this," she muttered. "But we don’t have a choice, do we?"
Ethan smirked despite the growing pressure. "Nope."
The ground trembled, and from the opposite gate, two massive warriors emerged. Their armor was cracked and rusted, their bodies stitched together with thick, unnatural sinew. They dragged enormous war hammers behind them, their weapons scraping against the ground, leaving deep gouges in the stone.
Round One: The Bonebreaker Brothers.
F+ Rank.
One of them lifted his hammer and smmed it into the ground, sending a shockwave of dust and shattered stone toward them. Ethan rolled to the side just in time, feeling the impact rattle his bones even from a distance.
"Lisa, keep them occupied!" he shouted, sprinting forward.
She loosed an arrow, the projectile glowing as it shot toward the rger of the two brothers. It buried itself in his exposed ribs, but he didn’t even flinch. Instead, he turned toward her and charged.
"Shit!" Lisa cursed, diving out of the way.
Ethan used the distraction to use his Blood ssh, an crimson half moon was unched from the tip of his sword.
The ssh travelled and connected in the head of one of the brothers. His head was cut clean.
"One down Lisa!!" Ethan screamed. He saw Lisa shooting an barrage of arrows in the other brother, he swang his giant hammer and the strength of the hit made her go flying.
Ethan frowned, activating his Crimson swordsmanship he sprinted, his figure letting red trail in its path.
He was going to cut the thing's head when Lisa killed it with an arrow in the head.
"Opps, sorry." She said before ughing a bit.
"You... Whatever." Ethan said.
"Little Ethan is getting mature, stopping to be bother with little things." She said mockingly.
[Trial One Complete.]
"Lets go to the next?" She asked.
Without waiting another screen popped up.
Round Two: The Firebrand Knight (F++ Rank)
The temperature in the coliseum spiked as the next gate opened. A figure in burning crimson armor stepped forward, wielding a curved bde wreathed in fmes. The heat radiating from him was intense, distorting the air around his body.
Ethan instinctively raised his sword, already calcuting his approach. This opponent was faster than the Bonebreaker Brothers. And more dangerous.
The knight disappeared in a fsh.
"Fast—!" Ethan barely twisted out of the way as a bzing ssh nearly took his arm off. He retaliated with a quick counterattack, but his bde passed through an afterimage.
"Shit."
The knight wasn’t just fast—he left fme illusions behind.
Lisa took a shot, but her arrow passed through empty air. The knight was already behind Ethan.
The tip of a burning bde aimed for his back.
Ethan activated his Crimson swordsmanship and the instincts of the ability take his mind.
Without noticing he took one step back, rotated his body to the left and stabbed right behind him.
The burning bde aimed at his back got his shoulder while the stab he made for directly in the neck of the knight.
An liquid like magma got out of the wound before the knight jumped away.
His own wound healing, being an vampire or at least having the power of one was truly amazing.
He felt Reyna watching him.
'let her watch.'
He saw Lisa trying to shoot the knight and when the knight would stab her he dashed forward
Cng.
With an loud metal sound the both swordsman csh.
Ethan saw his sword get crack because of the impact.
"Oh fuck no!!" He tried to thing in something. He needed to. He got an idea.
He tried to make his blood Essence go to his sword. Not something simple without the ability.
They continued to csh, Lisa was without Essence so she couldn't invoke more arrows.
After the 6 crack in his sword he finally managed to do something.
[You are almost creating an ability.]
Progress:78%
He used an Blood ssh but he decided to make the essence stay in the sword and not go out the tip of the sword.
His sword glowed in an dark crimson color.
[Ability created: Minor Blood Aura(common)]
He smiled, he finally created something, his skin was burned in a lot of pces but he achieved.
Sshing again he activated in total strength the Crimson swordsmanship with the Minor Blood Aura.
He felt his essence and blood being forcefully drawn out of him. It hurted, a lot.
Lisa was sitting quietly in the corner seeing both of them fighting, she was too weak to help. But her jaw were open, Ethan got stronger so fast.
But after that he suddenly began dancing with the sword, was truly beautiful. She watched that mesmerized, the dance, the footwork, everything was so beautiful.
With a final cut he killed the knight.
[Trial Two Complete.]
Lisa exhaled. "You're insane, you know that?"
Ethan smirked, wiping sweat from his brow. "Yeah."
Final Round: Warlord Ulgath, the Undying Tyrant (F+++ Rank → E Rank Second Phase)
[The competitors are stronger than the average, making the changes.]
[The enemy got banced, E Rank been given, the rewards will be better.]
A deep rumbling ugh echoed through the coliseum.
The final gate opened.
A towering figure emerged, cd in spectral bck armor. His weapon—a massive executioner’s sword—crackled with deathly energy. His presence suffocated the air, filling the arena with pure killing intent.
Lisa staggered back, trembling.
Ethan felt it too. The weight of a true warlord.
Ulgath raised his sword.
And the battle began.
