Inside Mira's room, she was now lying on the couch looking up while a blue screen floated beside her. She seemed to be talking to someone.
“I heard from Louis that he sold you a magic user, Mira,” said a mature voice coming from the blue screen.
Mira picked up a small ball and kept throwing it up and catching it again and again.
She sighed and then said, “Yes, I bought him from Louis, and he didn’t even give me a roommate discount.”
“When will the boy’s first battle be?” asked the person behind the screen.
“It will be soon, boss,” Mira said.
“Alright. Keep me informed about his capabilities. Maybe he’ll be a great addition to my life.” Then the blue screen next to Mira disappeared.
“Acquisition for you is the same as it was for me,” she thought.
“Goliath,” Mira called out.
Soon after, a man almost two meters tall entered the room. He had extremely short hair, wore a brown jacket with a white tank top underneath, and jeans.
The man approached the sofa and knelt in front of her. “Yes, my lady?”
She looked at him and said, “I already told you about the wizard boy who arrived, right?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“I want you to find out everything about him for me.”
Goliath was momentarily surprised — it was the first time his mistress had shown interest in someone’s life before entering the Colosseum.
Noticing the delay in Goliath’s response, Mira said in a more serious tone, “Did you hear me?”
Realizing his mistake, Goliath quickly apologized. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I heard you. I’ll do it right now.”
He got up and walked away, leaving Mira there.
Realizing that Goliath was gone, Mira put her arm over her eyes and sighed as she remembered a distant past.
“Mother…” Mira whispered.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
At the same time, inside another room, Demian was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed.
‘I need to remember what it felt like when I used my magic before.’ Demian was trying to use his magic again.
‘At that moment, the only thing I felt was anger, but I still remember my mana passing through my body as if it was trying to cover me completely.
Every muscle in my body was opening and closing as if trying to adapt to it. I could even feel the slight breeze in the air, but it’s a shame that, at that moment, this wasn’t something I could worry about or think about.’
“But now I need to use my magic again if I want to get out of this place,” Demian stated.
‘First, I need to feel my mana.’ Demian closed his eyes.
Mana was a type of mystical energy that existed within every living being, but only a few among hundreds could use it — and even fewer could use it to produce magic.
Normally, people started using mana when they were children and then, perhaps, learned to use magic.
But Demian was a different case. He was never able to use mana, but suddenly he managed to use magic. That was why he had incredible talent.
At least, that’s what the man realized when he held Demian’s hand at that moment.
‘I feel like I’m almost there. The mana is already moving through my body naturally. Now I just need to transform it into magic.’
Before Demian could try to use his magic, a siren went off in his room.
“What is this!?” Demian asked himself.
A robotic voice suddenly came out:
“Gladiator Demian, report to the arena immediately.”
The voice disappeared without saying anything else.
“Okay, looks like I don’t have much of a choice.” Demian got up from the floor, brushed off his pants, and then headed for the door.
“Alright, let’s move on to the first step toward my escape from here,” he said, leaving the room.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
As Demian walked toward the arena, he could hear loud screams.
‘Must be the spectators.’
Passing through an arch-shaped entrance, Demian finally saw the arena. It was large and circular. He could see a wall at least five meters high from the ground to the spectators’ stands. There were at least a few hundred people there.
The arena also had some bars at the bottom of the wall that seemed to be used for other gladiators to watch the fights as well.
‘I think I can admit it’s a pretty impressive place, even if I have to fight to the death here,’ Demian thought as he looked around.
The moment Demian entered, you could hear whispers from the stands.
“Is that boy the magic user they announced?” asked a man.
“I don’t know, maybe,” said another.
“I’m rooting for him since he’s so cute,” said a woman.
“I don’t care if he uses magic or not, I just want to see blood!” a man shouted.
“Come on, kid, show us your magic, we want a show!” said an excited man.
‘These people are very noisy,’ Demian thought.
Suddenly, a voice was heard from the top of the arena.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your host, Mira, speaking!”
Then the audience got even more excited.
“Today we will have a very special battle! As everyone already knows and can see, today we have a magic user gladiator!
And so, to not disappoint anyone, I prepared a worthy opponent. I now call our fifth-best gladiator in the arena!”
Then the door on the opposite side of Demian slowly opened. A few seconds later, a tall man of 1.86 meters came out. He had a scar on his face and a fierce look.
‘This guy is pretty big,’ Demian thought.
Demian could clearly see the difference in their height since he was only 1.70 — quite tall for his age of fifteen.
“Now, gladiators, come closer,” Mira said.
Demian approached the center of the arena and could now clearly see the height difference.
“I hope you’re ready to die, kid,” the man said.
“You know, they say that the people who talk first are usually the most nervous,” said Demian.
“But who knows, maybe you’re just a talker, right… What was your name again?” Demian said with a small smile.
“You damn brat!” The man screamed and attacked Demian with a punch.
‘Okay, now let’s try to use mana to enhance my body since I still don’t know how to use my magic properly.’
Demian began to use mana around his body until a thin layer appeared, coating him.
As the punch approached, he saw the blow slowly and dodged it easily by moving to the side.
After dodging, Demian jumped back.
“Hey, my friend, try harder next time.”
“You brat!”
The man started running toward Demian, who stood there waiting for him.
The man began to throw several punches, but Demian countered each one with the palms of his hands.
‘Right, it seems like I’m getting used to using mana. I just need to practice a little more.’
“What the hell, how are you doing this!?” the man shouted.
The fight continued with Demian having a clear advantage, even though he was only defending and dodging.
At that moment, the audience was going crazy.
“Wow, how did he manage to dodge that much!?”
“That must be the advantage of being able to use mana.”
“It looks like that kid is just playing with him.”
Minutes later, the man was already tired of attacking Demian so much. He could barely lift his arms properly.
Demian was smiling as if he was having fun.
‘I can hardly believe I can use magic. This is such an amazing feeling.’
Suddenly, Demian’s smile faded. ‘If only I could have used it better sooner… maybe I could have saved my sister.’
Demian, who was still dodging the blows, suddenly stopped. A punch hit his face.
‘He hit him!!’ The audience was surprised.
‘I got him!’ The man was even more shocked. ‘He let me hit him!?’
At that moment, silence fell over the arena. But what they saw next was lightning. Lightning was coming out of Demian’s body. The man’s fist, still on Demian’s face, began to burn.
He quickly removed his hand and looked at it — it was completely bloody.
‘What is this!?’ the man thought.
When he looked at Demian, his body was now covered in a blue layer of lightning that everyone could see.
“What’s happening to him!?” the audience exclaimed.
“I’m not sure how many there are, but one thing I know for certain: you’re part of the organization that killed my sister. And I guarantee you, no matter how long it takes, I will destroy every one of you. And you… you’ll be the first.”
Demian said this looking toward the place where Mira’s voice had come from.
Then he began to approach the man in front of him.
Seeing that, the man was completely terrified and lost the will to fight.
“Wait a minute, don’t come any closer!”
Demian looked at him and said, “I’m sorry. I know you’re probably not here of your own free will… but I need to do this.”
“Wait, boy, I—”
Demian quickly closed the distance and prepared to punch.
“I’m so sorry, but I’ll do anything to avenge my sister.”
“No!!!”
Then Demian punched the man in the face, causing his head to detach from his body.
The arena fell silent — it was the first time they had seen such coldness.
Demian, removing the mana around his body, turned and looked at Mira’s cabin.
“I don’t want to have to kill her… but if she gets in my way, I won’t hesitate.”
At that moment, Mira just watched the scene, realizing that the man she served had made a dangerous enemy.
And inside, she was quite curious.
“It seems like you have a pretty big goal, Demian,” she whispered. “Even though I’m one of your targets… I’m very curious to see how far you’ll go against that man.