[Inside one of the arena's rooms]
Inside a dark room, a tall, muscular man could be seen. He appeared to be training, and standing at the doorway of his room was a beautiful woman with purple hair tied back in a ponytail.
"I was already worried because you haven't shown up for two weeks, so I had to come look for you. But I didn't imagine I'd find you like this, Goliath," Mira said.
The tall man was Goliath. At that moment, he was in the middle of training. Several pieces of equipment were scattered around the room. They looked like training equipment, but all of them were broken.
He was doing push-ups, but after hearing Mira's voice, he stopped and stood up.
He picked up a towel that was lying on the bed and began wiping the sweat from his body before speaking.
"I apologize for making you come all the way here, miss," Goliath said as he bowed his head.
Seeing this, Mira replied, "There's no need to be so modest, Goliath." She began looking around the room.
"But I'm curious—why are you training now? During all the time you've been here, I've never seen you do this before, Goliath."
Goliath picked up a bottle of water and drank from it. Afterward, he answered Mira's question.
"That's because I recently realized that I may have been too confident in my strength, and perhaps it's time for me to push myself harder."
Mira gave Goliath a surprised look, then smiled.
"Is this because of your fight with Alan?" Mira asked.
Goliath tossed the towel onto the bed and placed the water bottle on a small table beside it.
"Yes. I realized that maybe I'm not as strong as I thought. In truth, the other gladiators simply didn't have the courage to fight me."
Mira continued looking at Goliath and thought, It's funny how much he's changed in such a short time. Before, he was so confident in his strength. Now he's even criticizing himself.
"And the person who made me realize that was the one I thought was the most cowardly. That's when I understood that I still have many things to improve about myself," Goliath finished.
"I don't know why, but I think I feel a bit proud of you, Goliath," Mira said.
Hearing that, Goliath scratched his head and spoke a little embarrassed.
"When you put it that way, miss, I feel a bit shy."
Mira gave a small smile when she saw Goliath's reaction and took a few steps into the room, stopping near the bed.
"I'm glad to see that," she said calmly. "Not everyone can recognize their own flaws. Most people simply ignore everything."
Goliath crossed his arms, thoughtful.
"That boy… Alan," he said after a few seconds. "He wasn't strong or fast, but he didn't back down. Even though he was afraid, he kept moving forward. That stuck with me."
"Fear isn't weakness," Mira replied. "Running away because of it is."
Goliath nodded slowly.
"I think it was the first time I fought someone who truly wanted to win… not for fame or obligation, but because it felt like he needed to prove something to himself."
Mira leaned lightly against the table beside her.
"The coliseum changes people," she commented. "Some break. Others adapt. Very few truly grow."
"And you, miss?" Goliath asked, looking at her. "Did you change after coming here as well?"
Mira fell silent for a moment, staring into nothingness.
"I did," she finally replied. "I learned that even in a place like this, it's still possible to choose how you treat others."
Goliath relaxed his shoulders slightly.
"Then maybe I should be grateful to still be here," he said. "If I had continued the way I was… I might never have realized that."
Mira smiled faintly.
"Keep training, Goliath. Not just your body, but your mind as well."
"I will," he replied firmly. "The next time I step into the arena, I want to win with this new mindset."
Mira turned toward the door.
"I'll be waiting, then. And… take care."
Goliath bowed his head respectfully.
"Always, Miss Mira."
She left the room in silence, leaving Goliath alone once more. He looked at the broken training equipment scattered across the floor, took a deep breath, and returned to his training stance—now with a different look in his eyes than before.
...
[Demian's Room]
At that moment, Demian and Alan were sitting on the floor, facing each other with their legs crossed.
Both had their eyes closed, meditating, when Demian opened his eyes and spoke.
"It seems you're already able to use your mana more efficiently now, Alan. I can feel that the flow of your mana is much more stable than before," Demian said, his eyes glowing in a light blue shade.
Alan then opened his eyes as well and replied,
"Yeah… I feel like I'm improving more and more. Maybe it won't take long before I can actually use my magic."
"Very likely," Demian said.
"But, Demian, I'm curious about something," Alan added, with a look that showed he wanted to ask a question.
Noticing this, Demian simply said, "Go ahead. What do you want to know?"
"How can you tell all of that about my mana? You even said before that you knew how much mana I had."
Demian tilted his head to the side, as if wondering whether the answer wasn't obvious.
Seeing his expression, Alan grew embarrassed and waved both hands toward Demian.
"Alright, alright, no need to look at me like that. I know I'm completely ignorant when it comes to things related to mana."
Demian returned his head to a normal position and laughed.
"No need to be embarrassed. I'm just teasing you. As for your question, the answer is actually quite simple."
He continued,
"When you reach a certain level of sensitivity to mana, you end up being able to feel the mana of other people as well. Of course, that only works if the person allows it. Otherwise, I'd only be able to sense it if my mana were much stronger than that of the person in front of me."
"I see," Alan nodded.
Demian cleared his throat.
"Changing the subject, Alan, I want to ask you something."
Alan looked surprised that Demian wanted to ask him something, since he was usually the one asking questions.
"What is it?" Alan asked.
"Did you have any dreams before you came to this place?" Demian asked.
Alan fell silent for a few seconds after the question, averting his gaze as if organizing his thoughts.
"I did… yes," he finally replied. "Actually, I still do."
Demian kept his attention on him, without interrupting.
"Before coming here, I always wanted to leave my home," Alan continued. "To explore the world, you know? To see places I'd only heard about in stories. Mountains, big cities, seas… all of it."
He showed a small, almost shy smile.
"I wanted to meet different people, hear strange accents, new stories. Eat food I never even imagined existed… simple things, but things that always felt very far away to me."
Demian raised an eyebrow slightly.
"That's a very… peaceful dream," Demian commented.
Alan let out a quiet laugh.
"Yeah. I never wanted to be the strongest or famous. I just wanted to experience a lot of things before dying."
He then lowered his head a little.
"But… after ending up in the coliseum, that dream started to feel kind of stupid."
"Stupid?" Demian repeated, in a neutral tone.
"Yeah," Alan replied. "Here, everyone fights just to survive. Dreaming about traveling, eating well, meeting people… it sounds like something someone who doesn't understand reality would think about."
Demian remained silent for a few moments, then spoke:
"I disagree."
Alan looked up, surprised.
"If no one had dreams like that," Demian continued, "the world would be nothing more than a battlefield. Surviving just to survive isn't living."
Alan blinked a few times, absorbing his words.
"Do you still want that?" Demian asked. "Even now?"
Alan took a deep breath.
"I do," he said firmly. "Maybe even more than before. After all of this… I want to leave this place and see the world with my own eyes. I don't want the coliseum to be everything that exists in my life."
Demian observed Alan for a long moment, then closed his eyes again.
"Then," he said calmly, "that's a dream worth protecting."
Alan smiled, feeling his chest grow a little lighter.
After hearing all of that, Demian stood up, looked toward Alan, and said,
"Then let's go."
He extended his hand toward Alan.
"I have a plan to escape from here, so come with me and help me," Demian said with a smile. "I'm sure your dream can come true."
Alan looked at Demian with surprise, but at the same time he could tell that Demian was being sincere. Even though, deep down, he believed that escaping the coliseum wouldn't be easy, he didn't hesitate.
Without thinking too much, he took Demian's hand and said,
"Yes. I want to leave this place, Demian!"
"But, Demian, since we're talking about dreams, I'm curious… what is yours?" Alan asked.
Hearing that question, Demian fell into a moment of silence and reflection.
"Yes… I did have one," he said at last. "But I don't think about it anymore."
"Why?" Alan asked.
Demian thought for a moment and hesitated, unsure whether he should tell Alan about what had happened to him and his sister before he came to the coliseum. But after a few moments, he decided to speak. Perhaps it was better to be honest in this situation.
"As for that… it's because I gave up on my dream in order to achieve something else."
"What is it?"
"Well, for you to understand that, I think it's better for you to know how I ended up here."
Then Demian began to tell Alan what had happened to him before the coliseum. As the story progressed, Alan's reactions kept changing with every new detail.
After Demian finished, there was only silence between them.
Finding the atmosphere a little uncomfortable, Demian spoke.
"You don't need to feel awkward about my story. I try not to think about it myself. Right now, the only thing on my mind is my revenge against the people who caused all of this."
"But, Demian," Alan said, "even if you don't think about it, I can't even imagine how much this is affecting you on the inside."
Before Alan could continue, he looked at Demian and saw something he had never seen before. He was used to Demian's serious expression or his calm demeanor, but this was the first time he had seen such deep sadness in his eyes, even though Demian was clearly trying to hide it.
"Well, I won't say you're wrong," Demian replied, "but now is not the time to dwell on it. Let's just forget about this and focus on our escape from here, Alan."
Alan realized that it would be better to stop talking about the subject.
"So… when will it be?" Alan asked.
Demian paused for a moment before answering.
"In two days."
...
[ Two days later, in the cafeteria ]
"Alright, I understand what you explained to me, but what now?" Alan asked.
"Well, as I told you before, Alan, after observing everything for two weeks, I realized that there is a specific day when almost all the gladiators gather in the cafeteria—and that day is today."
At that moment, the cafeteria was packed with people. There had to be at least a hundred individuals spread throughout the place.
"So… what do we do now, Demian?"
"It's simple. Since we have so many people gathered together, it's time to cause a little chaos, don't you think?" Demian said, wearing a faint smile.