****Not Far Away****
"Right back into action, uhhh," the familiar figure said.
"I just hope you don't burn yourself out and actually get yourself together and make the right decision," he continued to say, his face displaying a bit of nostalgia.
****Cole's room****
Cole was planted in place; unsure of what to do, he watched as the page of the book slowly burned off, accompanied by the vortex of life energy.
Cole wasn't just stuck in place due to shock; his body was completely incapacitated, as all his external sensation and movement pathways had been completely overridden by something else.
His body felt like all his muscles were being torn apart and reformed instantly; his eyes slowly grew bloodshot as blood began seeping out of his orifices.
The page finally completely burned away, leaving the Codex with just two pages.
Cole still stood in his place; his eyes were completely vacant and glazed over—he was unconscious.
His muscles were stiff, though, allowing him to keep standing even while unconscious.
He didn't regain consciousness until about an hour later.
"I would never attempt again; the pain was so unbearable," Cole said with dread evident in his voice.
He was shocked to notice the Codex still in its position, completely unperturbed by Cole's situation.
"What?!" He called out.
That didn't actually shock Cole; it was the presence of tiny edges of pages that seemed to appear on the book again.
"Does this mean burnt pages will gradually reappear? Though it is very slow," Cole wondered.
"That still won't make me attempt this again,"
"But what exactly could have caused this?" Cole thought.
"Ohhh!" Realization seemed to hit him as he remembered one very important fact: he hadn't really understood the basics of the ability before attempting to record it.
With that realization, Cole finally understood the first rule of the Codex.
"Never attempt to record abilities not fully understood."
He hammered that thought straight down into his mind to avoid situations like the previous one.
"You really are mystical," Cole said with a slight look of admiration.
As if replying to his acknowledgment, the Codex pulsed slightly, but this went unnoticed by Cole, who was still lost in thought.
The pain in his body had been gradually subsiding since he had regained his consciousness.
"I need to understand more rules of this Codex as soon as possible," he decided.
Cole turned his mind back to the battle; this time he focused on the actual hand-to-hand combat.
He wasn't oblivious to his very rough way of fighting, but apart from the regular skirmishes in the slum, he hasn't ever had the need for formal combat.
He couldn't figure out how he could improve his fighting skills in a short while in the slum even after thinking for a while.
"How about I ask Mr Evans?" Cole thought as he slowly headed out of his room towards Mr Evans's room.
Knock knock. Cole gently knocked on the door before patiently waiting; he didn't have to wait for too long, though, as the familiar, unkempt man opened the door.
Cole, unwilling to reveal the real reason why he actually wanted to find where to train, lied to Mr. Evans and asked.
"Mr. Evans, I have been bored for a while. Do you know anywhere I can watch some fights?" Cole asked.
Mr. Evans' brows were slightly raised as he asked, "Why do you need to fight to cure boredom? There are plenty of other things."
"Umm, I just wanted to… try something new," Cole murmured.
"Hmmmmmm" Mr. Evans hesitated.
"There's an illegal fighting ground not far away from the bar where I usually spend my time, but be careful, kid," Mr. Evans replied.
"I will," Cole responded while hurriedly attempting to leave.
Mr. Evans stood there looking at Cole's departing figure. "Hmmmmm," he quietly muttered.
Cole moved back to his room and picked up an old-looking cap before rushing out again.
The slum seemed to have changed again, as Cole didn't see the expected dark figures searching all about anymore; all of them completely disappeared like they were never there.
This was good news for Cole, as he didn't have to hide his face anymore, but he didn't lose his guard, though, as he kept scanning his surroundings while walking.
Cole wasted no time as he headed towards the location that was described as fast as he could.
Cole could hear very loud chants and banters from a distance away, the air filled with a slight tinge of metallic blood.
"How much blood needs to have been shed for the air to permanently have this smell?" Cole wondered.
He increased his pace the closer he got to the illegal arena; he finally arrived about 5 minutes later.
An overwhelming stench directly hit Cole in the face; a mixture of body sweat, blood, and saliva seemed to fill the air.
Cole was able to smuggle himself inside using his experience as a slum kid and finally see the arena in its entirety.
The arena wasn't anything like Cole expected; it was much, much worse.
"Isn't this too bad for an arena with this crowd?" Cole questioned.
After a bit of struggling and shoving, Cole finally found a spot to sit and settle.
A battle was currently going on in the arena between two fighters—one wielding a large hammer and the other using a pair of brass knuckles.
Cole's eyes were peeled on the battle that was currently going on, so much so that he completely lost track of time.
The battle raged on with pure brutality and savageness, but Cole was quite satisfied with the details he was receiving normally, so he decided to directly activate the Eyes of Scrutiny.
His eyes took on the signature golden glow, and Cole was hit by the familiar wave of dizziness, stronger than before, but he braced himself and continued to watch with interest.
The battle soon ended with victory eventually going to the man using the large hammers.
Cole had been able to get all the information he wanted, so he decided to leave, but he was stopped in his tracks by a menacing figure.
"Ohhh, you can't leave now, kid. Check out the instructions on the wall," the man said.
"Forced or unpermitted entry shall be punished with a battle in the arena" was written boldly on the wall.
"Ohhh shit," Cole said out loud, realizing he had been caught.