Page 83 of House of Ydril

And just like that, I’m all alone with my thoughts. Now that I can no longer see him, I find it hard not to think about the possibility of Faust dying out there. I shake my head, focusing all my attention on the blank screen before me. If I just keep my feelings shoved down until it’s all over, I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.

Finally, my number gets called out and I force myself to get up. I wobble out the door and find myself in the ring, the silence of the room I’ve walked out of getting switched for the sound of thunderous clapping.

I don’t even glance at the audience all around me. All of my focus is on the only thing before me, a rack with a whole range of weapons stacked onto it, a small pedestal with a single knife placed right in front of it.

Frowning, I walk up to the whole display and tilt my head, inspecting the items one by one. No one will tell me what I’m supposed to do, that much is clear. But what if I’ve no clue, I think as I feel the seconds ticking away.

It’s then that I notice drops of blood around the knife on the pedestal. Squinting, I glance at the weapons on the rack. There’s everything from elegant swords to clunky maces there. And some of the hilts have blood stains on them as well.

I see.

I don’t hesitate. I take the knife off the pedestal and I use it to slice the skin of my palm. Then I walk up to the weapon rack and I pick out what I believe is called a scimitar, a single-edged sword with a curved blade.

As soon as I take a few swings with it, feeling that the weight should be fine, I feel a weird energy course out of the metal and straight into my body.

I don’t have time to linger on it, because the very next second, I get the urge to look up and ahead.

I see a huge, levitating glass cube appear at the center of the Arena and I hear the crowd break into thunderous clapping.

I barely register it all. As I walk, all my attention is focused on the cube, which is the size of a smaller house, seems to be empty and has a set of glass stairs leading up to it.

Once I’m in front of it, I hesitate.

I look down and see a couple of trails of blood leading from the stairs and out of the ring.

Holy hell.

But I’ve no choice. My legs shaking, I start climbing. There are murmuring sounds all around me, but I pay them no mind.

As soon as I step inside the cube, I see a stone pillar appear at its far end. It’s got flags stuck into it.

I squint, my heart pounding as I search for the number eleven. It’s there. Faust made it. And by the looks of it, so did numbers three, five, seven, eight, nine and ten.

So Leo, someone who’s number I don’t know, Sarya, Amra, Harry and Zelda.

I blink in confusion. Am I just supposed to walk up to the pillar and plant my flag there?

But as soon as I think that, the cube shakes a little and I lean a bit forward, drawing in a breath as I prepare myself for whatever may come.

All the way on the other side of the cube, right in front of the pillar, I see a figure appear out of thin air and land on the ground with a deafening thud. Then another one and another one, until I see seven figures forming a line, all facing me.

Dark-red, stone knights.

I hear the crowd cheer and then go silent, waiting for me.

But what am I supposed to do? I glance at the scimitar in my hand. They can’t expect me to attack a bunch of stone fucking knights with a blade I don’t even know how to use?

My heart skipping random beats, I decide to at least start approaching.

I take a single, cautious step forward and I hear a thud to my right. Another stone knight, just dark-blue, has landed right beside me. Another one lands to my left and I lean a bit forward, glancing left and right to see four more appear to form a line on my side of the cube.

I see. I have allies, not just enemies, I think to myself.

And as soon as I do, the red knight directly opposite to me takes a step forward, unsheathes its sword and bows.

That’s the leader.

I just blink at it. Then a thought pops into my head, I raise my scimitar and I bow as well, getting another wave of cheering from the audience.

---