A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 692 - 611

The air brushing against my face was stale and dirty.

The scent of blood hung heavy as the wind brushed past me.

The cheers reverberated even louder as I adjusted my eyes to the glare of the sun.

The arena wasn’t too strange. Probably half the size of a sports field of whatever sport you wanted to use.

A large chained cage developed in the entire arena, however, providing a looming sense of confinement. I didn’t know what metal it was made of off just a glance, maybe steel or maybe iron; it was hard to tell.

Could be an alien metal I’ve never come into contact with before.

But there were hundreds of ’people’ cheering while looking down on us. There were humanoids that I would have mistaken for human just from a first look. And then there were other beings that very clearly were from a different species.

I think there was a bipedal type of ant, or whatever it was actually called.

An ant was the closest approximation I could make.

In any other situation, I would have been utterly fascinated by a whole slew of alien species. I would have loved to investigate and meet other species, talk to them, learn about their homes, and such.

But right now, my eyes kept getting drawn to the overhead cage.

My anger hadn’t subsided.

I just knew that acting out right now wasn’t wise.

But, soon, the ones responsible would understand how much of a mistake they made.

The dirt beneath my feet was hot, looking almost clay-like. The walls up the side were probably three times my height before it changed to the chained cage.

Made of some kind of stone.

I quickly analyzed everything I could, but I didn’t find any obvious inconsistencies or escape routes.

I don’t know what I was expecting. An arena for forced gladiator fights would obviously not have any glaring flaws in the design to allow the ’participants’ a chance to cause chaos.

Though, something did catch my eye.

Several devices, like drones, are flying around the arena. They were small, about the size of a golfball, thereabouts.

Even in my reduced state, my vision didn’t really diminish in capacity, so even while they were zipping around, I could make out their overall shapes.

They...

Were those cameras?

My anger flared up again.

They were recording the matches for entertainment.

Logically, it wasn’t strange.

Emotionally, it just furthered my rage that my confinement was being used as entertainment for a larger group of people.

I pushed those thoughts to the side for now.

A large rock at the center, three other gates, the one behind us making four, equal distance apart at the very corners of the arena.

A few other ’obstacles’ littered the arena, mostly large rock formations, but nothing too debilitating or abusable for high ground.

"Hey." I made sure the spears on my back were fastened tightly and gripped the third spear in my hands tightly.

Clint too had his eyes darting everywhere. A trained specialist like him, he was probably better at analyzing the arena than I was. "Yeah?

"There are two types of gladiators." I spoke, and his half-given attention seemed to refocus on me. "Those that provide entertainment by dying, and those who provide entertainment from living."

His face darkened a little, and his fingers seemed to unconsciously adjust themselves on his bow. "What’s your thought?"

"Can you put on a show?" I asked.

"A Show?"

I nodded.

He chuckled, maybe self-deprecatingly. "I can put on a show. What about you?"

I found myself smiling a little. "Well, I was a theater kid in high school."

Clint snorted. "That explains a lot."

Does it?

Maybe I should take offense to that statement.

"I was in the circus for a couple years." Clint revealed rather cavalierly. "So, yeah. I can put on a show."

Well, that’s a surprise.

"I really hope you’re good with your bow."

"I don’t miss." He said, less playful than the last time I asked him if he was good with his boy.

I think, in an absolute emergency, I can summon the Boosted Gear and Balance Breaker. But I don’t know what the consequences of that would be on my body. My soul is in a bad state right now, and while I don’t need Magical Energy to pull the Sacred Gear out, just the action of pulling it from my soul could in and of itself be concerning.

But, for a worse-case scenario, it’s an option.

At least, that’s something I can hold onto for now.

Those other two we met were on the other side of the arena. Very clearly, they were keeping their distance, and I couldn’t find it in myself to blame them.

It was a matter of survival; they couldn’t really put themselves at a disadvantage to take care of some random aliens they came across when they couldn’t even guarantee their own lives.

Still, if that was their choice, let it be then. I wouldn’t worry about them either.

"Hey, Magic Man, you know how to use that right? Pointy side at whatever’s coming at you." Clint quirked a smile.

He was trying to ease the tension; I could appreciate it.

"I could have sworn I held onto the sharp bits." I scratched my head.

"It’s alright, we all make that mistake."

There was a very loud gong, like a signal; the crowd started getting louder. The gates around the arena vibrated, and slowly they started to lift.

I wish my clothes were fully in tact. Half my shirt was torn apart; at least my pants were somewhat intact, but still lots of holes and pieces were stripped off. My modesty was in tact, however.

Even in this state, my clothes were, well, better than steel armor.

That will be advantageous.

There was a strange howl that came from the furthest gate on the other side. I didn’t recognize the origin, as is obvious on an alien planet. But it revealed itself, nearly charging right out.

A thick chain and collar stopped it.

The stadium literally shuddered as it snapped the crested back from the tension.

Like some kind of bulldog mixed with some kind of bull. It had sharp teeth, four eyes, and most of its body was muscle.

I could spend over an hour describing every unrecognizable feature.

A glance at Clint showed that he immediately became tense and already drew an arrow, ready to shoot it at a moment’s notice.

The same with the other gates, a similar scene occurred. The same type of creature, albeit some looked better than others with various scars or wounds from presumably previous fights.

Without warning, their chains released all at once, and they charged into the arena. There were more than just the three, because as soon as they entered, another round followed behind them.

Some are smaller than the others, like pups.

But the majority went after the other two aliens, leaving Clint and I with the lesser portion.

Though "lesser" in this context was...relative.

I cast a look at Glint and then smiled, stabbing my spear into the ground and really pushing it deep. The first two came sprinting our way, tongues flopping out, saliva spilling everywhere as they clearly saw us as an easy meal.

"Aim for the second’s eyes; I’ll take the first one."

"Alright, I’ll trust you." He responded immediately.

It had some sort of bark, but more screechy than a dog as it got close.

Had I ever been in a situation like this before?

It made me utterly furious, being a prisoner.

But I wasn’t weak.

Who was I?

I’ve killed gods, Titans, dragons, and demons.

I was a Campione.

My bones were steel.

I was trained by Scáthach.

My body had been forged by her for years into a weapon.

I was a devil.

Without any magic, without any fancy weapons, I was a monster.

Even as my body screamed at me, my right leg pushed back as I took a stance, my right fist pulled back, and my left hand held up.

The monster came barreling at me; I was in front. It leapt without a single higher thought or trepidation in its action.

It was fast, but I was used to keeping up with beings who could break the sound barrier with a single movement.

I was by no means a traditional martial artist, but Scáthach still forced me to train the basics. The same punch I had practiced tens of thousands of times was unleashed.

Right under its left eye, I punched it as hard as I could, and it was only after my fist landed on it that the air exploded, and the creature hurled into the center rock with a loud shrieking cry.

I think, for a brief moment, the crowd went silent. Expecting to see a ’small’ being like me devoured, ripped apart, crying for help. Instead, this is what they saw.

My body all but screamed at me, however. But I wasn’t unused to pain and could shove the sensation downwards as I refocused.

A slight turned to my side, and two arrows shot past me.

The second monster, lacking any kind of survival instincts, ignored its companion and continued onwards.

Just as he said, the two arrows perfectly hit the monster in two of its eyes. The two biggest ones, the other two, I think they were there to see side to side because its neck was too large to turn its head properly.

It let out its own yelp, screaming as it continued forward.

I reached out and grabbed my impaled spear and pulled the shaft back, bending it until right before it would snap.

The other monster barreling forward was met with the force of the shaft reasserting its proper shape, smacking it square in the face.

That seemed to jolt whatever small brain it had, and I pulled the spear free and slammed it downwards on its head as it had fallen over in a disoriented state.

Its skin was thick; I had to put some effort into piercing through it, but its body went limp.

I threw my arms up towards the crowd, and they went wild once they got over their initial stupor.

I forced a smile like I was eating it up.

More of those weird beasts came pouring out of the gates.

The first one out looked confused but saw us and came roaring over again, followed by a steady stream.

Arrows flew past me, all perfectly avoiding me by a hair’s breath.

The first hit the first dog-monster’s face, barely causing it to flick its head in discomfort. But quickly, more arrows thumped into it, arrow after arrow burning itself into the softest parts around its eyes or into the eyes themselves.

I could hear each flick of Clint’s bow, and the monster finally collapsed, losing its stride, and its face hit the dirt and slid to a stop just before it touched me.

I had to quickly grab one of the extra spears off my back, and I flicked the butt of it to knock another monster away before kneeing a second that jumped at me. I stepped on the corpse on the ground to gain height and ran my spear through the side of the head of a third that narrowly missed me with a bite.

Suddenly, their numbers had increased.

I briefly wondered if they had any intention of letting us ’live’ and if it was supposed to be one of those gruesome death scenes for the entertainment of everyone else.

Regardless, I focused on the matter at hand.

The pain wasn’t magically disappearing.

Each movement was like a jolt of lightning through my body.

I took a deep breath, adjusting my stance and centering myself.

My spear swept out; the tip of it sliced against a monster’s eyes. Using the same momentum, I hit the back of the throat of one that opened its mouth wide trying to bite me.

A half step, he dodged a frenzied bite by another.

Their mindless actions were instinctually driven by hunger. They weren’t trying to kill me in the normal sense; every action was meant to try and devour me.

That made them significantly more predictable.

One more jumped at me; I let it bite at the shaft of my spear, and I used my elbow and knee in combination to smash at its head. Its eyes rolled back, and I used its body as a shield when another tried to bite at me.

It took a large bite out of its fellow’s stomach, and it didn’t stomach. Like a starving beast, it ignored everything else and began to enjoy its meal.

I slid my spear tip through a blood pool on the ground and flicked it into the eyes of the next closest beastie that came at me, blinding it, causing it to weave its head back and forth trying to get the blood out of its eyes.

I used my right foot to hit the butt of my spear back and forth into the dirt, tilting it upwards. The creature ran straight forward, impaling itself onto my spear without any effort on my part.

The thing was wedged on there tightly, though.

I tilted it forward and used its body to vault over a group of them that all but stampeded over one another to try and get to me. Using the momentum, I lifted the spear up, impaled the beasty and all, and slammed it down on another like a hammer.

A whimper and yelp were enough of an indication of its state, and I managed to dislodge my spear from the corpse of the other.

I let out a breath I had been holding in.

Despite the wide motions, I had expended very little energy in that series of movements.

I quickly checked up on Clint, who was having his own troubles not far away.

An arrow loosed from his bow, and it found its target, causing a charging monster to fall flat on its face and skid across the ground unmoving.

But several more jumped over the corpse, mouths open, getting ready for the tasty treat.

Clint turned and ran to get some distance, and I saw what he was aiming at.

"Spear!" I yelled, flipping the spear in my hand over in a throwing motion. Well, I conserved my energy for a reason; may as well use it.

I threw the spear, and it slammed into the middle rock formation.

Clint didn’t even bat an eye, using my spear as a step to jump off and grab a ledge higher up on the rock, narrowly avoiding one of the beasts jumping at him, trying to get his foot.

He made quick work of them, quite like shooting fish in a barrel.

He was running low on arrows, but with the corpses piling up, the numbers were thinning.

And now, he had room to help me.

I grabbed my last spear off my back and nudged the butt of it to redirect an air-born beast to the side as it tried to leap at me.

The next received a jab to the stomach, and I twirled the spear to slam it down on another.

Arrows precisely flew down, finishing them off before they could get back on me.

The arrows stopped raining down, but what remained was one last beast who still was completely unphased about the corpses littered on the ground.

Part of me wondered how they raised these things, but the other part didn’t want to know.

I took another deep breath as it broke into a spring coming at me.

I adjusted the grip on my spear, holding the butt of it against my palm and twisting it back before thrusting.

A simple thrust forward, but with a twist to add momentum with my strength, it went into the monster’s open mouth and tore right through it, spraying blood everywhere as its body eviscerated.

And now, I was covered completely in monster blood.

Joy.

But I could relax, letting out another held breath, my shoulders slumping.

I spared a look towards our fellow gladiators, but no other living beings were now in the arena other than Clint and I.

Well, I had wondered why the numbers suddenly surged; I suppose that explains it.

Clint climbed down from the rock.

He looked tired too.

He had his own fair share of corpses piled up.

And he was just a normal human.

Well done for him.

I raised my arm up, and he bumped his to mine with a nod of acknowledgement. When you fight with someone, you build a camaraderie that doesn’t need words to explain.

I had half tuned the crowd out, but now that I could relax, the cheering and noise sort of returned in force.

"It reminds me of the circus." Clint stated, looking around at the crowd. He raised his arm up, seemingly forcing a smile just as I was.

"What the fuck kind of circus did you work at?" I asked in bewilderment.

"You don’t want to know."

I knew as soon as the adrenalin wore off, I was probably going to collapse again. But something made me pause. "The gate hasn’t opened to let us back inside yet."

Clint’s expression immediately changed.

Guess we’re not done yet.

As if on cue, I could feel something coming. Much bigger than the beasts from before, its shadow cast out from the tunnel, and I could hear some chittering and hissing.

It had to duck to push itself through the tunnel. I don’t know how they managed to get that thing to cooperate, but it stood up full and was easily ten feet tall.

At first glance, it was like some weird type of praying mantis. But it had legs almost like an arachnid. There were other features that could be found on insects I was familiar with, but the form of a mantis seemed to be the most predominant.

"That’s going to haunt my dreams."

I tilted my head. "I think I saw a documentary that most mantises eat their prey alive." I helpfully informed him.

"How does that help here?" He looked at me.

"Oh, it doesn’t. It was just the first thing that came to mind when I saw it."

"Thanks." He deadpanned.

"No problem." I shook my spear, letting some of the blood roll off. I let out a haggard breath but forced myself up straight.

He took another glance at me, looking noticeably concerned. "You good?"

I waved it off. "I’ll survive."

There was a weird expression on his face.

"I’ll go high, you go low?" I took a step forward, but he held a hand up to block me.

"I got it." He said.

"...you sure?"

He looked at the creature, its mandibles clicking, looking around. It finally seemed to find us and recognize us as prey.

"Yeah." He said casually, but his tone sort of betrayed the ease of the way he said. "Should be easy."

He was doing it to help me. I suppose he still felt the need to protect me like he said.

It’s weird; I don’t usually have people trying to protect me in situations like this. It wasn’t an unpleasant experience. Usually it’s my girls or family doing that sort of thing.

He grabbed some arrows from the corpses around us, discarding the ones unusable. He had about half a quiver ready to go even as the thing came towards us.

"You got a plan?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He bounced from one foot to another. "I saw a movie about this before."

"What movie?"

"Star Wars." He said before he broke out in a sprint.

Huh.

I’m pretty sure this isn’t really a good comparison. But then again, I’m not exactly the picture of wise decisions.

But then again, I did say to make a show of it.

I rolled the spear in my hand, however. Ready to throw it if I had to provide help.

The mantis monster clicked its mandibles and let out a screeching hissing sound and swiped its large...sword arm? I wasn’t familiar enough with insect biology to know what to call it.

But at that size, I could see the sharp edge of it, and it was all but a sword arm.

Clint ducked under it, sliding between its legs.

With expert skill, he started firing arrows upwards into its underbelly, showing that it was indeed a weak spot with how far the arrows penetrated.

In a split second, he had released about a dozen arrows into its body, and the insect let out a screech of pain as he slid out from the back. Clint grabbed two daggers at his belt and slashed at the thing’s hind legs.

The monster fell down, and Clint jumped up onto its back and ran up, stabbing his blades into the back of its head.

It flailed around with Clint going for a ride, but he didn’t let go; if anything, he twisted the blades in further.

Eventually, it seemed to gradually lose its energy and collapsed onto the ground.

Clint jumped off, rolling to break his fall.

There was a brief moment of silence before the crowd erupted again.

Clint shot me a thumbs up, and I gave him one back.

I walked over, and just making sure, I pushed my spear through its brain. Its body twitched slightly, but it didn’t move.

"Well done, Legolas."

He held a finger up. "That’s a compliment. Legolas is the goat."

"Sure, whatever you say."

"Legolas is amazing." He reiterated.

One of those floating cameras came down, as if to get a close-up.

My eyes lit up.

Sure, I was absolutely furious still. But opportunities like this one come once in a lifetime. And I was playing it up, wasn’t I?

I grabbed Clint’s arm, lifting it up, looking right into the camera, or at least, what I think was the camera portion. "Are you not entertained!?"

Clint just deadpanned.

And here comes the pain.

[Line Break[

A/N

It’s a short arc; it shouldn’t be but a few Chapters of Wilhelm being ’weak’ for what that’s relative to.

If you want to read 10 Chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

I also have a boosty if you can’t use the above under the same name.