Lumen y numb on the wooden bed frame, his body aching severely. The wounds from battling the crab pulsed and throbbed. He tried keeping his breath steady, but the pain and adrenaline were suffocating. He drew breath like a piston.

  A man wearing an overly tight white robe stepped into the room and immediately dropped to his knees. It was Evander, a fellow gdiator relegated to healing the popution of the Colosseum, one of the few people Lumen trusted. Enough to call him brother or brother-in-arms.

  His hands reached for the bandage covering Lumen’s leg, and he immediately ripped it off.

  “Argh!” Lumen gritted his teeth as the man tended to his wounds. His hands pressed against the sides of Lumen’s leg, and a glowing aura left his fingertips, fizzling in the air.

  “Hold still, Lu!” Evander warned, his voice low, almost growling. His hands were warm against bare skin. Then a chilling sensation enveloped Lumen’s leg, and the wound slowly started to close. His flesh knitted together, and the bleeding stopped. The pain almost disapearing.

  It was a magic spell called [Healing Surge], an act of intense mana manipution. Though spells were typically used by mages and the like, Evander had picked it up while tending to his own wounds on an adventurer’s excursion.

  Lumen used to be able to do magic, until he couldn’t. He couldn’t remember when that happened. One day, he just didn’t. The next, he was here, naked in chains.

  “T-Thank you, Evander,” Lumen croaked out.

  “Honestly, Lumen, you need to stop conforming to the death battles. Retreat if you have to.”

  Lumen shook his head. “No. I’d rather die than be shed in humiliation. The torturer stares at me sometimes… a little too much.”

  The torturer stared at him as if he was Fae-Elk, it was uncomfortable, even willing to go easy on him. Which was weird.

  Evander sighed and turned his head. Footsteps approached. A half-bald face appeared in the doorway.

  The manager, Gaius. He was smirking, holding a rge gss jar with a very big needle at the tip. Then he approached Lumen, who did not resist but bared his shoulder to the rat of a man. Gaius didn’t hesitate or care one bit. The needle pierced Lumen’s skin, siphoning away the mana he had obtained by sying the crabs.

  He winced, biting his lips.

  It was a practiced motion and a necessity to keep the fighters of the arena stagnant, so they did not grow too strong. A year ago, one such madmen of a gdiator hid his mana, and cultivated on night, he overwhelmed the guards. Fled never to be seen again. Perhaps. He should do the same?

  “Almost forgot the quota, my elf boy,” the manager said, his tone smug. “Can’t have you getting stronger again.”

  Lumen clenched his fists as his life force was drained and stolen away. He watched as his mana swirled in the translucent jar, his own earned power taken. A mental fsh interrupted his thoughts.

  [Core Weakened]

  Evander’s jaw tightened. “That’s enough, Gaius, or would you have me sptter the contents of your head on the floor?”

  Gaius ughed. “Oh, please, Evander. We both know how that would end for you. Me? I’m just doing my job. Fall in line.”

  Evander backed away. But his hands remained firm on his gdius. The gdiators, the strong ones like Evander they could make demands. The threat of rebellion against the overlord dogs was a scary prospect.

  The manager pulled the needle jar from Lumen, smiled as he stared at the blue swirling contents, humming as he strode out of the room. There was still excess mana left in him. Uncontained mana tended to strain any fighter. He’d prefer to cultivate, but he didn’t have a lot of choices.

  “Svery. They can call it what they want. It’s inhumane. And one day, this nd will see men freed from their chains, and the drums of liberation will rage as their corpses hang in the streets. One by one by one.”

  Lumen spoke, a little at ease. Evander was kind to him—wouldn’t hurt him like the others did. They had a sympathetic cause. “I never took you for a poet, Evander.”

  Evander gave him a warm smile. “I know you think the same. You’re just too timid to admit it.”

  Lumen said nothing, looking down at the ground, a pained expression on his face.

  Elves were either seen as pure beings or animals, depending on the enlightenment of the civilization. Rhoamia, however, was a complicated state. People here didn’t judge one on one’s race but rather on one’s value. Though it was human-dominated, an exotic elf made for a fine tourist attraction. He had known long enough where he stood with these fools. And they would bleed for it. He swore.

  Evander kneeled beside him, speaking softly but firmly. “You did well out there, Senior Lumen.”

  “Senior?” Lumen looked at him strangely.

  Evander gave a hearty ugh. “You really are forgetful sometimes. You taught me how to fight in the field. You don’t remember? I was wild a bloody bandit, before we started dueling.”

  Lumen frowned. Was his mind really that messed up? He couldn’t recall any of it. His memories were like the rain—it came, then it went again. And sometimes, it came back.

  “You really don’t remember?” Evander asked, exasperated. “You were a monster on the battlefield. A devil. That was years ago.”

  Lumen’s fingers twitched.

  That couldn’t be, could it?

  There had to be a reason for his stagnant amnesia.

  “Anyway,” Evander’s face hardened. “We’ll speak about it tomorrow. You should take a bath. We can spar in the morning. You seriously don’t remember?”

  Lumen’s gray brows furrowed together. “No. And I don’t want to deal with it now.”

  Evander nodded.

  Patience was the key here. His opportunity would come around.

  Remove the colr when he got the chance. Cultivate enough mana to fix his damaged core. Escape with his life. Live out in the wilderness. The trees, the tall grasses. Then find his way home.

  Did he even have one?

  He turned to Evander. “About that bath. Is the public bath vacated?”

  “Mostly, although I did see a few members from the female division sneak inside. Want to take a tour?” He winked. “You know you want to see them in their prime, sweaty bodies being washed in the water.”

  Lumen blushed and shook his head. “No, no, I can wait.”

  “C’mon, I’m sure they’d let you in. You look like one, after all. They’d let it slide, me I’ll be kicked out or worse.”

  “Do I really?”

  Evander smiled. “Of course. If it weren’t for how you plunge a bde into your enemies, I’d even call you cute.”

  “Okay. That’s enough”

  Evander led him to the baths, it was the one luxury they could revel in inside these hellish games of the humans. Lumen stuck his toes into the water, getting a feel for it. The water was warm, clear, and inviting. Steam rose in the room; it doubled as a sauna.

  Lumen undressed himself. He wouldn’t need the bandages thanks to the healing. But healing was a luxury he wasn’t afforded every day. He slipped into the water. Kicking his feet. His back was scarred, and his skin was delicate. No beating had disfigured him.

  He exhaled, closing his eyes. Letting the tension fade, the exhaustion started to creep through, waiting for him to change. He ran his hands through his hair and noticed Evander watching him. His gaze lingered a moment just too long before turning away. Lumen was too drained to care, or perhaps he even enjoyed being admired from afar.

  He needed to focus on his working memory. He needed to remember. Furthermore, he earned mana from every beast he slew. A portion of it was always extracted by the management crew. Gaius hadn’t drained all of it. Some of it remained.

  He needed to [Meditate], internalize the power.

  He breathed in deeply, in and out, letting his body rex further. Lumen closed his eyes, reaching inward toward the fractured core of his. The excess mana stirred, sluggish like a river uncontrolled. His center was a dam, and he needed control. Lumen pushed it inside, strengthening it. It closed, just a bit.

  And then it drained him. Too much. Too soon. He wasn’t ready yet. He lulled his head back against the tub, his breath becoming ragged.

  Not yet. He required more time. Tomorrow, he would have a good time. A very good friend of his would visit. As she always did.