Skymint's POV

  I expected the clang of the arena gate closing behind me, the protruding eyes of the audience, and the sweat dripping off my fur, but we stopped by an underground room, surrounded by cool gray bricks. It radiated an unnatural cold, like the one from my cell. And yet, my bindings weren't removed.

  Instead, one of the guards handed me a ceramic cup of water, his expression unyielding.

  "Drink." He said sternly.

  I didn't hesitate. I drank the water out of dehydration from the sunlight, while my hands were bound together. As I passed the cup away, my eyes caught a short stairway leading to the side of the ceiling, with what looked like a barrier. A doorway. And it must be leading to an enclosed sandstone path, connecting to the arena gate. From the previous fights I've watched, it's always where the gladiators come out.

  They really thought out this arena well. Jamaico cared. He doesn't want his toys to be exhausted before the show begins.

  At the center of the room was a round table with the same texture as the walls, and a metal box lay there. It must be where my fruit cube is stored, but how come I can't use my magnetic force? It should be able to penetrate that box, as fruit cubes can go through anything. But I suddenly thought that the cuffs on my wrists must be enchanted too, turning off my magnetic tether to my fruit cube.

  Good thing what I drank wasn't poisoned or enchanted. It was genuinely water, unless the effects will come up later. It's not entirely impossible for Jamaico to do that. From the looks of him, he's the type to impose cheating when necessary.

  The sounds coming from the arena were muted around these four walls, so I'm uncertain if I was about to be placed in a fight to the death, or if I'd have to wait with tense muscles.

  "Umm, is it my turn now?" I asked.

  "After the current round." A guard answered.

  The three guards with me held long, pointed spears. Two of them stood on either side of the narrow hallway we passed through, while the other was on the opposite end, just beside the stairs. I wondered if there was a labyrinth here. But getting lost there seemed scarier than the arena. I shoved the thought aside. I have far more worries in this oppressive place.

  Arie must be expecting me on the battlefield already, but the damn Sand King held me in this waiting room to wait for the other fight to finish. It stretched like an eternity to my racing heartbeat, faster than it did back in the Horse Racing Competition.

  Suddenly, I thought about Arie's plan that I received from her cousin. I'm the one who has to fight first among us, so I'll leap up as high as I can using my ice abilities to check for any barrier surrounding the whole arena. Jamaico didn't mention anything about it, and I doubt there would be some deadly spell up there for the prisoners, because he'd lose a special prisoner.

  After some time had passed, the doorway opened. The guards flanked me as we climbed up. The room that opened was wider, the walls were the color of sand, and the sound outside could be heard because of the holes just below the tall ceiling.

  Maybe I could charge all these guards with my hardened body and get my fruit cube, but it's reckless. I won't be able to save Arie and Carrie that way, with the hundreds of Sunstarians outside. Pretending to be a guard won't work either; I have to be a human or a Sandman.

  The crowd outside yelled in applause. I wondered who my opponent would be. Please not Llanova. Never in my life would I fight him to the death.

  Then—

  "Because our Sand King is merciful, a Polarman with a bounty on his head will have to fight in our arena instead!" The herald shouted.

  "Skymint Polarion of the Polarmen Islands!"

  The guards escorted me outside, and I diverted my focus to their presence to lessen the anxiety clawing in my chest.

  "And an Ashfallen scout trespassing our borders from the Ashfall Kingdom... Cragstorm!"

  A gray bear came out from the opposing gate, his eyes flaring with fury. An Ashman.

  A guard opened the metal box in hand, and the others unbound my cuffs. The fruit cube moved and rested on my palms, while the guards moved back to the waiting room and shut the looming gate with a thud.

  I felt dread all over my fur. Sweat engulfed me under the sun of the cloudless blue sky.

  "Summon Wintermelon!" I commanded.

  The black cube hovering in front of me unleashed the cantaloupe with a glowing light-blue aura. I quickly took a bite, hid the cube, and peered at my opponent.

  Theirs was a plum with a raging red aura. Passive: enhanced speed and flame elemental.

  "Steel your souls! Let the flames of battle begin!" The herald roared as he sprang into the air, kicking up a swirl of dust in his wake.

  I covered my body in ice armor. My body is hardened, but that doesn't mean I'm immune to scorching.

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  Cragstorm charged immediately, pinning me to the metal gate with his whole body flaming. I moved my feet erratically, scattering the sand to extinguish his flames.

  Then, I fought back with a blast of ice and leapt to the ground. He's not falling down. He's desperate. And so am I.

  I activated Ice Foot. I froze the ground beneath me, while his footsteps left trails of flames. How am I going to freeze the ground beneath him if he'll burn it in an instant?

  Instead, I focused on avoiding the prison surrounding us, because I don't want the prisoners to get hurt in their open windows. I paced around the center, but Cragstorm is faster. What does Jamaico expect of me when I'm clearly at a disadvantage?

  I lunged upward, building an ice tower beneath me. I had to reach as high as I could. Up and up, the ice below me melted away. Cragstorm flew upward like a fireball and charged right at me, bringing me crashing down.

  I quickly froze the sand beneath me before my back landed hard. Turns out, not only the corners were my weakness.

  "Stop pinning me!" I yelled at the Ashman, and his face startled in surprise.

  "I have to report back to my kingdom." He hissed.

  "Let me end it quick." He said, his tone final.

  No. The ice that I had left suspended in the air came falling down in pointed spikes. He shrieked in pain, and I rolled to get myself up. And I turned just in time to see the longest one pierce his shoulder, skewering him to the ground. He's stuck in place, good.

  I jumped, summoning layer after layer of ice beneath my feet, climbing higher, higher, straining to reach the peak of the arena. If there was an invisible barrier trapping us, I had to find it.

  "What is he doing?" One blurted out.

  "Why didn't he freeze him to death?" Another yelled.

  "BOO!" The crowd roared in unison.

  I ignored them and kept climbing.

  Then, bam.

  A crushing force slammed into me from above, heavier than gravity alone. My limbs locked. My hardened body plummeted like dead weight. The ice platforms I'd created shattered under my falling mass, splinters of frozen blue raining down with me.

  Just before my back could meet the scorched sand, I threw out a breathless pulse of magic. Ice bloomed beneath me, a cushion forming in the nick of time.

  I hit it hard.

  Smoke curled toward Cragstorm, and the sand beneath him sizzled with melting heat. Sharp crackles rang in my ears.

  That's it. I'd been waiting for this. The sand beneath him was melting. If I cooled it down fast enough, I could turn it into glass. I focused all my magic there. A burst of cold. A sharp hiss. Then a hard crack.

  Cragstorm's body jolted, his torso locked in place by a warped plate of steaming black glass. Not ice. Glass. His eyes widened in a gasp.

  With a quick stomp, I sent a wave of sand flying upward, coating Cragstorm's flaming back. The flames hissed and sputtered as the grains fused with the heat.

  I looked at his body, partially engulfed in flames, and my hands numbed. I couldn't get myself to freeze him.

  "FINISH HIM!" Someone screamed.

  Another hurled a stone at me. It cracked against my ice armor.

  "What are you waiting for? Mercy's for cowards!"

  I clenched my fists, still unsure. Why did this feel wrong?

  Hold on. I looked at the Sunstarian who threw the debris at me. He was a Sandman in regal clothing.

  Pandust, my opponent from the Horse Racing Competition. I couldn't let this noble see that I was weak.

  I'm sorry.

  I drove an ice blade from the glass trapping Cragstorm up to his neck. I hoped I hit the right angle.

  I didn't want to crouch down to see underneath him. The flaming aura he had had died down.

  I'd killed him.

  And I would never feel good about it.

  "Skymint Polarion wins, acquiring his first victory!" The herald announced.

  Everything blurred. My throat felt dry. My limbs were exhausted from climbing up for nothing. How many battles did I have to go through before we could escape this cruel place? I didn't want to do it ever again. But there was an invisible barrier surrounding the coliseum.

  Then, I collapsed into the scorched sand.

  ***

  I got back to my senses when I heard the metal door close with a bang. My wrists were bound again. No rewards, just that I survived and would have to wait for my next battle, which I don't know when will happen. Hopefully, we get out of here as soon as possible.

  A cup of water was left on the ledge. I quickly grabbed it and consumed it in an instant. I felt slightly relieved.

  The door's window was still open, and the arena battles were still ongoing. Carrie's plant crawled inside.

  "Skymint, can I talk to you now? Or do you still need rest?" She asked with enthusiasm.

  "There's an invisible barrier with gravitational force." I said. "Before my turn, they brought me behind the prison, went down a hallway to an underground room, just below the sandstone connecting to the arena gate." I said. I knew we had limited time to talk, so I had to say the details immediately.

  "How about our fruit cubes?" She asked.

  "In the underground room. Only your fruit cube is stored in a metal box. And I concluded our cuffs were blocking—"

  "Yes, Arie suspected." She cut me off.

  She's quick. I suddenly felt dumb for only discovering it today. "How was she?"

  "She's relieved that you made it alive." She said. "We were worried about you. We thought you had been brought to a torture chamber until you came in during the following round."

  "Have you seen any other paths underground?" She asked.

  "Nothing. Also, I was unconscious while being brought here. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get the most important of all." I said, my voice tinged with melancholy.

  "It's fine. We'll just find out next." She said.

  I felt a shiver down my spine. "Your victory was enough. That matters most of all."

  I felt warmth in my chest. "Thanks, I really appreciate your words."

  "You're welcome. I gotta pass the info to my cousin."

  The plant slithered out of my cell.

  I survived today, but the guilt of killing that Ashman gnawed at me. He was a kingdom's scout, while I'm nothing. Just some Polarman without a kingdom to protect. Just some fisherman that saved a princess and a witch.

  I didn't want to regret it. I'd just feel like a bad person for doing so. It was the right choice. And so was what I did today. But killing is something else, not within the bounds of my virtues. I convinced myself that it was self-defense. If I didn't do it, I would've been the one to die instead of him. No, not only me, but Arie too. She had a life worth saving. She's an heir to a kingdom. I would sacrifice myself for her, but with Ellie's curse, I have to protect myself as much as I do her.

  Still, I wondered what the Ashman had to report back to the Ashfall Kingdom. I felt stupid for not asking him what it was. I was too focused on thinking how to kill him in a peaceful way. It's not like I would've been able to talk with him when we were both fighting for our lives.

  Suddenly, a white bird came inside my cell. It lunged at me, clawing at my chest.

  "What in the world—"

  It flew behind me, looking for something. I realized this was no ordinary bird. It was the robbery dove.

  "I won't let you get it!" I whispered.

  I reached out to grab it, but it was too fast and flew out of the window.

  I quickly held my lower back and sighed. The satchel of leaf bills was still there.

  The Mysterious Bear. That sorcerer. I remembered. We're going to find out who they were, and why they cursed Arie, once we get out of here.