I’d be an idiot to do so, though.
“These are your potential opponents?” Moe asks as she comes closer, though she’s still behind me.
“Yes.”
Her gaze lingers on the names. “Which one should we go for?”
My eyes move over the options again, weighing them.
They’re all low risk, but there must be a pretty big difference between a level one and a level two. And for the first ever match, I need someone I can beat.
“We take the two-point one,” I say.
Moe looks at me. “Are you sure? They’re all quite low. I think you could beat a four point one, too.”
I shrug. “I’m not sure I can take on a level two yet. Let’s see how it goes with a level one today. Hopefully he accepts my challenge.”
Her fingers tighten slightly around mine as she nods.
I reach my hand toward the obelisk to lock in my choice. The light beneath it pulses, reacting, as if aware of the decision before it’s even made.
I gulp down, dreading what’s next to come.
But there is no other choice, even though it’s disguised as one.
I press my hand against it. The two point opponent.
The ground vanishes beneath us, the sky collapses inward, and everything is pulled into a single point of pressure that crushes down for the briefest second…and then releases.
I stagger forward instinctively as solid ground slams back into place beneath my feet.
Moe is equally as rattled as her nails dig into my hand. She glances around.
“No time to back out now,” she adds with a fake laugh.
“I didn’t expect the battle to be so…immediate.”
It seems my opponent accepted my challenge immediately. I don’t know whether that’s a good or a bad thing.
The air is different here.
It’s sharper… colder. It carries the faint scent of dust and something metallic.
The darkness around parts like a curtain to reveal our new surroundings.
An arena.
Cracked marble stretches in every direction, the surface fractured into jagged lines that split the ground into uneven sections. Some rise higher than others, forming unstable platforms. Others sink just enough to catch a misstep.
Above, the same crimson sky looms, unchanged.
But here, it feels closer. Enclosed. It’s almost like a realm within a realm.
A faint shimmer flickers at the edge of my vision.
I swivel in alarm.
A barrier has formed around the perimeter of the arena. It hums faintly, glowing red at the edges, sealing the space completely.
