“Huh? Invitation? Colosseum? What the hell are you talking about?” Arthur asked as he looked at the envelope with a confused expression. He didn’t understand what the two were talking about at all.
‘Are there Colosseums in the capital? I didn’t know of that.’ He thought to himself. Arthur had never really expected to hear about such a thing here. However, he wasn’t completely shocked. With how massive the city was, for a Colosseum to exist was not an outlandish idea. The problem was… Why was he invited to the Colosseum?
“Seraphica Colosseum. It is one of this city’s greatest monuments. It is an ancient structure built to host gladiator shows for people to watch.” The man explained. “Each year, we host a long season where warriors of all places of the world come to fight, compete and win the prize.”
‘… Sounds just like the Colosseum I know of.’ Arthur thought to himself. “I see… And why am I invited there?”
“His Highness would love to meet you there. That invitation contains a VIP ticket to the main show that will begin tomorrow.” The man explained.
Hearing that, Arthur frowned visibly. He was anticipating that response and yet it still wasn’t something simple to take. ‘Meeting one of the royal family so soon… Shit, this sounds like a lot of fun.’
In his head, he expected the royal family to take some time before making contact with them. But, it seemed he underestimated how eager they were to make contact with the Gifted players.
“We expect to see you tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Hearing that, Arthur snapped out of his daze and looked up. “Wait, who said I’m going to accept?!”
‘Nonsense, of course, I’m going. But, I need to pretend like I’m hard to please for certain purposes.’ He added in his head.
“His Highness only wishes to talk. He isn’t going to harm you. In fact, he wishes to be of aid to you, Gifted people, so you can establish yourself in our capital and across the borders of the empire from the east to the west. It is an offer that will surely be of benefit to you.”
“…”
‘Fuck, the sweet-talking is too good. They’re already making me curious. I know that if there is one person that might make me soar to the sky… It’s one of those at the peak of power like the royal family. Meeting one of its members is going to be a goddamn festival.’
In his current position, Arthur needed every single opportunity to get stronger or to acquire strong allies. The royal families were bound to be of great use to Arthur in his future ordeals.
‘Well… It’s true that I’m planning to infiltrate their bastion and perhaps ignite a war with the royal family. But, that’s a problem for my dear brother ‘Future Arthur’ to take care of. I know it’s tough, but you have my prayers, good man.’
“Ok, I will see if I can free my packed schedule and go there. This better be worth my time.” Arthur scoffed coldly.
“Understood. Now, if you will excuse us.”
Then, the two individuals turned around and left as quickly as they appeared akin to some kind of illusion, leaving Arthur alone standing there. He blinked a few times before he slowly looked down at the letter.
Thinking for a moment, he decided to open it right there and read the content. However, the moment he opened the piece of paper, Arthur’s eyes widened.
***
“Huff… Huff…. Huff…”
Arthur rushed back to the hotel as fast as he could. Even though he was an hour away, he ran back as fast as he could, crossing that distance in record time. Reaching the room, he knocked on the door in a hurry.
“Hurry, hurry…” He muttered as he waited for someone to open the door for him. A few seconds later, he finally heard the doorknob twist and open.
“Isla!” Seeing the girl, Arthur’s eyes lit up. “You have no idea what I just re-”
However, before he could even finish the sentence, Isla lifted her hand with a serious look, revealing a familiar piece of paper in her hand. It was the same letter Arthur received. Seeing that, the boy blinked before he looked at Isla.
“… They found you too?”
“And everyone else. They had given all of us an invitation.” She replied as she let him walk in and closed the door before locking it to make sure nobody could overhear them talking. This matter was too important for unknown people to eavesdrop especially knowing that the royal family knows where they are and what they’re doing.
Walking inside, Arthur found everyone sitting in the same room, looking very serious in a solemn atmosphere. He could understand what they were thinking of through their expressions.
“They already know where we are. That’s fucking terrifying!” Herculia clenched his teeth. “How did they even figure out where we are so fast? We haven’t been here for a day.”
“This is their domain. It’s terrifying, but it’s not surprising.” Emmy shook her head.
“… They definitely knew that we arrived the moment we took our first step inside the city. No, perhaps even before that considering the fact those royal mercenaries were ready for our arrival… Tsk, sneaky bastards.” Danny added as he crossed his arms.
“These royal family people are scary, Finlay.”
“That’s true, Serko.”
Everyone was sharing basically the same sentiment. The royal family had shown them as clear as day that they were a power to be reckoned with. The fact that they could find a group of people amongst hundreds of millions of humans so quickly was telling them that the capital was completely under their control and they had eyes everywhere.
The group had nowhere to hide even if they wished to hide.
“Hey, on the bright side, they don’t seem to be hostile so far. I met two of them, and they were clearly not trying to attack me.” Arthur replied with a shrug. “What’s more important than that is the goddamn map that came with the invitation. Did you see where the Colosseum is located?”
“Hm? I was too surprised with the invitation to check the map.”
“Me too.”
“Same here.”
“Oh, man! Come on, guys! This is by far the most insane detail out of everything! Look!” Arthur pulled the piece of paper out and put it on the table before he pointed at the location. “That’s the Seraphica Colosseum and then not that far away from it.”
He dragged his hand across the map a little till he stopped on a giant gaping black hole in the heart of the map. It was massive and eye-catching for anyone who checks the map. His eyes twinkled with excitement as he couldn’t contain it all. He had run back simply for this single detail.
“That’s…” The others looked curiously.
“The Divine Tower. That’s the Divine Tower!”
“Oh…”
“It seems the Colosseum is near the divine tower. We will be seeing the structure from up close!”
Calling this an insane opportunity was an understatement. Ever since he stepped into this city Arthur had been seeing that massive shrouded structure in the distance. It stood there, towering menacingly over anything and everything. It looked terrifying, yet it also was beckoning him to unravel it.
All his curiosity was directed at that tower and whatever was hidden inside of it. He wanted to see everything.
Arthur knew that he would have to eventually go there but he didn’t know when. Surprisingly, that chance came sooner than he expected.
His very first look at the Divine Tower… was but a day away.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3
“So, it’s built next to the Divine Tower? That’s… Surprising.” Emmy muttered as she stared at the map with a thoughtful look. It slowly dawned on her that they were about to go to the heart of the capital, where the tower was.
The mythical structure that caused the death of countless people and the suffering of many more. Nobody could completely comprehend how it would look from up close. All they could see of it through the window was its shrouded silhouette, standing like a divine pillar that held the skies from falling.
“Wow… So that thing outside is this?” Finlay asked curiously as he peeked at the map. “That… That is an impressive structure… How did they build it, I wonder.”
“If you don’t know how, I doubt anyone does, Finlay.” Arthur laughed as he patted the boy’s head. The two dwarves were experts at architecture and engineering, and yet even they were quite impressed by the tower.
“So, are we going or not?” Danny asked.
