Zane, though only half paying attention to the announcer, remembered his words. In summary, there were more than 10,000 slaves in the arena. Trying to be mysterious, the announcer never revealed what would come out of the holes.
However, the most crucial thing for the slaves to do was to "Survive!"
That is when the beat started.
"Boom," "Boom," "Boom," "Boom," "Boom," "Boom,"
The announcer signaled to a man in a black hood standing on the nobles' platform.
Suddenly, a large hexagram formed in the sky. Bright lights merged, shaping into a 150-foot-long flaming dragon.
When Zane saw this majestic performance, Zane couldn't help but be shocked. His whole body started shaking not only for fear but excitement.
When the whole arena saw the majestic flaming dragon appearing in the sky, they couldn't help but sucked an air. Many instinctively crouched to the grown and some frozen with fear.
"Do not be afraid! This is part of our grand opening. "
"Please pay respect to our highly esteemed Ascendant Ezio, the Flame Fiend of South"
Suddenly, when those who knew the name heard it they immediately kneeled on the ground in fear.
The flaming dragon started moving, circling the arena going high and low dancing to the beat of the drums.
After circling a couple of times, it headed to the center stage of the arena, suddenly, the flaming dragon started dissipating like motes of fireflies.
The crowds roared! Like the others, this was the first time Zane had seen true magic with such brilliance and majesty. His heart can't help but to beat so fast accompanying the roaring fast beating drums.
In the years to come, he would always remember this perfect moment—the moment his heart and mind resolved to pursue magic.
Then, three words from the announcer brought hell to the slaves in the arena.
"Open the gates!"
One after another, nearly a thousand small barred holes creaked open. From them emerged beasts—a canine type with red eyes, sharp fangs, four limbs, and a tail. Larger than a house dog but smaller than a wolf.
Zane immediately used his eyes for identification.
Blood Jackal
Level 2
Strength:1.7
Agility: 2.4
Perception: 1.1
Constitution:1.6
'They are almost twice stronger and more agile than an average man. Just one bite from this beast will surely be fatal,' Zane thought.
"But the real problem is the numbers. Being surrounded by two or three is certain death."
When the bars fully opened, more than a thousand drooling Jackals surged out. Chaos erupted instantly among the slaves.
One of the announcers explained to the audience:
"These Jackals are no ordinary animals. They're bred to devour any kind of meat. Their sense of smell is terrifying—they can track blood from a mile away."
"They can easily hunt down smaller prays for food. However, do not take this beast lightly. When it comes to desperation, they band together and attack even large beasts."
"Oh, also their most favorite meat is human flesh. They were also left hungered for a couple of days just for this event."
Soon enough, the Blood Jackals who were frightful at first realized that they were handed food to eat. The front of the pack couldn't wait any longer and ran towards the closest it could find.
Those slaves closest to the wall were the first victims, the sharp fangs easily tore an arm and leg. Many started running away, but it was too late, the Blood Jackals were too fast.
"HELP!"
"RUN!"
"Please save me!"
Screams filled the arena. One Jackal leapt, biting through a man's skull. A sickening crunch followed, silencing his struggles. The more blood the beasts tasted, the more frenzied they became—faster, stronger, unstoppable.
Zane immediately started to back away, their group of slaves that he was part of was not in the center but on the western side of the arena and quite close to the walls. He can see that more than fifty Blood Jackals were running towards their group.
"Run to the center and form a group!" One of the slaves shouted, his name is Ben. He was one of the guards stationed in his old village until they were captured.
Zane followed the group, with his agility at 1.7 almost as twice of an average human, he was able to outrun most of the slaves.
A chubby redhead man, previously a convict, was running away from two Blood Jackals, he knew that it was only a matter of time before they caught up to him and tear him apart.
So he found a way to outrun the Blood Jackals, he grabbed someone's arm and pushed him to the ground. The man was surprised about this sudden force, he tumbles down the floor. Before knowing what happened, two Bloody Jackal tore through his throat and leg.
"Spread out!" Ben shouted! "Run for your lives and regroup in the center!"
Zane doesn't have any experience with any battles or strategies. Even the thought of killing a small lizard is too cruel in his eyes.
Back on earth, trying to kill an animal is illegal and can get you behind bars. Reality hit him again, the rules on earth don't apply here where it is the survival of the fittest.
One advantage Zane did not notice was that his work as an ER nurse made him more calmer than others. Blood, violence, and other gruesome acts that make people puke were just but a walk in the park to him.
The slaves started to spread out and ran to the center arena. However, the arena was quite big and it would take about 10 minutes at full sprint to arrive at the center.
Zane was unlucky, he was being followed by a Blood Jackal. He knew that it was too risky to fight the Blood Jackal alone. He started to sprint closer to another slave, a tall bulky man, named Goz.
"Hey!" Zane shouted.
"Get away from me boy!"
"Help me kill this Jackal!"
"No! If you don't want me to smash you to death, you better get far away from me!"
"You can try, but if I die, it will be you next who will get eaten! Besides, I can just outrun you"
"You son of a."
About two meters away, the Blood Jackal was behind him. "Hurry! Decide now!"
"Aaargh!" the man stopped running and went to clash with the Blood Jackal. "I will block it for a while then you go behind it and kill it"
The Blood Jackal found a new target, seeing this man was ready to deliver himself as food, it ran full speed and jumped in the air with the hope to bite a chunk on his neck.
Goz braced his hammer, but the beast was too fast. He barely managed to block. The Jackal slammed into the weapon's head, dazed for a moment.
Zane seized the chance, swinging diagonally at its neck. The Jackal dodged the killing blow, but the blade's tip left a deep gash across its face.
Enraged and bleeding, the Jackal lunged at Zane. But before it reached him, Goz slammed his hammer into its back, sending it flying.
Before the beast could rise, Zane ran struck again, hacking through its neck.
*Poof*
Its head rolled on the ground.
Zane stared at his sword in awe of its sharpness. Goz approached him, but before Zane could thank him, the man punched him in the face.
"Don't you dare do that again!" Goz resumed running towards the center again
"Geez!" Spitting the blood from his mouth. Looking at the Blood Jackal's dead body, he used his identification skill
Blood Jackal
Vital Signs: Dead
Meat: Poisonous, non-edible. Can be used as fertilizer...
Teeth: Can be used as a weapon with an attack of 0.7. Can be consumed once grinned and boiled, and it increases the 0.1 strength of the consumer (1,000 gm needed). Maximum stats increase 0.5.
Zane's eyes widened. The teeth were useless as weapons, but their potential as consumables could increase stats.
Unfortunately, although he has a storage space, he doesn't want to expose himself. So he just kept it in his mind. He knew that greed will just lead him to death.
The last thing he checked was the experience. On his status, he saw in the logs, it showed:
"+5 experience from killing a Blood Jackal"
Now looking at his bar, 5/10. Zane was ecstatic. Killing one more Blood Jackal will level him up. Another thing is that, on his skill menu, he saw that there were two icons that showed up.
Cleave: (Untrained 1/10)
Swordsmanship: (Untrained 1/10)
With this thought in mind, his eyes shined.
Gritting his teeth, "I WILL SURVIVE THIS!"