A long time had passed since he arrived—maybe two days—but that information was ambiguous, since he had no way to orient himself to the passage of time. The only thing he knew was that when he woke up after being brutally slammed against the door, the shackles on his hands and feet were gone.
Free of those restraints, he rested on the bed inside the room, wearing the clothes the Green Man had given him. It was a fairly comfortable outfit that began with a tight, soft, elastic black athletic shirt that clung perfectly to his muscles. The pants were slightly loose and allowed for easy movement—the ends were designed so there would be no discomfort when putting on the boots, which were far more resistant and rigid than they looked.
There were also some accessories meant for carrying weapons, such as holsters for small firearms and sheaths for knives, but unfortunately, he hadn't been given any weapons.
'I'm bored…'
Spending hours doing nothing had become a form of torture.
To kill the boredom, he stood up and walked in circles around the room. Then he went out into the corridors and kept walking. He tried everything he could to ease the boredom, but it was impossible. At one point, he kicked the door for several minutes, hoping someone outside would hear him. Once again, he was alone in this place—no one responded to the noise.
At some point, he leaned his head against the wall. He stared at the floor with dull eyes and drowned in his own misery.
'This isn't fair.'
None of what was happening was fair. He had come to this world hoping to return home, and instead, he was kidnapped and trapped who knows where. How many days, weeks, or months would pass before he could escape this place? The answer was so distant that it simply wasn't worth thinking about.
He stayed there, staring at the floor for several more hours. He kept waiting, without losing the little hope he had left. Then, finally, something different happened. The white and blue lights along the upper edges of the walls began to flicker—slow and intermittent—and a sound similar to a soft whistle echoed from every corner.
He looked up and heard something else beneath the noise. The metal door near one of the outer exits had opened.
He went to the room immediately. When he stepped inside, his eye widened in surprise. The walls were covered in weapons of every kind: swords, spears, shields, daggers, axes, technological hammers, pistols, rifles, and machine guns. Each weapon had a unique design—some gleamed like alien weapons, while others looked like rustic ballistic arms.
'Man… what the hell?'
That's when he remembered what the Green Man had told him. From that moment on, he had five minutes to prepare. When time ran out, he had to go out into the Arena.
'Shit! I still don't know what I'm going to face. And this is too much! What the hell am I supposed to choose?'
There were too many options. Considering that Nova was very agile, a melee weapon would be the best choice. But what if he later needed to defend himself from long-range attacks? Choosing one of the alien rifles was also an option, but that would greatly reduce his mobility—the same went for a shield.
On top of that, mounted above one of the racks holding a rifle, there was a timer displaying strange numbers he couldn't read.
'Even if I take a rifle, my aim isn't good compared to others.'
As he thought, time kept running out. He had to choose quickly, but he stood there staring at the wall like an idiot, waiting for life to hand him the answer.
After a few minutes, having examined most of the weapons, stressed and exhausted from thinking, he took a small pistol from the wall. The weapon came with four magazines of ten rounds each and an extra box of fifty bullets. Even if it wasn't enough, it was better than going in empty-handed. He also took a long, double-edged sword with a sharp point, forged from a beautiful, gleaming silver metal. The sword had sky-blue luminescent details along one of its edges and two buttons on the black hilt. Like the pistol, the sword had its own sheath made of lightweight black metal, its geometric details giving it a futuristic appearance.
He stored the pistol in one of the outfit's accessories at thigh level and strapped the sword to his waist. Before the door closed, he also grabbed a small dagger and slipped it into his boot, inside one of the built-in sheaths in his clothing. He placed the box of bullets into one of the front pockets of his pants, and with that, he was armed to the teeth.
As the door closed, he reflected for a few seconds, staring at the next door that would open soon.
'Now I'm going to the Arena… It's obvious I'll have to fight, but what am I going to fight?'
He frowned as he heard the next door opening.
'I've seen so many Aberrations over the years, each one stranger than the last. What's waiting for me beyond this?'
Pushing the questions out of his mind, he moved toward the next door, which was already open, revealing a long, dark corridor.
He felt his nerves flood his body, as this felt like walking straight toward his death.
If what the Green Man had said was true, staying there until the three minutes ran out meant death. There were no other options—it was either die in the darkness of this prison or die in the mystery of the Arena. On top of that, he hadn't eaten anything in the last two days, so he felt quite weak and unfit for battle.
He walked through the darkness without waiting long until he could see a small light at the end. As he approached, he noticed there was a large platform beneath his feet, and the light was a button on the wall.
"Whatever is beyond this, I'll destroy it," Nova said seriously.
Holding the sword's sheath with one hand, he pressed the button. The platform trembled and slowly rose. He waited a few minutes until it stopped in front of a metal door similar to the ones below.
'Now that I can see it better, these doors are far too thick to break…'
More than a door, it was like being imprisoned behind a massive plate thirty centimeters thick. That was far too much for a Seventh-Level Empath like him.
The door opened. Nova raised his guard, but he was surprised when he recognized the man waiting on the other side.
"Looks like you chose to live," said the Green Man. "Congratulations."