Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

By the next morning, or rather what Lucius assumed was morning from being stuck inside a massive cave system, all of Lucius's strength had returned to him. Much of his mana was being… tempered… by the equipment placed upon him.

For most people, it would have completely blocked the flow of mana, but for someone like Lucius, he used his Channeling to temper the mana in such a way that it was unable to be restricted by the shackles. Lucius found himself looking at the manacles on his wrist.

They were far more effective than anything in the human kingdoms and he realized that for training his Channeling efficiency, these items were the best thing he had found to help.

"I have to get myself a pair of these. Maybe I can get them with different designs? I wonder if I got something more stylish, the girls would let me use them to teach them how to Channel properly…"

"Get up Titan!" One of the guards shouted. "Time for your debut in our wonderful arena. Itorin has a special set of events set up for you! Haha!"

The elf opened the door of the cell and yanked on the chain attached to Lucius's bindings. He momentarily thought it would be interesting to resist but decided to simply follow along. The guard looked slightly dejected at the fact that he didn't get to shove around and bully the prisoner, but he also did not press his luck.

Something about Lucius being nonchalant about the whole 'prisoner' situation unsettled him. That discomfort was written plainly on his face and projected by his posture and was something that did not escape Lucius's notice.

"Something the matter?" He asked.

The guard shuddered subconsciously. "Nothing at all. Just a little chilly in this cave is all."

"Really? And here I thought it was rather comfortable. After all, several of the crystals lining the halls are keeping the place temperature controlled right? Shall I ask that Itorin fellow to turn up the temperature for you?"

"Shut it you…" The guard whipped around and was about to yank the chains to pull Lucius to his knees. Instead of him being several paces behind, Lucius's face was directly in his own.

Lucius could almost smell the fear coming off the elf as he nearly pressed his nose to the man's. "For the future, it's safer to always have more than one guard when transporting a prisoner."

He smiled and placed a bundle of chains in the guard's hand before walking further down the hall. Lucius paused and looked around before pointing down a hallway to the left. "This way right? Let's go and get this over with."

Lucius followed the sounds of an excited crowd echoing through the hall. It took him no time to locate the doorway that led to the arena in which he was to do battle. The gate leading out was still closed, but the preparation room had a few other guards standing at attention, waiting.

They jumped simultaneously and lowered their weapons at what appeared to be an unaccompanied prisoner. Neither made a move because the man still had his shackles and the trapped equipment on his person. The original escort quickly rushed into the room in a huff and attempted to calm his cohorts while Lucius moved to stand in front of the gates.

"Remove these please." He asked while holding his hands to the side.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

He could sense the concern from the elves, but the escort approached and unlatched the cuffs. They fell to the ground with a thud, letting Lucius rub his wrists to soothe the skin that had started to chaff.

A moment later, the gate rose and Lucius stepped out into the arena. The crowd in the stands was rather large and it looked as though most of the seats were filled beyond capacity. He was shocked that so many people found the time to gamble at a tournament such as this when the country around them was erupting in civil war.

It was then that he remembered nearly everyone in these caverns were either slavers, nobles, or merchants who had the money and funds to buy their safety no matter who sat upon the throne. Unlike the common people, they were not under threat by this war.

It wasn't that this fact bothered Lucius. Rather, he understood it in a way. After all, if they possessed the means, why not use them. That was how he had lived his life the moment he had started to obtain the strength to do so. It was how he would continue to live his life in the future.

"Welcome to tonight's main event!" The announcer sounded oddly familiar to him for a moment, but Lucius chose to ignore it and listen to the man prepare the crowd. "We have brought our best here tonight ladies and gentlemen. Before you we have the one, the only, the legendary… Titan of Eroa!

"You know him for his exploits in the Alorek War, for the destruction of Alvora! Others may know him from shattering the 'Unbreakable Barrier' at the Arcadios Exhibition Tournament! And others still know him for his more recent endeavors right here in our very own nation!

"Well tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we are granting you the chance to see a rising legend in action. Is the rumored strength of the Intermediate Ranker truly what they say? Or is it a fairy tale to help Marked Ones sleep at night and dream of a future out of their reach?

"We will find out! Titan will be competing in non-stop, back-to-back battles against many of our best combatants! How many warriors will it take to put these rumors to rest? How many battles can this 'legend' last? Let the battles… begin!"

The crowd roared with excitement after hearing his name. Lucius felt a twinge of pride that so many people knew of him, so he gave a slight wave. After all, many of these fools would be dead soon enough, so why not give them a show before their end?

Three gates around the arena opened simultaneously, allowing three warriors to exit. One was an oversized elf carrying a large axe, while the other two were rather normal-looking female elves. The announcer mentioned one of the combatants was called Gett and another was Neshia… but Lucius did not quite catch the last one's name.

After a moment of contemplation, Lucius decided to hold back for now. The three elves charging at him only appeared to be Intermediate Rankers, though something strange was going on with the largest one.

"[Tempestas: Lightning Field]"