Strem walked forward and spread his arms in grand gesture. "Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to show you my wonderous days of far less troubling affairs."

He bowed and with a flourish of his arm he put his memories up for projection.

—— Strem POV ——

"I still do not think this is wise." Yinta said looking at the enormous building in front of them.

Strem grinned, "Jer told us to get stronger and where could one possibly become stronger than here, it levels us and it gives us experience in fighting, plenty of it!"

"Jer also told us to find allies, which you will not find in a place such as this." She reminded him.

"So we split up, I focus on getting stronger, you focus on finding allies. Jer didn't mention funds but we are sure to need money. If you use that idea of yours to start that merchant guild you keep talking about, you can do both, I'll even provide some brawn should you need it!"

With a sigh Yinta swept her gaze over the building, The Colosseum. A monument the yalisian people were extremely proud of, their fighters grew and tested their strength in this arena. Many warriors seeking strong opponents traveled across the world and fought in the Colosseum. Even people from a country at war with Yalisia were allowed access to the arena, Yalisia had a long and proud tradition of warriors and would accept any coming challenger. The fact that they respected any strong warrior made this a gathering place for a great many races.

"Fine, I shall join as well. I will need some strength myself. Even if I do focus on my guild, I should be able to make time to enter sporadically. I could even use it as an advertisement opportunity."

Strem patted her on her back ."That's the spirit." He grinned as he walked through the entrance, towards the many desks.

Warriors stood in long lines waiting their turn to enter. Tournaments of various levels took place daily, signs above the desks showed were they would need to enter. They stood in line for the level one to ten tournament, these took place twice a day, as many as a thousand participants would join the lower ranks a day. The higher the levels the fewer contestants, many of the lower leveled contestants came here not to achieve glory and fame through battle but to catch the eye of a potential employer. Many such potential employers filled the stands, keeping a sharp eye open for any talent that suited their needs. Contestants would be given a number, the employers could then contact the people of the Colosseum to arrange a contract and a meeting. This system gave the fighters some anonymity, they could refuse to meet anyone whos interest they managed to spike.

The amount of desks available for the new fighters were by far the most, yet their lines moved the slowest. Yinta and Strem got into their usual banter, the people in front of them and behind them not taking any steps to form a conversation. Eventually they reached the desk, stepping forward Strem put his status plate on the desk, Yinta followed his example.

"We would like to register for the earliest tournament."

The receptionist nodded, she was a young woman with dark hair and slightly slanted dark eyes. "Will you be registering for the single, double or group battles?"

Strem frowned and scratched his chin he looked over at Yinta. "Single combat, if you please."

Strem shrugged, "Single combat then."

The receptionist nodded and wrote some things down, she glanced at the plates, her eyes widening a fraction. She said nothing and dutifully wrote down whatever information she needed. She fixed Strem with her gaze before switching to Yinta, then back to Strem. "Are you aware of the rules and regulations?"

They shook their heads, "I'm afraid its our first time here." Strem said while trying for a winning smile.

The receptionist ignored his attempts, "Mages will use the inherent mana in your body to create a copy of you, your conscious mind will be transferred to this copy. While a copy of you is active you will not be able to use your mana. This means no spells or abilities reliant on mana will be usable for the fight. Once in the arena it will be a simple straight-forward brawl till one of the copies is destroyed, the copy will have the same status as your own true self, with a slight loss in the transfer. This loss is equal for all combatants so it will not influence your capability to fight. There are no further rules, except that you must listen to the attendants, or face expulsion from the arena. Any questions?"

"Yes I have a few actually, There are no entry fees but I understand that there is prize money depending on how far you proceed. I also heard there are accommodations to those who make it far enough. For the lucky few in the arena and for others there is a dormitory of sorts in the city?"

"Correct, if you pass the first two phases of the tournament you will receive compensation for your effort. For a small fee you can enter the dormitory, food will be available in the cafeteria but this you will have to pay for. The rare few who are sponsored by the Colosseum itself will be granted several benefits and will be exempt from such payments, anything else?"

"Nope, just point us in the right direction!"

The receptionist nodded politely and pointed them to a door to the far left, Strem looked over to where she pointed, to see another entrance into a deeper part of the Colosseum. The hall itself really was humongous, it was a few minutes walk just to get there, the towering ceiling of dark stone arching far above their heads. They said their goodbyes to the receptionist and headed over, a stern well muscled looking individual was standing next to the entrance. They nodded to the man.

"First time?"

"First time."

"Head through the door, if you need weapons you can choose one in the first room to your left, if you need armor first door on the right. After you have outfitted yourself head to the waiting room at the end of the hall. You will be called upon when you are needed, the man at the end of the hall will give you your numbers."

Strem nodded in thanks. "Much obliged!"

Strem entered the weapons room staring wide eyed at the rows upon rows of weapons, neatly in stands. He saw swords of every shape and size, including but not limited to, broadswords, shortswords, greatswords, scimitars,a yalisian weapon called a katana. He saw maces, hammers halberds, even a simple stick. Not a staff, quite literally a stick. He shook his head and perused the wares, he eventually found what he was looking for, a needle thin rapier. He smiled and gently picked the weapon up. He took a stance, lunge, parry, riposte, followed by a few beats, he flowed into a remise, then finished with a smooth passato sotto. He smiled as he ran his finger over the weapon, he had missed having a sword of his own. He would be sure to buy one the first chance he got.

Yinta tapped him on the shoulder. "You seem experienced with that weapon."

"And indeed I am," He stroked the blade, "My father spent many hours teaching me how to use it, before.. well you know."

"I do know yes and I understand." She said putting a hand on his.

He gave her a smile, "How about you, not going to pick a weapon."

"No, I would be better off without one."

He shrugged and they left the room, neither of them entered the armory, both preferring their mobility and flexibility over the heavy protection armor provided.

They entered the waiting room, the man had given them the numbers 427 and 428. They looked around the room seeing mostly younger people like themselves, they spotted a free bench against one of the walls and took their seats. Strem took a look at the competition, seeing both boys he was pretty sure were fresh of the farm, and some who he was sure had been training their entire lives. He spotted what he thought was a half-giant sitting across the room, the young boy stood at least seven meters tall. Strem found himself wondering if his rapier could pierce the giants thick skin.

He spotted some stranger races as well, he spotted an orc and even a goblin or two. Both had a somewhat civilized society of their own but their kind were rarely found outside their own realms. A decent number of the competitors where red sand giants. He grinned, he had been pretty sure he had a decent chance at winning before he took a look at the competition. He would be hard pressed to win here, his skills might help him, but he knew that his mastery over his weapon was rusty at best.

Anxiouly he waited for his name to be called, a man stepped into the waiting room from another entrance. A sudden hush fell over the room, "If you hear your number, follow me!" The man started calling out numbers in a seemingly random order. "427!"

Strem grinned as he stood up, he winked at Yinta. "See you after, if we drop out meet at the entrance."

Yinta nodded.

Strem followed the stream of people into the next room, the man called about a hundred numbers. He walked out among them into the arena to a roar of sound and thus Strem Xilivor made his first appearance in the Colosseum.