The door opened with a resonant groan, its massive iron hinges shrieking under the weight. A searing, brilliant light flooded the room, consuming everything in white. Leo winced, raising an arm instinctively to shield his face, but the light seemed to pour into his very bones, hollowing out the space around him. For a moment, he was nothing but sight and soundlessness.
When his vision returned, Leo found himself standing in the center of a vast, echoing colosseum. The air was dry and cold, with the faint scent of dust and old blood hanging in it like a forgotten warning. Weathered stone stretched high into the darkness above, tiered rows of crumbling marble seats surrounding the arena in concentric rings. Cracks laced through the structure like spiderwebs, and tufts of sickly green moss clawed their way through the crevices. Flickering torches, suspended in iron sconces hammered into the stone, cast a ghostly amber light that danced with each faint gust of wind. Above it all, the sky—or what passed for it—was a swirling void of gray and black, occasionally lit by a flash of violet lightning that offered no thunder.
Leo stood on a circular platform, no more than a meter wide, embedded into the rough, sandy floor of the arena. The platform pulsed faintly with a silvery-blue light, and a soft hum thrummed beneath his feet. It was cold to the touch, even through the soles of his shoes. His circle was situated off-center in the arena, roughly ten meters from the closest wall. Across from him, directly opposite and equidistant, stood another circle—and on it, what appeared to be a small child.
The creature was squat, no more than a meter tall, with limbs that looked slightly too long for its torso, giving it an unsettling, hunched posture. Its skin was a mottled greenish-gray, textured like cracked leather and glistening in patches as if perpetually damp. Wiry black hair hung from its scalp in uneven clumps, and large pointed ears jutted out at odd angles, twitching with every sound. Its yellow eyes glowed faintly in the gloom, slitted like a cat's and filled with raw, animal hate. Its nose was flat and wide, nostrils flaring like a bloodhound's as it sniffed the air.
It wore only a single tattered rag, the color of dried mud, loosely tied at the shoulder and barely reaching its knees. The rag was visibly stained with grease and blood. Filthy, gnarled toes gripped the edge of its circle, and in one clawed hand, it clutched a jagged stone shiv—little more than a sharpened shard of obsidian tied to a bone handle with rotting sinew. The blade was chipped and stained, a patchwork of dark rust and faded red—evidence it had tasted flesh before.
It was the most basic of basic mobs.
A goblin.
The goblin's head twitched as it sniffed the air again—slow, deliberate, like a predator. The moment it locked onto Leo, it gave a shrill hiss, its lipless mouth peeling open to reveal yellowed, misshapen teeth. Rage warped its already grotesque features, and with a feral shriek, it lunged forward, shiv raised high.
But it didn't get far.
Donggggggg
An invisible wall repelled the creature with a bone-jarring hum. The goblin slammed into the barrier with a crunch, blood immediately blooming from a gash on its forehead. A sphere of shimmering blue light rippled out from the impact, distorting the air like heat over asphalt. The creature tumbled back to its haunches, disoriented, shaking its head with a wet snarl as fresh blood trickled into one glowing eye.
Leo's eyes widened. "What the hell?"
He stepped forward cautiously, eyes narrowing as he approached the edge of his platform. He extended one hand until his fingertips brushed against an unseen resistance—cool, solid, but not unmoving. A faint shimmer sparked where he made contact, dancing like ripples across a still pond.
"A barrier…" he muttered. "Some kind of containment field?"
His mind raced, breaking it down. 'Kinetic repulsion, visual distortion... If it can stop that thing mid-charge, it's not just aesthetic.'
He crouched and tapped the floor near the edge of the circle. The hum intensified slightly—responsive to proximity. 'Is it triggered by intent? Motion? How long will it be here for?'
The goblin struggled to get back off the ground. Slowly lifting itself up, it started pacing back and forth inside its own circle like a caged animal, casting hungry glances at Leo with each turn. The goblin would occasionally pound on the barrier as if to check if it was still there. Leo didn't look away. He simply stood there, watching, observing.
A holographic timer blinked into life above the arena, each number glowing with the same ethereal blue as the barriers.
[00:00.10]
The digits ticked downward with a steady pulse. Below it another message appeared.
[Objective: Kill the opponent or force them to surrender]
'That's interesting, we can surrender.'
Leo glanced over at the goblin and received a nice wave back. Or an attempt to stab him from across the stadium, who's to say?
'Unfortunately I don't think that thing has the intelligence to surrender, this will be a fight to the death'
Leo stepped forward, approaching the barrier's edge with careful precision. The invisible wall still shimmered faintly, reminding him of a pond's surface frozen mid-ripple. He tightened his fists, jaw clenched.
'This may be dangerous. As weak and dumb as that thing looks, it still has a weapon—which is better than my bare fists.'
'While I may be able to kill it easily, there's no guarantee I won't have to fight again right after. If it manages even a single hit aimed for mutual destruction… I could get seriously injured. I could bleed out before I find help.'
He steadied his breathing. His legs—long, powerful, honed by years of cardio—flexed, ready to spring. He'd use his reach. His height, his speed, his precision. He couldn't afford a brawl. He needed a clean, swift takedown.
The goblin snarled again and spat a wad of thick, black saliva onto the stone.
[00:00.03]
[00:00.02]
[00:00.01]
[00:00.00]
The barriers vanished in an instant, their blue shimmer dissipating like smoke on the wind.
Leo launched forward.
The goblin, at the same time tried to strike the barrier it thought was still there. Instead of striking a solid barrier like it expected, the goblin's hand went straight through, throwing it stumbling forward. The goblin, still reeling from the head wound, had no time to regain its balance.
Leo planned to make sure it never would.
Leo closed the distance with quick, measured strides—fast enough to seize the initiative, but not so reckless he couldn't pivot or dodge if things went sideways.
The goblin's ears twitched. It snarled, hacking out a gurgling breath, and tried to reorient—its glowing eye narrowing, blade twitching in its grip.
Too late.
Leo launched forward and twisted on his heel, snapping out a side kick. His foot connected squarely with the goblin's temple with a crack that echoed through the stone colosseum. The impact sent the creature sprawling, a tangled blur of limbs and rags. It bounced once, slid a few feet, and came to a halt in a dazed heap.
Shockingly, the goblin still clutched its crude shiv—white-knuckled, clawed fingers locked around the hilt in death grip defiance.
Leo landed with a grunt and immediately staggered back, clutching his foot.
'Damn. That hurts way more than I expected.'
The sharp, blooming pain raced up his leg, a reminder that Newton didn't play favorites. He'd struck cleanly—but with no formal martial training, he'd taken just as much damage as he'd dealt.
'Yep. That's going to bruise. Maybe even crack a toe if I'm unlucky.'
Across the arena, the goblin writhed, snarling through bloodied teeth. It pushed itself upright with shaking arms, its one good eye spinning, blood dribbling freely from the side of its head. Dazed but not defeated.
Then it charged.
Leo's eyes snapped to its shiv—still in its hand—and to the wild, jerking arc of its attack.
The blade whistled through the air.
He ducked low, narrowly avoiding a downward slash meant for his shoulder, and pivoted behind the goblin. It whirled, swiping horizontally. Leo leaned back, feeling the rush of air graze his chest.
The goblin's swings were fast—but not focused. Disoriented and bleeding, its aim was erratic. Still dangerous, but not precise.
Leo danced out of range, observing. Every movement told him something—the goblin favored its right side, overextended its strikes, and staggered slightly with each step. Its balance was off. Perfect.
He feinted left, then struck again—this time with a sweeping leg kick aimed at the back of the goblin's knee. The blow collapsed the creature's leg with a sickening pop, dropping it to the ground in a scream of rage and pain.
It lashed out blindly, knife arm flailing. Leo kicked again, a sharp jab into its wrist. The shiv went flying, clattering across the arena floor until it stopped just shy of the far wall.
The goblin lay on its side, wheezing. One of its eyes was swollen shut, the other bloodied. It coughed up something black and viscous, then shrieked—not a challenge, but a panicked, pitiful sound that rattled the stone walls.
It wasn't dead.
But it would be.
Leo stepped forward. The goblin flinched and swiped feebly at his ankle with its filthy claws.
He halted, brow furrowed. 'A scratch from that thing might be worse than the blade. I doubt this world's pathogens play nice with human immune systems.'
He backed up slowly, keeping his eyes locked on the goblin, and crouched beside the shiv. The handle was slick with something half-dried and foul-smelling. He picked it up with two fingers, turned it once to examine the edge, then stood.
No mercy.
He remembered a certain knight Leo used as a role model—silver armor gleaming, greatsword cleaving through legions of green-skinned filth.
All goblins must be exterminated.
Leo approached from behind. He stepped down on the goblin's spine with enough force to drive the air from its lungs, pinning it in place. The creature shrieked and clawed at the ground, but didn't have the strength to throw him off.
With deliberate force, Leo drove the shiv into its chest—angled slightly upward, straight through the ribs. The goblin convulsed violently, let out a guttural wheeze, and went still.
He stepped back and waited.
Thirty seconds passed.
Then two minutes.
Finally, with a flicker of arcane energy, the arena erupted into a brief, soundless celebration. Ghostly fireworks exploded overhead in shimmering patterns of blue and gold.
[Congratulations Challenger]
[You will now be transported back to your recovery room]
Leo squinted as the now-familiar white light began to build around him, enveloping the colosseum in its glow.
He glanced down at the corpse.
Paused.
And, before the light fully claimed him, gave the goblin's head one last, solid kick.
"Just in case."