Chapter 677: Big Axe Coliseum (1/2)

It took Zac another hour of walking before he finally spotted the Coliseum. In fact, he had seen it long ago, but he had assumed it was a mountain range judging by its size. He didn’t immediately head over, but first looked at the building in awe. It was simply massive, far eclipsing the enormous containment building that held the Dimensional Seed.

It continued for tens of kilometers, a fortress of epic proportions. The majority of the structure was no doubt private sections meant for the inner members of the Coliseum and their families, though any stage meant to have Hegemons fighting would have to be pretty huge.

The main gates were not far from where Zac arrived, a hundred-meter-tall entrance with two massive axes forming an arch. Zac started walking toward it, but he soon stopped again as the world shifted. The desolate surroundings were suddenly replaced with a scene even more bustling than the Havenfort Town.

He realized that he was standing on a street over a hundred meters wide, and thousands of warriors were streaming back and forth toward the coliseum. Furthermore, Zac spotted more streets and entrances just like this one further away, making him realize that the traffic in this place was just insane. It wasn’t surprising though.

The Bloodwind Planet was simply enormous, and tens of billions of people lived here even with the harsh environment. Furthermore, it was no doubt the most prosperous planet in its local cluster thanks to the Big Axe Coliseum and a few other notable factions, and the planet was definitely the main hub for all stellar lines traveling the local cluster.

Zac turned around curiously, but the only thing he saw was a blurry desert, though warriors kept appearing one by one. Some passed him by and walked into the main building, whereas others headed for a series of side-structures that emitted strong spatial fluctuations. Those were probably the local portals that took the members to various hunting grounds of the planet.

Part of Zac wanted to jump into one of the teleporters and start a slaughter of his own, but he ultimately held himself back. First of all, you needed to buy access or become a member of the coliseum before you could use the local teleporters. Secondly, he wasn’t in a position where he could freely gain a bunch of levels.

There wasn’t even any money to be made from heading out, not that he needed it. It had been a big shock to realize that a vast majority of all beast carcasses were mostly worthless. Zac had always equalized hunting beasts with big money after his grind-fests back on Earth, but you could easily buy an early D-grade carcass for 50 million F-grade nexus coins or so.

Only a few extremely rare beasts were worth any real money, for example beasts who had extremely pure bloodlines that made them far stronger than normal beasts of their grade. However, those kinds of beasts were as rare as valuable herbs, and fighting them was like fighting a peak genius cultivator.

It was no wonder the prices were so low though; the Multiverse definitely didn’t lack high-grade beasts. There were reportedly millions and millions of D-grade beasts on this planet alone, all of them more powerful than normal because of the unique environment. Perhaps he’d test his mettle against the wilds of this world another time. But for now, he had a trial to take.

Zac entered the coliseum, and he saw that there were three paths to take, one for each purpose of visiting. The largest gate was for spectators who had come to witness the matches and perhaps do some betting, with the second biggest being for warriors who came to enter the ring. Fighting against other cultivators or ferocious beasts was a dangerous but effective way to cultivate.

There was never any lack of warriors willing to risk their lives for breakthroughs, especially when it could also mean wealth and fame.

The third corridor was for actual members of the Big Axe Coliseum, and that was where Zac headed. He was curious about the place, but he figured he could look around after he became an outer member. Zac only got fifty meters in before he was stopped by a guard though.

“Members only, buddy,” a gruff devil-humanoid with a bulky build said as he glanced at the lapel of Zac’s robes.

“I’ve come to apply,” Zac said.

“Oh? Outer or inner member?” the attendant asked.

“Outer,” Zac said and released some of his aura.

“High E-grade? Could be a good fight…” the man thoughtfully muttered and took out a token. “Here. The fee is 10,000 E-grade Nexus Coins. You’ll get the money back if you pass.”

“And if I fail?” Zac smiled as he transferred the money, surprised at how generous the Coliseum was compared to the two previous spots.

“Then you’re dead and we keep the money,” the man grinned. “Fourth door to the right. Don’t worry, the Heavens will arrange your enemies, it will be absolutely fair.”

Zac soon found himself in a resting room as he waited for the coliseum to set things up. If one fought in the Big Axe Coliseum the normal way, you’d have to expose some of your strength to get paired with the right level of opponents, but it was different for the Limited Trial. The System wouldn’t allow any cheating since it was handing out Limited Titles, so it teleported beasts into the arena from what Zac had heard.

The Big Axe Coliseum only needed to pay for the activation of the trial and transportation fees.

It was a win-win for the coliseum. If the contender won, they’d gain a new member. If he or she lost, they’d still make money on the down payment, tickets, betting, and perhaps salvaging rare beast carcasses. The Trials were especially popular as the beasts teleported here were often ones they’d rarely see. Furthermore, the System essentially guaranteed a satisfying fight.

Normally, Zac would have a huge advantage in this type of trial thanks to his massive pool of Efficiency, but he had read that the System actually based the opponents on true strength in this particular trial since it wanted to test for skills with the axe. That wasn’t a detriment in Zac’s book through, but rather a boon. After all, it wasn’t easy to find opponents matching your strength exactly.

However, Zac immediately found himself in a conundrum as he pressed his hand against a crystal hovering in the middle of the room. He needed to leave his Spatial Ring behind, along with any hidden weapons. He could only keep his robes and main weapon. Zac hesitated for a bit, but he eventually took out [Verun’s Bite] instead of [Rakan’s Roar]. Staying undercover was important, but completing the trial even more so.

His main axe looked pretty different from the time he visited the Tower of Eternity, and he didn't even have his more defining skills like [Nature's Punishment] or [Chop] any longer. It should be enough.

He also needed to choose a name or moniker. He didn’t want to use his real name for obvious reasons, but neither was he comfortable giving himself a Dao Name like “The Life-Death Primarch” or “Arcadian Master”. He eventually settled on Arcaz, a handle he had used in some online games back before the integration.

Zac thankfully didn’t need to wait for long for his trial to start. The platform flashed to life after just an hour, and Zac found himself standing in the middle of a massive arena a moment later. The roars of tens of thousands of people made the atmosphere rife with bloodlust. Zac couldn’t see any specific faces when he looked up at the stands though; it was all a bit of a haze.

He guessed the coliseum used some sort of array to obscure the features for some reason.