Cole was quite at a loss on what to do in that situation, but one thing was for sure: there was no escaping it.
The menacing face still stood there towering over him quietly. Cole looked up at him and then back at his seat and then all around him, trying to find an escape.
But it seems he was neck-deep in this, and there's no chance of escape no matter what.
It didn't take long for the man to finally lose his patience.
"There's no time to waste, kid; the viewers are waiting." The man said sharply before grabbing Cole and swinging him onto his broad shoulders.
"Let me go," Cole screamed out, struggling excessively.
"Give up, kid; there's no getting out of this. Everyone knows the rules." The man replied while chuckling excitedly.
"You see, we have to pay fighters for them to battle, which can be quite costly, but now that I have you, we pay for one less fighter." The man explained as he continued towards another region of the arena.
Cole could hear the chants of the crowd growing louder despite his departure.
"My negligence and ignorance seem to cost me again," Cole realized, thinking back to the decisions he had been making and their consequences.
The sound of clanging chains brought Cole to reality; he turned his head to look at his new location.
Surrounding Cole were crude-looking battle equipment, shields, swords, and armor hanging all around.
"Get ready, kid; you will be up very soon." The man said with a faint smile still lingering on his face.
"Hey Brent, I found a free warrior." The man shouted into another room on his way out of the room Cole currently was in.
Cole kept looking around him, surprised by the sharp turn of events; his life for the past days appeared to be in sudden disarray.
"Is acquiring an Innate Spirit actually a good thing now?" Cole wondered.
"Hey, you have about 5 minutes left to prepare." The man urged to the room.
Cole intended to refuse to battle, but the moment he raised his head to look into the man's eyes, he was immediately silenced; the man's gaze at that moment commanded absolute obedience.
Under the man's gaze, Cole directly rushed to a part of the room where he picked up some small body armor and some brass knuckles.
His weapon decision was heavily influenced by his newly recorded ability.
He quickly put on all of his equipment and turned to the man, awaiting further instructions.
"Perhaps this can be a chance to get more fighting experience," Cole thought, trying to console himself.
"Follow me."
The man led Cole through a tunnel that ascended. Cole could hear the crowd's chants and roars that expected his failure.
After about a minute of walking, Cole saw light at the end of the tunnel that led straight into the actual battle arena.
The man leading him stopped and turned back towards Cole before saying, "Try not to get killed, kid," his smile morphing into a grin.
Cole didn't bother to respond, heading straight towards the exit ahead.
"Scorpio! Scorpio! Scorpio!" Cole could hear the chants of the crowd.
"I am here as an entertainment," Cole realized, something weighing on him
His opponent was a middle-aged man with a slightly ordinary face but a very muscular body.
His body was covered with armor quite similar to Cole's, but he wielded a pair of short knives.
"Fight"
The announcer called out directly while Cole was studying his opponent.
The man wasted no time and summoned his innate spirit; it was a pair of boots.
With speed that seemed like a blur to the naked eye, he rushed straight at Cole.
Unlike his previous experience driven by thirst for survival, Cole stood frozen in place.
"Moveee, move damn it," Cole screamed internally.
His body ignored his intention to move; the man instantly appeared in front of Cole and sent a knife slash towards Cole.
Cole was only able to move at the last moment, but that didn't prevent him from suffering a cut to his arm.
The crowd roared out in delight after experiencing Cole's injury.
The man retreated after his successful attack, creating about a 5-meter distance from Cole.
The slash seemed to have awakened Cole, as he finally decided to activate his new ability.
Slightly golden flames slowly came alive on Cole's fist, giving him a little confidence boost.
This time he decided to take the initiative and swiftly rushed at the enemy.
The man remained unflustered by Cole's advances, patiently waiting in his position.
Cole's flame-coated fist headed towards the man's chest, but the attack was easily avoided as the man used his superior speed to sidestep before sending his own kick at Cole's leg.
Cole's lack of experience came into full play at that moment as his last attack left all of his body exposed.
The man grabbed the opportunity and landed a bone-cracking kick on Cole's leg.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaa," Cole screamed out in pain.
"Are you even trying, kid?" his opponent taunted.
His opponents didn't let up but instead kept sending out attacks constantly, all of them intending to end the battle.
Cole kept attempting to block and dodge, but he just couldn't; tiny cuts kept on appearing all over his body.
The gap in skill was obvious when Cole's hands kept shaking and his legs were almost buckling.
As the battle raged on, Cole decided to fall back on the only thing he had been relying on.
"Eyes of Scrutiny." Cole activated, the signature golden glow appearing in his eyes.
This time though, something felt different—missing.
The sight Cole expected was nowhere to be found; only pain coursed through his eyes.
"Am I going blind" he thought.
Blood slowly started seeping from the edges of his eyes, which immediately startled his enemies.
The man created some distance between them and stared at Cole vigilantly.
The battle, the crowd's chant, and the arena all vanish in Cole's mind.
"Did I overdo it?" Cole thought with his teeth tightly clenched.