LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 282: Entering The Colosseum
Stark, Lana, and Sora stood among the thinning crowd in the academy's lobby, the tension in the air almost palpable after Theodore's announcement
And although this announcement was much quicker than the first since they had already introduced most of the rules already, only needed to inform the students of their task, its difficulty, how to get to it, and the penalty of failure.
But basically, they had just learned about the second trial: The Colosseum, a tower of ten floors where survival depended on defeating increasingly powerful enemies.
Stark stood tall, his eyes scanning the group, and soon enough he found the person he was looking for: Sora!
The white-haired girl spotted him at the same time, and he could swear she ALMOST let out a small smile before going back to her original expression.
Sora was the first to break the silence as she approached them.
"We should create our group now, right?" Her tone was level, but there was an eagerness in her voice.
She rarely showed such initiative, but this trial had clearly sparked something in her.
Stark nodded, pulling up the system prompt with a flick of his wrist. "Yeah, let's form the group."
Ding!
[Do you want to accept party invitation from 'Stark Heartsouls'?]
They accepted the invite as the system prompt flashed before the three of them.
[Party: Stark Heartsouls, Sora Gardenis, Lana Moonless]
[Party: 3/3]
Lana and Sora joined simultaneously, the shimmering text confirming their team. Stark let out a satisfied breath. They were ready.
Immediately, some of the students around them began to activate their Colosseum tokens, teleporting away in flashes of golden smoke.
The suddenness of it caught Lana off guard, and she nearly stumbled.
"Holy!" Lana exclaimed, eyes wide as she saw the golden mist vanish. "Looks like we can teleport at any point, huh, even now!"
People weren't wasting any time, and if they knew that they could handle the first few elites, then no reason to sit back and do nothing, the last trial did inform them that even though they had 4 months, their time was counted!
"Yeah, seems so," Stark replied, folding his arms over his chest.
His gaze flickered between Lana and Sora, considering their options.
"Want to go...?" Sora proposed unexpectedly. It was rare for her to be the one to speak first, yet she had done it for the second time in a row, taking both of them by surprise.
Stark grinned, his usual confidence shining through, "Of course, let's test it out, and don't worry, Lana, with me and Sora here, no chance in hell anything happens. Sit back and relax!"
Lana's smile faltered for a split second.
Continue your saga on m|v-l'e m,p| y r
She knew she wasn't as strong as Stark or Sora, but hearing it so casually from Stark stung a little.
Sure, she wasn't at their level, but she wasn't weak either. But what hurt more was the dynamic between Stark and Sora.
Even though Stark hadn't meant it, his comment left Lana feeling overshadowed, as if her presence was less significant now that Sora was with them.
She had always enjoyed Stark's protective nature of her, actually, she loved it, but now that Sora was in the picture, she couldn't deny she was jealous of her strength.
"…Sure," Lana finally replied, her voice quieter than usual.
So basically: Sora was jealous of Lana's carefree attitude and how close she was to Stark, and the other was jealous of how mysterious and strong she was, since she thought this would attract Stark to her.
What a weird duo.
"Well, I think it's better to go immediately," Stark mumbled.
But before he could do that, the three heard a voice from behind, and once they turned, they saw that it was the "Punkz Brothers", the three brothers who ended up as the top 3 in the first trial.
"Hey there," their colorful (and absolutely horrible) hair stood out from the rest, and they advanced toward the trio, and their leader didn't waste any time in asking the question he wanted, "How about it, Lana? Join us instead of these two. We could use someone like you."
Lana crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "Thanks, but no thanks."
The Punkz Brothers weren't deterred, "Heh… even though we're stronger?" The leader smirked, leaning in slightly as if he was confident he was speaking the truth.
But Stark couldn't hold back his laugh, it was too ridiculous.
"Stronger? You've got to be kidding me. Didn't you see the video of the Death Rift? You do know it was me who took out those undead alone, right?"
"Doesn't matter," one of the brothers scoffed, his tone dismissive, "Those monsters were weak. We'd have destroyed them too."
Stark's amusement grew more as he heard them speak about their powers: these guys were delusional, and they had no idea the sheer difficulty of what he had faced.
Even if they multiplied their strength five times, they wouldn't have lasted a minute against the monsters he had fought.
But arguing with them was pointless.
Without another word, Stark activated his Colosseum token, Lana and Sora following suit.
[Do you wish to enter the Colosseum?]
[You will not be able to leave until you defeat the first floor elite at least.]
Stark selected yes without hesitation, and within seconds, the golden light enveloped the trio, whisking them away from the academy as the Punkz Brothers cursed behind them.
"THESE LITTLE—"
"Calm down, brother. We'll get them!"
….
In an instant, the world shifted around Stark, Lana, and Sora, and they found themselves standing inside the Colosseum.
The ancient structure was imposing—massive stone walls surrounded them on all sides, towering high into the sky.
The room they stood in was dimly lit, the air heavy with the scent of age and dust, as though no one had stepped foot in this place for centuries.
In front of them was a large stone door, and above the door, written in thick crimson letters, was the text: "Floor 1."
"Well," Stark said, his voice steady and confident. "Let's go."
Lana, wanting to feel included, nodded quietly. She glanced at the towering door ahead of them, her fingers tracing her bow's form to reassure her.
Sora, on the other hand, was composed, her eyes focused and sharp as ever. She hadn't said much since arriving, but it was visible that she was ready.
The trio approached the massive door together, their footsteps echoing off the floor.
[Welcome to the Colosseum!]
Without another word, they stepped forward, prepared to face whatever the Colosseum had in store for them.
Based on what the chairman and holographic screen at the academy lobby said, less than twenty minutes ago, there were ten floors, and each of them had no monsters except for an elite, and at floor 5 would be a mini-boss, then at floor 10 would be the boss.
But based on what the information he got thanks to the [ApostleDex], Stark knew that in the floor 10 was a second boss, and it was a godless demon apostle.
His goal was to find and kill that thing, otherwise all of this would be useless.
"Let's go," Stark looked at the two girls as he began to push the door open, his strength enough to slowly push the ancient door.