He consumed the mana from seven Tier-2 beings after they were dead on the arena ground. And he did the same again for the next tier—this time, thirteen males and females. But no beast mana accompanied them. It was ridiculous to him how Tier-1 players managed to kill a beast while the higher tiers couldn't.
They must have used higher-tier beasts as well. There's really no escaping this shit for them.
The system added points to his Elemental Ability stats from the mana he consumed from beings with elemental abilities.
[Elemental Abilities]
Pyrokinesis: 102/100
Aquakinesis: 105/100
Aerokinesis: 102/100
Terrakinesis: 112/100
What's the use of adding extra points when it's not mine to use after the bar is twice full?
[You crazy fool. The added points are necessary so you have enough abilities to transfer to your Mana Slaves]
[I know you hate the idea of Mana Slave's, but it is only when you build more slave ships and recruit more slaves can you conquer all things]
Enough of the lecture
The bell was rung, and it was their turn.
"It's time, guys. Let's hope we find a way to come back alive."
"You want to see my icicles before we go? My icicles don't melt easily."
"Yeah, I think he's a bot, and he's really glitching at the moment," Lood said wearily as he stretched.
"Okay," Eric said. "Let's see how great those icicles of yours are on the arena ground. I'll make sure you receive a higher rank in my army and also a hug from Alley if we come back alive. Okay?"
"A hug? From Alley?" Xavi's cheeks flushed as he bounced lightly on his feet. "I'll come back alive!"
"That's the spirit. Let's go wait by the door."
The remaining five of them stood up gingerly—Lood, the body hardener; Xavi, the ice man; Zook, aTerra-mana; and Keane, also an Earth bender. All Tier-4s.
The guards were surprised when they opened the door and saw them already waiting.
"These ones will put on quite a show, yeah?" one of them said as they pushed them out of the room.
The speaker blasted the announcement by the commentator:
{Ladies and gentlemen, the last tiers! Also the most powerful and the most likely to put on a good show, just like we've anticipated!}
The arena buzzed with the excited crowd of the commentator's announcement. The seats, now completely filled, were full of both old and young people, all glittery and regal in appearance as they solemnly clapped their welcome as befits high-class entities.
The arena ground was circular, tracing the shape of the dome building, and the floor was all sand—dry, brown, but loose sand, to the disappointment of Eric. His feet dug a few inches in as they were led to the center to wait for their vicious opponents.
All over the field, caked sand were visible as a result of soaked up blood from the last victims of the beast show. The omen of death hung in the air.
"Yuk! This place stinks of the rich, and it's pungent," said Eric. System, how many people are here in total?"
[I have no idea]
"Okay, that question came out wrong. I mean, how many mana sources are here?"
[There are a total of 1,015 mana sources all around the arena]
[Kill them all to consume more mana]
"Easy there, System. I really want to kill them all, but I'm not all that powerful enough to do that. Besides, about half of them must be special beings, and the other half must have bought ability books to train themselves as some lesser elemental abilities. Let's see how this pans out, though."
The crowd suddenly started cheering, booing, and whistling all at the same time. Eric discovered it was because the Tier-4 female group had began pouring into the arena ground to join them. Seventeen of them.
"Wow. They captured that many hugh-tier females? I guess they must be the soul of the show, after all."
Alley led them out, playing with three balls of fire, tossing them and effortlessly catching them like she was a master juggler in a circus at a community fair.
{Hell yeah! That maidens bring the spice to the show. You could see one also seemed to be their leader already putting up a show for us}
{The beautiful redhead is already playing with her fireballs. I must say, they understood the assignment}
"Ehh, wow, she's masked up as well. Such a weird female player with even weirder clothes}
"Master Abyss," Alley said through her mask made from a torn sleeve when she got close enough, "I've got all fifteen girls here ready to comply with what we planned earlier. There's also a special one called Alice who can stay airborne, and she's been positioned in the core of the formation by me. She'll be our main eyes and ears while everyone else maintains position.
"I hate to say it, but we'll be receiving our orders from her, Master."
"Oh, that's fine. You've just made things easier," replied Eric. "So, still on the 360?"
"Still the 360. Since we have only five males, they'll be positioned after every three females, and we will all form a big but closed circle, best for both the defensive and the offensive."
"Quite clever," Eric commented, trying to figure it out without wasting any more time. "If there's a male after every three females, that's only twenty people for the formation. We're twenty-two in total. What will the rest do?"
"Yes, there'll be twenty players to form the circle. There'll also be Alice, who I said will stay airborne in the middle of the circle. And the twenty-second man will be you."
"And what will my role be?"
"Easy. You're the free man, Eric. You have no fixed position. You'll always attend to the area that needs the most help, and dash to another area after that is done.
"You are our main man, our sword and shield, and we'll rely on you to see us through this... because you're my master, and the most powerful being of them all."
And for the very first time in his life, Eric felt really self-important.
"Thanks for the much-needed serenading. And you've done a very good job. I owe you one once we see this through."
[Boomer, she's your mana slave and you're her Master. You owe her nothing]
"Excuse me, I'm trying to set the mood and play diligent here."
"Thank you, Master Abyss," she bowed sheepishly. "Oh, look, Alice has positioned everyone. I need to go fill my space at the rear end of the arena. You can start here at the front end. Those two gates are the most used for the beasts' entry."
{Oh, can you just look at that? Look at that and marvel!}
{Both genders have formed an alliance, and they've gone for a solid 360 formation. Something we've not seen in years!}
{Makes you just wonder, when did they meet to plan this?}
{They even stationed a human rover at the center to be their big, big eyes. This set will only make you want to stake more on their survival time.}
{Oh my, look at the board! Everyone's staking high for their survival time to exceed ten minutes! Seems everyone is impressed!}
{That might be a tough bet considering they'll be up against the fearsome and bloodthirsty creature, the Centiclaws. I mean those creatures are everything you'll call fearsome}
{But that damn formation is giving stakers such high hopes!}
{Let's wait and see if these young players will live up to their beautiful setup}
Eric looked up at Alice, who was hovering high above everyone else, scanning the area while rotating slowly on a spot. Her pure white eyes—devoid of any other color—met Eric's, and she threw a quick, heart-melting smile at him before rotating away, her flowing white hair picking up later after her.
"She looks ethereal," Eric said to himself. "Those white eyes sure don't belong here."
He threw a quick glance at the top seats of the arena, at a separate booth beautifully built and closed from the rest of the crowd. Inside the booth, an aged man Eric suspected to be the head of the Echevarria family sat, and beside him, covered with a white veil, was his daughter leaning majestically while she sat. There was also a heavily equipped swordsman who stood guard behind her. He was lean and beautifully built.
"You're the daughter, and it's because of your fucking birthday a large number of special kids have to die. I'll make sure I get you out of your bloody father after this."
The bell rang, signifying the first wave of monsters. The little gates swung open, and the monsters poured out.