Chapter 47: To the Colosseum

"You are here." Rufus, who was waiting at the castle gate, noticed Keith's presence.

"Good morning uncle." 

"Now that everyone is here, let's head out to the venue."  Several elders of the family were present by his side. They nodded their heads as Rufus glanced at them.

They walked out of the castle's main gate and a carriage was waiting for them on the outside. It was an exquisitely designed carriage filled with beautiful carvings and multiple runes.

Keith recognized some of the runes as they were blood ritual runes. Some patterns were similar to the ones he had seen in the cave. He silently took note of this and followed Rufus. The carriage was long enough to accommodate six people.

It had two compartments and the group split in two and entered the separate compartments. Keith sat down with Rufus and another elder of the family. He was a follower of his uncle and sided with him at the family meetings.

The carriage moved as they sat inside the carriage. Several horses pulled the carriage and it exited the castle premises.

"What kind of gathering are we attending?" Keith asked, putting up a curious face.

"You will see soon enough. It is a secret gathering where nobles exchange their most prized possession. Here you will find many artifacts and treasures getting exchanged." Rufus replied with a smile.

"Is it like an auction?" 

"No… it's even better. You can place bets and win those artifacts too."

"Is that so? Now that you say it, I am really excited about the event."  Keith feigned ignorance.

He knew where they were going and what kind of event this was. But he didn't want to show it on his face, so he asked those questions to see his uncle's response. 

Rufus was hiding the main purpose of the gathering, and from that Keith could guess he was trying to set him up. He was trying to hype up the event and make Keith interested in the bets.

But he didn't know that Keith already knew about the colosseum and the upcoming fight.

Soon, the carriage entered the blood forest.

Trottle! Trottle!

"How long until we reach the venue?" asked the elder sitting beside Rufus.

"We will reach there shortly. I guess we are halfway there. It won't take long." Rufus replied.

The elder nodded and turned his head. 

Keith was observing the blood runes that activated as soon as the carriage left the city. They blocked everything from the outside, so nothing could be seen, heard, or sensed from the inside. 

His senses also failed to penetrate the invisible barrier. This was a high-level engraving that protected the secrecy of the path taken. The organizers did this to prevent anyone from finding out the location of the colosseum. 

The runes sealed the air and created a blood-qi barrier that surrounded the whole carriage. Nothing could get out from the inside. With no other way to know the path they were taking, Keith withdrew his senses and silently waited for the carriage to arrive at its destination.

In the meantime, he circulated blood-qi to further increase the attributes and stabilize his excessive blood qi even more. Due to the blood runes sealing the entire carriage, it was very quiet inside. Barely anything could be heard from outside, except for the voice of the coachman.

After several hours the coachman informed Rufus that they reached the checkpoint. What that meant was beyond Keith's understanding. About ten minutes later, the carriage stopped and the runes sealing the carriage deactivated.

Keith expanded his senses instantly to probe the terrain outside the carriage. It was a large corridor, about thirty meters wide. From the textures of the walls, he guessed they were somewhere underground.

"This is where we walk." Rufus got out of the carriage and took a deep breath.

Keth slowly got out of the carriage and looked around. It was a tunnel thirty meters wide with black marbles covering the surface. The reflection of the carriage could be faintly seen in the dimly lit space.

"Are we inside the colosseum or is it just a way to that place.?" Keith asked.

"This is the underground way that connects the colosseum to the surface. You see, the colosseum is hundreds of meters below the surface in the middle of nowhere. Only those who know about it can come here. The runes covering the carriage and blocking our senses were used to keep the path a secret." Rufus explained to Kieth.

The group slowly walked for some time before a white light could be seen from the other end. After coming out of the tunnel, they saw the enormous stage in the middle and the colosseum that stretched for hundreds of meters. The height of the spectator's area was equal to hundred meters. 

In the middle of the colosseum, there was a rounded platform made of pure white marble. 

'So the fight will take place there.'

As he moved towards the spectator's area, he felt incredible existences similar to his uncle and grandpa.

'Are they the VIPs? The nobles who organize the tournament.' Keith looked at a certain area that was covered with a thick glass that did not let the light out. So Keith could only see the reflection from outside.