16 The Crazy Red Hair I

Without saying a word to each other, the 41 survivors of the welcoming party walked through the opening in the coliseum's walls. Unlike the cave from earlier, several dazzling crystals scattered on the walls of the hallway-like path illuminated the path that laid in front of James and the others. Instead of admiring the beauty of the hallway, they had varying expressions on their faces, which ranged from stern to caution. After the events that took place in the coliseum, no one could not blame these youths for putting up such expressions on their faces. Meanwhile, Rowan's face was ashen, because he felt that everyone in the hallway were mocking him in their hearts. He honestly believed he did no wrong back at the coliseum, his eyes had a furious look in it as he stared at the back of the lady who talked him down earlier. Being a Prince from an Allied Kingdom, he felt humiliated by her actions. Since he was a child, they taught him to always maintain a positive image wherever he found himself. Now that the young lady tarnished his image, Rowan was transferring his anger to the young lady.

After walking for over twenty minutes in the hallway-like path, the forty-one youths reached a specious room, which had a dome. Within this illuminated room, one would notice that there were several doors marked with numbers on it. With 30 doors marked in the room. Unlike normal doors, the doors in this room had no handle on them and they were all painted in stripes of white and yellow. The moment the last of the youths crossed over to the room, they could hear a loud rumbling noise, followed by the hallway closing behind the youths, causing them to have serious expressions on their faces. The expressions on their faces became more serious the moment they counted the doors in the room, which was lesser compared to their forty-one man count.

At that moment, all the youths created a distance between themselves. They had a looming sense of foreboding within their hearts, especially when they remembered what happened in the coliseum. Just like the others, James was also preparing for an all-out brawl. Even though some youths within the room had higher levels than him, he was well prepared to take advantage of what would be a chaotic brawl. From his perspective, if he used the damned souls and the Army of the Fallen, coupled with his other skills, there was no way he would not emerge as one of the thirty people to pass through a door. Although James had this thought in mind, he could not help but marvel at how clichéd their situation was.

He was expecting something far more intriguing, but it seems the Kynar people were going the simple and efficient route, which was an all-out battle. With tensions rising within the room and everyone developing a case of paranoia, a bloody battle was not too far away from starting.

"Wait! There is no need for us to suspect or fight each other. No one told us to fight! So, what is the point in us having bloodthirsty looks towards each other? We don't even know if the doors in the room lead to an ominous location. Let's calm down and think this through, we will only stain our hands with blood if we murder each other," Rowan said.

Although he said these words, he still maintained a serious look in his eyes, with his posture akin to that of some prepared for battle. Hearing his words, there was no reaction on the faces of the other youths, but none of them approached the other to begin the fight. Just like Rowan, they did not want to fight any unnecessary battles and just like Rowan said, there was no way to guarantee that the Caretakers wanted them to battle each other. There was also no guarantee that, what was lying behind the closed doors will favor anyone.

Those swayed by Rowan's words, relaxed their tensed bodies while also maintaining vigilance towards the others.

"So what do you propose we do? Although I don't know the intensions of those bastards, with only 30 doors in the room and 41 of us here, it is not too difficult to guess their intentions," A bald youth said in a stern voice.

Taking a closer look at this young man, who looked only 17 years of age, one would notice that he dressed like a typical monk. Around his hands were prayer beads, which were black and red. On the bald head of this young man, one would notice that there were five black beautifully drawn circles. They could also find a miniature version of these circles on the forehead of this youth, which aligned down the path in between his two eyes, all the way to his nose. With his fair skin complexion, the tattoo like circles really stood out. Even though he looked only seventeen years old, he had a small goatee on his chin, tied into braids.

Unlike Rowan who was a handsome young prince, this young man was not handsome, but borderline ugly, but one would not really notice this, because he had an amiable aura around him.

Meanwhile, Rowan had an athletic physique with a height of 6ft. He had a handsome chiseled face, with no blemish on his tanned skin. The black hair on his head, curled in an unnatural and dazzling manner. Covering a section of his face, leaving only one of his eyes visible. Unlike the young man who wore a monk's attire, Rowan wore luxurious clothes befitting of a prince. Just like how their clothes were a total contrast to each other, the aura around Rowan was also different to that of the monk. While the monk had an amiable aura, Rowan had the proud aura of a prince far above the common man. The only thing identical with the two, was that they were from the same age bracket.

Hearing his words, all the youth in the room turned their attention towards the monk, with most of them agreeing within him.

That there were only 30 doors within the room, was a clear message to everyone within the room that only 30 of them would exit the room. Rowan's face became slightly ugly after hearing the words of the monk, just like the others he also came to the same conclusion about the brawl, but he did not what to fight in a free for all.

"Why don't we use one door as a sample? This way can confirm if the Caretakers want us to decide among ourselves who should proceed or not," Rowan said.

"So, who gets to pass through the sample door? I hope you will not recommend yourself?" the same young lady from earlier retorted while sporting a smile on her face.

Looking at this young lady, one would notice that she cross-dressed as male. She wore silver tunic matched by a pair of black breeches, while wearing a shin high leather boots.

Even though she cut her brown hair to the length of a young boy, it did not hide how cute her face. Just like her hair, her eyes were also brown. From her facial features, one could easily tell that she was 16 years of age. Unlike most ladies her age who were already being affected by puberty, she was still as flat as a board; one of the major reasons she could pull off the cross dressing look. If she did not speak, she could pass off as a boy, but if she opens her mouth to speak, her feminine voice will surely give her away.

With an ugly expression on his face, Rowan wasted no time in replying as he said, "Did you hear me recommend myself? Do you have…" before Rowan could finish his statement, a loud female voice drifted into the room, "Children, I'm sorry for the slight delay. It is a good thing there were no accidents."

The moment the voice drifted into their ears, all the youths in the room who were already tensed suddenly relaxed their muscles, while sporting smiles on their faces. Unlike the Call of a Siren, what was happening to youths was different. Instead of putting the youths in a state where they could be controlled, the voice rejuvenated their bodies and uplifted their souls.

At that same time, the sound of the system's notification went off in James's mind.

<Ding>

Scanning Completed!

Name: Cry of the Beloved (mimicry).

Rank: Good.

Path: Light.

Effects: Voice from the 'Pure Soul', used in soothing a raging and tensed mind.

The user will lose control of Item - Damned Souls, if subjected to the Skill.

Item - Army of the Fallen, will become purified if subjected to the Skill.

Limitation: Because it is a mimicry, the user has a 10% of stopping the purification process.

<Ding>

James had bland expression on his face the moment he read the system's update, he was tired of being surprised by the people within Kynar.

"Children, you can each go through a door of your choice. All doors lead to the same destination, you don't have to fight for the right to enter any door, because you are all esteemed guests of Kynar. Please make your choice within the next 5 minutes. Please try to make yourself useful before the feast. See you on the other side children," The mysterious feminine voice said.

The moment after she finished speaking, all the youths within the room came to their sense. Meanwhile, Rowans had a smug expression on his face as he stared at the young lady who did not even bother to glance at him. Instead of waiting around to applaud who was right or not, most of the youths immediately made their way towards the door of their choice.

With what happened after the last five minutes declaration, none of them wanted to face the penalty of being late. Just like the others, James walked towards a door of his choice, which had the number 27 written on it. Unlike the others, he had a stern expression on his face, because he remembered how the old man repeatedly told him to make himself useful in the world underneath. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves James pushed the door. But, nothing happened. Instead, a hidden trap door opened underneath his feet, which caught him by surprise. The strange way in which James exited the room surprised even the others who had yet to leave the room.

James had a wryly smile on his face as he slid down what looked like a tunnel, He felt as if the Kynar people were messing with them too much. With the night mode activated, he could see within the dark and cold tunnel. Since he could do nothing and did not know where the tunnel led, James cautiously enjoyed the ride to his unknown destination. While listening to the reports of the damned souls he out before the old man kidnapped him.

About ten minutes later, James who had being listening to the reports of the damned souls had a stern expression on his face. Because of the information reported by the damned souls. According to the reports of his damned souls, they had yet to find signs of any intelligent race on the Island. Coupled with the fact the island was far, far larger than what James had expected. Another thing that made him livid, was that an unknown monster living in the forest ate his damned soul and he did not even notice it. It was not as if it killed the damned soul, rather it stored inside its stomach. Even with Blay De Tovar's memories, James did not know which monster could do such a thing. However, as these thoughts flashed through his mind, he could see a light coming from about 10m. With the appearance of the light, James snapped out from his pondering demeanor, because he knew that whatever was waiting for him at the other side would require his maximum attention.

Unlike when an underground trap door swallowed him, James exited the tunnel from the ceiling of a spacious room. The height from the ceiling to the floor was more than 30ft, if a normal person fell from such a height, they would suffer serious injuries or may even die, depending on how they landed. With an ugly expression on his face, James used his past military training to good use, enhanced by his high Agility stat. Like a veteran gymnast, he flipped in mid-air twice, before landing on his feet with his knees slightly bent. On his home plant, such graceful skills would have won him multiple gold medals, but within the room he landed in, all it brought James was a series of loud mocking laughter.

Because of the awkward manner in which he exited the tunnel, James did not take a proper look at the room at first glance. But, having saved himself from any injury associated with falling, he had a stunned expression on his face when he saw the amount of people within the room. What made shocked him the most, was that not everyone within the room was a human. The laughter that occurred after he landed were from a group of humanoid creatures who had a gray colored skin, which was also rough. Looking at their sturdy bodies, it would leave one slacked Jawed, because even if James was to gain times three of his current weight he was nowhere near coming to the weight of these humanoids. Unlike the humans, these humanoids only had their stomach, privates and rear covered by a thick animal fur. Inspecting their faces, it would leave most people terrified, because these humanoids had massive fangs protruding out of their mouth. With a circular nose ring dropping from their round nose, their ears were also gray as it pointed outward, while their eyes looked menacing and bloodthirsty.

If their bulging muscles which had veins has thick snakes, did not induce fear; then looking at the eyes of these creatures would to do the trick. Although some of them had hair on their head, the others did not.A common feature among them, was the chains around their legs, wrists and necks.

The moment James looked at them, the system notification echoed in his mind.

<Ding>

Scanning…

Scanning completed!

Race: Ogres

Rank: Unevolved.

Occupation: Warriors.

Level: 60–79.

Age: >130.

Path: Darkness.

Quantity: 30.

Other Races within a 100m radius: Slimes, Demons, Halflings, Humans, Dark Elves, Lizardmen and Beastmen.

Quantity of other races: 30 per race.

<Ding>

Apart from the fear inducing ogres, there were other races within the room common to the Black Lands. Among them, included; the Beastmen, who looked like regular men, but the only difference between them and regular humans was the fur they had on their body, coupled with an eerie-looking claw some of them had on their limbs. Just like regular humans, they also wore clothes, but their clothes resembled ancient Egyptian clothing from James's planet.

Just like the Beastmen, another race within the room was the Lizardmen. They also looked like regular humans to a certain extent. The main difference between them and humans, was the obvious tails at their rear, and greenish slimy scales which covered their bodies. Instead of having the facial features akin to a lizard, their facial features resembled that of a human.

It was only their eyes and tongues that had similarities with reptilian creatures.

Among the races within the room, the Dark Elves were the most beautiful. Whether it was the males or the females, they all looked gorgeous. They all had a tanned skin complexion, while having silver hair on their heads. The male among them, wore a black tunic-like upper garment, which looked as if it was an armor. While a gray pants made from cotton, matched with a pair of black leather boots covered their lower half. Meanwhile, most of the females wore knee-length black dresses, matched with Amazonian sandals, whose straps extended all the way to their knees. Those who did not dress like this, cross-dressed as their male counterparts. One common feature among them was that, they each had a short dagger hanging by the side of their waist.

Meanwhile, the most divergent race within the room was the Halflings. With Blay De Tovar's memories in his head, James already knew that the Halflings were remarkably different to the ones he read about in his former life. Some of them had humanoid appearances, while the others looked like monsters. In Skyhaven, they used the term - Halflings, to describe a being that was the offspring of two different race. If an Ogre and a Lizardman had a child, it will not adopt the race of its parents rather it will become a Halfling. With most of the considered abominations, they were the most discriminated races on the Continent of Skyhaven. Unlike most of the races found on the continent, the Halflings were the only one who did not have a particular territory of their own. They were all roaming wanderers, who were looking and longing for a place that accepted their kind.

If the Halflings could be considered as the most divergent race, then the Slimes were the most predictable. There were two types of Slimes within the Continent of Skyhaven, which were; the Evolved Slimes and the Normal Slimes. Like the name suggest, the normal slimes were just the typical slimes who usually acted as waste cleaners. However, the Evolved Slimes were slimes who had gained intelligence. Unlike normal slimes, who could neither speak nor assume a definite form, the evolved slimes had intelligence on a par with humans, while also possessing the ability to transform into any shape or size. One thing they share in common with the normal slimes, was their varying colors.

The last of the races within the room, were the demons. They had a humanoid appearance, coupled with a divergent color of skin color, which ranged from pale gray to a slight red. Another distinguishing feature on the bodies of these creatures, was that one could see the outline of horns emerging from their foreheads. Just like typical demons, they had a pitch black wing attached to backs, which extended out of their noblemen and noblewomen-like clothes. Just like with every race within the room, except the slimes, both sexes of their race stood in the room. Although both sexes looked beautiful and pleasing to the eyes, the aura of death loomed over the area they stood. From the condescending manner in which they looked at the other races, one could tell that they held themselves as Higher Beings compared to the others.

A common trait shared by the various within the room, was that none of them had yet to reach adulthood.

Just as the system's notification sounded off in James's mind, he heard the same feminine voice from earlier, "Children of all races, I welcome you to Kynar. You have all chosen to be reborn in Kynar, you honor us! But unfortunately, not everyone can partake in the feast we have prepared. To prove that you belong on the table, make sure you are among the last 10 members of your race left standing. There are no time limit children, please enjoy yourself!"

While her voice echoed, they could hear chains rattling all over the room, and several strange growls followed.

Having made it this far into Kynar, all the people within the room knew the hidden meaning behind the words of the feminine voice.

Even though the announcer said only 10 people from each race would qualify for the feast, there was no guarantee that the chaos bound to begin, would be stop after getting the required number of people. Although it seemed logical for each race to fight among themselves to determine the final 10, most of the people within the room knew that it was tantamount to committing suicide, because other races could sweep in to finish them completely.

Unlike humans for example, some other races within the room were not capable of fighting themselves because of their sense of kinship. They would rather slug it out with the other races to determine who had the right among them to emerge as the final 10, although some of them had no problem with acting out against a member from their own race, they had to be mindful of the atmosphere, because one false move could lead to the others forming an alliance to eliminate a common target.

These were the thoughts going through the minds of some experienced members of the different races. And with this thought in mind, most of them distanced themselves from the others, because they knew an all-out battle was inevitable.

James was also among those who subtly distanced himself from the group of humans beside him. Unlike the 41 youths in the room earlier, he couldn't identify anyone from earlier. Because of this, he concluded that there were other rooms containing multiple youths.

"Feeble Humans! I, Gigraaz Deddas, end life!" The menacing voice of an Ogre echoed as he pointed towards James and the other humans. Although he spoke like a human child, all the humans got the message loud and clear.

The Ogres and Humans were natural enemies to each other on the Continent of Skyhaven, it was only natural that the Ogre made such a declaration.

"Red baby, is mine!" Another Ogre declared as he pointed towards James, which caused him to have a brilliant smile on his face.

The Ogre that chose him was the one that laughed the most when he landed earlier, from the way he was looking at James, one could easily tell that he wanted to subject James to a violent beat down. Like the Ogre who chose James, the other 29 also chose a target for themselves. While this was going on, the Beastmen and the Lizardmen were staring at each other with a menacing looking in their eyes. Although there were Halflings within the room, they ignored them. Because of the lasting hatred both communities had towards each other. However, the strangest scene with the room, occurred in the section the evolved slimes stood. Instead of targeting another species for combat, in their humanoid forms, the slimes merged with each other at an accelerated speed. Barely thirty seconds after the declaration, the 30 humanoid slimes reduced to only 10 humanoid slimes. Instead of fighting against the other races or fighting against themselves, these slimes merged to form a new slime, preserving their own lives. As for the Halflings, they had no sense of kinship towards each other or the other races, hence a brutal battle erupted within their midst. However, the Demons had nonchalant expressions on their faces to the brouhaha going on within the room. The Dark Elves who stood close to the demons had strange gleams in their eyes as they stared at the position of the Demons. Being a proud race themselves, they hated the way the Demons looked down on every other race within the room.

"Listen up everyone, I believe we can survive if we band together and fight those Ogres. They may be stronger than us physically, but in terms of sorcery they are nothing but ants compared to us. What do you say?" A young man of about 17 years of age said.

His words coincided with that of the Ogres when they were choosing their targets from the humans. With his expression, one could easily tell that he was expecting people to agree with his suggestions, but contrary to his expectations, none of the youths even glanced at him. They all had all maintained a cautious distance away from each other, with their attention divided between the Ogres and their fellow humans. A minute after the declaration, the spacious room had descended into a full blown chaos, but only two races had yet to make their moves, which were the humans and the Ogres.

The constant sound of metal colliding against each other and the sound of explosions echoed within the room. The Halflings were decapitating each other in the most brutal way possible, which caused the screams of their victims to reverberated throughout the room while their blood painted the floors with divergent colors. And, it caused a disgusting and nauseating smell to pervade the air. Just like them, the Beastmen and Lizardmen were slugging it out in the most brutal way possible. Several nasty looking injuries decorated the bodies of the Beastmen, which was a result of the razor-sharp teeth of Lizardmen.

Not only were their flesh ripped out from their bodies, it also poisoned, which caused most of the injuries to turn purplish green, with a putrid smell being released from it. Several Beastmen laid on the floor, while fresh blood continued to pour out of their corpse. Meanwhile, the Lizardmen were not faring any better than the Beastmen. Most of them were bleeding profusely from their scales covered skin, which had eerie looking claw marks on it. Several miserable hissing sounds echoed in the chaotic room, originating from those injured. some corpses of the Lizardmen had their heads cut off by the sharp claws of the Beastmen, while others had their heads crushed.

The duel between the Dark Elves and the Demons was the most brutal and technical within the room, because it was a battle between two intelligent races with a high affinity for sorcery. With both of them being of the path of Darkness, the spells they used against each was far from being humane. With their inhuman like dexterity and their proficiency in using daggers, coupled with the affinity for sorcery, the Dark Elves were more than capable of holding their own against the Demons. Just like before, the Demons still maintained the same nonchalant expressions on their faces, but their eyes burned with the flames of cruelty. That the Dark Elves dared to attack a Noble race like theirs, made them enraged, but they were not willing to give the Dark Elves the satisfaction of seeing them enraged.

Naturally, with several fierce encounters going within the room, some standout performers would emerge from the various races. From the section of the Halflings, the standout performer, was an 8ft tall monstrosity, who had a humanoid appearance. But, he also resembled the Beastmen with the fur found on various parts of his body. He used a long sliver bone which he broke off from his back to brutal beat any and everything that came his way, to the extent that, the sliver bone turned into a bloody red color.

As for the Lizardmen, the standout performer was yet to have any injuries on her body, while also being responsible for the deaths of five Beastmen. Although she was a female, she was far more powerful than the male Lizardmen and the Beastmen around her, The only person who matched up to her, was the standout performer from the side of the Beastmen. This Beastman had bulging muscles all over his fur coated body, while resembling a giant man-gorilla. Unlike the female Lizardman who killed with precision, he ruthlessly pummeled the Lizardmen to death with his gorilla-like fist. Coating his fists with the blood of the Lizardmen, which amounted to over 8 of them.

Meanwhile, the standout performer in the camp of the Dark Elves was a devilishly handsome Elf proficient in using sorcery with affinity to water. Even though he looked like a meek and calm soul, the violent manner in which he murdered the Demons that came his way, showed that he was a sadist at heart. From brutally ripping off the wings of his target to skillfully mutilating their bodies with his knife, he did everything like a seasoned butcher or surgeon of death.

The standout performers from the other races, all paled when compared to his brutal killing techniques. Even after killing three demons, one could not find the slightest trace of dirt or blood on his body or clothes. However, although this Dark Elf caused so much damage to the Demons. He still paled compared to the most brutal killing machine within the room, which was a Demon who looked as if she was only a 16-year-old girl. She had a dazzling smile on her beautiful face, as she massacred the Dark Elves, Beastmen, and Lizardmen who came her way. On a closer look, she appeared to be a meek and gentle lady. She had a beautiful oval face, with long eyelashes which made her very seductive. On her gray colored skin, in slightly below her small round nose, and above her soft-looking lips was a beauty mark. Which added to the beauty of this young demon. The most striking feature of this young lady, was her beautiful red hair. Unlike the Dark Elf who killed like a skilled surgeon of death, she fought like a harbinger of death to the living world. The blood of her victims covered her from her neck to her feet, yet she giggled and smiled at the corpses. While pleading for other people to quench her thirst. Even her fellow Demons stood clear away from her. Although the battle had only lasted for a short while, everyone in the room had noted her, and gave her the title - The Crazy Red Hair.

With different sounds reverberating within the room, which comprised the miserable cries of the injured, sounds of explosions caused from different sorcery, the deranged sounds of laughter coming from those who were cheerfully murdering their opponents and the sound of the injured begging for mercy, the room descended into chaos. In the midst of the chaos, the Ogres felt left out as they stared at the human with vicious looks in their eyes, which caused most of the humans to respond in kind.

However, James had a brilliant smile on his face. With all the fresh Death Energy being produced, it was only natural he would be excited. Since he was facing the Ogre who threatened him, it was possible to misunderstand the reason behind his smile. The Ogre felt incensed that at James unintended provocation. For such a weak looking human to mock him with a smile was a great humiliation to him, and he had to make James suffer for it. From his point of view, if the young female demon was the crazy red hair, then James was the retarded red hair.

As this thought drifted into his mind, a pitch black smog formed within the room. Immediately, James's voice drifting into the ears of the Humans and Ogres, "What are you ugly bastards waiting for? How long are you going to keep me waiting? Hahaha... Forgive me for expecting so much from a retarded race!" James said.