“Well, ladies and gentlemen, that’s it for today’s opening act! If you’d like to see the child warrior, Mika, fight again, come back tomorrow!” The announcer said.

After Mika finished her battle with the crocodile, she was chained up and dragged out of the arena. At first, she thought they would keep sending her more enemies, but on second thought, she understood that the Black Mask Guild wouldn’t be able to squeeze out everything she was worth by doing that. 

Today was just an appetizer. Once word about her gets around, more and more people will get curious and show up to bet and watch her fights. Thus, rather than having her fight waves of enemies on the first day, this was more like a teaser. 

Once she was chained up back in her cell, the other prisoners gasped in surprise.

“Damn! The little brat survived! I guess she does have some skill!”

“Hahaha! I told you. Now, you owe me a portion of your mashed potatoes for dinner!”

“Tsk. I wouldn’t have lost the bet if she'd just died.”

Mika ignored their words and sat down in her cell to begin training her Mana Control, but before she could enter her [Mind Space], an old man beside her said something to her.

“Little Lass, ya’ did good surviving out there. I’m glad ya’ made it back alive. I remember my first time as a gladiator; I lost a hand and nearly an eye. It seems like the young’uns today have gotten quite strong, eh?” A wisened, hoarse voice came out of the old man. 

“Thanks, old man, but you don’t have to worry about me,” Mika said indifferently. While she felt no bad intentions from the man’s voice, Mika didn’t like to have her training sessions disturbed, nor did she feel like talking to some crusty old man.

“Hoho! Is that so? Sounds like there’s a story there. I hope you can enlighten this old man.”

“...” Mika kept quiet as she didn’t feel like sharing her past with some random person. 

The old man chuckled again at her silence and decided to change his request. 

“Hohoho! It seems you’re quite secretive for a little brat. Well, then, can you at least tell me where ya’ got captured?”

“...The Noxious Jungle.”

“Oh my! That wretched place?! Tis’ no wonder you could survive in the arena today, then if you could live there. But how did a young’un like you end up there in the first place?”

“...” Mika kept silent, making the atmosphere a bit awkward, but soon, she asked him a question. 

“What’s the Barlton Kingdom like? This is my first time here, so I don’t know anything about this place.”

The old man was stunned for a second, and a look of pity appeared on his face, ‘This poor girl. She was just in the Noxious Jungle, but before she could make it safely into the city, she got captured and caged.’

“On the surface, the Kingdom is quite nice. It’s similar to other Kingdoms and countries. There’s a King, nobles, and commoners, but what makes the Barolton Kingdom unique is that Merchants have a similar status in society as nobles.”

“Why is that?” Mika asked.

“You might have heard this already, but the Barlton Kingdom’s primary source of income is trade. That’s because all kinds of biomes surround it; the ocean, a desert, forests, mountains, a savannah, and whatever is in between all that. There are so many resources around us, all in fairly high demand, making this place a paradise for merchants and mercenaries.”

“Mercenaries… I believe those are the people that captured me.”

“Aye! That’s not too surprising. They are people who will do anything for the right price, after all. It’s also because of them that the merchants and the Black Market are so successful.”

“I see… That makes sense.” Mika could easily envision the Mercenary Guild and merchants having a good relationship, “Then, what about the Kingdom itself? Is it safe? Are the commoners happy? How do the nobles treat people?”

“...No, the Kingdom is not a safe place. Or rather, it’s not a safe place for those who can’t protect themselves. You can do about anything here if you have status and power.”

Hearing that, Mika was almost thankful she ended up here first. Sure, she had some strength and could hold her own against most people in the Black Core Realm or Bronze Realm, but Colt and Butcher made her understand that her little bit of power wasn’t worth shit in front of them.

“What’s the average strength of the people, separated by class?” Mika asked, as she wanted a general outline of the Kingdom’s situation. 

“The King is the strongest, obviously. I believe he’s in the 4th Realm, the Yellow Core Realm, but I could be mistaken. The Queen, his concubines, the nobles, and heads of the guilds should be in the 3rd Realm of either Mana or Body Cultivation. Lastly, the commoners are in both the 1st and 2nd Realm, with anywhere between 60-80% of them being in the former.”

Mika was speechless, but not for the reason the old man was thinking.

“This… Isn’t that a bit too… I don’t know… weak?” Mika mumbled, but the old man picked it up. 

Now, it was his turn to be speechless!

“Little Lass, where did you grow up? While the Barlton Kingdom might not be the strongest, it’s certainly not the weakest. In terms of military and individual might, it’s more powerful than many human countries.” The old man said with pride. 

However, that didn’t make Mika think more highly of the Barlton Kingdom. Instead, she felt the human race was much weaker than she expected. While she didn’t know how many Realms of power there were, she figured there were at least 8; Black Core Realm all the way to Violet/Purple Core Realm. 

Even then, she doubted that was the end. If just reaching the end of the rainbow made her a goddess, she would seriously question the integrity of the System’s words. There had to be at least a 9th or 10th Realm before she reached godhood. 

Thus, humanity seemed much too weak in the grand scheme of things.

‘It seems like the System’s suggestion of me creating my own Cultivation Technique is the right way to go.’ Mika thought, glad she didn’t use someone else’s cultivation technique.

“I mean, shouldn’t there be stronger experts out there? For a King of one of humanity’s top Kingdom, shouldn’t he be in a higher Realm of power?”

The old man’s mouth opened wide as he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“Lass! Do you think cultivation techniques, talent, and resources just pop out of the sky?! No! Humanity’s progress was built upon the sacrifices of others. For us to even make it this far is nothing short of a miracle.”

The old man then explained that things also weren’t that simple. It’s not like every random person comes up with their own cultivation techniques. Instead, those who can barely afford one or don’t have the luxury of being born into a family with a long history buy the cheapest one on the market. 

Therefore, even if their potential for cultivation is high, this severely limits their growth. While some people are arrogant enough to devise their own cultivation technique, it’s useless if their Mana Circuit is a jumbled mess. 

There are too many factors at play, including politics, which stunt a genius’s growth, at least in the human race.

“I see. To think things were so complicated.” Mika sighed, feeling both bitter and angry at humanity’s stupidity. If they just worked as a whole more than trying to take advantage of each other at every step, they could progress much faster. 

“Well, that’s the gist of things. I’ve heard other races out there have a deeper and richer history than most human kingdoms, and they might have stronger experts, but I’ve never met or seen someone that strong.”

Mika nodded at the old man’s words but didn’t touch on the subject anymore as she had lost interest. She thanked him before entering her [Mind Space] to train her Mana Control and finalize her cultivation technique. 

She trained until she fell asleep, then woke up and repeated the same thing. 

Butcher walked in, dragged her out of the cell, and tossed her in the arena. 

“Welcome back, everyone, to today's gladiatorial battles! Some of you may have missed Mika, the Sword Oni, in yesterday’s battle, but worry not, for she is fighting again today!” The announcer said as soon as Mika entered the arena. 

‘Sword Oni? Hmmm~ I suppose that’s not a bad nickname.’ Mika nodded, satisfied. While she didn’t know where they got the word “oni” from, she didn’t care. 

“For those who missed yesterday’s battle, Sword Oni Mika killed a Stage 1 Black Core Iron Hide Crocodile in a single slash! Today, however, she will be fighting 3 of them! Will she overcome the difference in numbers with her strength, or will she succumb to their attacks and die? Place your bets now!”

Immediately after, bets came rolling in, but unlike last time, more people thought Mika would win. The odds were still in favor of the crocodiles, but the ones who saw Mika kill the previous one without any effort felt that things wouldn’t be any different this time.

A few minutes passed, and all the bets were locked in.

“Thank you, everyone, for betting! Now, let the games begin!”

*Clink!**Clink!**Clink!**Clink!**Clink!*

Three gates on the opposite side of the arena opened up, and out came three Iron Hide Crocodiles. 

Like yesterday, they locked onto Mika and charged at her without hesitation, but she just stood there lazily, her sword dangling by her side. While it may look like she was scared or didn’t know what to do to some, in reality, she was just too lazy to run at them herself. 

Mika stifled a yawn as the three closed in on her, then swung her sword when they got within range.

*Shing!**Swish!**Splat!*

Mika swung her sword, and in one smooth motion, she decapitated all three of them with her sword!

“...” 

The crowd went silent again as they stared at this scene in shock. While some figured Mika would win, they thought she’d have to spend more time and energy! It was three enemies, after all! What kid could take down three enemies of any strength in one fell swoop?!

“And she’s done it again, ladies and gentlemen! The Sword Oni, Mika, has killed her opponents in one slash! What a crazy turn of events! I don’t think we’ve ever seen a child so talented here at the Gladiatorial Arena!”

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Mika basked in the glory of the crowd for a few moments before snapping out of it. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t feel a little good being cheered at like that, but that was all she felt—just a little good.

“Come back tomorrow, where the Sword Oni will go against a living person! Will she be able to take the life of another human being so she can live or die trying? Find out next time!”

Mika scowled at the announcer’s words, but she didn’t have time to think about it as she was quickly chained up, brought out of the arena, and thrown back in her cell. 

‘Are they really going to make me, a supposedly 10-year-old child, kill another person?’ Mika’s eyes grew cold.

Although she personally didn’t have any problems killing someone if both parties willingly put their lives on the line, she had no intention of killing for sport. Even killing those beasts earlier felt wrong to her, but she didn’t think much of it simply because those crocodiles would’ve tried to kill her regardless of where she was. 

However, humans are different. The people here are literally being forced to fight against their own race for other people’s enjoyment.

‘Hopefully, whoever they put me up against is a scumbag, or I don’t know what I’m going to do.’ Mika thought but pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and continued training.