Philosophical thoughts and relevant information.

"You are showing good progress in training your combat skills, kitten..." - a hoarse old voice sounds above you, while you are lying exhausted on the floor of the training room.

A fight with three magically "animated" armors at once... it was extremely energy-consuming.

"Fuck you, human..." - your voice trembling from exhaustion quietly says.

Fo-Tzun, ignoring your rudeness, continues his speech: "Your hatred towards me is quite understandable and logical. But what do you think - what is the attitude of the inhabitants of the agricultural settlements closest to the jungle towards your hunting tribes of tigermans? Or what do the traders and guards of trade caravans think of you and your kins? Or what do the relatives of the dead, wounded or enslaved persons think of creatures like you? During regular raids, your tribes rob, kill, enslave... Isn't it logical to assume that many people think about you and your kins the same way you think about me now? And their feelings are similar to yours... Hatred. Furious, all-consuming, fiery hatred. Many inhabitants of the western borderlands hate all tigermans. And they hate you too..."

"I don't give a shit about their feelings... I took part in many glorious raids, military valor is a blessing of the Ancestral Spirits. I am a predator! They are just pathetic victims..." - you growl in response.

"Of course... "Military valor", "glorious raids", "blessing of the Ancestral Spirits" - all this is very important... True, it is unlikely that you will be able to explain all this to the mothers of peasant farmers who died from the claws of valiant tigermans warriors. They will probably consider your arguments nothing more than a cover for barbaric cruelty, bloodthirstiness and a bestial desire to devour the flesh of intelligent creatures. By the way, your tribes of tigermans sometimes capture prisoners and turn them into slaves? Isn't that right? What is the fate of your slaves, Sherwyn? " - the tone of Fo-Tzun's voice clearly becomes mocking.

An unpleasant feeling is mixed with the rage in your mind.

This bastard is right.

The tribes of tigermans do sometimes capture slaves.

This does not happen very often (the lifestyle of small tribes does not allow them to control a large mass of slaves).

Usually the purpose of raids is different: robbery, ****, seizure of territory, the need for an initiation ritual for young warriors ...

But if slaves are captured during raids, then the fate of these slaves is extremely sad.

The chance of escape is vanishingly small - after all, in the jungle terrain, tigermans hunters are very good at navigating. Slaves perform the dirtiest and most backbreaking work in a tribe's settlement.

Slaves are sometimes sacrificed on the altars of the Ancestral Spirits.

Slaves can even become... food if the tribe is low on food. Tigermans do not hesitate for morality and can happily devour the flesh of a human ****.

"What the fuck are you telling me all this bullshit for!" you snap back angrily, feeling with displeasure that there is a reasonable element in your enemy's words.

Your "master" replies: "These are just a little philosophical reflections. You should realize that the situation can always be worse. Your situation is not the worst. At least - I have no interest in you dying. I have no interest in preparing some exquisite culinary dish from your flesh. And even... I am accepting of the potential possibility that after a certain time you will cease to be a ****..."

"What?!" - You are shocked by his last phrase.

Fo-Tzun smiles, enjoying your bewilderment: "Are you surprised? If you, instead of stupid bloodthirsty antics, tried to dispel your ignorance, then you would have already understood the essence of the situation ... Fights in the Great Arena are a tradition sanctified by centuries and blessed by the priests of Goldenshining Heavenly Overlord. And also - it is a profitable business for rich persons who know who to bet on. I make money on you. Your inglorious **** would be a loss for me. But I also honor the traditions. One of them is the right of an Arena fighter to receive liberation after a full three-fold victorious cycle. A cycle is half a year. Every six months, fights are held in the Great Arena. A **** fighter who began participating with the opening ceremony, defeated all opponents and survived for three cycles - has the right to become free. Unfortunately, your last fights in the Great Arena did not begin with the opening ceremony - you joined the "fun" only in the middle of the process. But next month, a new Battle Cycle of Great Arena will begin. You will participate from the very beginning – from the opening ceremony. This means ten battles. You must survive and defeat all your opponents. You must do the same thing in another six months. And then in another six months. If you succeed, you will become a three-time winner, the Champion of the Great Arena. According to tradition, you will be able to demand your freedom. And no one will have the right to refuse you. There have been no cases of refusal in such a situation for many centuries. No one wants to incur the wrath of the powerful priesthood of Goldenshining Heavenly Overlord".

You feverishly think over the new information.

Should you do as this vile human says and try to become the Champion of the Great Arena to stop being a ****?

This will obviously be very difficult... Very few people survive in the battles on the Great Arena.

And this will take time - you will be **** to wait more than a year.

Or you will continue to secretly plan a way to escape earlier.

This will also be very dangerous.

And so far you have no specific ideas about the methods of such liberation.

"Why the hell did they put three opponents against me at once in one of the battles?" - you decided to distract yourself from complex thoughts and clarify the order of battles on the Great Arena.

Fo-Tzun whispers the words of the spell and makes a gesture with his right palm.

A miniature illusory magical symbol appears in front of your face in the form of a multi-faceted cube on each side of which is depicted a unique hieroglyph that you do not understand.

"These battles are a tradition containing religious meaning. This is not just entertainment for the city's population. This is not just a way to make money on bets. This is a manifestation of some kind of religious ritual worship. A symbol of the dominance of the will of the deity over Blind Chance. On each side are the conditions of the battle: "one against one", "one against two", "one against three" ... There are also terrain conditions - do not be surprised if the sand of the arena can become dangerous in itself ... Or the conditions of magical influence - above the Great Arena, mages maintain an invisible dome blocking all spells. But if the lot shows that one of the fighters should be strengthened or weakened by some spell - then the mages will carry it out. The symbolic meaning of what is happening: no matter how bizarrely the lot falls - all outcomes strengthen the power and glory of Goldenshining Heavenly Overlord " - the explanations of Fo-Tzun are little understood by you, but you will probably soon have to experience some aspects of what was said...

Armed guards again take you to your cell.

You are locked.

On your hands are enchanted bracelets made of light reddish metal that emit a faint sparkling glow.

An artifact that you cannot remove yourself.

An artifact that does not allow you to harm a living creature.

Obviously, the bracelets will only be removed from you directly on the territory of the Great Arena.

There is a chaos of conflicting thoughts in your head.

You have learned a lot of information about the conditions of the battles in the Great Arena.

But should you accept the way of fighting for freedom that the old male human Fo-Tzun told you about?

What if he is deceiving you in some way?

Or should you still find a faster way to free yourself?

It will be very difficult to come up with this... You **** yourself to fall asleep with difficulty.

You will need your strength soon.