So the blue liquid was a form of liquefied mana then? Max wondered if he could figure out a way to create such a potion on his own using his own internal mana. That would have to be a project for another day though.

The staff members came to the arena with a monster in a steel cage. They placed it in the ring and then opened it and stepped out.

“Let the fight begin!”

Waddling out of the cage was a large overgrown mushroom with arms and legs and red angular eyes full of blood lust.

The crowd cheered and started calling out bets.

Max took in the monster. He hadn’t seen anything like this before, but he suspected it probably existed within the endless forest and therefore was probably another E-rank monster. Maybe slightly more powerful than the boar, but he wasn’t sure.

The mushroom monster clenched its fist and winced its eyes.

Slowly purple vapor began to emanate from the monster.

Purple tendrils of smoke began to fill the ring.

Two members of staff with the power of elemental stones manipulated the air so that the purple smoke didn’t waft into the crowd.

Crap, thought Max. I can’t get hit by that vapor, otherwise mimic will make that my new move instead of Sakura’s overpowered slice ability.

Max shook his head. I can’t have that.

He leapt back and triggered the slice ability once more.

The energy blade shot forward and ripped through the flesh of the mushroom monster with ease.

As soon the monster was defeated and had disintegrated into the monster core, Max immediately jumped out of the ring to make sure he wasn’t hit by the venomous mushroom vapor.

The crowd booed. They were losing money as they kept betting against Max. They had come to this arena to see someone like him get devoured and killed. They were all out of luck today.

“You’re not giving them much of a show kid,” said one of the staff members, handing him another mana potion along with the mushroom monster’s copper core and the coins it dropped.

“Give me a stronger monster to fight then,” said Max.

The man snickered. “Just you wait, kid. Your final match of the morning is about to start and that’s exactly what you’re getting.”

Max thought the man was trying to intimidate him, but he grinned just as happily back at the staff member.

The whole reason he came there today was to fight stronger monsters.

Bring it, he thought.

He swallowed down his mana potion and stepped back into the ring.

The arena staff removed the cage of the mushroom monster and returned with a much larger cage.

Max at first couldn’t make out the monster behind the bars.

It rattled and hissed in its steel cage.

Finally, the staff members placed it in the center of the ring. They opened it before rushing off.