With a slight tug on the blindfold Aruna had given her Linea adjusted it to cover her eyes. She and her guards marched towards the arena in the late afternoon and the sun was still burning in the sky. Linea was happy that Aruna had an enchanted blindfold as a spare because the sunlight hindered her ability to fight in her best form. And fighting she was about to do.

After another turn Linea and her group got her first glimpse of the enormous building which had to be the arena of Tavaris City. From what she could see it was rectangular and the Temple in Luna’sindranar would fit inside trice. Statues of warriors and beasts which were incorporated into the columns holding the building’s roof adjourned the facade. Linea had to admit that the white marble and smooth granite let the arena go toe to toe with the palace in its grandeur.

After circling around the arena Joven and Akulis greeted them. Linea remembered them from Madame Maria’s Palace. The gladiator and his trainer.

“You can return in two hours,” Akulis said to the guards as Joven directed Linea to go inside.

“I’ll show you your room,” Joven said as they walked down the corridor which was barely lit. She took off her blindfold and blinked a few moments to adjust to the sudden darkness. She looked around and noticed that Akulis wasn’t with them.

“He’ll wait for us in the arena,” Joven explained after following her gaze. “Come on, we only have the arena for two hours.”

They reached a door which was designated as room ‘D-2.34’.

“Remember this number,” Joven said and tipped against the sign with the room number on it. “As long as you’re a registered gladiator this is your room. Your weapons and armor-sets will be stored inside here. When you are successful enough, you can hire an armament attendant. We call them squires even though they are not real squires. But they basically do similar stuff, so…”

“I understand,” Linea replied with a courteous nod and looked inside the room. It was rather simple with only a bed, a table with four chairs, a wardrobe, a weapon rack and half a dozen figurines for parading armor-sets to visitors.

“They take care of weapon and armor. Do we have access to a weaponsmith?”

“There are smiths other useful artisans associated with the arena…” Joven said with a shrug. “But I would suggest looking elsewhere.”

Linea raised an eyebrow at that.

“The artisans around here are notoriously overbooked,” Joven explained. “They often take more work on than they can handle. More often than not they simply delegate their excess work to their apprentices. I lost more than one friend to sub-par equipment.”

“Can you recommend a good weaponsmith then?” Linea asked and flopped down on the bed. It was filled with hay and not even close to being called comfortable.

“Master Akulis has a friend working for him in that regard,” Joven replied with a nod. “This is rather sudden so he probably can’t provide you with a custom-made weapon at first. But I’m sure he has a sword lying around you could use.”

Linea snorted.

“I’m only trained with Fulchar,” she said. “I doubt he has something like that lying around.”

“Don’t be so sure about that. Fulchars are in high demand here in the arena.”

“Really?” Linea asked. “How come?”

“They are superior in a battle against leather armor,” Joven explained further. “They can hack right through it. If you know your enemy’s preferred armor type, you can prepare for it by choosing the correct weapon.”

“There is a lot more strategy involved here than I expected,” Linea noted.

“It’s like a game of Sevur sometimes,” Joven agreed. “Holding back a specific weapon just to use it against the right enemy is just one way of getting ahead of your competition. Intrigue and espionage are also often used. Especially in the lower ends of the hierarchy.”

He motioned her to follow him as he left the room.

“Hierarchy?” she asked him as she locked the door with the key which already stuck inside the keyhole.

“Yes,” Joven replied and led her away. “Every big player in the empire has a stake in the arena fights here in the capitol. There are three levels in our hierarchy. The royal stage, the noble stage and the merchant stage. The emperor is officially the only one not fielding any gladiators…”

“And unofficially?” Linea poked.

“When the emperor sponsors an evening of fight, he exclusively works with Brice. Most people believe the emperor funds Brice more than just the usual fee for using his gladiators.”

“And the truth?”

Joven snorted.

“You’re a quick thinker,” he noted. “Truth be told, Brice needs nobody to finance him.”

“I can imagine…” Linea said. “So, what differentiates the three levels here in the arena?”

“On the royal stage only the seven royal dynasties of the empire field their gladiators. They are the most expansive gladiators because they are the best. Brice is the only one daring enough to enter this stage even though he is not of royal blood. But he can back it up with enough money.”

“So all of Brice’s gladiator fight on that level?”

“No,” Joven said with a grin. “I’m actually the only slave gladiator on that level. And Brice only has slaves as gladiators.”

“Wait what?” Linea asked coming to a halt. “You’re a slave?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Of course, what did you think?” he asked and raised his right arm showing her a brand mark.

“But you don’t have a collar… Why are you not… you know, running away?”

Joven snorted at her.

“I’m branded for life,” he explained. “I couldn’t leave the city even if I wanted. If I tried to build a life elsewhere, they would check and see my brand mark. Then they would turn me in to the authorities and they would either bring me back or execute me.”

“Bastards…”

Joven shrugged and motioned her to keep going.

“That’s how it is. I made peace with my fate and can’t complain all that much. I’m a respected gladiator, have sex with a lot of beautiful women and have a decent salary.”

After this revelation they felt silent.

Shortly after they reached a gate leading into the arena where Akulis was already waiting for them and Linea put her blindfold back over her eyes. The arena was a circular sand pit with one big gate on the north side and multiple smaller gates scattered to the other sides.

To Akulis’ side stood a weapon rack with different weapons made of wood. Linea recognized a Fulchar immediately. Apart from that she saw a longsword, a staff, a spear, an ax and something that looked like weird mix between a double-sided ax and a spear.

“Now you’re here, let’s get started right away,” Akulis said and nodded towards her. “Just one thing beforehand: While training and whenever you’re in the public in your capacity as my gladiator you’ll refer to me as Master Akulis.”

Linea tensed at the order.

“Don’t misunderstand,” he said raising his hands. “This is not about enslavement. It’s an old tradition in the empire that a gladiator calls his instructors ‘master’.”

“Fine,” Linea replied between her teeth. “But don’t take it too far with me. I don’t like being ordered about.”

“Isn’t that kind of hard to avoid?” Joven asked with crossed arms looking at her collar.

“There is a difference between people giving me orders and bastards forcing me to obey them through soul and mind magic.”

“Is there though?” he countered.

“Of course there is,” Linea replied with a dark smile on her face. “The first kind might pay for it with their lives.”

“Well, you got fire,” Akulis said with a grin. “Fancy a little check on your skills?”

He picked up the Fulchar from the rack and tossed it towards her.

“Sure,” Linea replied while catching the sword. She was surprised how balanced it felt even though it wasn’t made of steel.

Joven got himself the longsword and took position.

“Whenever you’re ready, princess,” he said with a cocky smile plastered all over his face.

‘I like him,’ Sarah noted with a chuckle from the back of Linea’s consciousness.

‘Sure you do,’ Linea sighed mentally. ‘Why can’t I shake off the feeling you’re thinking about sex right now?’

‘Don’t ask a question you don’t want to be answered, sweetie.’

Linea groaned and positioned herself in front of Joven.

‘You want to do this?’ Linea asked Sarah.

‘Nah. I’ll try to memorize how you fight with your sword. Try to use as much techniques as possible.’

‘It took me years to learn this,’ Linea countered. ‘You really think you can pick up on it just by watching?’

‘In our case? Perhaps,’ Sarah said. ‘From what I gathered so far our skills are transferring themselves passively between us. You probably didn’t notice it until now, but your balance has increased quite a bit.’

‘Now you mention it…’

‘See? And I want to test if this effect can be strengthened if we use our connection more deliberate.’

Linea accepted the idea and focused on the gladiator before her. She took a moment to examine him. He was at least two heads taller than her and his broad shoulders made him an intimidating opponent. His muscles were bulky but not overly so. Linea’s initial evaluation hinted at a heavy hitter with limited agility.

“All right, let’s start,” Linea said and slowly approached her opponent. She swirled the wooden Fulchar over her wrist to check its balance for a last time. When she gripped it again, she took off in a sprint. Joven slashed his sword at her forcing her to evaded his attack. She ducked to the left which left him open and Linea used it to stab him.

Or at least she tried. Joven seemed to expect this move and made a bold step forward and slightly to the side. But he didn’t expect Linea’s speed as the small touch of the Fulchar in his side showed. Unfazed he brought his sword in a contrary slashing motion back into the fray. Linea pulled her Fulchar back and raised it to her side in order to parry his attack.

The impact pushed her to the side, but she remained standing. Her eyes widened as she saw that Joven went for a kick to her leg. Taken by surprise she didn’t shift her weight to her other leg and got hit hard.

She cried in pain and dropped to her knee.

“You can’t give your opponent such an opening,” Akulis scolded her. “In the arena a more serious enemy would have broke your leg.”

“Well, thanks for reminding me,” Linea hissed. “Would have helped if any one of you would haven mentioned that this would be a fight not a swords duel.”

“What did you expect? The arena is about blood and death. We’re not playing nice,” Joven scoffed. “Get on your feet.”

‘Now I like him a little less…’ Sarah said. ‘Let’s switch. We need to teach them a lesson. We don’t need to learn to fight. I want to learn how to duel with a sword.’

‘But don’t kill him,’ Linea said as they switched.

“Let’s make something clear,” Sarah responded and her hard gaze made even Joven flinch for a second. “I thought to learn sword skills here. If you want to test my fighting skills without explaining the rules or lack thereof… I’ll be happy to oblige.”

Joven raised his wooden sword in anticipation but as soon as Sarah attacked he realized that he had poked a hornets’ nest. Sarah couldn’t give their body more physical strength through psionics but she could use her telekinesis while imitating the motions with her body. An illusion of physical strength.

Sarah rushed at him and he raised his sword in front of him to parry her attack.

When their swords clashed Joven’s longsword slipped from his hand bending backwards hitting his head. Sarah continued her turning motion from her first attack to go lower, twirl around and punch him in the solar plexus. With another twirl she swept him of his feet. He grunted as he fell to the side.

Sarah was quick and raised again. She towered the gladiator and kicked his shoulder to turn him onto his back and placed a foot on his breast holding him firmly down with her telekinesis.

“Don’t mock me again,” she snarled. “I don’t fucking care if you’re the best gladiator on Kavaris. I’m here to learn not to be showed up.”

“Enough!” Akulis yelled. “I won’t tolerate my gladiators to injure one another in training.”

“He is fine,” Sarah said and rolled her eyes. She released Joven from his predicament and gained some distance.

“Where did all that strength come from?” Akulis asked as he came closer inspecting Sarah’s body rather awkwardly. He didn’t look lustful but his analytical gaze wasn’t any less disconcerting.

“As I said I didn’t expect this to be about just winning. With the weapons and stuff, I thought this was about sword skills,” Sarah explained. “If I want to I could trounce every other gladiator with my bare hands. I simply used less strength to match him.”

It was a blatant lie, but those two didn’t need to know anymore.

“It makes sense…” Akulis mused. “I wondered why they want to pitch you against those wyverns.”

Sarah blinked a few seconds before she asked, “Come again?”

Akulis looked at her as if he just realized that she was there.

“A small flock of wyvern,” he replied. “Four or five of them. At first I thought they wanted to show of some magical fight or something but then I saw the listings for the upcoming week and you were listed together with those wyverns.”

“Wyverns?” Sarah repeated. “Like dragons?”

“Not nearly as intelligent but just as tough. Even with your strength I don’t exactly how you would kill them. Or do you have some magical trick?”

“I killed a dragon once…” Sarah replied slowly but at his expression she added, “But the method and circumstances are not given here.”

Joven had finally gained enough breath to stand up.

“You’ll probably need a big and heavy sword for that,” he interjected. “Probably enchanted for extra sharpness.”

“And where would I get that?” she asked and crossed her arms.

“I’ll organize it,” Akulis said and waved off her concerns. “The question is… is that strength of yours magical in nature? Or physical?”

Sarah was about to say physical but Linea stopped her.

‘If we say physical and Tovandir learns of it, he’ll get suspicious,’ she explained. ‘He knows about my test results back in Luna’sindra.’

‘Good point…’

“Magical basically,” Sarah answered after changing her mind. “What does it matter?”

“There is no restriction on the wyvern fights towards skills, but in the one-on-one duels between gladiators, magic is prohibited.”

“I guess there are plans for me to join a few duels?”

“Yes,” Alkulis said. “Perhaps even more than that. If you defeat those wyverns, many people will demand more of you.”

Sarah sighed at the prospect of even more fights.

“Well, I should probably polish my fighting skills then.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Akulis said and nodded.

“We’ll have so much fun!” Joven exclaimed with a predatory grin.

‘Have fun,’ Linea said with apprehension. ‘Fighting is your job…’

‘Forget it, princess,’ Sarah replied. ‘I’ll still need to learn sword fighting from you! That means you do all the training and I’ll learn alongside.’

‘Can we renegotiate?’

‘No,’ Sarah decided with a laugh.