Quietly, Daiden climbed the stairs to the next floor of the GCQI. He left the official at the counter and followed the woman into a wide room. In arrangement, the rounded tables were a few meters apart for comfort. There were doors that led to smaller rooms as well, built for specialized requests. In terms of people, Daiden noticed a few employees, fewer customers. The woman in-charge then abruptly requested for the others to vacate the floor. Not one of them objected.

Once alone, Daiden observed the floor with greater clarity, especially around the centre. The space cleared into a square, with polished wooden boundaries, in what appeared to be a type of arena.

“Join me,” the woman said, taking a seat at one of the tables. “Daiden Lost…what a strange name. Daiden Lost, ah, my apologies! You see, I have a bad habit of memorizing peculiar names on the GCQI Magic Network.”

Daiden took the offered seat. “I don’t mind. And you are?”

“Amora, Amora Moonscarf,” the woman answered, without hesitation. “I retired from adventuring when the Empire offered me a job at the GCQI. You can earn so much more, with none of the risks. Well, to be more honest, I retired after a failed raid against one of the Sand Kings, as part of a Grade B team.

“Imagine my surprise when a trainee walks in claiming to have raided one alone...”

Daiden shifted uneasily at the comment. Amora continued to smile through the one-sided conversation. After a pause, she gestured for someone to come to their table.

“You’re a Wielder, yes?” asked Amora, rhetorically. She pointed to the woman next to her. “She’ll fetch you a weapon of your choice. Give her the specifics; I’m sure we’ll find something suitable in storage.”

“Why are we doing this?” asked Daiden, after some thought. He leaned onto the table and clasped his hands together to hide a tremble. His lips pursed to stop a twitch, and his eyes trained onto the woman in front of him. “Is it a problem, raiding a Natural Monarch alone?”

“Only for a trainee,” said Amora, curtly. She narrowed her eyes and added, “Trainees from wealthy families often employee mercenaries to clear big quests…a shortcut to fame. They hide the fact with fake names as well. I mean, Daiden Lost? Lost?”

“How nice…so, my name is a problem now,” said Daiden, with a sigh. Hearing the explanation, he eased from his tension. Her accusation had some truth to it, but Daiden chose to stick with his version of the story, nonetheless. He finally relented. “A heavy sword. Yes?”

With a tired expression, Daiden walked over the smallest of details. He started with the dimensions, then the structure and weight. Taken aback by the specificity, the employee nervously turned to Amora, nodded, and hurried away.

“You know what you like,” remarked Amora. “I admire that. What would you want to discuss while we wait?”

Daiden shrugged. “I’m still very, very confused. High Rankers are authorized to tackle quests without restrictions. Ser Valaris from Mutuba Village should be able to confirm my status as one. Is there really any need to force whatever it is you’re trying to do here?”

Amora rested her chin on the back of her palm, wearing a smile. “I only want to spar for a bit. And you haven’t exactly refuted my accusations. What choice do you leave me? I head the GCQI here, after all.”

Daiden frowned a little. “Yes, yes. And here I sit, with all the time in the world to refute your bullshit!” Aloud he said, “Fine. Whatever it takes to get this over with.”

The employee arrived with two small boxes, marked by the GCQI. Daiden recognized them as larger, more functional spatial inventories. He waited while the box unlocked with a click. It shimmered from the inside, and with a flick, projected what appeared to be an ethereal rack. Daiden counted four swords on display. They manifested a solid form upon touch and dematerialized into translucency once shelved.

“This feels about right…” concluded Daiden, after examining his options. He settled with a simple iron sword, much like Kir’s original. “Yes, this should do.”

Amora withdrew a large, disproportionate war hammer instead. With a strong, long handle, the head attached to a balanced, two-sided hammer that tapered a little towards the centre. Square, and flat-surfaced on both sides, she wielded the heavy weapon with relative ease. Using both hands to practice a few swings, Amora planted her hammer onto the ground and angled it to rest atop her shoulders.

“The weapons here are marked by the GCQI with a special enchantment,” explained Amora. “You’ll experience pain, but no injury. Don’t hold back.”

The two of them entered the arena, and Amora gestured for the only other employee to vacate the floor. She calmly turned to Daiden next, encouraging the start with a smile. “Let us begin.”

Daiden straightened his sword immediately and eased into a stance. He watched as Amora positioned her hammer across her shoulders, against tightened knees and a lowered body. She shifted her centre of gravity and launched into a sprint, wearing the momentum and the weight of her weapon. Her feet slammed onto the ground, one in front of the other, and with enough force to raise her hammer and thunder it down in an arching descent. From start to finish, Amora armoured inside her wealth of experience, executing the attack from muscle memory alone. She grinned through the effort, and almost connected even. But Daiden met the hammer at its edge, tilting his sword – at a sharp angle – to slide the descending weapon away from his body.

The impact caused the entire floor to tremor, arousing the attention of everyone downstairs. Urged by curiosity, a few attempted to rush to the upper floor even, facing quick resistance from the employees instead.

“Nothing to see here!” the officials said, in unison.

Upstairs, Daiden followed the path of the hammer onto the ground. He breathed in split seconds and reacted on instinct, creating space, and kicking Amora’s hands from the handle. She winced from the pain, while Daiden followed with yet another kick, rotating mid-air to add to its strength. He managed to disarm his opponent this time. He then chased after his retreating opponent and struck her with the back of his handle, against her chest at first, and then her chin.

“I see it now…” whispered Daiden, under his breath. “None of this, none of this is a fluke!”