Tim was again seated in the cafeteria, this time alone. He'd grabbed another ten-out-of-ten, juicy strip steak, and he was devouring it on his way to the glowing orange burger he'd decided to try. There were around five hours remaining until the first of however many fights, but he'd opted to take another break when he started feeling too exhausted to continue.

This is brutal. They're passing me back and forth like a hacky sack. He cut another chunk of meat off and brought it to his mouth. Fight with Scipio, she dodges everything impossibly fast and I fall over a lot. Fight with Ir'alith, she makes me feel like an idiot by beating me up with my own body. Not sure how much longer I can keep up. Have to though. Somehow. Can't lose.

He took a big bite of the burger, barely tasting it. I need another nap. Yeah, that's it. Just an hour or two.

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Tim awoke to the alarm he'd set. "Dismiss," he grumbled. Not sure why I'm grumbling. I feel great, even without caffeine. He sat up and looked back at his bed. This must be another god power thing somehow. I'm all healed again, and I feel like I got way more than two hours of sleep. Damn, this is like back in college when Carl and I were grinding to get server firsts right after that expansion came out. Those were the days.

He hopped off the bed, kicking the sweaty, discarded clothes he'd been wearing into the corner to deal with later. Alright, time to shower and get back down there. Good thing I have a ton of clothes now, even if it felt like a waste of money at the time. Feels like I'll need them all if I keep training at this rate with how gross and sweaty I'm getting.

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"How strong were the other fighters last time, exactly?" Tim asked.

Scipio worked the shirt down over her head, again covering up a significant distraction in preparation to spar with him after fighting with Ir'alith while he slept. "Mm. Not sure? I beat most of them before they did anything."

"You said you were weaker back then though?" he persisted.

"Yeah. Wasn't nearly as strong as I am now," she said, swiping her hair to the side and away from her eyes.

"How strong were you?" was his next question. Feels like all I do here is ask questions. Am I a fucking detective now? Never thought I'd miss the internet as much as I do now.

"Mm." She made a face like she was thinking about it. "Maybe…" She took off towards the other end of the long platform, moving slowly enough that he could still see her move but quickly enough that her legs were still a blur of motion. "Around that level or so," she said when she returned. "Maybe?"

"Alright, so still…"

"Like I said, I beat everyone and it was easy," Scipio said. "I think maybe they'd have been around the level you're fighting at now, but I don't know for sure. And even if they were, I don't know if that's how it's gonna be this time."

"Uh-huh," Tim said slowly.

"It was only a few years ago for me, but Sateus said it was way longer for him," she continued. "People get stronger over that many years. Probably." She again took up her non-stance. "You know, sparring like this reminds me a little of the times I sparred with other gladiators in the arena."

Tim's brows descended further as yet another question arose. "Gladiators? You…were a gladiator?"

She shrugged. "Still am. Probably. My rank's still there, so that means I have to be, I suppose." Her hand came up, beckoning him to approach. "Let's go, I wanna fight Ir'alith more."

"She seems set on meditating," he said, glancing again to the slightly glowing, blue-skinned woman who floated a short distance off the side of the platform.

"She's stronger and faster every time she finishes though," Scipio said with a sudden grin. "I don't even know how the fuck she's doing it! Now stop talking and let's fight."

Tim readied himself. So she's a gladiator. Not what I expected, but that's normal. Explains why she's so good at fighting if she's been competing like this for a while. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

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"Alright, I need you to slow down or I won't be able to actually practice any grappling," Tim said in exasperation as he narrowly missed connecting with yet another double leg takedown he'd attempted.

Scipio's lips pressed together. "Take off your armor," she said after a moment. "You're gonna rip my clothes otherwise."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Inventory. Inventory: remove armor set two. Dismiss. "Fine, now will you please slow down a little?"

"Yeah, let's go," she said, stepping forward until she was within his reach and raising both palms up in a more familiar sort of stance.

Somehow I'm feeling even less confident about my chances now.

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Tim tapped the leg he'd been trying to work towards a heel hook, letting his sweaty head thump back against the hard stone. She's a monster.

The time spent grappling had gone exactly as he'd expected but to an even more extreme degree. She'd allowed him to begin every "round" with a takedown of his choice, not even attempting any form of defense until she was firmly on the ground. Then she would, with almost casual ease, escape from whatever hold he'd thought to begin and take up an advantage that was impossible for him to recover from, usually by scuttling around to his back and applying some form of chokehold, though she'd forced him to submit on any number of occasions with various arm, leg, and foot locks as well.

She never used an amount of speed or strength greater than what he'd expect of a woman of her smaller stature, but she seemed to have a complete grasp of even the slightest weakness, whether from the instant he started taking a breath, a second where he would need to adjust his grip, or the smallest moment in which he wasn't actively pinning her with the advantage his size afforded him. A second was all it took, and then she would grab an arm or a leg, a hand or a foot, and put him so far on the defensive that he began to dread breathing.

"How are you this good?" he panted.

Scipio released her hold on his legs and sat up, not showing the least bit of exhaustion or sweatiness. "I told you. Fighting's what I do. Well, what I used to do. Not really fighting much the past couple years. Got bored."

"Shit," he muttered. He worked himself up on his elbows. "I'm gonna go up and get some water."

"Water? Should've said something." She pulled a pitcher out of the air next to her. "Took one of these earlier. Seemed like it'd be useful."

"What… Where did that come from?" Tim asked as he stared at the pitcher. She's done that a few times, hasn't she. Just too many things to keep up with.

She grimaced as she held it out towards him by its handle. "You don't know about the system, do you, Storm?" she asked in an anticipatory tone.

"The system?" he accepted the pitcher and set it down next to him while he paused to think.

"It's… Eh." She shrugged. "It's complicated. Probably—"

"Vol, I have completed my meditation," Ir'alith called. "Will you—"

"Yeah!" Scipio shouted, instantly leaping to her feet and bounding away, somehow also shedding her clothes in the process. "Let's fight!"

Tim fell back against the cool stone for a while, feeling too sluggish to even take up the pitcher of water by his side. That was fucking crazy. It's barely been an hour, but I think this is the most tired I've ever been. I'm just going to head up to sleep again. He forced himself to sit up, and the familiar, fast-paced sounds of titanic impacts began emanating from too far down the platform for him to be able to see anything. His immediate concern was the pitcher, however. He brought it to his mouth and drank deeply, feeling a refreshing coolness sink down into his middle, then set it back in its spot and began the long trudge back towards the stairs.

Feels like I did everything I could to prep at this point. Still some spells I didn't test, but that can wait. I need to rest. How am I even this tired?

Minutes later, he was back in his room. He stripped off his drenched clothes and nudged them over to the corner with the set he'd previously discarded before falling face first onto his bed. He was already asleep before he hit the mattress.

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"Tim, you're too weak to fight," Scipio said. She smirked down at him. "You're a failure, but that's okay. We can still fuck sometimes. Maybe." She looked over her shoulder and grinned. "Zack's much better. I stayed with him all night. Could barely even walk over here."

"What?" Tim said. He tried to look around, but he couldn't raise his back off the ground. "Zack's here?"

"Obviously," she said. "We brought him when we saw how weak you were. He's—"

"Zaaack!" Emma's long wail of pleasure carried over from somewhere in the distance.

"She tried to pretend like she wasn't interested, but…" Scipio bit her lip and looked over her shoulder. "You should've seen how easily he beat Ir'alith earlier. She even begged him to teach her how to fight afterwards!"

"He…did?" Tim asked, feeling his stomach twist.

She started working the waistband of her pants down her legs. "Yeah, it was amazing. Let's fuck before you go. I'm getting turned on just thinking about him."

"DRAKE STORM," another, louder voice boomed. "A FAILURE LIKE YOU IS NO LONGER NEEDED. YOU—"

Tim thrashed awake, gasping for breath. He looked around the room wildly for a few seconds before settling back into the covers. "Shit," he muttered. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then another, and then a third. "It wasn't real."

He continued breathing deeply while focusing on the sensations he could feel in the now, just as he'd learned to do from his therapist twenty-something years ago. The sheets covering him were impossibly soft and light, as though they provided exactly the weight and warmth he preferred. The air he breathed was pure and clean. The pillow he used had a welcoming feel to it, being neither too cushy nor too rigid and still managing to retain a slight coolness while under his head.

Now settled firmly in reality, he sat up. The clock in the corner of his vision told him that he had only a few minutes left, which meant it was perfect to squeeze in another hot, relaxing shower.

Just as he finished dressing himself and equipping his armor a short time later, including his helmet this time as well as the claw weapons he felt most comfortable with, a voice sounded out.

"MY CHAMPIONS, YOU WILL CLAIM MY VICTORY NOW."