Upon stepping outside, Oliver expected to find a sunny morning, but instead, the environment was exactly the same as when he arrived. Above him, some cars levitated between the buildings, illuminated by a few streetlights, but the sky remained dark, with only a few holograms near the dome.
'Selene, the city of eternal night. It lives up to its name,' the boy thought.
Nico guided Oliver through the streets to access the lower level. For the first time, the boy saw the path to the hotel where they were staying; the previous night, he had been so tired he didn't remember how they had gotten there.
Walking through alleys and narrow streets, they found one of the elevators that gave access to the lower levels. It was the second time Oliver was on the lower level, but the first time, he was noticing his surroundings. The neon lights around him were dimmer than in the upper part, yet several establishments were open. Many had tables and chairs outside, with people drinking and chatting. Even on the lower level, Selene remained a city of festivities.
Leaving the busier streets, finding the Trial Tower again was easy. Unlike the other buildings, it was one of the oldest and busiest. However, just like the previous day, only Nico's Gauntlet could open the entrance.
"When you reach the tenth floor, your Gauntlet will be registered, and you won't need me to enter or exit here," Nico explained.
Oliver was back in the tower's hall, with dozens of scattered tables watching the arena on the first floor. Even though they had arrived early, some fights were already taking place. Neither stopped to watch; instead, they continued walking to the end of the floor and entered another elevator.
Nico pressed the '0' button while explaining, "Each floor above can only be accessed by winning the previous level. The zeroth floor, however, is accessible to everyone."
Oliver nodded, waiting for the rest of the explanation. But before Nico could continue, the elevator quickly descended one more level, opening its doors and revealing the new floor. Unlike the previous ones, there was no embellishment; it looked like a hall entirely made of steel with some scattered arenas.
"Newer fighters usually come to this floor to train and maybe spy on a future opponent," Nico explained.
Nico walked to one of the platforms while continuing his explanation. "The material on this floor is extremely resistant, simulating a real arena. So it's safe to train even using Boons."
"Oh! With one exception: Rangers can't use their armors here. Even with the floor's protection, depending on the fighter, it could cause serious problems," Nico smiled as he finished the explanation.
The floor wasn't crowded; there were only two other pairs training in the more distant arenas. The pairs didn't notice the newcomers and continued with their movements. Oliver kept walking until he reached the arena Nico had chosen but paused for a moment to observe the pair's training.
When he looked at the fight closest to his arena, a new interface appeared.
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| Left Eye of Learning
| Unknown Combat Style - Learning
| [0.00%]
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'I just need to observe? But it doesn't tell me anything about the technique,' Oliver thought, scratching his neck.
Nico waited a moment while the boy watched the other training sessions.
"Fighting inside an arena is completely different from fighting in a war," Nico began to explain.
Oliver turned back to look at his new teacher.
"Unfortunately, I only know the fighting style taught by the army, so it'll have to do for you," Nico continued. "What do you think is the main difference between humans and orks?"
"Hmm... Strength?" Oliver replied thoughtfully.
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"Yes, but not just that. The strength comes from the differences in their bodies," Nico responded.
Nico stood side by side with Oliver and got into a combat stance, placing both hands in front of him in a guard.
"If you were to attack a human, a punch at this height would be sufficient," Nico extended one of his arms. "But if you're attacking an Ork, the same height that aims for a human's face will at most hit an Ork's chest."
Nico raised one of his arms, pointing to where an Ork's head would be. Oliver, on the other hand, wouldn't even be able to reach if he tried to throw a punch.
"Weight, height, size—everything in an Ork is different, which led the army to develop new techniques. An evolution of what was Mixed Martial Arts, but for a new opponent," Nico explained.
For the next two hours, Nico repeated various movements with Oliver. Each punch and kick was re-evaluated, demonstrated, and critiqued. The movements were repeated slowly, without force but with precision, so the boy could understand every detail of what he was doing.
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| Ding! Ding! Ding!
| Left Eye of Learning
| New Earth Army Style - Learning...
| [1.50%]
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"That's it!" Nico could see that Oliver learned quickly, especially when observing the teacher's movements. But there was a limit to his teaching method.
"Incredibly, I think that's it. It's impressive how quickly you grasped the basics of this style. Now, let's move on to practice!" Nico said. "You're going to run for three minutes around the floor; as soon as you finish, you'll return to this arena, and we'll have a round."
Oliver was still out of breath from repeating the movements. Even though he had done each movement slowly, he felt that his new eye was consuming his energy. Drops of sweat fell on his face as he tried to understand what Nico was explaining.
"Go! Go! Go!" Nico clapped his hands, pushing the boy to start running.
Oliver was also impressed with his learning speed. The effects of the eye were different from what he imagined.
'Not only can I replicate, but I can understand the movements,' Oliver thought. 'The only bad effect is this twitching.' The boy passed one of his hands over his eye, trying to calm down.
Previously, he fought by trying to repeat what he had learned on the streets; his kicks, punches, and stances were fragile, leaving him exposed to opponents and not using his full potential.
'Would just this have been enough to change the outcome of the beating I took?' Oliver wondered, recalling how he fought against Kyle. His chest tightened at the memory of the fight; a mix of shame and anger gave him more energy to run.
With another lap completed, Oliver could no longer focus solely on running. He opened and closed his fists, trying to feel the movements he had made a short time ago while continuing around the hall.
The arenas remained mostly empty, but some people were starting to arrive. The boy didn't know what time it was, but it was probably starting to get busier on the other floors of the Tower.
When he finally finished the three minutes, he walked back to his arena.
'Damn! I didn't know I'd get this tired,' Oliver thought, gasping from the exercise.
But before reaching the platform, a noise and commotion caught his attention. Near the entrance to the floor, a group of about a dozen people was walking toward one of the central arenas.
All of them wore the same black uniform with a symbol of two metallic circles. The commotion had drawn the attention of others besides Oliver. The other fights and training sessions happening in the arenas paused to observe the group.
'Who are they?' Oliver wondered.
As he approached Nico, the boy saw that even his trainer was analyzing the newcomers.
"Pay attention to them," Nico pointed out. "Especially the girl with white hair and the skinny guy with black hair." Nico made sure to speak quietly.
"Why?" Oliver asked.
"They're the Twins of Selene; both are heirs of the House. To gain more experience and reputation, they started climbing the tower last week. It's quite possible you'll meet them in upcoming matches," Nico explained.
Oliver focused on both of them. The twins wore clothing similar to the rest of the group. The girl was tall with long white hair tied back. The boy was very skinny, much more than normal; his eyes were sunken as if he hadn't slept for days.
"And are they good?" Oliver asked.
Nico shrugged as he replied, "Hard to say. Each of them had only three matches so far. But House Selene seems to be betting on them. Besides, they're heirs."
Oliver nodded while trying to watch what they were training.
"Alright, alright. Let's focus on our training, too," Nico called for Oliver's attention. "Let's see..."
"Got it! I think I know. I'll fight you without using my left arm and leg. Your goal is to surprise me to the point where I'll have to use them," Nico explained with a smile on his face.
"Are you sure?" Oliver asked. "I can't guarantee I won't hurt you."
Nico smirked, waving one of his hands to beckon the boy to advance. "Talk less and do more!"