Ms Shay'an's personal floor of the First City is filled with rooms. Kalan and D'aliah have spent the last few hours exploring it, trying to gain familiarity. They've been here for two days since Ms Shay'an invited them for dinner, and since then- nothing has been expected of them.

She's designed the place to have everything she could possibly need. There's a fully built hospital with multiple doctors on sight, a team of engineers always manning her gliders and the different steam tech she has set up. A farmhouse with an internal irrigation system - it's all here. And she uses her slaves to operate it all.

Chances are, she rarely ever leaves this place unless she wants to watch the games. Which she did yesterday. A slew of guards followed her as she left the main door, you could hear the cheers of joy from the public, moments after she stepped out the door.

They love her. They love this place.

Since Kalan and D'aliah are considered Ms Shay'an's fighters, they can only be summoned by her or Kar'ver. Apparently, they will have a few days to themselves before their training is set to begin.

For the moment, they are heading to the training ground Ms Shay'an has built. It's probably best if they start their training early and get into the right frame of mind.

As they open one of the booming doors hiding away the rooms on the floor, they walk into a coliseum-like room of its own. A replica of the arena in the centre of the city.

It isn't as big. But, it has enough seating around it to entertain hundreds of guests.

Of course, she gambles in her free time too, Kalan thinks to himself as his feet slide into the sand-covered floors. In the middle of the room, Kar'ver is sparring with Cass as Amon watches.

Kar'ver is light on his feet, but what Impresses Kalan the most is the dexterity Kar'ver has with those metallic fingers of his. He weaves the blade between them with flair as he launches his strikes, masking his attack with the motion of his blade and misdirecting Cass.

"Oi! Valantian," Yells out Amon as he glares at D'aliah. "It's time for a rematch,"

Kar'ver vaults towards Cass as she struggles to find her footing. He twirls the blade above his head, prompting her to assume a defensive stance, raising her arm in the air to block Kar'ver's downward strike. But he adjusts, dropping low and stepping around to her exposed rib cage.

Cass briefly panics, trying to lower her weapon to guard, but by the time she does, Kar'ver has already slit a small wound between her ribs. Droplets of red trickle out as they both sheath their weapons.

"Ya always expect ya opponent to do what ya think they will. But ya get ruined whenever they don't," Kar'ver tells Cass.

"Most of my opponents weren't tutel coprii," Cass shakes her head.

"Coprii are ordinary people," Kar'ver chuckles, "Ya physicality isn't the difference, it's the way ya view the fight,"

"Don't ignore me!" Amon yells at the top of his voice, body walking over to D'aliah.

"Amon," Kar'ver calls out with a stern tone.

"What's it gonna be, Valantian?" He stares at D'aliah as he towers over her.

"Back up," Kalan says.

"You don't need your boyfriend protecting you," Amon says, maintaining his eye contact with D'aliah.

She looks up at Amon with a look of disdain on her face as she grits her teeth. "You talk too much,"

Amon chuckles before grinning and leaning towards her. "Then do something about it,"

D'aliah looks over at Kalan, and he shrugs. Perplexed by Amon's persistence it's all on D'aliah. She can say no if she wants to, but she'll never hear the end of it from this jackass.

She looks back up at Amon before slowly drawing Kalan's blade from her hip. "Bring it, fatass,"

Amon momentarily looks surprised by her willingness to fight him again. But his expression quickly changes to excitement as a smile spreads from cheek to cheek.

"Alright then. Let's see if you'll get lucky a second time,"

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The two of them step into a circle, with the edges of the ring, shaped within the sand. This is where Kar'ver and Cass were sparring a minute ago.

"Same rules as before. But if you step out of the ring- you lose," Kar'ver announces before waving his hand. "Whenever you're ready,"

Kar'ver steps beside Cass and Kalan before whispering into Cass' ear. "Watch how the coprii approach battle,"

Amon and D'aliah both walk along the edge of the ring. Circling one another as they prepare to engage.

"Amon is strong," Kar'ver tells Cass, "So if she gets caught, she will lose. D'aliah, however, is agile 'n quick. 'er win condition is to use that difference to end the fight as quick as possible,"

"That's what she did last time," Cass responds.

Kar'ver nods his head, "And Amon knows that now,"

Amon launches forward, raising his curved blade into the air to slash downwards. D'aliah raises her blade to defend- but is caught off guard when Amon drops to a crouch, and changes the direction of the attack towards her ribcage.

D'aliah parries to her side, the tip of the blade creates a small incision in her clothes but misses her skin.

"How original," Kar'ver scoffs.

Amon checks the tip of his blade for blood but only sees the steel glisten in the light. He grits his teeth before taking an aggressive stance.

That was close.

"You're only supposed to draw blood," Kar'ver yells out to Amon, "Not cut her in half,"

"Amon's got the right idea though, right?" Cass asks.

"Almost," Kalan says. "Those big attacks are what he needs but if he tries to force it, he might leave D'aliah an opening,"

"Because she's quicker?" Cass adds.

"Exactly," Kar'ver smiles, "Ya gonna be tutel coprii in no time,"

Amon strikes at D'aliah again, using his strength to try and break her defence- but she maintains a firm grip on her blade as she deflects his strikes. The sand is different to the dining hall, Kalan can tell her footwork is worse than usual. She's struggling to find a firm grip so it's forcing her to challenge Amon's strikes with defense.

If she slips in an attempt to parry, she'll lose.

"She'll have to practice in the sand," Kar'ver says.

D'aliah manages to shuffle around Amon and create space again. She takes her stance and waits for Amon's next attack, but he doesn't do anything. Instead, he takes a step back as well.

"You're boring me," He says, "I don't remember you being so cowardly. All of a sudden you fight like your boyfriend- too much thinking,"

"I'm unsurprised," D'aliah responds.

"You don't seem like the type to think,"

Kar'ver and Cass both hunch over in laughter as Kalan grins at D'aliah's confidence. He's glad to see the training they did on the way here has helped her. She's still got a long way to go but she's starting to fight like the old D'aliah again.

Kalan closes his eyes as he visualizes the memory he has of D'aliah holding her double-ended axe. The way she would move that weapon was as though it were an extension of her own body.

He can't recall any of her fights. But, he has a strong feeling that she was the best fighter he'd ever seen.

He's certain of it.

Amon strikes at D'aliah in frustration, swinging his blade with so much force that D'aliah's only option is to evade the attacks entirely. Her defence would not hold against blows like this. Between Amon's strikes, D'aliah is constantly shifting her attention to his footing, allowing her to position towards his exposed side.

"This won't last much longer," Kar'ver crosses his arms. "Amon's feet are too heavy,"

"What's he supposed to do about that?" Cass asks, still trying to learn.

Kar'ver scratches the back of his neck and chuckles, "Get faster,"

"The better fighter usually wins a prolonged duel," Kalan adds, "Amon should've won a long time ago,"

"When she messed up her footing?" Cass asks.

Both Kar'ver and Kalan nod their heads and grunt in confirmation. Keeping their eyes trained on the fight.

And a sudden gasp from Amon fires from the ring as his back foot slips. D'aliah stepped around him and threw his balance off as she parried his last strike.

D'aliah steps behind Amon and kicks his unstable leg as she gets behind, prompting a loud thud to echo as his body crashes to the floor.

"That's first blood to D'aliah," Kar'ver calls out.

"What?" Cass yells in shock, "When?"

"Bullshit!" Amon yells out.

"Seriously?" Kar'ver says, pointing to the thin incision on Amon's upper arm. "She cut you long before she kicked you over,"

"Woah," Cass sighs as she notices the droplets of blood dripping down Amon's arm. "She cut you so fast you didn't notice it again,"

"Shut up," Amon barks as he stands to his feet in a hurry. "You fight like a coward," He glares at D'aliah.

"You fight like an idiot," D'aliah scoffs.

"You need to accept defeat," Kar'ver says to Amon, "You can either learn from this, or lose to her for a third time,"

Amon says nothing and puffs his chest before turning his head away from D'aliah and rolling his eyes. "We'll see how long you last in the games,"

"Become the beast your fear, else it will never be tamed," - Unknown