The man standing beside Jay covered his mouth with a leathery brown set of hands. Gemstone encrusted rings covered each stubby finger and clinked into each other as he pretended to clear his throat one more time. His fake coughs were far from convincing before, and Jay wondered how anyone could possibly take this man seriously.

Even sitting cross legged, Jay looked eye to eye with the man stood next to him. His spiky white hair added another two inches, but that didn’t move the needle much. He wore a pair of poorly fitting brown trousers that hung over his boots and an off-white shirt littered with age old stains.

“I’m Aolio.”

What kind of stupid name is that?

“It’s pronounced Ay-oh-lee-oh.”

“Who?” Jay replied. He tried to mask his annoyance but almost didn’t care how successful he was.

“What do you mean who? It’s my name.”

“No, I was just wondering who the fuck asked?”

…

“I’m from the Daily Fight. I was hoping I could ask some questions about the two beautiful young ladies fighting in front of you right now.”

Oh great, one of those guys.

“What do you think about the Inkwell Assassin? They say the only thing that matches her beauty is her speed. Do you agree?”

“She’s certainly fast.” Jay said, trying not to rise at the old man’s questions.

“What about Vega Twinstrike? Not quite the looker but boy can that girl fight!”

Jay felt Aolio’s beady eyes latch onto him, expecting a reply.

He wasn’t gonna get one.

“HEY! Back off you fucking weasel!”

Vega stormed out of the ring, abandoning her fight and taking an arrow to the chest just to scream at Aolio.

The tiny man almost jumped out of his skin, he turned to face the oncoming Vega and tried to put on an earnest front.

Tried.

“Why it’s so lovely to see you again Vega Twinstrike. I believe we haven’t spoken since-”

“Since I called you a stubby chode after I killed your golden boy Morgath in thirty seconds. Yeah, I fucking remember.”

“Delightful as always.”

“This guy’s the lowest of the low Jay, he’d sell out his own grandma for a headline. What angle was he going for this time? Overrated? Overhyped?”

Aolio almost wilted under Vega’s pressure, somehow shrinking even smaller.

“Fuck off back to your rathole and don’t come back!”

The gems coating Aolio’s fingers sparkled on his clenched fist. He squinted his eyes and glared at Vega, not sparing Jay a glance before turning tail and leaving in silence.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought!” Vega added, although she was only speaking to the man’s back. “Fuckin’ asshole.”

“Who was that?” Zara asked, only just joining from the ring. She looked exhausted. Jay could tell it was a satisfied tiredness though. One that she’d earned.

“That slimy midget from the Daily Fight.”

“Oh.”

“If you ever see him again Jay, don’t say a fucking word. He’ll twist whatever you say and use it against you.” Vega said, still not fully calmed down.

“Definitely.” Said Zara, still staring daggers at the back of Aolio’s head.

Jay watched the diminutive man hobble towards another ring. He wondered just what the man had done to piss off the two women in front of him. From the steel behind both their eyes, it couldn’t have been anything pretty.

“Mind if I swap in again?” Jay asked. “I think I’m sorted with the domain attack, just want a few more runs to confirm it.”

Zara looked up to Jay and massaged her forearms. They didn’t just look gaunter now, but greyer, and far more fragile.

“Give me five minutes.”

----------------------------------------

Jay dropped his right shoulder, instead of rolling to the ground he switched directions. He didn’t even need to block the incoming black arrow; it sailed harmlessly beside him. Jay stepped in towards Zara. He wasn’t going full speed, but neither was she. This spar, they’d decided to limit Zara to just above Davad’s speed and focus more on the domain attack.

Jay tracked his opponent’s movement, ever so slightly closing the distance, waiting for her to fire in retaliation. She let loose, but a quarter turn was all Jay needed to dodge the second arrow.

In their previous fights, Jay had been forced to block most incoming arrows. They were simply too fast and accurate for him to dodge in time. When possible, Jay preferred a dodge to a deflection. They had less factors that could go wrong and required far less commitment.

Jay mirrored Zara’s sidestep. Slowly tightening the noose around her neck. She fired a third arrow.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

It flew suspiciously far off target.

Then it curved.

Jay was forced to twist and slam his fist into the arcing black arrow. Pounding it into an inky puddle before it could hit him. When he turned back around, Zara had found another two metres of space.

Three.

Zara took aim. Narrowing in on Jay's chest.

She drew her arm back and released a held breath.

She fired.

Jay froze.

But only to firmly plant his feet beneath him.

This domain attack wasn’t a feint, like the last few had been. It was a primer. It was the jab that split the guard, creating space for the straight behind it.

Jay had been here before. He had nothing to fear.

He shrugged off the doubt and trained his eyes on the incoming arrow. He could feel the power behind it, he could see the speed it cut through the air with. He could sense its strength.

Blinding white light coursed through Jay's left arm as he brought it crashing down onto the arrow, smashing it into a slurry of ink before it had even reached the floor.

Not strong enough.

Jay flicked his eyes up to his opponent. There was no excitement this time, no thrill of the chase. Just a cold, calculating stare.

All out of arrows.

Jay marched forward. Not charging at Zara, but not giving her any time to draw another arrow.

When Jay was just outside his range, Zara surprised him with a giant leap backwards. Jay followed, but not before losing half a second.

Half a second was all his opponent needed to summon the giant umbral war hammer from underneath her skin. As soon as it was out, she swung right for Jay. A sweeping horizontal hook that just dared Jay to match it.

Why not?

Jay pushed his foot forward, grinding gravel into dust and matching the hammer with a right hook of his own. Both fighters’ weapons set for a head-on collision with each other.

At least that’s what Zara thought.

Jay ducked, dropping his whole body underneath the hammer’s blatantly telegraphed trajectory. Bent low, almost like a sprinter in his blocks, Jay launched himself at his opponent.

That’s why.

Zara couldn’t avoid his final attack. The hammers momentum had locked her into her swing, she couldn’t twist back around.

Well, she could. But not while pretending to be Davad.

She broke character at the final second. Slipping away from Jay's final punch and pushing off his swinging arm. Instantly dodging out of his range and letting his punch slice through thin air.

“Nice one! That’s ten in a row, right?”

“Yep.”

In the ten rounds since Aolio had left them, Jay had beat ‘Davad’ every time. He’d figured out how to overcome the domain arrow and had mostly solved his aggression problems in landing the final strike.

“One final word of advice on the chase down. I know you’re trying to be cautious, but you can’t move that slowly. I should never have been able to surprise you back there. Speed is your style, stick to it.”

Fight your fight Lightning.

Jay nodded in agreement and turned to Vega on the sidelines. Zara had been immensely helpful for him, and he hoped she was finding her sparring sessions just as useful.

Jay had expected Vega to either be watching their fight alone, or lying down on the bench bored out of her mind.

He hadn’t expected her to make a friend.

----------------------------------------

“Guys, meet Austin.”

Austin, the man sitting next to Vega and politely waving at Jay and Zara, looked like an old school butler who’d found a second career as a professional bodybuilder. Observant eyes tracked Jay's every step over, and he greeted Jay and Zara with a kind, courteous smile. Austin already seemed big sitting next to Vega, but when he stood up to greet Jay he towered four inches above him and had even the storm sage beat in width.

“It’s a pleasure to make both your acquaintances.” Austin didn’t bow, but it almost felt like he should have after an introduction like that. “The mistress Vega Twinstrike has been invited into the manor to practice with one of the esteemed D grade fighters currently training within. She accepted the invitation, but only on the condition that you both be invited to observe. Do you wish to join us?”

Zara almost immediately responded with a yes. Jay trusted her judgement and also agreed.

Did he say D grade?

Vega kept her cool as she fell in line with Jay, following Austin to the manor house further within the pits.

“Nice work. Now you get to see how the real fighters win fights.”

Jay wondered whether a day would ever come when Vega wasn’t insufferably cocky. He shook his head and kept walking.

Although she tried to play it cool, Jay could feel the excitement radiating from her.

Shit, he was getting excited too. Jay wondered how Vega stacked up against the division above her. Whether number one in E grade carried any weight in the coliseum.

The giant oak doors to the manor parted before Austin even got near them. Silently swinging inwards to reveal a grand entrance hall. This hall was smaller than the Flaming Tomb’s but packed far more grandeur.

Tall stained-glass windows, each depicting a different gladiator, ran along the side walls. Ribbons of light shone through them, washing the room in myriad colours. The vaulted warriors watched over Jay. Were their domains watching too?

Forest green banners covered the walls between each window, each adorned with a gold emblem of a spear emerging from within a coliseum.

“Please follow me to the secondary training chamber.” Said Austin. The trio of awestruck E graders followed him, footsteps echoing along the white marble floors. They passed beneath the watchful glass gladiators until Austin ducked through a doorway at the back of the hall.

Austin’s huge, hunched form blocked the view in front of Jay, and none of the doors he passed had names or symbols on them. Jay blindly followed his guide deeper within the manor house and wondered what the “secondary training chamber” could look like. The giant butler ducked through a doorway to his left and beckoned them to follow him.

Jay remembered Akira’s warning about nothing on this island making sense. He remembered his friend telling him he just had to accept all the weird shit as it was, and not worry too much about stupid things like logic or possibility.

Jay obviously hadn’t taken his friends words to heart.

Because every day something still surprised him.

Jay knew he was inside a manor. A building made of four stone walls, broken up by the occasional stained-glass window. He knew that for certain. It was a fact, it made sense.

So what the fuck is this then?

A white expanse, subtly broken up by a faint grey lattice filled the space beyond the doorway. The white void blurred the boundaries between floor, ceiling and walls. If not for the thin streaks of grey crisscrossing the entire room, Jay wouldn’t know where one ended and another began.

Two men waited for them in the centre of the room. One held a stiff posture, his pale face pulled taut, clinging onto the last straws of his composure. Jay could see why. The man’s partner laughed and teased, constantly elbowing his friend’s ribs and whispering into his ear. He stepped forward, finally giving his friend a moment of peace, and smiled at Vega.

“Welcome to the big boy house! I’m Cyrus, and the rather handsome but unusually quiet man behind me is Yagao.” He held his arms wide open, and Jay got a better glance at the man greeting him.

Cyrus had a scruffy brown beard and an even scruffier mane of curly hair tied in a bun behind his head. His baby blue eyes radiated serenity, Jay felt his shoulders drop an inch just by looking at them. Cyrus wore similar clothes to Jay, except cut from a blue and white cloth that matched his eyes.

Does everyone here have to be colour coordinated?

He waved the three E graders in with a huge smile, happy to welcome them, and drastically contrasting the man stood half a step behind him.

Yagao stood unwavering. Jay saw his shoulders relax too, although more due to Cyrus’ absence than his inviting eyes. He was, as Cyrus said, rather handsome. A sharp jawline and prominent cheekbones framed a symmetrical, unblemished face. Perfectly straight, jet black hair rolled down to his hips, elegantly parted so that the bulk flowed behind him but just enough remained visible from the front. He wore more elaborate robes than everyone in the room, coating his slender frame in deep layers of gold, black and green.

“I wish to test the ability of the best prospect in E grade.” Yagao’s voice stood as stiff as his posture.

“And us three get to watch!” Said Cyrus, turning his wide smile towards Jay and Zara.