Jay tried to build a mental summary of Reveller’s Avenue. But he gave up after fifteen minutes of searching for the Celestial Swords tavern. Each establishment contradicted its neighbours. A fancy café, decorated with marble statues and manicured potted plants, sat next to a dingy dive bar. Nothing separated them and patrons of both sat out the front and spoke to each other as if nothing was amiss.

The entire neighbourhood embodied unity and nonchalance. Nobody batted an eyelid at the unconscious partyers slumped in the streets, but everyone walked around them anyway.

As soon as he saw the exterior, Jay understood why it was called the Celestial Swords. Whoever designed the façade must have been allergic to bricks, or really any building material other than swords. Thousands of them were weaved together, criss-crossing into a lattice that reflected light differently with each step Jay took closer.

At first, he thought it was a unique look. But as Jay passed by the other storefronts, he realised that being different was a way of life here. On Reveller’s Avenue, standing out was the only way to fit in.

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Nobody spared Jay a glance as he entered the Celestial Swords. Every set of eyes in the open plan pub was trained on a fight, broadcast on a series of gold screens like the one Q showed Jay his own fight on.

A roar of approval filled the tavern as a woman in metal armour deflected a throwing knife with a hatchet

Thick, white pillars dotted the entire room. They glowed softly, spreading a warm shallow light throughout the tavern. The pillars left the room bright enough to see but dim enough to focus on the fights. Jay weaved through them, making his way to a bar at the centre of the room.

“Lightning Leonard?” asked the bartender. A young man with tanned skin and three-inch-long golden horns curling from his temples. The bartender had tucked his long, wavy hair around the horns, stopping any from getting in the way of his eyes.

“Yeah… I was told to ask for Akira here?”

“You’ve got the right spot.” The bartender handed Jay a flagon of beer and winked. “I’ll put it on his tab Lightning.”

“Does everyone go by nicknames here? My name’s Jay. Where I'm from most people only called me Lightning during fight week.”

“Well, every week is fight week for you now.” The horned man said. “It’s not uncommon. It comes with the whole second chance thing though, especially for people like you. You give people another shot at life and most of them choose a new name to symbolise that. That’s what Akira did, he said his new name appealed to his inner samurai, whatever that means. I don’t even know his old name. I’m Florian by the way. No nickname here.”

“What do you mean people like me?”

“People not from here. People who were reborn.” Florian saw Jay's confusion and sighed. “You know what, ask Akira when he gets here. He seemed excited to talk to you, and I’ve had this exact conversation literally thousands of times.”

Jay thought about his mental list again. This time in bigger, redder, more permanent marker he wrote down: REBORN??? Jay knew what had happened, he remembered the white void and his body stitching itself back together. But he still wanted an explanation.

Another cheer erupted from the rest of the bar. Jay turned to see the same armoured woman pierce her opponent’s abdomen with a rapier. Blood erupted from the wound as her opponent retreated.

Her movement-heavy style reminded Jay of himself in his fight, albeit a lot more composed. When Jay saw her opponent, he wasn’t surprised. The battleaxe-wielding brute was easily twice her size.

“Akira’s out watching the fights.” Said Florian. “You missed him by about twenty minutes. You can stay here to watch them if you want. He’ll be back soon after the next one’s over.”

Jay sat at the bar, beer in hand, and watched the fights. It seemed some pleasures were universal.

Or was it multiversal now?

After the last stab, the current fight was effectively over. Jay watched the armoured woman outmanoeuvre her opponent around a circular gravel pit. Jabbing him with her rapier and swinging her hatchet whenever he got too close, slowly chipping away at his chances of winning. She always seemed at least three steps ahead of her foe. When the time came for her to finish the fight, she did so swiftly. Cleanly piercing the man’s throat with a single thrust.

Jay sat stunned, surrounded by cheering viewers far more accustomed to brutal deathmatches than he was. The camera turned to the armoured woman as she removed the helmet to smile and wave.

She looked like a stained-glass sculpture come to life. Glossy, monochromatic black skin and hair shone in the arena’s light. She kissed a necklace made from the same material as her skin, before tucking it into her armour and waving at the camera. Natural authority radiated from the woman, effortlessly commanding the attention of the patrons in the bar alongside Jay.

The screen crackled slightly, and Jay heard the same voice that had announced his fight begin to speak.

“Another clean display from Lyra Twinstrike, showing us all why she’s ranked second in E grade. But don’t go anywhere folks! Her twin sister Vega, the number one ranked E grade fighter in the Second Chance Coliseum is up next. These are probably their last fights in the newbie arena, so ladies and gentlemen… Keep watching and take it all in!”

Jay turned to ask the friendly bartender more about the coliseum, but he was busy serving everyone in the bar another drink between fights. Nobody paid him a penny, and Jay watched with confusion as dozens of people walked up to him, collected a drink, and walked right back to their seats.

Once everyone was served and seated, Florian walked back over to Jay with a smirk on his face.

“Just try ordering something. In your head.”

Immediately after the thought entered his mind, a menu popped up showing a plethora of drinks and even some food options.

Curiously, Jay noted as he scrolled down the list, the tavern offered universal translators. Remembering the strange man with the parrot, as well as the angry harmonizer who helped him escape the Flaming Tomb alliance, Jay ordered the universal translator.

“Wow Jay. Bet you’re fun at parties.”

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Jay ordered the universal translator and a beer.

2 Contribution points have been taken from your account.

Florian threw a dull crystal into Jay's hands before refilling his mug. Jay held the translucent stone up to a nearby lighting pillar, it looked like the ones he’d seen on Q’s desk. As the warm light trickled through the smoky interior, a rainbow of colours emerged from the iridescent stone.

“How does this crystal work then? And how did I just order in my mind?”

Florian sighed; he must’ve had this conversation countless times as well “I won’t spoil the stone, just meditate while holding it when you get the chance. As for the ordering, it’s the same as the rankings, watching the fights, and everything else. It’s part of the coliseum’s system, designed for the best fighting experience possible. I’ve got no idea how it works. It just does.”

Unsatisfied with just accepting how it works, Jay added What the hell is the coliseum system? to the list as well, understanding more about the system would probably give him a hint about the voice that spoke to him during his fight as well.

Reaching the bottom of the list was beginning to look like a pipe dream, but he had to at least try.

The introductions were almost over by the time Jay looked back to the fight projection. The current fighter looked almost exactly like the woman from before although she wore martial arts robes in place of armour and a ferocious grin instead of a stoic smile. Vega Twinstrike faced a bizarre monster that looked like a fusion of a kangaroo and a T-Rex. A pop up at the bottom of the projection told Jay it was called a Snarebounder.

The Snarebounder’s head bobbed side to side as the creature bounced on its clawed feet. Piercing reptilian eyes glared at Vega, locking in on her brash smile.

3

2

1

Fight.

Vega Twinstrike charged forward. The Snarebounder matched her, barrelling headfirst into the arena.

The two collided in the centre of the gravel pit. Vega’s right fist smashed into the oncoming headbutt of her opponent.

Predictably, the human sized woman was sent flying by the dinosaur sized Snarebounder. Vega’s body slammed into an invisible barrier wall. She instantly stood up, unfazed by the impact.

The beast snarled at her, claiming the centre of the ring as its domain. Common sense dictated that it shouldn’t have been hurt by Vega’s smaller, lighter fist, but it refused to chase after her. The viewpoint switched to show Vega wildly laughing as she looked down at a spiderweb of cracks crisscrossing her right forearm.

Vega flexed her fingers and turned to her opponent; she waved the Snarebounder over with her uninjured hand, but it refused to budge.

An orange glow filled the cracks in Vega's fist. Jay saw her whole arm vibrate as she held it out to the side.

Viscous orange liquid seeped from the glowing cracks in Vega's fractured hand. She formed it into a ball and hurled it at the beast. The Snarebounder hopped to the right. By the time the ball hit where it once stood, it was already five metres away.

Not far enough.

The glowing orange ball erupted in flames as soon as it hit the ground. One touch was all it took to set the air ablaze. Flames licked the Snarebounder’s hide at the edge of the blast radius. It had dodged the explosion, but the beast now needed to roll in the gravel to put out the flames sticking to its body.

A cloud of dust kicked into the air, blocking all vision of the Snarebounder. Vega didn’t care. She launched more explosive balls indiscriminately at the cloud.

These bombs were smaller than the first one, but she could make them much faster. As soon as one explosive hit the dust cloud, another one was in her hands, ready to fire.

Vega continued to pelt fireballs at the beast every few seconds. It was impossible to tell if they were landing, but she didn’t seem to mind. Vega looked more like a kid in a snowball fight than a gladiator in an arena right now.

Playtime couldn’t last forever though. The constant explosions kicked up more dust, now the cloud covered more than a third of the arena. And that meant more unknowns. While Vega fired at the centre of the cloud, the Snarebounder emerged from the right.

If Vega was surprised, she didn’t show it. If anything, she only looked more excited. She threw a half-hearted fireball at the charging beast, but the beast easily ducked under it and closed the distance.

The Snarebounder hopped in, trying to get within biting range. Unfazed, Vega planted her feet and prepared for the arrival of her opponent, giving up on the fireball fight. She held her arms behind her, both glowed orange as her opponent closed the distance.

Orange became beaming white as Vega’s arms could no longer hold in the energy. A fiery explosion erupted from behind her, just as the Snarebounder passed the point of no return.

This time the beast's charge wasn’t met by a fist. It was met by Vega.

She flew forward, a woman sized meteorite, about to slam into the unfortunate dinosaur.

How poetic.

The Snarebounder’s charge paled in comparison to Vega's. When they collided, it bulleted across the arena, slamming into the force wall harder than its opponent had mere moments before.

The loudest cheer of the night erupted from the bar. Lyra’s Chess match intrigued the patrons, but it wasn’t quite an explosion hitting a fucking dinosaur.

The beast slumped on the ground. On fire, unmoving.

Vega plodded forward to the centre of the ring. She’d won the exchange, but she wasn’t unscathed. A deep crack ran down her grinning face. The same orange glow from before creeped out of the wound. By the time she reached her downed opponent, both her face and arm blazed white-hot.

The viewpoint switched to a first-person view. The bar now watched from Vegas perspective. Bright light flooded the Snarebounder. Vega knelt next to the whimpering beast and placed her glowing hand on its torso. Brilliant white engulfed the screen. Several watchers groaned. By the time they were able to see the screen again, only a charred corpse lay next to the beaming victor.

“AND THAT’S WHY I'M NUMBER ONE BABY! E GRADE ADVANCEMENT, COME SEE THE QUEEN TAKE HER THRONE!” Vega screamed, the camera angle shifting to directly in front of her face.

Most of the bar screamed with her.

Holy shit. This is what I’m competing with?

Jay sat still, staring at the projection, shellshocked by the fight. What had he just seen? This was the gladiator 972 ranks above him?

Only 972?

She made a fireball. In her hand. And blew up a dinosaur. What the fuck.

Is this the power of essence? Is Vega what Q would call a harmoniser?

Questions plagued Jay's mind, pummelling his skull until they gave him a headache. Jay massaged his temples, hoping Akira would come soon with a boatload of answers.

The next wave of people getting drinks got up. Jay was tempted to join them, when a tab popped into his vision.

Would you like to save this fight for later viewing?

Jay saved the fight, getting the previous one as well. Analysing the top two fighters would show Jay what was needed to succeed in the coliseum.

Although he didn’t think he'd be headbutting dinosaurs or throwing fireballs any time soon.

The fight has been saved. You can review the saved fights at a Second Chance Coliseum gym.

Another one for the list.

Knowing Akira would arrive soon, Jay sat and people-watched at the bar. There was a new fight being shown on the screens, but most weren’t too interested in it. The whole bar was talking about the one they’d just seen. Jay couldn’t really blame them.

The buzzing atmosphere was contagious. Even new customers who didn’t catch the fight felt it as they trickled in. Within thirty minutes of Vega's fight ending, the tavern had gone from half full to jam packed.

Every table was full, except for one right in the centre.

“WHO WANTS TO FUCKING PARTY!” An obsidian leg kicked open the front door to raucous cheers. Vega Twinstrike barged into the Celestial Swords tavern. She jumped atop the lone empty table and roared back at her fans. A thrown stein of beer sailed through the air towards Vega, who caught it mid-flight and downed it in one.

Two others came and joined her, taking a seat at the central table.

One was Lyra, sighing at her sister’s antics.

The other, a familiar looking ginger samurai.