Raising her sword, Stellis prepared a salute.

"Stellis, Second Daughter of Steel, greets t-ARGHHH"

Her introduction was cut short as she screamed in pain. Falling to the ground, she peered at the throne and then at her own armor. Just as she thought, it was being compressed around her body like a second skin. With each passing second, it made crinkling sounds as it continued to be shrunk.

Her mother's voice echoed from the shadows.

"It has been a long day Stellis. Let this be a warning for the rest of the conversation. Now tell me, what happened to your team? Why are you the only one to return? "

With those words, Stellis's armor was reset to its original state and she was lifted back to her feet by an invisible force. Taking a second to catch her breath, she recounted her team's journey.

"Just as instructed, I took a hunting team out into the wilds to plot the surrounding area and log Sever Beasts. We strayed off course due to an attack from a herd of strong Grade One creatures and... rival hunting teams. We were forced to take shelter in a forest that was hundreds of miles from here. We were then ambushed by a creature that outclassed everyone in the caravan, including myself. Because of my incompetence... no one survived. "

There was a pause as her mother considered her words. When she spoke again, her tone was incredibly accusatory.

"And how did you make it back? I was told you returned with no survey vehicle but instead on foot."

Closing her eyes for a brief moment Stellis considered her options.

'Should I just lie? I would prefer not drawing attention to Ace after I talked about being someone he could trust...'

She sighed deeply. There wasn't really much of a choice.

"I...We... returned by following a pack of Sever Beasts back to this installation."

"We?" Her mother asked.

"You met this boy out in the forest? Is he from another House's exploration team? His clothes look... unkept."

Speaking with measured tone, Stellis worded her answer as best she could.

"No mother... he is from the slums. He was carried out there by a pack of Sever Beasts after the first wave. He survived in the forest by himself for three weeks. Despite his missing arm, he is incredibly capable. He even managed to reach Grade 2 on his own!"

Stellis heard the sound of metal shifting as her mother spoke once more.

"He's Lawless? How curious..."

There was a pause. Then, the sound of footsteps resonated from the shadows. From the darkness, her mother emerged.

Ace looked on, shocked at the woman's uncanny resemblance to Stellis and her immense stature. She was taller than even a Sentinel but each of her steps was filled with a smooth grace, as if she was walking on air.

She wore a suit of basic armor, far more robust looking than a Sentinel vest. It covered her vitals with dull silver plates while leaving her joints and other areas covered in a black mesh.

On her chest plate was the same crest that was on the badge Stellis carried. She wore her brown hair at about chin level and carried a sword of immense length on her back.

Her walk was filled with purpose, strolling past Stellis and right up to Ace. Looming over him, she threw a couple questions his way.

"A cripple being Lawless? From the slums no less? You may have fooled my daughter with that story, but you will not fool me. "

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Sensing things going downhill, Stellis tried to offer an explanation.

"Mother? W-"

Her mother raised her hand.

"Silence! Let's say what you said is true. Why have you brought him into the compound? You know where the Slumdogs are supposed to go when they enter the city..."

Taking only a few seconds to consider her answer, Stellis spoke with a confidence she had yet to find during the entire conversation.

"I was hoping he could join our ranks. He has nowhere to go... no family... and I believe we may have a... common interest. Although, he doesn't really know it yet."

The matriarch narrowed her eyes as she continued to look Ace over. He started to perspire while looking up at the giant of a woman. Even after years of growing up with her, Stellis had to admit her mother's presence was incredibly overbearing.

It wasn't just because of the aura her Notch gave off.

Her mother was about a foot taller than her and packed on about 15 extra pounds of muscle. She wasn't burly like the Sentinels but it was obvious that her physical strength was top tier.

Her mother smiled as she grabbed Ace's chin with a large hand, looking him over. She then turned to look at Stellis.

"Join our ranks you say? Is that really the only reason?"

Stellis only looked back at her mother in confusion. What was she talking about?

Letting go of Ace's face, she looked her daughter in the eyes, seemingly searching for something. When she opened her mouth to speak again, Stellis braced herself for the worst.

"Fine... He can stay, but on one condition... He must survive a spar with your elder brother for one minute. If I see anything that even remotely indicates he's been trained by another house... I trust I won't need to tell you what happens next."

Stellis looked at her mother, mouth drooped in shock. This was as bad as things could get!

'This crazy bitch! Fight brother?! He had a hard time dealing with just me!'

Seeing her expression, her mother laughed coyly.

"What, you said he was capable right? Surely he can manage a minute..."

Suppressing her rage, Stellis looked over at Ace. His eyes seemed to have regained some vigor but it was clear he wasn't fully recovered. Fighting in that condition, especially against her brother, was bound to not end well. She had to buy time.

"When is the fight?" She asked.

Jumping back into the darkness of her throne, her mother's stern voice rang out.

"Right now of course. Larcet, step forward. Oh, and do be sure to give an honest effort. We don't want our guest getting a bad impression of House Steel, do we now?"

Stellis tried to step forward in front of Ace but the same invisible force from earlier lifted her from her feet and carried her to stand beside the two armored figures to the left of the throne.

"That's enough daughter." Her mother said. "You brought him here so you will stand quietly and bear the consequences."

When she was done speaking, a figure stepped out from the shadows on the opposite side of the throne.

***

Ace looked at the large armored man walking towards him. Taller than even the matriarch, he was truly a giant. And just like his mother, his athletic build was easily visible.

'This guy looks like bad news..."

Looking at his helmet, Ace could only see a pair of bright yellow eyes looking back at him through a T shaped visor. They remained unblinking which was quite unsettling.

He stopped his approach a few steps away and pulled out his weapons. In his left hand he carried a diamond shaped shield and in the right he held a large war-hammer with a spiked tip at the end of the handle.

Standing tall, he banged his hammer against his shield. Then a loud and baritone voice rang out from the depths of his helmet.

"Larcet, 1st Son of Steel, Ready!"

His mother chuckled from the darkness.

There was an awkward silence before Ace realized that his opponent was waiting on him to announce his readiness.

'I don't have anything cool to say like that, but... I have something else.'

With thoughts of his orphanage on his mind, Ace pulled out his crowbar and settled into a comfortable stance.

"Ace... 1st Son of the Lost... Ready"

As soon as he said the words, Larcet disappeared from his sight.

The next thing thing he saw was the metal block of the hammer approaching his face with rapid speed.

Time slowed to a crawl as he scrambled to dodge. Even though he had filled his body with Sever energy before the fight, he wasn't going to be able to dodge..

Reacting off pure instinct, Ace pulled his balance point to his hand and strained with his core to duck. In an instant, he shot towards the ground, letting the hammer cut through the air above him .

He looked up from the ground at his attacker. Larcet's right arm had crossed over his chest, giving Ace the impression there was an opening.

Before he could capitalize, Larcet's shield was somehow already moving towards him.

The giant hadn't recovered from swinging his hammer so he used the momentum from his attack to spin around and bring the shield down in a backhand strike.

Thinking quickly, Ace returned his balance point back to neutral position and sprang off his hand to the side. Larcet's shield crashed into the ground, missing him by mere inches. The force behind the strike was so strong it made a crater and threw up a cloud of dust.

Reorienting himself in midair, Ace landed on his feet and slid backwards on the smooth ground. Only a second later, he heard Larcet's gruff voice resonate from the cloud of dust.

"Can you only dodge? Fine... Lets see how you deal with this..."

Ace peered at his opponent's large shadow and braced himself. Then, without warning, there were two loud metallic bangs as Larcet smashed his hammer against his shield.

Immediately after, Ace's vision tilted to the side.

'Huh?'