Jon felt his skull pounding more and more as he and Mallory raced down the raked seating. He didn’t want to think about having to hold off a crowd of over excited patrons. No matter how much mana he had access to, he never imagined having to hold back an entire stadium of people.

Still, there was a sense of trust in the world that told him that would be the case. He just needed to get back to Marsha’s side. The way she had spoken up before, he imagined that she had dealt with this situation before.

Jon and Mallory slowed their descent as they got towards the center of the arena. Thankfully, the bare-chested man hadn’t closed in on the other man yet.

Marsha looked over at Jon and Mallory.

“Keep this man down!” Marsha begged. “Let me-”

The man struggled to get out from under Masha.

Jon wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Mallory, however, conjured up a tentacle and strapped the guy to the floor.

The big bare-chested man tried to approach Masha, but Jon checked his arm with his shoulder, stopping any approach. The man growled at Jon, but Jon didn’t budge.

Now that the man underneath her was strapped down with tentacles, Marsha stood up and walked to the bare-chested man.

“Accept your victory,” Marsha said. “Come on, already.”

The bare-chested man grunted but didn’t make any comment as Marsha reached up and grabbed his wrist.

She raised his arm and turned to the audience.

“Your winner!” Marsha called.

The crowd cheered. There were some boos, but otherwise, the crowd seemed satisfied.

People began to spill out of their seats and out through the exit.

“Where do I pick up my money?” the bare-chested man asked.

“Just stand at the edge,” Marsha said, with no concern to the man. “Your money will be brought to you.”

She looked down at the armored man. “You too, provided you don’t pick a fight.”

The tentacle was released from the man, and he stood up. There was a large gash on his forehead, and his eye was covered in blood.

Both men turned and went upwards quietly, following after the crowd.

“They both get paid?” Mallory asked.

“Yes,” Marsha answered. “It’s an arrangement through Jocasta.”

“Isn’t that… like rigging?” Mallory asked.

“It’s not rigged!!” Her voice shook Jon like a sword being thrown at him. Jocasta walked through the last vestiges of the crowd. The stadium was becoming a lot quieter now.

“They both get paid, but whoever wins is up to them,” Jocasta explained. “The money up front is just an initiative to get them going.”

“I thought you wanted inexperienced fighters,” Mallory said. “You know. Not just the few good types.”

“Those guys weren’t any good.” Jocasta pointed behind with her thumb. “You saw that. No technique. All gumption. But they’re little bit of experience helps keep the crowd going. Sort of like a premium experience to get the blood riling.”

“Their presentation does nothing to encourage the rabble to sit down and become lazy!” Marsha replied sharply.

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Jocasta raised her eyebrow. “Since when did you start talking back to me?”

“I-” Marsha’s eyes went wide with worry. “I just-.”

“Don’t stop,” Jocasta added. “Keep going.”

Marsha’s eyes and tone sharpened again. “I don’t think what you’re doing is very indicative to the nature of-”

“Jojo!” Thalia rushed down the steps of the arena.

Jocasta sighed. “Really? In front of the others?”

Thalia stopped when she got close. “Check out what I can do!”

She closed her eyes. Again, the small dash of wind blew past everyone’s faces.

“I’m gonna have to teach you about mana conservation!” Mallory said.

“Cool!” Jocasta walked up to Thalia. “Look at you, growing up so quickly. Maybe I should make a junior’s league or something. Or maybe even put you with the big-”

Jon stepped in between the two of them, making Jocasta back away.

Jon nearly spoke. He just stared into Jocasta’s eyes.

His protective spirit suddenly broke and he turned to Thalia. She looked distraught.

“Sorry,” Jon told her. He didn't know what had overtaken him. He should have allowed her to choose. But all he could think about were all of the injured women at the period of power. He didn’t want to see Thalia hurt, all for the entertainment of others.

Thalia’s mouth trembled as she tried to find the words to speak.

“I’m just joking, calm down!” Jocasta walked up to Jon and patted him on the shoulder. “Come on. You think I’d let Thalia get hurt around here?”

“Maybe!” Mallory commented.

“Maybe,” Jon said after, not necessarily repeating Mallory.

“Well, you’re not her father,” Jocasta responded. “What is she to you. that you have to protect her so much?”

Jon couldn’t find a good answer. Any of the thoughts in his head didn’t seem to fit the situation. Instead, he just told her the best answer he had.

“I’m Jon,” he told her.

“Hmph. Tough guy, aren’t you?” Jocasta looked around at the crowd. “Are you sure you wouldn’t want to fight for the crowd? I’m sure I could set something up for you.

Jon felt the urge to accept so that he could prove himself. He had trouble understanding why fighting felt like a reasonable thing to do.

He still felt put off by the bloodthirsty crowd, however.

“Nah!” Mallory wagged his finger. “None of that! We already stopped two dudes from killing each other. I don’t think we need to feed into this.

“If you had let people kill each other,” Jocasta suggested, “then maybe you could have properly chased me out of town.”

“Is there nothing off limits to you, woman?” Mallory shook his head. “For shame.”

Jon kept thinking about what Hector had. Because Hector had a lot of experience, it meant that he was better at fighting. Although Jon had a lot of experience, he knew that there was much more that he had to learn about. After all, Hector had been through tournaments.

“Sure,” Jon answered.

“A, what?” Mallory turned to him. “What?”

“Oh, okay.” Jocasta nodded. “I’ll set you up for something… let’s say tomorrow. You seem like someone who can handle themselves, so I’ll find someone at your level. I want it to be a good fight.”

“Jon, you can’t just…” Mallory scoffed. “I mean, you can, but Hector-”

“Hector’s busy,” Jon responded.

“Cool. I’ll pay you up front when you come in,” Jocasta said.

Jon shook his head. “I’ll collect it all at the end.”

“Alright.” Jocasta shrugged. “I can’t wait. I’m gonna start surveying right now!”

She ran off. Now it was Jon’s turn to get Mallory’s head shake of shame.

“Sorry, not sorry,” Jon said.

“It’s okay.” Mallory sighed. “I suppose it’s been a little boring for you. Plus, I don’t think any of these guys come up to your level.”

“Jocasta can find pretty strong people,” Thalia explained. “It’s like she’s magnetic.”

“Well, anyway, we can discuss it back at the castle,” Mallory began.

“Before you go,” Marsha interrupted. She walked up to Jon.

“Jon.” She began. “Would you like to… spend some time together? Right now? I would like to go over the bodyguard position.”

“Sure,” Jon said. He turned to Mallory.

“Umm, I’ll see you back at the library?” Mallory questioned.

Jon nodded.

“Alright.” He and Thalia shared a glance. “Guess we’re off.”

Mallory turned and walked away. Thalia gave Jon an extra stare before turning and following after.