Tinn & Elke try again

It was a miracle she didn’t die of hypothermia. Or so everybody thought. In truth it was rare to die from cold when there was fire flowing through your veins, but Sera wasn’t about to divulge that secret to the horrendous people who captured her. She noticed their looks. They were staring both in awe of her perseverance and at her ass. Their capturers came in the middle of the night and dragged her out of bed before she knew what was going on. There was no chance to change. She was still wearing that damned golden nightgown she’d bought in a fit of rage after her last breakup. It was almost see-through and even in places it wasn’t, it definitely hugged her curves in the right places. While she would never classify herself as the smartest in the room, she wasn’t dumb either. Sera knew what those men were looking at. She also knew there was no chance they were going to succumb to those urges. Clearly, they were not in charge.
Some of her village had been killed, most had been captured and they were now being marched into a big hall with bright, blinding lights. Sera squinted to see the people standing there. Waiting for her vision to adjust. She was no warrior and had no intention to be, but she’d been around warriors training enough to know what usually took place in a hall this size. The weapons on the side gave it away. There were always rumours of the corporate conglomerates that took people from their home and had them fight to the death, she just never believed them to be true. Evidently, her faith was about to change.
In front of them were some big, bulky men and one of them was ordering everybody into groups. The men from her village were separated from the women and she was pushed into a corner. One of the younger girls was shivering. As inconspicuously as she could, Sera slightly pulled the girl behind her and turned her body in front. Her options were limited, but at the very least they could figure out what was going to happen while the scared girl was in the back, not in front. And if it came to it, if their lives were in danger, she would have to resort to more drastic measures.

Samuel had been slightly nervous the whole night. He knew what was about to happen when the sun started to rise, or maybe even earlier than that. It was raid night, meaning he'd have to select a few dozen people to replace the recently killed off ones. The past few days had all been about getting rid of the servants that were no longer useful, people who outstayed their welcome. Change was good. Samuel agreed on that part. The longer people remained in this building, the more they knew, the bolder they got. They became more dangerous overtime and it was a risk no one here was willing to take. Samuel didn't want to risk anything either if he wanted to go back to his regular life. He didn't even know these type of arenas still existed, had thought it was something that only belonged to history books. Underground boxing rings and illegal street fighting, sure, but people signed up for that. Here things just worked a little... different. Aryen knew about this, though. That's how Samuel ended up here. He had the genius idea of betting on whoever was fighting, landing him in quite some debt. One day some people came to collect said debt, but not in a friendly way. When Samuel had killed basically all of them, he got contacted with a different offer considering the debt-collectors weren't just normal scrawny people. Samuel's skills hadn't gone unnoticed. He knew they wouldn't stop coming after Aryen, so he accepted. If he delivered them a champion, he was free to go. It had been a few months and all his potential champions had died fairly quickly. It wasn't as easy as it seemed. They also did not allow him to fight; perhaps to keep him around longer, profit off his skills and potential, earn more money that way.
Anyway, today was a new chance to get out of here. Even though it seemed unlikely, as potential champions were usually distributed to more dedicated trainers that voluntarily stayed in this place. Not to someone who was paying off a debt. He got the scraps, for now. Samuel sighed as he walked into the big hall, surrounded by guards who where arranging people based on age and gender. He quickly disregarded the women. Yes, call it misogyny, but they usually dropped even quicker than even the frailest men. See, village people usually relied on hunting, on training men. Not women. Children were scurried away into another hall. However gruesome this place was, at least they didn't let the children fight. What they did do to them wasn't anything better, but Samuel didn't allow himself to care about that.
'Hello,' he started. 'Sorry to interrupt your peaceful night sleep, I'm sorry to say it's the last you've had.' His looked around the people on the floor, taking in the different faces, postures. His eyes stopped at a women, however, and he raised an eyebrow at the sight. She was shielding someone else. He chuckled. He saw some of the other men in the room eyeing her and he knew what she'd end up as. A servant, probably for the higher ups.
'You'll all go through a small initiation process, you may say. Either with me or someone else in this room. After that, you'll be assigned to a certain position. That will be your life from now on. If you feel like trying to fight us, please save your energy. You'll need it. Furthermore, you'll lose. If you want any chance of survival, you'll do as we ask. As you can see, there's plenty of you to go around and we don't like people who think they're above the laws of this place.' Samuel nodded and the other men started moving, each selecting a group.

When the men entered they were told to either sit on the ground or be forced down. From the corner of her eye she saw some of the men be too proud to sit. The brutes immediately knocked that pride out of them. Quite literally. They used some kind of weapon to knock them to the ground and when the men were down, they got one more hit. Sera assumed to make the message stick, although she doubted any one of them would stand up after what just happened. Just like most of the women, she sat down no questions asked. It was better to behave and see what would happen, there was no need to make a scene. And she didn’t have that much pride to continue standing. She had plenty of pride when it came to who she dated or how she wanted to be treated by a relationship, friends or family, but not by captives. The very fact that they dragged her out of bed, marched her through the night and had her sitting on a cold floor all in her night gown, was indication enough how disinterested they were in her. And in her pride. Until she figured out if there was a way to get out of here, it was better to go unnoticed.
She went unnoticed for about two more minutes. The big, bulky one walked up to her and without saying a word, grabbed her upper arm and hauled her from the floor. The girl behind her was still holding her other arm, but had to let go as the brute was unforgiving in dragging Sera across the hall to where the men were standing. He roughly pushed her to the ground right in front of one of the other men. Clearly this one belonged to the company as well, but his stature was different. Not a brute. He had muscles and everything about him screamed danger, but he didn’t look like he had those muscles to show off. It was different. Although she had no doubt he’d kill her if he wanted to. He couldn’t, but he didn’t know that yet.
‘Heard you managed to get your last one killed, this up to your standard?’ The hairs on the back of her neck rose when she realised that she was being offered to this guy who apparently killed the last person doing whatever job she was picked for. It made sense if she’d become some kind of servant - or slave, whatever name they used here - because she didn’t look like a fighter, but the words this brute spoke created doubts in her mind. If it was about being a servant, why would the last one be killed? For not doing a good enough job? That was a harsh reason to lose a life. There were a lot of questions going through her mind, completed with a lot of doubts, but Sera decided to remain quiet for now. No pride. She’d live by that statement for a while to come. She did, however, look up at the guy. He was undeniably handsome. Too bad that didn’t count for anything where she was going.

It didn't take long before he was offered a servant. He didn't care about them, really. He just wanted to be at peace, but was often disturbed by them. Although it was quite suprising to see who they just threw in front of his feet. He was pretty sure she would be going to upper ranks, but apparently his luck had turned. Too bad she probably wouldn't last until the next raid night. He nodded in her direction. 'For the record,' he started as the girl was helped to her feet and dragged to the servant quarters, 'she got herself killed.' It was true. She was poking around where she shouldn't, thinking Samuel wasn't paying attention eitherway. He was, but she just didn't notice. This one sparked his interest though, so he hoped she was smart enough to complete the basic servant training she'd get. The rest she would learn along the way - if she wasn't dead by today. The other women were all guided away, except a few who were potential fighters. He decided to start ranking those, as the men were being taken by the other trainers. He sighed as he walked up to a small group that remained after everyone else had their pick. Three women, four men. They were quite the group and probably not going to last that long. He had to give them a chance however and choose the best ones. The fate of the others was up to themselves; maybe they had some talents that could land them in a better position.
When they arrived, he decided to start with the men first. Men were always the dumber ones, trying harder to fight and escape. He made himself clear earlier, but there were always some trying to fight their way out anyway. The longer you let them wait, the more time they had to do exactly that. He walked over to the first man, a younger looking dude that clearly was a farmersboy. He was skinny, looked a tad unhealthy, but he had workers hands. Probably some strength too. On the floor were some weights in various sizes. 'Pick those up,' Samuel told him. The boy walked over and indeed managed to lift quite some. 'Ever used a knife on something else than food?' Samuel asked.
The boy shook his head. 'No,' he whispered.
'Ever fought someone with just your hands?' Samuel asked.
'A few times...'
Good enough. Hand to hand combat would suit him for now.
'Anyone ever used a weapon?' he asked.
A woman put her hand in the air. She was quite tall and seemed to be somewhat strong.
'Pick something and use it on the dummy,' Samuel instructed.
She stood up, walked over to the wall with various weapons and picked out an axe. Samuel raised an eyebrow. This was interesting. She stood in front of the dummy, raised the axe, but Samuel saw the way her feet changed in his direction before the rest of his body followed. He sighed, slid his knife out of his belt and aimed for her neck before she could properly charge at him. It nicked her artery, causing her to drop the axe and clutching her hands to her neck in attempt to stop the red stream of blood from coming out. 'Was I not clear?' he asked, retrieving his knife from the floor. Too bad. She had potential. At least the rest understood the message now.
'Next.' He would deal with the body after he was done. A reminder to not try anything. Clearly he was wrong about women being the smarter ones.

She got herself killed. That didn’t sound reassuring either. Was it possible to get a crash course on how to not get killed? Because she sure liked to have access to one. Sera wasn’t violent by nature - although she believed that everybody could be provoked far enough to see violence as the only option, herself being no exception - but if somebody was trying to kill her, she’d retaliate and things would turn ugly. She never killed a person and definitely didn’t attack them with her fire. Truth be told, she wouldn’t even know how to use it against somebody. The fire only stayed with her, she couldn’t project it onto somebody else from a distance, so it could merely be used as a last resort. She truly hoped to not get that far. There was one thing she could be grateful for that helped her remain calm, she didn’t have a lot of family and friends and the ones she did have, didn’t live in the same village. They weren’t taken. There was nobody here she had to protect, aside from the occasional poor girl she was willing to shelter behind her body. It would make survival easier if she only had her own wellbeing in mind.
Together with most of the other women she was led into different rooms at a time. They were separated into groups of ten and ever group received what she could only call an instructor. One brute stayed, but the instructors were all women. And then the door closed. She could only see the people they were assigned and her group.
‘Welcome,’ the woman smiled at them, but Sera doubted if she meant it reassuringly or as a sign of dominance. Even women in power would take it out on other women, it was a tale as old as time.
‘As you’re probably aware of by now, you are here to serve. Every single one of you will be assigned a specific master. Clean their rooms, wash their clothes and do everything they want from you. Some of you are assigned already,’ the woman’s eyes lingered on Sera for a moment, ‘and others will be assigned later. Those of you who are assigned are expected to start tonight. Normally you would receive a longer course on the kind of work you’re supposed to perform, but with the loss of recent employees, there is no choice but to have you start right away.’ The recent loss of employees almost sounded like they resigned and walked away. Getting killed didn’t exactly qualify in the way they spoke about human lives.
‘In the next few hours we’ll show you around the compound, explain what you can use for your tasks and how you are expected to deal with certain issues you’ll face. Most of it is generic and easy to follow. Remember, you are assigned to a specific master, so it’s wise to ask them if they have any notes for you to follow.’ For some reason Sera doubted the guy she was assigned to was very interested in telling her what he expected. With getting somebody killed and all. She was not going to get over that anytime soon. Her life was literally in his hands and if she didn’t figure out a way to keep herself safe in those murder-y hands, it was going to get bloody.

The rest of the assessment went fairly smoothly. Clearly the message finally got across and everyone did as told to the best of their abilities. One of the women had no fighting skills at all, but after a brief assessment - seeing burn marks on her hands - Samuel did assign her to kitchen duty. He hoped those burn marks were older, because if she messed up too much in the kitchen she might get killed faster than the fighters. The other people were all fairly similar; the men were quite strong, the other girl had decent aim. None of them were notable, but maybe he could train them to last a few rounds. Maybe. They weren't going to be champions, that's for sure, so Samuel didn't want to put all his effort in this group of people. He should start with the one he considered the strongest, though. To use their strenght at the right time. There were multiple fights each evening, but not all of his selection would be fighting on the same day. They would have to live in fear one more day.
'Alright,' he said once he finished up arranging the weapons into place. 'Some of you will be dead by tonight, but I'm here to try and keep you alive for maybe another day. It's in your best interest to work with me, not against me. You should understand that I won't care about your training or your life, but it's expected of me to teach you some things that may prove useful. If you survive your first few fights, maybe I'll be a bit more invested. If not... you won't be here to experience it anyway.' Each of them would get one on one training, so for now he signaled the guards to bring his trainees to their chamber. It was more like a prison cell and not comfortable at all, but yet again - if they did well, they'd get some slight upgrades. For now they didn't bring in any money and that was reflected into their living conditions. He glanced at the body on the ground. There were no servants yet, but he wasn't particularly wanting to clean up his own mess. He did have another idea, though. He propped the body up and leaned it against the wall, trying to get the head up as straight as possible. He dipped his fingers into the blood on the floor and marked some places of the body with an 'X'. None of his trainees had killed a human before. Maybe an animal. A dead body wasn't a fighting opponent, but it was at least a human. It was the first step they had to take. That way he didn't have to clean up the body yet. The blood... well. He didn't care, really. Maybe he could also use it, desensitize his trainees. He looked around quite pleased with the outcome of his little set up. It had happened a few times that he had to kill someone during assessment, but there were always people to clean up his mess. Lately things had gotten a bit more out of hand here, more people ended up dead. They rotated people around quicker. Time is money, right? The more fights, the higher the death count. More fights also meant more money. Speaking of, he should check if one of his trainees would be on the chopping block already today. There was a roster in the fighting area, so he made his way over there.

They left her right in front of the murder guys’ chambers. Told her to “wait for him” and then she could get started. Their introduction today had existed of showing where the cleaning supplies were, where to put thrash and a quick tour of the places she was allowed to be, including a kitchen if her so-called “master” needed more food. They also included the rooms where the servants were sleeping, although the woman in charge did mention that some masters preferred their servants were close by. Apparently there were small rooms build into their chambers. Both her possible rooms would have clothes to change into, but the rooms weren’t ready yet and they told her the clothes would have to wait until tomorrow. She was still wearing that damned golden nightgown. Well, at least her ass looked good in it. However much that would bring her in a place like this.
Leaning against the wall right next to murder guy’s chambers, Sera wondered what he was like. Her “master”. She was never going to call him that. Just thinking of anybody as her master was enough to make her nauseous, let alone saying it out loud. Murder guy actually suited him perfectly and she wasn’t opposed to calling him that - although he might be - or she could call him by his name. Surely she’d be more than capable of not calling him anything as well. Ask a question, get an answer and move along. There was truly no need for a name. Unless that was what he expected. She had morals, a bit of pride even, but when it came down to her life she knew she would probably do almost everything. As a servant it couldn’t be that bad. She didn’t clean her own home very often and hated doing the dishes, but she could. It was like when you played the Sims, every Sim could do the actions you wanted from them, but some had increased levels of skill. Her cleaning skills were at level two, but it was better than nothing. Honestly she was just glad they didn’t end up sticking her in the kitchen, because that would’ve been a disaster. She never learned to contain her ability when she was cooking on a gas stove. The fire inside her immediately reacted and reached out to the flames provided on the stove and she’d burn things instantly. If there were no flames it was much easier, but even then she had to watch out that the heat wouldn’t trigger her. Which basically meant she preferred take-out over cooking.
A number of people walked by her, but so far not the murder guy she was waiting for. They told her to wait here for him and to not go inside, but she figured the door was locked anyway. She didn’t try. Even if by some miracle the door wasn’t locked, she had no intention of going into that room and “getting herself killed”. Or finding blood. Or bodies. Who knew what kind of messed up stuff was going on inside that room.

He had spent the rest of the day training his trainee that was fighting in the arena today. They had chosen one of the women. Boring fights were always first, as people weren't really excited for those. Bets were low, not many spectators online. Some fanatics did watch every fight though. It was quite smart, because you'd earn at least some money if you knew the fighters from the start, if you followed every step of their way - however long that was. Honestly, Samuel thought she had a chance in those first fights. The best way for her to win was her aim; if she could get to a weapon first, she could win. It would be quick, a few minutes - maybe not even. Not very impressive, but she'd be alive. He could use a few wins, as they granted the trainers benefits as well. If you win, part of your debt was paid. It was also a away of getting out of this shithole other than finding the arena a champion.
Samuel noticed that it wasn't long anymore until the fights were starting and he still had some matters to attend to. First of all: a change of clothes. Trainers in the arena had to look somewhat decent and his clothes with dried up bloodstains on them weren't appropriate. He'd freshen up and get going. When he walked to his own chambers, he noticed the servants walking around and remembered that he was assigned one already. He'd already forgotten about her. She might've been dead by now if she was walking around these halls unmonitored. When he reached his chambers, however, he saw her patiently waiting by his door. Had she tried to open it? He was curious, but would soon find out.
He disregarded her as he unlocked the door, seeing the little feather he put in front of it in place - a sign she hadn't tried the lock. He smiled faintly as he turned around. 'So you're not dead.' He opened the door and motioned for her to come in. 'I'm taking you to the arena,' he started, walking over to the servant room inside his. He hated having his servant there, though, but he wanted to keep this one alive for at least one night. She didn't do anything stupid. If she were to die, he would have a say in it. He opened the closet, where some leftover clean clothes were. It wasn't unusual for servants to attend the fights in the arena as a way to show them what could've been their fate too. To make them thankful for having it easier. He sighed as the stared at the clothes. 'I guess you can choose whatever. Just come out when you're ready, don't take too long,' he said, as he closed the door behind the girl and got dressed up himself. He picked a simple black suit. Not much to show for yet. The better the fights, the more expensive and ridiculous the clothes were.

Finally murder guy showed up. His complete disregard for her stung. She didn’t expect a welcome party, but nobody here cared for common courtesy. Or human lives. She should’ve guessed he wouldn’t care, but she was too much of a social butterfly herself to like dealing with rude, narcissistic psychopaths. Was somebody a psychopath if they killed? Perhaps not, she figured it depended on if he liked the kill.
When he opened the door she noticed it wasn’t locked and raised an eyebrow, but kept the comment to herself. Apparently he did know she didn’t enter - Sera wasn’t sure how he knew, but maybe there were camera’s somewhere in the building she hadn’t spotted yet - and he even turned to her to talk. She indeed wasn’t dead yet.
‘And I prefer to keep it that way,’ she smiled at him. Sera wasn’t completely sure if she was allowed to talk to him, but he was talking to her and not answering might be even worse. It was a slippery slope, but she was going to climb the mountain called staying-alive whatever it took. Apparently that started with figuring out what she could and couldn’t say.
She waited patiently while he opened the door to a very small room. Her room. Part of her had hoped he didn’t want her here. Nor the arena. Her back straightened when she heard him say he was bringing her to see the fights. Of course she knew there were people fighting somewhere in this building, however she thought that was far away from her and not an event she’d attend during the first evening.
Sera nodded when he told her to change and walked into the room, closing the door behind her. He didn’t tell her to keep it open. The light bulb gave just enough light to make out the different types of clothes. There were some pants and blouses, as well as skirts and jackets. It wasn’t half bad. Definitely more than she thought she’d get. There was one piece of clothing that was different from the others; a dress. It was black and when she put it on, it was actually quite pretty. The people hosting these fights probably made a spectacle out of them. Showing up required looking good. If that was the goal she might as well keep on the nightgown, but a black dress worked too. It wasn’t the perfect size for her, but she looked the best she could. As the finishing touches she put shoes on for the first time today. They were sneakers and didn’t match with the dress at all, but there was no other option. If they wanted her to wear something else, they would have to provide it.
Sera tossed her hair back over her shoulders as she opened the door and waited for murder guy to finish. However, her curiosity quickly took over.
‘What should I call you?’ The question itself was harmless. Or so she assumed. People like that, they wanted to be called by the correct name, right? She would have to know that name first. Or she ran the risk to at some point accidentally call him murder guy and he didn’t strike her as the kind of fellow with humour.

He was suprised when he saw her exit so fast. He would've thought she needed more time, to compose herself maybe. But he didn't like waiting and the fights would be starting soon. She'd chosen a black dress. Something more reserved for the important fights, but it wouldn't matter as she would be seated in a servant seat next to his trainees. They'd all be there to watch. Every trainer had their own little reserved spot with the best views. Well, not exactly the best, as they were reserved for the VIPS - the people keeping this place running. He was about to walk out again when she spoke. She'd learn soon enough to speak when spoken to, especially in public, but since her question was valid he'd let it slide.
'Did they not tell you?' If they didn't, god bless the other servants. Some wouldn't make it tonight then. 'Outside of these chambers where there are others, call me master. When we're alone and can't be seen or heard, you can call me Samuel.' He hated the whole title thing, but it was the way things worked around here. Servants got killed for less than using inappropriate titles. 'Just for your own good. Also, don't speak unless you're spoken to from now on. If you really have a pressing question, write it down. There's writing material in your room. You'll be staying there tonight. It's not much, but it'll be the safest. I assume you want to stay alive, no?'
He opened the door and walked out, leading the girl to the arena. It was quite modern, for a fighting arena. You'd expect something out of a Gladiator movie, but that wasn't it. It was technologically advanced with all sorts of safety measures in place. The arena was full of cameras so whoever was watching would be ensured the best view of the action. There were artificial skies, todays being quite dark with the occasional star. If you were to die, you'd at least have a view. He was brought to his seating area, where the rest of his trainees already were. Except one, of course, as she'd be in the arena not long from now on. He gestured towards the seat next to his trainees. 'You can sit there.' He himself walked more towards the front. Not that it mattered, as there were screens in the area to watch in the best definition possible. He liked to see things with his own eyes, though. Apparently they arrived right on time, as the announcer started to speak.
'Welcome everyone!' the announcer said enthusiastically. Samuel was tired of the same speech over and over again, but the viewers loved it. 'Welcome to tonights fights. We got a whole new batch of fresh meat ready to be slaughtered today! Get your bets in if you haven't, as the first fighters are getting ready to entertain you.' Samuel tuned out for the rest of the speech, until he saw his trainee walk into the area. Clearly nervous, her eyes darting around. Her opponent was also a woman, but a whole head taller and definitely stronger. His trainee would be faster, though. Strength didn't matter with a knife cutting your jugular. There was a chance.

Did they? To be honest she tried to pay attention but between the tour, memorising where she could find everything and the woman leading them not shutting up, she might have missed parts of the instructions. Or perhaps that bitch didn’t tell them. Neither would surprise Sera. Women supporting women was a far stretch from the truth her. She understood it wasn’t possible to get attached and didn’t even blame the other woman for wanting to keep the bit of power she acquired, but there was no reason to do that over the backs of the newly acquired employees. If they could even be called employees.
What did surprise her was the extensive answer she received from murder guy, who was apparently called Samuel. For some reason she preferred murder guy. It had a certain ring to it. She definitely preferred it over calling him master. Everything inside her screamed at that title, but there was nothing she could do. He was right, she wanted to stay alive. So, being a good servant, she nodded when he told her to not speak unless spoken to. She had to write if she wanted to ask something. She would, for now, but he did seem to appreciate her asking him what was expected so maybe there was a possibility to push the boundaries regarding when she could speak. Not during the fights, but when they were alone in this room, it was possible. She could try. For sure asking wouldn’t get her murdered? And if it did, she was as good as dead anyway.
She followed him towards the arena and was met with an array of loud noises when they entered. It was a stark contrast with the people she had to sit next to. They were quiet. She wasn’t even sure who they were, but judging by the lack of blood in their faces, they were preparing themselves to end up in that arena someday. Possibly faster than they’d like. They didn’t even care she was here. There was complete focus on what was happening in the arena before them. Sera tried not to care. To school her face into an emotionless blob rather than show that she didn’t want to see people die, but she wasn’t sure she fully succeeded. At the very least she knew she flinched a few times when people started cheering for one of the contestants. This usually happened if they got in a good hit.
The fight was clearly speed versus strength and Sera wasn’t knowledgable enough to figure who had the upper hand in the game. It looked like the girl who was quick on her feet had an advantage, but the hit she just received to her head countered that thought. She was up again. Sera had to admit, this was admirable. To fight like this on the day you were taken from your home? She couldn’t do it. Didn’t want to do it, but then doubted either one of those women truly wanted this. Perhaps if they were also psychopaths. How many people did actually relish in the pain of others? She never led her mind wander there, but with nothing better to do, she wondered. For outsiders it looked like Sera was sitting up straight, her eyes focused on the fight in front of her. But her mind was elsewhere. Counting the amount of people in this place that could possibly relish in her death and figuring out how to avoid most of them.

She was doing what he told her to do. It was the only thing she know to do, though. But they didn't always listen. When panic takes over, people tend to forget everything they know, forget what they practiced. At a certain point she got too bold, however, trying to run for the wall of weapons. The other women saw her chance and struck hard. He heard cheering in the crowd as his trainee went down and he balled his hand into a fist. He saw the blood splattered on the ground and even if she won, her chances were lowered already for the next fight. In here, if you got wounded, you never got time to recover. And other trainers aimed for weak spots. Every weak spot was a spot to attack. That's why the further the fights went, the more interesting they got. Everyone was trying to hit the opponent where it really hurt, even though they were bruised and broken themselves. It was a primal instinct taking over during those fights. It was actually quit wonderful to watch, to see an instinct that people try to repress so hard completely take over. He'd seen many things in this arena when people were faced with imminent death. His trainee got up and he heard sighs of relief behind him. She managed to dodge the next charge, maybe because she was stumbling around on her legs or on purpose. She made it to the wall, however, and Samuel only hoped she remembered how to throw a dagger like he showed her. Especially with a spinning head and perhaps a blurred view. She threw. The aim was off, but her opponent made the wrong choice by charging forward, landing the dagger right where it should've been: in her neck. The higher ups cheered while the girl fell down, gasping for air as blood filled her throat and spluttered out of her mouth while she was gasping for air.
'We have a winner!' the announcer said. And right as those words echoed in the arena, his trainee threw up. This didn't look good. She was carried away as a victory song played. 'I didn't expect that!' the announcer continued. 'Hope you all placed your money on the correct one, we'll be seeing more of her soon.' Samuel didn't think they would, they all saw she suffered a concussion. Her next opponent would be better, would've won a fight as well. And they would aim for her weak spot: her head. They always knew exactly which pairings would make the most money.
The rest of the fights weren't that special, for the most part. The last one, however, caused Samuel to almost show a reaction. It was a strong man against a smaller, young looking boy. A clear winner. However, it was easy to tell that the big guy knew exactly what to do. It happened fast and it was bloody and gory. He grabbed the boy by the neck, squeezed so hard Samuel could heard bones crack, and threw him down so hard his skull cracked. The boy tried to mutter some words, but the man didn't stop there; he finished it by grabbing a rock and smashing his skull to bits. The crowd absolutely loved it. So did his trainer which Samuel spotted on the right of his seating area. He might've found a champion.

Sera hadn’t anticipated there would be more than one fight tonight. After the quick girl had won - barely, but a win was a win - she thought the night would end right then and there. Was she wrong. Of course they didn’t facilitate a single fight in an evening if they had so many new recruits they could throw in the ring without a care in the world for their lives. Fresh blood they called it. Meat ready to be thrown away on a whim. As if in a human body there wasn’t a soul. They had lives, but those became obsolete the minute these people dragged them from their homes. And she hated it. Hated what she was seeing, that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t fully drown out the sounds of people dying. Of the cheers rising up around her when somebody got mutilated. Her face had long ago lost the neutrality she tried to school it in. She was disgusted by what she was seeing and it didn’t matter if people could read that from her face. They knew what they were doing by making everybody watch, this was just the consequence.
Her hands balled into fists when she saw what the brute was doing to that poor boy. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of his blood. She knew him. Not very well, but before they were captured, he lived in the same street as she did. And now he was dead. His head smashed in like it was nothing. Sera had never been particularly vengeful, but this time she felt the need to throw some fire at the so-called winner of this fight. How could they crown somebody a winner after what just happened? That was no fight, that was a massacre. There was nothing fair about the pairing they made, which was probably the entire reason it happened. Disgusting. If she ever ended up in these fights, she wanted him as her opponent. He was a captive too, but he enjoyed killing that poor boy much more than he should have. Guess she found a psychopath. Or maybe everybody had psychopathic tendencies and he just didn’t bother to hide it. She wouldn’t either if she came across him. If it ever came to that. She’d still try to stay out of these fights, which was only possible if she made sure murder guy didn’t see her fire. He was a trainer. If he saw what she could do, she’d be in there faster than she could twirl in this dress.
Focusing on her own breathing, she managed to calm down a little bit. She opened and closed her hands a few times and then put them down flat on her legs. While they were cleaning, it was easier to keep her face as neutral as possible, although neutral had left the building multiple fights ago.

The fights were over, most people seemed pleased with the outcome. Samuel was certain the viewers online were the happiest with the last fight and he assumed that fighter would be in the arena again soon. His trainer would surely put even more effort into his training, too. Samuel just hoped he could dodge that opponent for a while, so he could get rid of some more debt before all his trainees were dead. What remained of the boys body was being cleaned up and some people started leaving, so that was his queue. 'Training resumes tomorrow for those fighting,' he said, after which he nodded at the guards as a signal to bring the trainees to their quarters. Samuel was curious to see what would happen at night. Although it was quite difficult, some people did manage to off themselves before entering the arena. There was quite some security to stop that from happening. The winners would be isolated, though, as sometimes they got a taste of blood and went on a rampage. He assumed the last guy wouldn't hold back now, so it was in everyone's best interest to keep winners away from the people who hadn't stepped foot into the arena just yet. It was also a way for them to rest, if they could. They wouldn't get medical attention, so he was worried his trainee may not survive the night as the extent of her injuries was unclear. She didn't have to be carried out of the arena, though, so he was pretty sure she'd be fine - for now. Now it was time to go and get his own rest. 'Let's go,' he told the girl.
On the way back, he passed tomorrows arena schedule. His girl would fight again, but her opponent wasn't the most exciting. If Samuel remembered, he was wounded as well. He would rewatch the opponent's fight to figure out the best plan. Potential champion guy wasn't on the board, perhaps they were awaiting to see if another potential champion showed up in the arena to put those against eachother. More spectacle, more money. An extra day to get the word of a new gruesome killer in the arena out. When they arrived back at his chambers, Samuel looked over at the girl. She was clearly disgusted by what she saw. 'That could've been you,' he said. 'That's why I brought you. You can still end up in there if you're not careful.' He handed her a tablet on which a food menu was available. 'I don't think you've eaten. Choose something and go get it from the kitchen.' They would think it's for him anyway, since he ordered it on his own device. He wasn't particularly hungry, though, and the servant meals clearly weren't a priority today. He wasn't sure she'd be hungry after what she just saw, but at least he offered. She could use every resource given to her in this place.

The moment he got up, she followed him with her eyes until he arrived next to her. And immediately kept on walking, expecting her to follow. Which she did. Sera wasn’t stupid, that was a direct order. Everybody would know to follow those. They went back to his chambers and the door closed behind them. Strangely enough she wasn’t uncomfortable with him alone in a room. He didn’t eye her like some of the other brutes here had done. Maybe he was gay?
He mentioned the fights to her and why he brought her, as if she didn’t realise that was his goal.
‘Who says I can’t win those fights?’ She smiled at murder guy, trying to make sure he understood it was a joke. Even though there was truth to it, he didn’t need to know that. It was better to keep her skill set to herself. She wondered how he would react if he ever found out. Would he be as thrilled as the other trainers to have found a possible champion? An unwilling one, but that didn’t separate her from most of the pack. Maybe there were more fighters with abilities around. It was incredibly rare to have such a gift, but she wasn’t the only one in the world. This company had to have loads of money to try and get some of her fellow gifted. Perhaps she shouldn’t be too quick to think she could win, not if she were to face an opponent with an ability of their own.
Sera took the iPad from his hands, her eyes flicking between the device and the guy in front of her. It was true she hadn’t eaten today. However, she wasn’t entirely sure he was supposed to be nice to her. Perhaps this was a ruse. He did kill his former servant. But at the same time, maybe not listening to what he told her about food would get her killed. How on earth was she ever going to keep sane in here when every decision made her second guess herself.
She quickly flipped through some of the meal options and chose the safest one which was a pasta bolognese. No cook could ruin that. It would fill her, it was easy to eat and something she knew she liked.
‘Are you sure I can’t get something for you?’ She looked at him, he didn’t seem to mind when she didn’t look away so for now that was her tactic. Murder guy told her that she wasn’t allowed to speak unless spoken to, but he did, in fact, speak to her.
Now that she was being gutsy anyway, she might as well take it to the next level.
‘You said your former servant got herself killed. I got a quick update on general rules here, but are there any rules specific to you that you want me to follow?’ It was best to get it out of the way now. If he didn’t want her to ask that question she’d know soon enough. Of course it was a risk to talk to him, but not knowing his preferences when it came to her work could potentially be a much bigger risk. Not one she was willing to take.

'If you want to go in the ring, I can arrange that.' He was serious, even though she wasn't. 'This is no place for joking around. If they hear you say this, they won't hestitate to put you up against the guy from earlier. I doubt he'd end it as quickly as he did with that boy.'
She spoke a little more than he liked, but she'd been quiet all day, so he chose to ignore it for now. Maybe what he said would shut her up. 'I don't need anything,' he replied as he walked over to his notebook. Although the iPad was a way of noting things down, he preferred classic old paper. And they couldn't see into those. Samuel was pretty sure some dirty games were played here sometimes. Getting information about other fighters, for example. Tactics the trainer was supposed to use. He'd seen it happen a few times during fights, as if the fighter knew exactly what he needed to do against his opponent. Not with him, though. He did use the tablet to replay todays fight and noted down some points that needed attention. 'You can go now, your food should be done soon And to answer your other unnecessary question,' he said while writing some keypoints down, 'just don't do anything stupid. Don't do anything you know could get you in trouble, especially when you're outside of this room.' He didn't answer her question about his former servant. Everyone died here, eventually. If you were a servant, you'd have a chance to become one of the higher servants and train the newcomers. But that could still get you killed if they preferred a replacement for you. The only way out was fighting. It was a good motivation for most fighters to take that extra step into really putting their survival on the top of their priority list. When about half of the current trainees was gone, they'd announce that the champion, the one to win 50 fights, was free to go - or to stay as a trainer. If they made it. He'd seen a few champions winning, but with permanent injuries. The two last fighters were always the best, the ones turned primal. They were a match for eachother and sometimes the fights lasted for hours. Some didn't come back from that and succumbed to their injuries. Some liked the feeling of being near death so much they decided to stay. They couldn't get enough. He'd actually never seen anyone leave, not since he arrived a few months ago. But there had only been three champions: one of them died, two others became trainers.

No humour. Got it. Sera managed to not roll her eyes at him taking her joke seriously, because she didn’t anticipate that going well. If he didn’t have humour, he likely wasn’t going to allow sarcasm either. How could people live like this? It almost looked like he was a prisoner here too with the solemn expression on his face.
Turning on her heels, she quickly left the room to go find the kitchen. He didn’t want anything and he wasn’t interested in helping her figure out what she could and couldn’t do. She had to learn on her own. No problem. It was only a matter of life and death. Although a significantly better life after getting something to eat. During the tour they showed where the kitchen was and it was one of the few places she remembered how to get to. Down to hall, to the left and keep on walking. It was one turn, that she could do.
She knocked on the room and immediately entered. If she was going to keep this place clean for him, he was going to have to adjust to her being in and out. Sera walked straight to her own room and grabbed the notepad, scribbling down if he was going to use the bathroom and if so, when. Before even going to the arena to watch the fights, she had used the limited time in this room to look around and check if there were spots she could clean. Better to get ahead of it. It was a bit bold, but under the question she signed her name. He didn’t know it yet and she doubted he would ever ask, but now he knew. If he was going to call her anything, it had to be her own name. She wasn’t going to listen to slave, or servant or girl or whatever he could come up with.
Sera walked back into the room where murder guy was sitting and dropped the notepad in front of him. Not on what he was doing, but it was in clear view. If she wasn’t allowed to speak, at the very least he could pay attention when she needed to communicate. It still felt wrong to not be able to speak. Talking was her entire personality, who wanted to shut up all the time? There was nothing wrong with liking to chat with others. This guy seemed to think so. His social skills severely lacked. If they met in the normal world where she wasn’t at risk of being killed for addressing somebody wrong, she might have tried to get him out of his shell and to have some fun. The key word being might. That would’ve ended quickly if she found out he liked to murder people.
While waiting for an answer, she raised one of her eyebrows, almost asking “well?”. Or was she supposed to stand there all evening and do nothing?

He had heard the girl walk back into the room, clearly already having finished the food. He rolled his eyes, which she couldn't see because she headed straight towards her room. At least that she did that right. Eating in the halls was a dangerous move and she was lucky no one had seen her, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten back so quickly. When a servant was sent to get food, it was usually for their master. If a servant started eating a meal that was assumed to be for their master and got caught doing so, they'd be in trouble. He guessed he should be a little more explicit, but he didn't want to bother. He had his doubts about her. A pretty face, sure, but there didn't seem to be much else for now. He sighed as he sat down the notebook after having finished and he did notice the annoyed look on the girls face as she waited for him to even glance at the note. 'Sera,' he said. A nice name. He wasn't planning on calling her by her name a lot, but it may be useful to at least know it. But was it worth remembering if she'd be gone soon? Same with his fighters; if they were dead in a few days, there was no need for names.
'Tomorrow morning,' he said. 'You can clean while I'm out.'
He was about to send her away, but turned around again and sighed. 'Just to make it clear, never eat meals like that outside of this room. They're not meant for you. Did anyone see you? If so, I'll need an accurate description so I can find an excuse to deal with it. Was I not clear enough when I said you had to be careful outside of this room? Or do you think you're above how this place runs? Trust me, I'm not, and you especially are not.' She might think he was there for his own amusement and wanted to take away his joy, but truth was that he had no joy since the minute he stepped foot in this place. He liked killing, but on his own terms. He was a monster when he had to be. He'd been careless in the past, but things changed. He enjoyed the ocassional torture, but more often than not there was a reason behind it. Here... there was no personal gain, no revenge to be sought. Samuel had already tried to offer himself as a fighter, trainer versus trainer, winner was free to go. But they had always denied. Trainers weren't as disposable as fighters and servants. 'Now, go get some rest. I need to be up early and so do you. An alarm will wake you up, it's built in into your room. There's also a camera. I can access it, but I won't, but others might. Don't do things you wouldn't want anyone to see.' And with that he meant the men that were eyeing her all day. They often gave the pretty servants to him, as Samuel didn't care about them anyway. He was sure they'd try something with her and they would think they'd be free to. But that wasn't true. Although he couldn't care less if she got herself killed; she still belonged to him in this place and anyone trying to touch what belonged to him meant a very valid reason for his own little killing spree that he would enjoy.

He didn’t seem very impressed by her but fuck if she didn’t feel the same about him. It wasn’t her fault she got assigned to him. Frankly, she’d much rather work for a woman, but she figured there were no female trainers in this place. Typical. Always the guys who thought they knew how to fight and train others. Women weren’t as strong as guys, she couldn’t deny that most of the time, but that didn’t take away experience. A woman could be just as bad to work for, but at least it would’ve felt safer.
‘Nobody saw me.’ Wonderful, she was allowed to talk again. Not much, but it was hard enough for Sera to keep her mouth shut, she would take every opportunity she could get.
‘Does it matter if I’m careful or not? It’s been made perfectly clear that the only way out of this place is in a body bag.’ Sera took a step back after snapping at the guy. Shocked that she spoke that way to him. She never snapped at people. Maybe the fights of that evening had a heavier effect on her than she liked to admit. She could still see the blood of the young boy getting his head smashed to pieces. It was how she knew nobody had seen her eat the food. The sauce had reminded her too much of all the blood, she’d gagged even looking at it and had disposed of it as soon as she could. Her stomach was so upset that she couldn’t even fathom eating something after that.
Sera nodded at his last words. She figured there would be camera’s somewhere, although she would have preferred them not being in the room where she slept.
‘Goodnight,’ she said, before walking over to her room. However, she couldn’t shake his words about him not being above this place.
‘You know, for a trainer, you don’t seem to like it here anymore than I do. If you want out, it might be in your best interest to not scare away the person with access to quarters not even trainers are supposed to come.’ During the tour the woman was very specific, trainers weren’t supposed to be where the servants or cooks worked. Back then she already wondered what that meant and why the people seemingly in charge shouldn’t be everywhere in the building either, but his attitude made a lot of sense. Maybe not all trainers wanted to be here. Their ranks were higher, but clearly not the highest in the building. Everybody had to answer to somebody. Her somebody told her to leave him the fuck alone, in not so many words, and go to sleep. So she did, although Sera doubted she would get a lot of sleep tonight.

The only way out was in a body bag? It wasn't, but for her it probably was. Apparently she really didn't care much about her life then. Neither should he. He'd given her enough help, but it was her choice what to do with his advice. He was suprised she snapped at him, though. Perhaps it had something to do with what she saw earlier. But then again she had mentioned she may win, even after seeing what she saw. He didn't know what to think of the girl. He couldn't help but laugh when she mentioned that she had access to areas he wasn't allowed in. There was a good reason, but she wasn't worth the effort anymore. When he got there, trainers could go everywhere. Sadly they quickly put an end to that as servants quickly became targets of attacks. They were beaten, raped, sometimes even tortured. Trainers that lost a fight, lost a big bet, they all had to release their anger somewhere. Seeing as servants were among the lowest ranked, they were easy targets. That's why they weren't allowed there anymore. But still: money was everything, so some managed to pull tricks to do exactly that. That was what got his last servant killed. That's why he had kept Sera in his room for the first night. He was sure she'd hear about some fellow servants mysteriously dying in the morning. Speaking of; he had to get some sleep if he wanted to start training early.

He woke up when his alarm his 5:00 am. About 30 minutes before Sera's alarm would go off, so he could get ready in peace. Without her word vomitting all over the place. He showered, trying to keep the area as clean as he could - Samuel didn't like messes in his own private spaces and even though they'd be cleaned up, he preferred putting some effort in keeping it neat. He put on some comfortable clothes, brushed his teeth and splashed some cold water into his face to properly wake up. He scribbled a note for the girl and left it on the table. When you're done, come find me in my training area. Guards will know you have permission. Or go the servant quarters. It couldn't hurt to have her there where she couldn't do anything wrong. She would watch the fights, anyway. It was some sort of mandatory thing: servants watched it from their own quarters if they weren't invited to the actual arena. When he reached his training room, his fighter was already there. And she looked worse than he thought she would. It would be a challenge.

She barely closed her eyes last night. Yesterday was tough and her body had some trouble adjusting to her new normal. She’d been awake for around twenty hours when murder guy dismissed her, but in those twenty hours she was snatched from her home, marched to an undisclosed location, became a servant to a murderer and to top it all off had to see people she knew get killed. Even if she wanted to sleep, her brain couldn’t turn off. That, and this mattress felt like sleeping on bricks.
At some point she decided to get dressed and sat with her back against the wall, waiting for the time to get out of this closet and start cleaning. Cleaning was a pain, but it was better than doing nothing. At least while cleaning she could focus on a task and keep her mind out of the memories of last nights arena fights. She knew murder guy was already awake because she heard him in the other room. Sera waited quietly. There was supposed to be some kind of alarm to wake her and only at that point would she leave the room. He already didn’t like her much. Though, to be fair, she didn’t think he liked anybody.
The moment her own alarm went off, she got up and left the room. Murder guy wasn’t here. Not anymore. Which meant she could clean in silence and in peace. If there was such a thing as peace in this place.
She was almost done, except in the bathroom there was one particularly nasty spot that she couldn’t get rid of. It was right in the corner of the shower and she figured it had been there for quite some time already. Bleach didn’t work and neither did combining it with other cleaning supplies. Sera had one other option to explore and she decided to go for it. It was better to have an entirely clean bathroom. Especially on her first day. She checked to make sure nobody walked in on her and blocked any possible camera’s with her back, before she heated up a few of her fingers. Sparks flew. Not much, but enough to burn away the gunk that had been collecting there. After she burned it all away, she threw enough bleach over there to kill any living thing. This was a shower, nobody could see she used a bit of fire to get rid of some dirt and now they couldn’t smell it either.
It took her a couple of hours, but Sera managed to clean the entire room top to bottom. Everything was shiny, dust free and smelled great. Her own house had never looked this good. Never. Before leaving the room, she made sure to change into clothes that weren’t dirty from the cleaning. Sera saw the note, when she was done, she could either go to his training area or to the servants quarters. She decided to do both. On her way to the servant quarters she already noticed the tension in the room rising. This was not a great place to be. She didn’t intend on staying here. So she grabbed something to eat from the servant quarters and made her way over to the training room. She had no idea what she was about to see there.

Training went somewhat well, considering the circumstances. Samuel was focussed on getting his fighter to recognize her opponents weak spots. He also told her who he was. It had happened before that some people were close to eachother and were too suprised to fight. She knew her opponent, but not well. Not well enough to care about his life more than his. Her opponent had gotten a hit onto his legs and his knees were her target. It was not without risk, though. She had to bend down quite a lot for that and still felt dizzy whenever she did sudden movements. That was not going to go away before the fight, but maybe adrenaline was the key. Samuel didn't want to push practice too much to conserve her energy, but she still had to win. When she was on the verge of throwing up after practicing what targets to hit, he called it a day. He gave her a few more tips and wished her goodluck, after which the guards brought her back to the fighting quarters. He had time left that he could use to train one of his other fighters, which came in shortly after. It was the guy that had quite some strength.
'Alright, you're not up for the arena today, but I think it's a good idea to get a headstart as you may be up tomorrow. It's likely. You're strong, so we'll use that to your advantage. Overpowering your opponent will be the key here. Let's start with slamming some dummies to the ground until you can't do it anymore.' It was a good way to build strength and mostly perseverance; to keep going when you were exhausted. The arena didn't care how long a fight was or how tired you were. A few minutes later, after some satisfying dummy slams, the guards opened the door and he saw Sera standing there. So she clearly didn't like the servant chambers. He looked at his fighter and had an idea.
'Sera, come in,' he said, inviting her inside the training area. 'So,' he started, 'your opponent will be angry. He won't be still like these dummies, but will actively try to fight you. Slamming a dummy is one thing, but you'll need to be able to overpower someone who is preventing exactly that from happening.'
He looked at Sera and back at his fighter again. 'Don't look at me like that,' he said, when he saw the man looking clearly concerned. 'You are not going to have to dunkslam her on the ground. You will try to lift her over your shoulder in the position to slam her and Sera here will fight. You'll have to learn to take some hits beforehand too.' He smiled at Sera and walked over to her.
'You don't want to be here, right? You're pissed. See this as an outlet for that anger, useful for both you, my fighter and me. Maybe you'll learn some defenses here too if you ever need them.'

He wanted what now?
‘I-, excuse me?’ Wide-eyed she looked at him. He wanted her to fight? Or defend herself. Or whatever it was he was saying, he wanted her out there, training with the guy who was at least a head taller if not more? She should’ve stayed in the damn servant quarters. If Sera had any inclination that debating murder guy or straight up refusing would help her - she’d do it, but nothing about him gave away that he would care. So far he hadn’t been the worst. She got food and he didn’t rape her. Low standards, but they were standards.
Sighing, she walked towards the guy who was being trained. Murder guy had definitely overestimated her if he thought she wanted to get rid of some anger by punching another human being. Him, maybe. Yesterday’s victor who killed that poor boy, definitely. But whoever it was in front of her? No. Mostly because she wasn’t the best at containing her fire when she entered threatening situations. When she got scared, her fire automatically came out as a way of protection herself. But if she wasn’t scared, there would be no reason for fire. It was a theory, but the best she got right now.
‘Okay,’ she smiled at the guy in front of her, ‘lets do this.’ She walked up to him. Close, but not close enough he would immediately be able to grab her. Which was her goal anyway. He took a step forward but didn’t put any effort into it, so Sera darted away from his hands.
‘Come on, I want you to survive out there, so you have to mean it.’ She curled her fingers at him, daring him to come again. The smile never left her face. Smiling helped relieve tension and stress. She could use that right about now.
Sera managed to dart away twice more before she saw a change in attitude with him. He’d had enough. She really tried to jump out of the way, but he grabbed her arm and instantly lifted her into the air. In a reflex Sera threw up both her knees, right into his ribs and stomach. He went down on one knee, but held her up into his arms without letting go. Not even the elbow to his face changed that. She did stop struggling when she was full on his shoulder and he eventually put her down.
‘Sorry,’ she lifted her hands in a surrendering motion. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you, it just, happened.’ He clearly wasn’t happy with her - or with the knees he received into his ribs - but he waved her away anyway. Or he waved her worries away. She wasn’t sure what it was he waved at her for.
Her attention drifted towards murder guy in the meantime.
‘Do you need anything else?’

Sera looked a bit suprised at his request, but decided to comply eitherway. Samuel didn't expect much and what he saw was exactly that: not much. His fighter was hestitant, way too hestitant. Sera was allowed to do whatever and when he finally managed to grab her, he was too slow. Again. Sera hit him right in his torso, causing him to collapse. He got an elbow to the face, causing blood to splatter across the floor, but he was still holding on until she stopped moving. Samuel sighed. 'If you do that in the arena, you don't stand a chance. You are too hestitant. Sera here didn't have the motivation to kill you, because she isn't fighting for her life. But your opponent will be and this way you'll make it easy.' He probably already had bruised ribs and his nose would sting for a while, but it was good to learn how to handle that. 'Also, don't try to collapse. The lower you are, the easier it'll be for the opponent to just kill you.' He didn't have high hopes for this guy. He was strong, but he was scared. Too hestitant. Too slow. Training was done for today, though. If this guy was on the board tomorrow, he probably would not make it. That would leave him with one less person to train, but also one less chance of reducing his debt. Not to mention that the girl with the concussion was fighting today and there was a chance she would also not make it. Then he'd only have one person left. He should see what he wasmade of exactly tomorrow as well. Maybe he had hidden talents that he didn't see yet during assessment. Samuel let the guards take his fighter back to his quarters. It was time for another arena, more battles. 'You can clean up here,' he said, nodding at the blood she had spilled. 'Thank you for the help, not sure it'll be of much use to him though.'
He walked towards the door and forgot to mention the most important thing, so he turned around again. 'You can either watch in the arena again or from your quarters. Eitherway watching is mandatory, so don't let anyone see you doing anything else. I'll be in the arena if you wish to join me there, otherwise I'll see you after.'