-Callia-

  I let the merchant leave without giving him a clear answer. In the end the answer to the question itself was rather self-evident. I have no idea who I’m fighting, so how can I confidently accept one hit? The fact that the merchant seemed determined to convince me to let through one hit alone felt highly suspicious. After all, if I lose, the man wins an exorbitant sum, which makes me think even if he was being genuine about the deal, it might be to mask his greed for a win. I stretched my limbs as I got in place and watched the gate to the arena, waiting for the announcer. It didn’t take long as a voice boomed out.

  “Thank you everyone for your patience! What a month this has been! Poor Brock fought all the way to claim the title of this month's champion, but in the end he couldn’t keep up with the speed and grace of our stunning guest. However, as the people of Nox City, how can we so easily accept defeat at the hands of an outsider?” The man paused briefly as the crowd erupted in cheers. “Therefore, since I’ve already announced her, let's welcome the bold challenger Callia of Port Town!” As the gate began to open, a playful idea came to mind. Instead of just walking through, I wrapped myself in a runic camo cloak and dove through the crack between the doors using the gap in attention while the announcer finished to sneak out onto the field. Blending in at the center of the field, I waited while a hushed silence spread over the field.

  “Ahem, Callia of Port Town!” The announcer called again, watching the entry in confusion. I shifted the cloak back into the void while twirling my knife in hand impatiently. “Callia! It’s ti. . . What the!” The voice broke in shock, and I waved with an amused smirk. “Look at that! I completely missed her entry to the arena! What incredible skill! Now, since we’ve found our challenger, it’s time to introduce the man you’ve all been waiting to see. The mad dog of the arena master! Twin Fang Lacron, champion of the Nox arena!” The gate on the far side swung open, and my opponent came through with the measured steps of a predator. A large unkempt man with a mane of hair like a lion and a pair of monster fangs in hand entered slowly, but the moment he spotted me, his eyes narrowed and his legs bent in a primal combat stance.

  However, most notable was the increasingly familiar obsession. He didn’t see me as an opponent. The moment the man saw me, I recognized the same feral obsession that haunted Lexia beneath her formal attitude. My instincts rang with danger in the same way Callen had learned to ignore around Lexia. Without a beat of hesitation, I got into a serious fighting stance, and before the announcer spoke, the man came at me with a savage roar.

  I jumped aside without hesitation, sliding to a stop as a flash of light heralded the man's passage. The spot I was standing cracked as the impact of the man's charge made a crater in the ground. I repaid his charge in kind as I flashed back into the pit, closing the distance and denying him space to pounce again. The moment I closed the space, one of the man’s fanged knives moved through the dust of the impact, aimed for my heart. I twisted my body and arm, sweeping with my forearm to deflect the stab. Even with the full force of my body, I failed to push his arm from the course of its stab. I did, however, push off against the arm, moving my body clear of the attack.

  Using the momentum from the impact to spin my body, I swept forward in a sweeping low kick. It’s a complete miss as the man jumps over my legs. I lean forward, transforming the kick into a one-legged jump, pushing even closer. The man's legs were closed tight to the man's chest with one arm still overextended from the first stab, but the other was cocked back ready to dart forward. One look in his eyes convinced me that the danger and hunger were real. This wasn’t a safe play fight anymore; the man didn’t care about the circumstances, he wanted my flesh. I thrust my knife forward without hesitation. At the last moment I forcefully dipped my arm, bringing the thrust under his retaliatory strike. His other hand swept too high to intercept, but the stab was now targeted at his leg, which wouldn’t inflict the damage I wanted.

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  Still, an opening was an opening, but instead of wasting the attack, I took a note from a past trauma. I let go of my knife and decisively grabbed the man's ankle. I brought my other leg, which had been raised after my one-legged jump, and stomped it downward. I pulled the man downward with every ounce of strength I had, slamming him into the dirt. The recoil bounced me upward briefly and created a cloud of dust. The sound of bones cracking and the limpness of the leg in my hand confirmed the takedown.

  I let go of the leg, stepping back and breathing deeply as I released the tension and adrenaline. A moment passed in silence as I watched for some kind of response, but there was nothing but silence and stillness from the cloud of dust. Looking down, I noticed one of the fanged knives at my foot and bent down to pick it up. My heart jumped, but I had no time to react. A force slammed into me, grabbing on and dragging me across the ground as it pushed us across the arena. The whole way, digging a trench through the ground.

  I lifted my arms, shielding my face and neck just in time as a jaw pushed forward trying to bite my throat only to latch on to my arm. I felt the bones in my arm cracking as the jaw forced itself to clamp down tighter. With my free arm I stabbed forward blindly on instinct, and the jaw finally let up. Above me, my opponent went limp, and we finally came to a stop. I pushed my opponent off me while getting back up to my feet. Finally I saw the fang lodged into the throat of the limp body of my opponent. I didn’t react as guards and healers moved, separating me and him.

  A healer treated the bite wound to my arm while a guard requested I wait while an investigation was carried out. The results didn’t take long to come out. Both of Lacron’s weapons had their runes cracked sometime after the fight had begun. It was clear that they had intended to murder me but had inadvertently brought his own end. With me being a special guest, the whole arena was in an uproar as guards swarmed the venue, interrogating everyone with any kind of connection. Meanwhile, I shared what I experienced with Callen.

  While Reginald was beside himself leading the investigation full force, I was certain this wasn’t prearranged. Honestly, while I didn’t want to take his life, I’m also relieved that he didn’t survive after taking a bite. I’m almost certain that the same deranged hunger that overwhelmed Lexia was responsible for Lacron’s attack, and if taking a bite had any effects similar to what it did to Lexia, it might be best if he were gone.

  With my name easily being cleared of guilt, I was let out to join Callen and Reginald in the arena as we waited for the results of his investigation. Looking through the scars carved into the dirt from the arena, I noticed a good amount of my blood mixed in the dirt along the twenty-foot trench I had been used to carve. I pointed out the ground to Callen, and he carefully expanded his mana zone to sweep up and collect the spilled blood. Going forward it felt prudent not to leave any bits of our body behind.

  “Callia, I am so deeply ashamed of letting this happen. Our investigation hasn’t turned up any results, but I promise once the guards are freed up, we’ll dig until we have an appropriate answer for the lunatics' actions.” With hours of investigation and no results, Reginald finally let the investigation go. “I suggest we return to the mansion for today. The city guard is stretched thin since my father is using a rare opportunity to clear out criminal elements. If you’re being targeted by someone, it would be best if we left now.”

  Captain Varner

  Varner looked at the squadron of soldiers following him as he led them into the secret passage leading to the Blood Ghosts' hideout. When he arrived at the manor, he was treated just as expected; the guard, who had clearly been bought off by the gangs, tried to turn him away, but in a strange turn of events, Lord Nox himself arrived. Varner was sure he would lose his head for disturbing Lord Nox, but despite that, he was invited into the manor for a discussion. Then once he was in the manor and offered all the documents and knowledge he knew, instead of having his head taken for being a gang leader, he was assigned a team of soldiers and given the rank of captain.

  Signaling his soldier, who kicked open a door, Varner took point, rushing into the stronghold. Cutting down the enforcers in the way he led the charge, moving with precision, and as blood stained the floors, the hideout was cleared. Without hesitation he moved on to the next hideout. The lord’s command was more decisive than Varner could’ve imagined, but it was apparent that Varner had a completely skewed perspective of Nox. However, despite having cleared two strongholds, an issue was becoming more apparent. Usually these strongholds had nearly double the men he was encountering, and the most dangerous were absent. Pinning the boss of the next hideout to the ground quickly revealed the issue. The Dark Lady had issued a command; every gang had sent their most skilled members on a mass mobilization to abduct a guest of Lord Nox. Varner immediately sent a messenger alerting the lord while leading his team toward the Nox City arena.

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