The training grounds were even more full than at noon; besides some familiar faces, Luca saw other groups also around; he saw Toga and En hanging out in a small crowd, towering the rest of them as they conversed; he saw the blonde elf whose name he had already forgotten, again hanging far from the small groups that were just talking, scanning the area; and finally, among other groups, in one in which Luca also recognized the half-foot (probably/hopefully adult) woman that accompanied him and Alyska inside the fortress the first time, Luca saw the very own Alyska standing with them; he decided to walk up to her.

  "Woah, be careful everybody; the floor might get slippery soon.” Preston’s voice found its way through the crowd and reached Luca, who, after hearing it, promptly ignored it and continued walking, despite the small giggles the comment brought.

  Walking behind Alyska, Luca tapped her shoulder. When she turned around, her face immediately jumped to arm.

  “Luca!” She said, ushering him away from the crowd to an empty space among the groups, where she then turned him around, grabbed his hands (which Luca then started trying extra hard to make them not sweat), and looked him in the eyes with a serious face. “I want you to listen to me and not interrupt me because what I’m going to say has to reach you, okay?” Luca smiled at the kindness of his new friend.

  “Sure, but can I say one thing before that?” His calm demeanor seemed to confuse Alyska, who squinted her eyes at him and answered cautiously.

  “... Go on.”

  “I’m not embarrassed by what happened.” He said in a comforting tone. Alyska’s face slowly turned from suspicion to surprise, softening the grip she had on his hands while not quite letting go.

  “You are not? A-Are you sure?” Her voice was gentle; it seemed almost worried about scaring him.

  “I’m not. I’ve thought about it, and, though the pce is scary, there’s nothing wrong with being scared; there’s something wrong with not trying because of it; someone very wise showed me that.” He took one hand off of hers and cupped her hands with it; she smiled and looked down, humbly showing she understood he was referring to her. “And, as for the... incident.” He shrugged. “I thought I was gonna die; it was a vampire; it was probably the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.

  “Y-YES! Exactly, that’s exactly what I was gonna say! Yo-You were taken by a horrifyingly terrifying man and threatened! I think lots of people would have broken down in that scenario, even more if they weren’t accustomed to this kind of life.” She suddenly got a serious face once again. “Also, I’m a firm believer that losing control of one's bowels should never be shamed.” Luca chortled at the statement, whose message contradicted the serious demeanor she had taken, but ultimately he raised his head fully and nodded in agreement.

  “Right, well, all in all, I’m fine. Thank you for trying to console me." He dropped his hands, but she still held onto the one; she avoided his gaze and spoke a bit quieter.

  “I was worried you'd want to leave again.” She met his gaze once more with a thankful and caring face. “And thank you for standing up for me; I should’ve been more careful in the minister’s presence.”

  “Don’t try and bme yourself, Aly; the guy would probably thank you if he saw you again; he really looked like he wanted an excuse to beat me up.”

  “Still-”

  “Luca, is it?” Interrupting their conversation, Preston walked up confidently and started addressing him. “I believe the minister’s yelling might’ve damaged your eardrums, my friend. I was talking to you when you came in, and you didn’t even hear me! Hahaha.”

  “Oh no, I heard ya, I was just ignoring you.” Answered Luca in a monotonous voice. Alyska held her ugh, and Luca could swear in the second of silence that followed he saw Preston’s eye twitch again.

  “Ah. Well anyway, I believe you and I have begun our retionship on the wrong foot.” He then extended his hand and prepared to shake his. “Let me be the first to apologize for any reason of ill-feeling between us. To bury the axe as a townfolk like yourself might say.”

  His face was smug, and his voice dripped with ill-will. Alyska began saying something, and Luca could almost hear her anger; however, Luca raised his hand in front of her to prevent her from stepping up, and after she got the message and kept her frustrations quiet, Luca took Preston’s hand in his and shook it.

  “L-Luca?!” She jumped at the realization of the moment.

  “All forgiven Preston.” The rich man smiled victorious and let go of the handshake.

  “Wonderful then, that settled…” Through the doors walked the familiar figure of director Caushmar and a hulking individual beside her, a man with a 3-day beard and armor; his hair was orange and few, and his body was enormous and muscur, for a human. “We probably should hear what this whole tournament training is about, shouldn’t we ol’ chap?” Preston faced the stage where the guild leader stood during their training of role as director Caushmar and her companion walked towards it, and the crowd started falling silent. Luca grimaced confused, ol’ chap? What was he eighty?

  “You sure about that?” Alyska whispered in his ear, purposefully letting him know about her doubts about Preston’s intentions and accidentally sending a shiver down his spine.

  “W-well, if he’s gonna act how he’s gonna act, might as well act friendly with it, you know?” He smiled, trying to let her know it didn’t matter either way. Alyska took a deep breath as she followed Preston and the crowd in looking at the director, and when Luca turned to do the same, he felt her hand grabbing his, the smile creeping up his face involuntarily once more.

  “Good afternoon to you all.” The director seemed to have this effect on people; once she spoke, not another sound could be heard. “As I assume you all know, this time is beled as “Training for tournament”, it is rather self-expnatory in my opinion, but still, there are some details to expin; I grant the expnation privileges to commander Strongjaw here, who will be in charge of your training.” She took a step back, and the supposed commander stepped forward with his arms behind his back, very military-like, every movement he did seemed like he was being instructed to do it perfectly.

  “LISTEN UP!” His voice was loud and rough, booming off the walls of the space. “This is how it’s gonna work out—a tournament where everyone will fulfill their roles. Fights of 1 versus 1 between different members of A. the adventurer initiates and B. the dungeon delver novices; you’ll fight each other in order to try and win.” A small muttering filled the crowd. “While the adventurers and the delvers fight, the healers will be ready after the fight to treat the contestants; also, the schors will analyze the fight and give various insights as to how it could’ve been different or what was the decisive point, etcetera. Once the first fights are finished, 8 fighters will remain, and by the end of the week, this is what we’ll have: A WINNER! DETAILED GROUP ANALYSIS OF EACH FIGHT! AND EACH PERSON THAT FOUGHT WILL BE AS HEALTHY AS THEY WERE BEFORE THEY FOUGHT IF NOT HEALTHIER! ANY QUESTION MAGGOTS?!”

  The people were silent—well, not silent, but silent question-wise; everyone was just talking with each other, mumbling about the prospect of the tournament. Luca wasn’t too excited about the whole ordeal; he knew he’d have to fight eventually, of course, but so soon? And to other experienced fighters no less, it didn’t really seem fair.

  “The fights will begin this Thursday; you’ll have today and the following two days to get ready.” Said the director, who stepped forward again. “This will be a test of abilities, and you all should strive for that more than the win. However, because we all know that not everyone is able to be motivated that way, the victor will have a prize. Whoever ends up beating the others.” Everyone collectively held their breaths. “Will receive a substantial monthly payment from the guild, without the need to abide by a member’s responsibilities for a year.”

  The crowd felt fully silent this time; Zenith would pay you a full year for winning, a full year of the most powerful city paying you for nothing; though no one spoke, the intentions of most were clear, and suddenly the prospect of fighting had taken a turn for Luca.

  “The rules for the cssificatory rounds are as follows,” expined the commander. “One, you’ll each have a fg on a pole on your side of the arena; if the fg is captured by the opponent they win, you lose. Two, you may not use the same weapon twice, so if you go to the cssifications using your weapon of choice, you will not be able to use it in the actual tournament. Finally, three, in case your fg doesn’t get stolen but instead falls out of the arena, the conditions change to the following: your back touches the ground, you fall unconscious, or you step out of the ring? You are out.” The st rule seemed weird; in what scenario does the fg fall?

  “Very well, now that you all know your roles, the schor students shall go to the cssrooms to prepare with Professor Wellington." Alyska snickered at the name among a few others in the crowd, though Luca didn’t get the joke. ”The future healers will go to the study wing of the hospital, and the rest will stay here and spar with each other.”

  The crowd started dispersing to go where they needed to. Alyska squeezed Luca’s hand before letting go.

  “I’ll see you ter?” She asked.

  “I don’t know, maybe tomorrow.” Answered Luca, regretful now about his future meeting with the professor.

  “Deal then, till tomorrow then.” She smiled and turned away to leave with the rest of the healers. Luca stayed still for a second before he realized everyone else had already gone to the weapon stands to pick up a sparring weapon.

  Before even having the chance to go there however, a familiar voice called out to Luca.

  “Hold on there, just one second, please.” Captain Fontenot was pointing at him as she walked towards the director and commander’s position, who had stepped down from the stand. After what felt like a short conversation, the director nodded at something, the captain thanked her, and the commander turned to Luca and yelled.

  “DELVER NOVICE LUCA, BECAUSE OF YOUR SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, AND MOSTLY THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE ZERO EXPERIENCE FIGHTING ANYTHING.” Luca winced slightly at the callout that everyone else also heard. “YOU’LL HAVE TO TRAIN PERSONALLY WITH CAPTAIN FONTENOT HERE; SHE’LL INSTRUCT YOU SO YOU HAVE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST POSSIBILITY OF NOT LOSING IN ONE HIT.” Luca nodded and walked up to the captain as he heard the couple of giggles that arose behind him; he wasn’t really embarrassed by not having had any training, but did the commander have to remind everyone he didn’t get into Zenith by his own means? “NOW MAGGOT!” Luca rushed the few feet that were left as the commander walked onto the stand once more. The captain pointed to the doors with her head and began leading him outside, and as he walked outside, the group that stayed to practice all disregarded his leave as a much-needed help to the guy who never trained, and after a few seconds, the gaze of the blonde elf Eleandra was the only one that remained on the door.

  Time: 17:55