The arena was nothing like it had been the day before. It was packed with spectators and contestants. Although the crowd was less than peaceful, the arena itself seemed more docile than Kaos’s encounter the day before.

  The first team member Kaos saw was Nolly who waved as she approached.

  “You ready?” Kaos asked with an eyebrow raised

  “Ehhhhhhhh” she groaned, tilting her head side to side, “with how the joint training went, I’m not so sure my wish will be usable during this game.”

  “Oh yeah,” Kaos nodded thoughtfully, “I totally forgot to ask how that went. Based on what you just said, I assume it didn’t go the best?”

  “Pretty much sums it up.” Nolly nodded, “Evidently just understanding your wish doesn’t make it ‘combat ready’” she used her fingers to make air quotes around the words “combat ready”

  Something about her slower growth made Kaos feel a little better inside. He thought for a moment about whether it was right or wrong to think that way, but regardless of the conclusion he came to, it did make him feel a bit better about himself.

  “Gilt not here yet?” Came Vasai’s voice from behind.

  “He better be here soon.” Kaos replied, once again looking around the arena for the familiar face.

  Suddenly in a blur, Gilt came skidding to a stop beside them with a slightly proud smile. While the other two seemed at least mildly impressed, Kaos gave a sarcastic slow clap.

  “Hey whatever man.” Gilt shrugged, “At least I’ve got somethin.”

  Kaos nearly threw a punch at Gilt, but managed to keep a lid on his anger. Gilt may be a trash talker and a showboat by nature but he didn’t mean harm by it, or at least that was Kaos’s assumption.

  Then he sank beneath the sand. The sand dragging him under the arena hadn’t really bothered him before, but his ever-growing distrust of the arena made him more suspicious.

  Soon though, Kaos fell through the sand, and found himself in the familiar dark sandstone box, waiting to be catapulted back into the arena.

  They were team games, so he would maybe have to wait a while down here. After a moment, the golden sand appeared, this time displaying a rather normal message.

  [THE STRONG FIGHT TOGETHER]

  [SHOW YOUR SKILLS]

  “No cryptic messages this time?” Kaos asked to the echoing chamber.

  He waited, half expecting something to change, but there was no response.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  After some time had passed, the words changed again.

  [BATTLE BEGIN]

  He steadied himself as the chamber collapsed instantly, the floor rushing upwards and catapulting him through the soft, sandy roof. This time he was ready, and landed on his feet.

  Looking around, he noticed the whole group had started in the same place, with Nolly being the only one not to land on her feet.

  The arena had become a sandstone town again, only this time the buildings and alleyways were more dense.

  “Gilt, get up on the rooftops and make sure we don’t get ambushed.” Kaos said as Gilt launched himself to a nearby rooftop.

  “Rest of us hang together?” Nolly asked, finishing getting to her feet.

  “Yeah, that’s the best option we got right now.” Kaos replied, trying to think of any better options.

  They moved carefully and quietly throughout the alleyways until they heard a whisper above them.

  “Second right up ahead, there’s two of them.” Gilt whispered from above, assuming a crouching position.

  “If there’s just two, lets get em’” Vasai whispered to Kaos who quickly nodded back.

  The team as a whole quietly walked forwards until they heard voices from the alleyway Gilt had pointed towards.

  Kaos held up two fingers to Gilt who peered over the edge of the building to survey the enemies before returning a thumbs up as confirmation.

  “Go time.” Kaos whispered to Vasai who immediately rushed around the corner.

  It seemed like he was going to run straight into the wall, but instead he used the momentum to make it two steps up the wall before launching himself back towards the two startled opponents, planting the tip of his needle firmly in the upper chest of one of them, and rolling back into a fighting stance, already having eliminated one of the two enemies.

  “Over here!” the other opponent called, swiveling to face Vasai who was now behind him. Vasai didn’t attack though, as Gilt had lept off of the building and landed on top of the remaining enemy, leaving a dagger in his upper shoulder.

  The surprise attack had gone perfectly, and now their victory was all but assured.

  “They shouldn’t have split up.” Kaos chuckled as he turned the corner to see the speedy devastation that had happened in mere seconds.

  “They also should’ve been better.” Gilt laughed back, pulling his dagger back out of the sand where his opponent had just been.

  Gilt definitely had the easier job between him and Vasai, but in that encounter he had definitely proven how much better he had gotten.

  Kaos gritted his teeth for a moment, realizing that it wouldn’t be long before Vasai and Gilt were both in a completely different league from him.

  The two students rounding the opposite corner of the alleyway put an end to his pessimistic daydreaming as he snapped back to reality, drawing his crossbow and launching two arrows.

  One missed entirely, but the other was lucky and pierced straight through his target’s head. He stowed the crossbow as the last opponent and Vasai had begun rushing at each other, giving him no clear shot.

  Evidently there wasn’t any need for more crossbow shots as Vasai rolled under one slash and came up on one knee, piercing his opponent through the chest, turning the last one to sand.

  “Aaaand that’s a hundred points for everybody!” Vasai called back with a smile holding his miniature lance in the air.

  “I mean I didn’t really do anything, but I’ll take it.” Nolly chuckled.

  “So do we just go back under now?” Gilt asked, looking around the arena just before the bell sounded and they all fell back down into the darkness.