Sin sat alone in her sparsely decorated room located in the underbelly of the Lumen Arena. She appreciated the moment of peace and quiet before she would once again have to enter that blasted Pit. The thunderous roars of the crowd and the stamping of feet always reverberated strongly down in this place.

Both her weapons and armor were in immaculate shape and ready to be donned at a moment’s notice. She still had some time yet, her fight against Torua would start right after the halftime intermission.

At least she would not mind pestering that ghoul a little. Sure, the man might have power, but there was no finesse to his movements. Torua was also a cruel man that did not care much about the target of his torment, Blight or human, it was all the same to him. She was surprised that the King had not called such a man by his side, but on second thought, Torua was probably much too weak for such a faith. Well, luckily there were plenty of creatures of the Blight to torment.

The stipend of five gold was very welcome, but otherwise, these Arena matches often seemed like a massive waste of time. But then again, she seemed to be wasting plenty of time in these last few weeks. She much preferred to get back out there whittling down the Blight, especially in these dangerous times. She had originally been recalled to perform her annual duty of teaching a new class, but since they had learned of the destruction of Stonehill, the church wanted to keep all their forces in Lumen to defend against an attack that certainly seemed imminent.

By now the entire Church knew that an attack was brewing on a scale that Lumen had not seen in a hundred years, and they would likely need all the strength they could muster. At least they had been able to warn some of the nearest villagers to travel to Lumen, but not many were willing to leave their homes to her frustration. The fools thought they could defend their homes as they had always done. The recent reports on the destruction of Stonehill had at least convinced everyone of the dangers that they were facing.

She grabbed one of her dagger’s, she always felt calm with her dagger in her hand. It had been some time since her last fight in the Arena. She was usually exempt from fighting since she was out there fighting the Blight, but now that she had been forced back into Lumen there was not much of a choice if she wanted to keep her position. She did not really need the money, but losing the perks of being in the Ladder would give her some trouble.

Teaching a class was one of her duties as a certified Priest. Training a bunch of farmers and workers was not really her preferred way of bringing the fight to the Blight. Well, with some luck a few of them might prove some worth after several more years of training. She certainly gave it her all, she owed that much to Arlo. She still winced when she thought about him, she was surprised that he had the desire to come anywhere close to the Blight after what he had experienced. She could not help but feel a little bit responsible for him after she had pulled him out of that bloody mess. Luckily, she would only need to train them for a month and a half.

She sheepishly thought about that new trainee that had recently joined her class. Portos had just refused her request to be allowed to scout some of the further out villages, putting her in a foul mood, and she had been unreasonable when he told her that Portos had sent him. Well, whatever, it had turned out alright in the end, and that Christopher did not seem all that perturbed. She let out a sigh, teaching was just not suited to her temperament.

At least the training was limited to the mornings, allowing her to spend the rest of her day’s scouting the surrounding forest for intrusions. The Blight strangely kept their distance from Lumen, which only worried her more, it showed that there was some strategy behind the Blight’s movements. One of the handfuls of survivors of Stonehill claimed to have seen a Turned. She could only hope they had seen wrong; the whole situation left her distraught.

She gave her weapons and armor a final check; she was always a bit compulsive when it came to cleaning her weapons and armor. She took a few deep breaths, she needed to focus. she would make sure to win this fight. It would be best to set a good example for her students.

---------

Christopher had watched the first half of the Arena matches with great excitement. None of the fights came close to disappointing him, all had interesting elements. It now seemed obvious that all contestants did indeed use Soul Force to increase their speed and strength, but it had also become clear that it was difficult, even for the best Lumen fighters.

In the last match a muscular female priest had made a stumble after a misjudged Soul Force dash, her opponent had brutally punished her mistake by slamming his blunted ax straight into her shoulder, leaving a gnarly wound despite any Soul reinforcement that she undoubtedly had used. The healers had to take her out of the Pit on a stretcher, not even daring to use a potion, probably worried that something might heal crooked. Christopher had watched it all with a grimace.

However, none of it could dampen Hito’s spirit. His bet had come to fruition and his mood had gotten even better as a result. He was now constantly commenting on all the aspects of the fighters and what to look out for, laughing all the while.

Christopher finally asked. “How much did you win anyway?”

Hito laughed. “Just a small pittance, but with my comprehensive knowledge it is sure to grow explosively soon enough.”

The man certainly possessed a true gambler’s mentality. Still, he wouldn’t bet against him since he really seemed to know every little detail about these fights, which should give him an edge.

The first half of the furious clashes had now been completed, which led to a short break. It gave Christopher a chance to reflect on what he had seen.

People really used a wide range of weapons. He had so far seen fighters that used a Broadsword, a Warhammer, double axes, long knives, a halberd, a boarding pike, a quarterstaff, a sickle, and some regular spears and swords. There were no ranged weapons used, but apparently, with the limit on techniques, those did not lend themselves to this type of combat. But then again, any weapon could kind of be turned into a ranged weapon with Soul Force projections it seemed.

Maybe most impressive had been a man that used nothing but brass knuckles. He had absolutely pummeled his opponent into submission with supercharged punches. It had been a one-sided brutal takedown that had set the crowd ablaze. He would not want to get up close to such an opponent.

As he watched the matches, he could not help but wonder what a fight with fully unleashed Soul Force techniques would look like. He felt certain they would be even more of the rails than they already were. Even he himself had already started forming some ideas on how to turn the basic Soul Force applications into powerful weapons during a fight.

He was somewhat sad that there would be a limit on the Soul Force techniques in the Arena, but he could certainly understand their decision. He could sympathize with how difficult it was to set up a system where people wouldn’t cripple and kill each other. If he had been in charge, he would probably have made the same decision. It would be a tragedy to lose some of the most powerful fighters for the entertainment of the crowd.

It did potentially make the Lumen ladder somewhat inaccurate. Surely some very powerful people would just not do very well with the current Ladder system. Some fighters might have developed amazing Soul Force techniques but be unable to use any of them, making it much more difficult to enter the ladder.

The excitement and anticipation of his fellow trainees had now been rising for a while, Sin would be the next person fighting in the Arena. The gates leading into the Pit finally opened, and the two fighters walked purposefully through the sand. The gold and silver horn blared to life, the deep and crisp voice of the announcer reaching their ears.

“I hope that everyone enjoyed the first half of the matches today!” The crowd all started to stamp their feet, which he figured out to be a sign of affirmation. “Very good, and things will only get more exhilarating from now on, let’s keep the metal clashing. Defending the 42nd spot on the Lumen ladder is Sin. This powerful priest is part of the offensive forces that fight the Blight deep within our Fiefdom. Fighting with her two long-bladed daggers, she is known for her unmatched speed and agility. She has just started training a class, and they are currently watching in the arena. Let’s show her our support!”

Sin gave a modest wave to all in the Arena following the announcement. The normal thunderous roar went up from the crowd, and this time it was their group that was the loudest of all, wanting to show their support. He could even hear the small and shy teenage girl that had slain an abyssal wolf shouting with them, normally as quiet as a mouse. That Sin was normally fighting the Blight far from the city was news to him, but then again, he did not really know anything about his teacher.

“And challenging her today we have Torua, holding the 51st spot. Torua uses a deadly spiked mace that is able to inflict brutal damage. Torua works in the dungeon of Lumen, keeping us safe by watching over anyone or anything imprisoned there. Will he be able to reach the top half of the Ladder? Let’s show our support.”

The man was tall and brawny, he towered over Sin, making the matchup almost comical. Sunken eyes and protruding lips lined his face. The giant mace looked like it could compete with his instructor in size. The way the man smiled somewhat gave him the creeps.

Torua seemed to enjoy the attention and swung his mace in the air towards Sin as if demonstrating his intention. Sin just looked at the boasting with a cold gaze. Christopher looked nervously at the two fighters in the center of the Pit. He worried about how Sin was going to fight here. All those techniques that were focused on the vital spots could not exactly be performed right now, could they?

The Gong finally signaled the start of the fight after what felt like minutes but was probably much shorter. Sin immediately made the first move, with an incredible Soul dash she leaped straight towards Torua, who unexpectedly was not ready for it. He did manage to swing his mace quickly when he saw her coming, but she dodged below the swing and slashed her blunted long-bladed daggers straight through the Achilles muscles on his left leg. She then kicked the hollow of his knee which sent the man sprawling to the ground. He did manage to timely swing his left arm, at least forcing her to back off.

Torua’s mobility had now received a sharp reduction, really tilting the fight to Sin. She was patient though. Using her speed to great effect, she circled her much larger opponent, who had wobbly gotten back on his feet. He really looked like a snarling beast at this point, with clear anger in every move. He aggressively tried to snag her when she tried to make a move in his direction, but he failed every time. His movements expended a lot of energy, and Sin let him exhaust himself over the next two minutes, not giving her opponent so much as a chance. Their group of trainees shouted encouragements from the stands.

As soon as Torua’s moves had gotten a bit more sluggish, Sin finally went in for another blow. He seemed in time to defend, but Sin’s move had been a feint. With another Soul Force Dash she changed direction and managed to once again get behind him, this time slashing the Achilles of his right foot. Soon after, Torua stumbled to one knee, no longer able to properly support his own weight.

By this point, the big man could no longer even properly turn. It was a somewhat humiliating defeat, which was probably what enraged the bull of a man so much. Christopher would feel bad for the man if he hadn’t seen his behavior at the start of the match. The match was now pretty much over, with Sin able to attack him from multiple blind spots. Torua did not have the calm of mind to admit his defeat, still very much the image of a wild beast.

With some fast movements, Sin managed to hit him in the back of the head with the hilt of her dagger, making him fall face down into the sand where he now lay unmoving. The announcer had seen enough and announced the result.

“The victor of this match is Sin, successfully managing to defend her position on the ladder!”

Healers had already rushed to Torua’s side, providing the now waking man with a regeneration potion, which he gulped down. No handshake followed this fight, Torua strode painfully out of the Pit with still not fully regenerated Achilles' tendons, vehemence showing in his features. Sin gave another wave to the now cheering spectators.

They were all very impressed by the performance. Incredible power clearly did not make up for a lack of speed and strategy. Bara whooped in delight, and even the old man sported a satisfied smile.

Two of the trainees were commenting on the fight.

“Ha, that’s why I decided to train under Sin, I can’t wait until she shows us how to perform such skillful Soul Force dashes”

“Dumbass, such techniques are not taught in the beginner classes, we still have a long way to go before we can even begin to study such techniques.”

“You never know, maybe she is willing to show us.” He sulkily answered.

“Keep dreaming.”

Dammit, he also wanted to learn those techniques sooner rather than later. Oh well, all in good time. The next fighters were already striding through the sands and he did not want to miss a thing.