“By the Overlord!”

Zla shoved the girls aside as grabbed my arm, his thumb almost pressing uncomfortably hard on the veins in my wrist.

“Do you know how long you’ve been asleep for?!”

….one week……during that time they all nursed me. Marin hardly left my side and Alephi constantly tried to keep everyone together…………

…..I have a match today……..

The information came unbidden from somewhere within.

IT had returned.

The Grand Archive had opened its doors and the knowledge and power contained within was accessible again!

The three girls were clambering around me and asking a flurry of questions. There was a slight bit of consternation evident on Zla’s face. Frustration was apparent too.

Hmmm…..that will need to be seen to…….

I placed a lazy smile on my face before looking at each of the girls in turn.

“I’m quite fine now. I’ll be just alright. I’m sorry to have worried you.”

I flicked my eyes towards Zla and indicated for him to remove the girls.

“Out you three! I need to finish checking his condition now that he’s awake. Move!”

“But we can --!”

Alephi tried to resist but Zla cut her off.

“No buts, out.”

His voice hardened. Almost unpleasantly so. Sorry girls! I need to make sure that this guy understands that I’m still the one in power.

Zla was not a good person. He also wasn’t a bad one. From our talks I understood him a bit better. He is loyal and helpful so long as you appear strong or entice him with something. I used knowledge and the threat of divine force to keep him amicable and kind towards the girls and myself. But I was under no illusion that should I leave he may do something……unpleasant……to the girls.

I adopted a colder expression after he had herded the girls out of the room.

“I understand that you were having some thoughts while this body was immobile.”

Zla’s expression fell.

“I am aware of all that occurs around me, regardless of whether this body is active or not.”

The hint of frustration in his expression became more pronounced. My eyes narrowed to slits.

“I am grateful for you treating this body. Without your assistance it would have taken me a while longer.”

This was not the entire truth. While the poison had some magical components it was Zla’s magic infused antidote that was the straw to break the camel’s back.

In essence what I’m saying is, Grand Archive wouldn’t have been able to assist without Zla’s contribution. I really could have died there! Thankfully in the end getting poisoned is what allowed the Grand Archive to finish its…….data collection.

“However, remember that those three are mine. You would do well to cease having any errant thoughts about them.”

It wasn’t necessarily that Zla would molest them in the conventional sense. Zla is an eccentric wizard. From his mutterings it seemed he wanted to experiment on them. Both were not good courses of action. Thankfully, now more than ever before, I have the power to deter him.

He opened his mouth in preparation to retort, I cut him off.

“It also appears that this Arena is under the misconception that they can do as they please. I have another one of those matches today?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good.”

I attempted to produce a satisfyingly blood thirsty grin.

“They wish to take what is mine? I’ll show them their error.”

Based on the information that Grand Archive had gleaned while I was unconscious, it seemed the last match had been a set up. That was definitely an advanced beast that they set me against. Furthermore they were sending me to fight again with the shortest time between matches allowable. Clearly someone higher up in the gladiators or someone with low-standing in the administration of the Arena wanted the girls. They had enough power to influence the arena but not outright break its rules. Those rules had been set down to ensure the enslaved gladiators wouldn’t riot.

I slipped out of the bed. My body had weakened from a lack of food. Furthermore not moving for a whole week left it stiff. Thankfully I had the perfect way to solve these issues.

With a flicker of will I caused Grand Archive to forcibly relax muscle groups one at a time. On the outside I appeared to go slack and nearly sag to the floor.

Zla stepped forward whether to catch me or not I wasn’t sure. But just as soon as it began it ended. I also induced my metabolic rate to heighten. The meager reserves of fat I had built up would be quickly burnt through. But As long as I got through the match, there would be plenty of food to be had afterwards.

I flicked my eyes towards the advancing Zla.

“Yes?”

“Never mind.”

There was a pause then.

“I trust you will want your knives?”

“Yes.”

We made our way into the front room. I dissolved the frosty expression on my face to a slightly more wan look. Marin was the first to bound forward.

“Kitling! I knew you’d be okay!”

Her head nearly slammed into my gut. Thankfully I reacted in time.

“Whoa there! Yes I’m fine. I heard you kept an eye on me this whole time.”

She looked up at me with teary eyes.

“Nnnn!”

“Thank you.”

I patted her head lightly before looking between other two. Alephi was overcome with tears and Yuli’s eyes were red-rimmed from repressing them.

“Thanks for staying strong while I was out.”

Yuli stepped forward with my knives.

“Y-you dropped t-t-these earlier. T-t-teacher w-wwould be angry i-if he knew-ew-w.”

She barely managed to choke out the words while handing me my belt of knives.

“Thanks, and sorry.”

She dipped her head before stepping back. By this time Alephi had gained some composure.

“They’re making you fight again!”

“So I’ve heard.”

I flicked a glance over to Zla. He glanced back with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“I’ll be fine.”

“B-but you just woke up! Your condition!”

“Alephi…I’m know, but I must fight.”

I allowed a bit of the anger I was feeling to be expressed, my brows furrowing and my ears flicking back.

“They want to take you guys from me. Let them try. I’ll crush any plans they have.”

I separated myself from Marin and buckled up the belt.

“But….”

This time Yuli cut her off with a shake of the head. Leave it to her to understand this kind of thing. Alephi moved forward and took Marin by the shoulders and pulled her back. The three of them together were so adorable. Alephi’s lips trembled slightly as she smiled. All three heads had droopy ears as they looked at me.

“Then, we’ll be cheering you on!”

Her head tilted slightly to the side as her ears straightened. The image of Alephi saying that had great impact.

……but she’s not Cecily….

I could feel my own ears droop for a bit. I forced them to straighten though. It hurt not being near her anymore but I still had all the memories of her to keep with me.

For some reason I felt an even greater determination come over me. It calmed the twitchy energy that was starting to flow through me as I really started burning through my fat stores. I gave a strong nod to the girls.

“I won’t disappoint you.”

With that Yuli strode with me out of the Infirmary, Zla holding back Marin and Alephi to continue assisting him with processing medicines for the gladiators injured in the day’s matches.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

As we strode down the hallways Yuli kept her silence. It was odd, typically she was a chatterbox full of various ways to tease and annoy me. Truly she was an annoying child. Now though, the silence was even more uncomfortable.

“Oi Yuli.”

“Huh!?”

I had turned my head in time to see her snap her head up. She seemed to be thinking of something.

“Don’t think so hard, you might pull a muscle.”

“B-b-brains aren’t muscles!”

“Oh?”

“They’re grey! Muscles are read.”

While not wrong…that’s still so disturbing that you know that… on so many levels.

“True…”

That effectively ended the conversation. An eleven year old that could identify that a brain wasn’t a muscle because she had seen the inside of a creature’s skull was decidedly unsettling.

Rather than waste time pondering that, I reveled in the sensation of having the Grand Archive back online. So much more information was being delivered in a format I could understand. This body could sense so much that only on an instinctive level could it understand it all. With Grand Archive the information was filtered and compiled so that I could understand say, the exact composition of the air I was breathing. Which according to the information received from my nose….was not exactly safe. There was a buildup of several noxious gases. Which stands to reason given that I’m walking towards an area where a bunch of corpses rot.

Though in my opinion, the greatest benefit of it returning is the ability to provide background music through an auditory hallucination. It’s pure gold, and a guilty pleasure I didn’t realize I had till I started hearing ‘Danger Zone’ blasting in my head while walking down the corridor!

I found my subconsciously shuffling to the music. That is until Yuli gave me a weird look. I stumbled slightly before walking with more purpose down the corridor.

After my initial outburst of anger it was hard to maintain tension. With Grand Archive backing me up it was difficult not to have absolute confidence in my ability to take on whatever they may throw at me.

By now we had reached the arena. I tossed the money bag to Yuli.

“Put this all on me.”

“A-all of it!?”

Yuli was understandably shocked, for the few matches we had competed in I had always insisted on reserving some just in case one of us fell.

“Yes.”

But that was then, this is now.

With an uncertain expression on her face and her ears flickering to the side to express as much, she peeled away from me to the betting booth. I continued through the waiting area

The guard at the front noticed me, and grimaced.

He must be in cahoots. Well now I have a face to put on the list of asses to kick…

Additional evidence to back this up is that his heart rate spiked when he saw me.

How?

When you have a super mental ability capable of sifting through all the sounds and information collected from your eyes and ears….it becomes trivial.

I made my way over to him. The anger I felt returned again. But it smoothed out, Grand Archive ensured I always maintained a clear head.

“So, when is my match?”

I smirked slightly, no sense being polite to vermin.

“Now.”

The word was growled out, like the man had swallowed gravel that morning for breakfast.

That was awfully lucky on my part that I arrived in time.

“Good.”

I proceeded forward. I had just stepped past him when he reached to grab me.

“Oi ya little shit!”

Time slowed for a second, enough time to move forward ever so slightly. To the outside observer it was almost as though I teleported. Without glancing back I said.

“You would do well to keep your hands to yourself.”

I continued walking. It was a struggle though. Being capable of moving forward at what appears to you a normal rate when your perception of time is slowed is difficult. It means that I burned through a ridiculous amount of energy to move my body that quickly. The action placed a great strain on my already weakened body. But I was like a kid who just learned to ride a bike. I had all these abilities return to me. I couldn’t not use them.

“You can do it Kilting!”

A shout followed me out of the tunnel. I turned briefly to smile at Yuli who now stood near the guard.

It was game time now, the cold mask of the ‘Silent Prince’ returned.

“Aaaannnddd Returning to the arena shortly after his last match is The………SILENT PRRRRIINCCEEE!”

The demons and filth cackled in the stands, baying for blood.

“His opponent this time is a beast from beyond the river! A Gnarled Appom!”