They called me Lone Nomad but I let them have their stories. It's July 10th now. The arena smelled like hot iron and cold sweat, and the crowd wanted blood. They always did. I guess Rome never changed, even when the centuries did.
My opponent today was another Commoner Fluxer. He's a big guy with veins running like tree roots down his arms and a hammer the size of a child. His Flux gleamed dull red. Commoners never learned to balance emotion and intent. They thought rage was power but rage was just noise if you couldn't direct it.
He charged, screaming something in Italian that the crowd mirrored like a hymn. I stepped sideways, the tip of my staff grazing the sand. A ripple of wind followed. His hammer came down but I was already gone.
I didn't need to think anymore when fighting Commoners. Their patterns were predictable. I could see the wind-up in their shoulders and the hesitation in their eyes. He swung again wider this time. I deflected it with one hand and tapped his chest with the end of my staff.
His hammer disintegrated, the flux construct shattering into sparks that dissolved into dust. He froze, realizing he was unarmed and outmatched. The crowd erupted, screaming for a kill.
"Finish him! Blood!" they chanted in Latin and English.
I looked at him, panting and trembling. He was maybe twenty-three at best. I lowered my staff.
"No."
I walked away.
Their boos followed me out of the arena, echoing through the stone corridors. I didn't care.
°°°°°
Outside, the Roman air was cooler, touched by the metallic scent of the Tiber. My mask was still on. The Duel of Champions was just a façade. I wasn't here to prove myself. I was here to reach a Class 5 Frost Beetle. The organizers thought they would eliminate me this round by sending that man with the hammer. They didn't realize I wanted the fight.
But not tonight. I was mentally exhausted. I fought exactly nineteen enemies today because the organizers wanted to finish me off. I was running their schedule of course.
When I reached the mansion Norphie had given me, I noticed something strange right away. Someone was there. Their Xana signatures were too high for them to be the servants assigned to the mansion. I stepped quietly, readying Occultare. My form blurred, vanishing from sight, and I slipped through the door.
The living room was quiet. Then I heard a voice I hadn't heard in weeks.
"You've been getting popular, Phaser."
I froze.
Sitting on the couch, legs crossed, was Seirath, my master. And beside him, leaning back casually, arms folded, was Hinesia. Her eyes locked onto me. She looked exhausted like she hadn't slept for days, but still carried that arrogance.
I dropped the invisibility and sighed. He already saw me.
"Master?"
Seirath chuckled, standing slowly. He hadn't changed at all.
"You can't even visit your teacher, yet you have time to beat gladiators in Rome?"
"I was… busy."
"Busy killing time, perhaps."
Hinesia snorted softly. "He's been fighting Commoners, Father. Hardly a challenge. He looks bored to death."
I gave her a small glare. "Says the one who disappears for days without telling anyone."
"Touché."
Seirath clapped his hands once, breaking the tension.
"Enough, both of you. I didn't come to Rome to watch you two throw sarcasm."
He motioned for me to sit, and I did. Hinesia leaned against the armrest, watching the ceiling.
"Do you know why I'm here, Phaser?"
"I assume not to watch me lose a battle."
"Partly that. But mostly… to teach you Augere, the final Xana technique."
"Augere? The amplification method?"
"The very same. And I'm also here to grant you something else. I'll give you my own Void Element."
For a moment, everything around me went still. Even the ticking of the old grandfather clock seemed to pause.
"Your… Void Element?"
"You've mastered the three previous techniques. The fourth, Augere, is the art of extending yourself beyond your limits. You'll need it before you face the Noble fights."
I swallowed hard. "And the Void Element?"
Hinesia looked at her father, then at me.
"You've reached a point where your Flux can no longer evolve naturally. Hid Void will stabilize it. But it will come at a cost."
"Why are you giving me your Void Element?"
"You're a smart man, Phaser. You already know the Void isn't something to be given lightly."
"That's exactly why I'm asking. No one just hands over something like that, especially you. There's a catch."
Hinesia sat on the couch behind us, one leg crossed over the other, pretending not to listen but clearly hanging on every word. Seirath's expression didn't change. He placed both hands behind his back and looked me straight in the eyes.
"I want you to be engaged to my daughter."
The world froze for a second.
"What?"
Hinesia sat up instantly. "Father!"
He raised his hand to silence her, calm as ever. "You heard me."
I stared at him, utterly lost. What the fuck? He's seriously asking me to her engaged to Hinesia?
"Engaged? That's your catch? You want to hand me your Void Element and, what, tie it to your daughter like a... like a dowry?"
He chuckled. "That's one way to put it."
"Master, this is insane."
He turned slightly, his Flux pulsing faintly like a heartbeat through the air. His presence was so vast it distorted the sound in the room.
"You see, I can wield every Element but Flora. And the Void… the Void has become unstable within me. It clashes with the others now. If I keep it, I'll eventually lose control of everything else."
"So you want to… transfer it?"
"Exactly."
"But why to me?"
"Because you're the only one whose constitution won't reject it."
Great. What is going on here?
"Even if that's true, you're not gaining anything from this. You're getting rid of a problem but you'll also be weaker. I'll be the one with more responsibility."
"And what makes you think you don't already have that weight?"
True.
"Still, this isn't right."
"It's already decided. Hinesia will not have an issue with it. Your mother agreed as well."
That name made me flinch. "My mother?"
"Anastelle gave her blessing yesterday."
I turned toward Hinesia. She wasn't looking at me. She was just… staring down at her hands, fidgeting with the hem of her coat.
"Hinesia, you agreed to this?"
Her voice was so uncharacteristic of her usual sharp tone that it startled me.
"I did. I trust my father. And… I trust you."
That was worse. Somehow, that was worse than any answer I expected. I paced a few steps, trying to steady my thoughts. Oh shit shit shit...
"Look… I'm not saying it's impossible. But being engaged? That's... that's a little too soon. And you know what this means, right? The Radiance Houses will tear each other apart over this. The House of Rameses and the House of Argemenes… that's not just two names. That's two pillars of opposing power. Abyssal and Radiant bloodlines don't mix. It's forbidden."
Seirath actually laughed.
"Forbidden by who? The Houses? They've tried to forbid half of history. The Rameses and Argemenes have had good relations for generations. Your grandmother's lineage traded knowledge with ours once. Times change, Phaser. Alliances change. The Houses can scream if they want but what will they do? Fight us? The Rameses are strong. The Argemenes are strong. Conflict won't solve anything. They know that."
Still… engagement doesn't mean anything if... if I don't love her."
That word love hit the air like a thunderclap in a library. Hinesia's eyes flicked up at me, and for the first time in all the months I'd known her, the woman who always met me with a gaze, faltered. Her expression broke. Seirath saw it too and....smiled?
"Oh, I doubt that'll be a problem."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll see soon enough. And besides, it's not as if you're limited to Hinesia."
"What?"
"Polyamory exists, doesn't it?"
I just stood there, staring at him, completely unsure whether to laugh, yell, or question reality. Hinesia's face actually went red as she turned away, muttering something I couldn't catch.
Fuck. I remember now...