Coliseum waiting room.

"Alright, it's time for you to come!" said a member of the Hermes Familia.

"Hm."

Cirrus gets up with his mask still on, with only his armor and weapons on hand.

With each step he took, he could hear the crowd of people roaring for the fight.

Cirrus looked at his hand to find it slightly shaking, along with the emotion Freya brought out of him.

‘My hands haven’t shaken in so long… guess I can still be this scared and excited. ’

He clenched his fists tightly while under his mask a big grin formed. He continued forward until eventually, he came out of the tunnel and into the arena.

The crowd’s roar was deafening with Cirrus’s entrance into the arena.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"LET'S GO!! LET'S GO!! LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Cirrus enters the dirt arena and sees Ottar standing on the other side wearing simple armor, but sturdy and flexible with two great swords.

"Big crowd, huh?" Cirrus said, holding back his excitement.

"Yes… are you ready?" He says as an aura of intimidation covers him.

"Heh~ I’m ready when you are."

"I’ll be sure to wipe that smirk off you."

Cirrus said nothing as he realized he was actually smiling.

‘Great. It seems I’m learning more about myself. Did Freya speed up my puberty? My voice hasn’t cracked so…’

 

As the two stood across from one another, several people and gods were watching.

"Do you think Astraea’s kid is going to put up a good fight?" asked Loki.

"My money is on Ottar!" said Gareth. "I fought him enough times to know he can pack a punch!"

"I would have to agree with Gareth," said Finn. "We have fought with Zephyr, but never against one another. His speed is the fastest of all of Orario, but Ottar's defense is what allowed him to fight the members of Zeus and Hera."

"What say you, Riveria?" said Loki. "You don’t have to worry about those 3 geezers keeping watch of the city!"

"Well… from what I have seen, Ottar would be the most obvious choice… but something about Zephyr is... it nags me? "

"Well, the guild reported he did level up to level 5 a couple of weeks ago when he went to kill some monster Evilus released." Said Loki.

"What elf? You think he’s hiding his level?" said Gareth.

"Nonsense!" Loki said. "Astraea is too responsible to fake a level-up!" She said it with such certainty that they believed her.

"Who knows, Finn, what do you think?" said Riveria, looking at Finn.

"…. I don’t know. We shall have to wait and see what this rising star can really do when fighting a strong opponent," Finn said with his eyes focused on the two fighters.

 

"Man, we're lucky we arrived on time, Hephaestus!" Tsubaki said, with some food on hand.

"If only you!" she said, looking at Eupheme. "Had gotten up early."

"Mmm, why are you not made at Tsubaki? She was working all night?"

"I am. I swear when we get back, I'll have you both working non-stop for months."

"I already do that!" Tsubaki said as she stuffed her face.

"Haaa… so Eupheme you wanted to see your patron fight?"

"Hm, yes, I wish to see how he uses the weapon we forged together with help from his parent."

"His parents?" Hephaestus said, shocked. "Was their parent a regular citizen or an adventurer?"

"I can’t say I promised him I wouldn’t and on my pride as a blacksmith that I wouldn’t tell you anything pertaining to the weapon other than it is one of a kind."

"Oh~," Hephaestus and Tsubaki said.

"Well, let’s see how your weapon holds up!" said Hephaestus.

 

"Hmm, when are they going to fight!?" shouted Susanoo.

"Now, now calm down. They’ll fight eventually. I’m sure they're just building the anticipation up." said Kushida. "Kamu, where is Ai?"

"Huh? She should..." She looked over, and the rest of the Familia shook their heads. "I'll go get her! She, um, went to get some food at the vendors!" She quickly got up, as did a few of the Familia members.

"… You know they lost her, right?" Kushida said to Susanoo.

"What!!!!!!!"

 

"Hmmm…" Alise said, looking down at Cirrus from her spot.

"Um, why is Alise looking so intently at Zephyr?" said Rethusa asked Neze, a level 2 Werewolf beast-human of the Astraea Familia.

"She’s just watching carefully so that when she fights him again, she’ll win."

"Heh~," said Cale. "He was pretty tough. I doubt anyone could beat him."

"Heh! Heh!" Alise said, with a big grin on her face and hands on her hips. "I'll beat him one day!"

"Doubt it," said Phi under her breath.

"I know, right," said Lyra, a 13-year-old Pallum.

 

"Look at this spectacle, Shakti!" said Ganesha, looking around in amazement. "One day, when our Familia has grown, we could build something like this on the surface so all can come and enjoy it." He then started to flex his muscles.

"Then we will need more Familia members," Shakti said. "Right now, Hashana and Ilta are really pulling their weight."

"I know, but we must be careful! These are trying times!! I am Ganesh-Gah?!"

Shakti quickly covered his mouth.

 

In a private section of the Colosseum.

"Hmm, do you think Zephyr could give Ottar a fight? Mia, Allen, Anya? " Freya said, looking at them with Mia sitting next to Freya with Allen, a 13-year-old Cat-Person, and Anya, his younger sister, a 10-year-old, with spears side-by-side around Freya.

"My money is on Ottar. I’ve seen that deer kid running around now and again helping with Evilus. I trained Ottar myself, so if he doesn’t want to go through hell again, he’ll better win." Mia said, looking down at the arena as Hermes appeared.

"Allen, what do you think?"

"I’m not sure, but relying on what I've seen at home, Ottar has the best chance."

"And you, Anya, sweetie?"

When Freya looked at Anya, she could see Anya finding her words.

"W-well, um I-I think Ottar would win!" She said as best as she could.

Allen could see her hands slightly shaking.

‘She must have trained till late at night.’ Thought Allen, looking at his sister.

"Aw… no one is betting on the little deer?" Freya said as she crossed her legs and rested her head on her right arm. "I’m sure he’ll give Ottar a good fight."

With Hermes finally arrives with Lydia and Asfi behind him, he gets a mic.

"Sorry for keeping you all waiting! I was seeing when all the seats were sold out, so we could begin! Now shall we get this fight starteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"URAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The crowd erupted in a roar that could be heard from all over the floor, including the upper and lower levels.

"To my right, the Warlord of Orario and Vice-captain of the Freya Familia!!!"

"WROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"And to my left! The roaming White Beast of Orario and member of the Familia of Justice, the Astraea Familia! Zephyr!!

"WROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Are both fighters ready!!!!!!" Hermes said as he walked back with Lydia and Asfi.

"Hm!" Both Cirrus and Ottar nod their heads as they place their hands on their weapons.

"THEN LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"