Sin started walking towards the Ring when Naam pulled her back, “I thought you said we’d go?” She pleaded with her eyes.

Naam shook her head, “We will. But you have to put this on first.” She pulled an eye mask from her spatial storage. Naam handed the mask to Sin.

Sin eyed her suspiciously, “Do you always carry a mask with you?”

Naam nodded, “Never know when you’ll need it.”

Sin stared blankly at her. What kind of life do you live that you might randomly need an eye mask. She shook her head and took the mask from Naam. Sin took off her nightcap and put the mask on, then put the nightcap back on.

Naam smiled at her, “Looking good Princess.”

Sin scowled at her, “You can’t even see my face.”

Naam chuckled, “That’s what’s good about it!”

Sin rolled her eyes. She pointed to the entrance to the Ring, “Can we go now?”

Naam nodded, “We’ll go in, and watch whatever fight’s goi-”

Cheers and whoops made their way out of the building. The muscular people stood outside ran back in to see what all the fuss was about.

Naam grabbed Sin’s hand, “C’mon! We don’t wanna miss it!”

Sin laughed as Naam dragged her in through the entrance. She’s getting into it as well! This’ll be fun!

Noise.

Lots and lots of noise.

There was so much cheering and so many different sounds of excitement that Sin didn’t quite know how to identify all of them. The hallway that led to the ring itself wasn’t very long, but as soon as they entered the audience area, the atmosphere completely changed.

Sin looked over the railing to watch the fight. The cage itself was shaped like an octagon, with cage walls on each edge. Both of the fighters were bloody and sweaty. One of them had nothing but a pair of red shorts on, while the other wore a loose blue shirt and trousers. Neither of them had any weapons. They looked exhausted.

Sin prodded the person beside her, “What just happened?”

The dwarf with a mohawk and a bunch of chains hanging off of him didn’t turn around, but focused his eyes on the match, “They just had a clash. The one in red, Red Hawk used a flaming spiral fist, and Blue Jet turned himself into an ice missile and flew into the spiral fist! Hahaha! They’re psychos and I love it!” The dwarf broke into laughter.

Sin turned her attention back to the cage. The two fighters were breathing heavily, and started circling around while facing each other. They’re looking for an opening. There’s no way that either of them can win easily though, since they seem to have attributes that are the opposite of each- A thunderous cheer boomed within the room. Sin’s eardrums were ringing.

Red Hawk made a move. He opted for a physical approach. His hands enveloped in flames, and he flew towards Blue Jet. Blue Jet grinned, then covered himself in multiple layers of ice.

Sin watched on as they continued their display. This is... really low level stuff. Are all of the fights here like this? She wasn’t impressed.

Naam watched the fight with the same thing on her mind, “Princess, let’s wait until the main event. There’s gotta be some good fighters here.”

The dwarf beside Sin guffawed. He turned to Sin and Naam, “If you want a good fight, then you’ll just have to wait for Iris to get in the cage.”

Naam raised an eyebrow towards him, “Iris?”

The dwarf grinned, “She’s the Berserker. And she’s the reigning champion of the Ring. Iris is gonna fight after this match, and her opponent is none other than the Bulwark. A match of great offence versus great defence. It’ll be a great one to watch!”

Sin’s interest was piqued. A Berserker? I haven’t seen anyone fight like that in a while... maybe Maya’s the closest thing to a berserker that I’ve seen. And a Bulwark? I haven’t actually met anyone that focuses on defence magic. This really will be interesting.

Naam poked Sin’s arm, “What do you think?”

Sin nodded, “We’ll wait. I’m interested in the next match now.” She smiled, “Thank you Mr. Dwarf.”

The dwarf smiled back, “Not a problem Crimson Bunny.”

Sin stared blankly at him, “Huh?”

Naam turned Sin around to face her, she spoke into Sin’s ear, “Just... That’s how people refer to others in places like this. It’s not meant to be bad, just accept it for now.” She smiled softly.

Sin nodded, speaking back into Naam’s ear, “Alright. I’ll be the Crimson Bunny for now!” She straightened her back and had a look of triumph on her face.

Naam grinned, “That’s the spirit Princess!”

They giggled together.

Sin turned her attention back to the cage. The fight was boring, but it looked like it was ending now. Red Hawk, surprisingly, looked like he was winning. He looked like the dumber of the two, but he’s actually winning now.

Red Hawk used a cloak of flame as he locked Blue Jet into a bear hug. The smell of Blue Jet’s skin burning to a crisp filled the air as people cheered. Red Hawk dropped the man after a moment. His torso was charred red and black. Blue Jet was cooked. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Sin winced as she looked at his body. The hole in his clothes revealed his skin... or lack thereof. A team of medics zoomed into the cage and immediately casted some kind of healing magic on him. It had to be extremely high level healing because his muscles and skin were repairing themselves rapidly. After a minute, it seemed like there was never any wound to begin with.

They also healed Red Hawk in the meantime. After the both of them were healed, they walked up to each other and shook the other’s hand.

The crowd clapped for them.

Sin mentally applauded the display of sportsmanship.

A loud voice that overpowered the crowd came from a box just above the cage, “What a match! The victor is Red Hawk! Thank you for your patronage. We hope you’re all ready for tonight’s main event! It will begin in ten minutes!” The crowd reacted with more joy and energy than they had for anything that happened during the previous fight.

Sin grinned, “The next fight will be very interesting.”

Naam stared at her, “You having fun Princess?”

Sin nodded, “The last fight wasn’t that advanced, but it was still fun to see the crowd react to the cool moments!”

Naam smiled, “Good. I’m glad.”

The dwarf beside them pointed out toward the entrance to the cage, “Look! Iris is coming out now!”

Sin’s attention went to where the dwarf pointed. Wow... she looks so strong. Those muscles on her arms and legs, and those abs. But... she’s only wearing cloths and furs... Sin blushed a touch. Iris’s body was mostly exposed, and she only wore furs that covered some parts of her body.

The dwarf laughed, “What a beaut. But her... lack of an outfit ain’t just for show! She focuses on offence. Wearing heavy metals and leathers just slows her down.”

Sin stared at the blonde Berserker. As exposed as she was, Sin was glad that there was at least a reason for it. The thing that Sin was most surprised to see was her weapon. Iris brandished a massive axe that could’ve easily been bigger than Sin herself. There were no gems embedded within it. Regardless, the more that she looked at it, the more that Sin thought it was exquisitely crafted.

Sin loved seeing these awesome looking weapons that clearly had a lot of time and effort poured into crafting them.

The dwarf stared wide-eyed at the axe, “She... She brought it out...”

Sin was audibly confused as she asked the question, “What do you mean? It’s a really nice axe, but you seem so surprised?”

The dwarf was locked in his stupor, “That’s not just a well-made axe Miss Bunny. That’s a named weapon.”

Sin’s eyes widened. Naam was also surprised to hear the mention of a named weapon. Sin knew that Rai had a named weapon, Ghost, but that was the only one that she knew of. None of the Aspects even had named weapons, as far as she knew. They were so-called named weapons because of the level to which they were crafted. Some say that named weapons have a soul of their own, but Sin couldn’t understand it. Maybe it was because she’d never used one herself.

Sin shook the dwarf out of his stupor, “A named weapon?! What’s it called? Who made it?!”

The dwarf simply continued staring in awe as he replied, “It’s called Sanguis. It was created by an unknown beastman smith from the Huntsman clan. The rumour about the axe is that it was passed down in the Huntsman clan to its apex warrior, barring the Huntmaster from contention. Iris was said to be incredibly powerful, so I never thought... why would she bring out the axe now?”

Sin stared at the cage. Iris stood, waiting patiently. She held the axe in one hand as she waited for her opponent.

Perfectly on cue, the sound of metal clanking together echoed in the Ring.

The Bulwark was here.

The crowd was quiet. Heavy metallic footsteps echoed.

They became louder.

And louder.

Then they stopped.

The Bulwark looked around at the audience. Some were on the same floor as the cage, while others were upstairs behind the railing looking down on the ring.

He grunted.

Cheers erupted.

Sin was amazed. The charisma on this man was through the roof. Even if he hadn’t intended it, the showmanship that his presence afforded the event was something that she found to be impressive.

The same voice as before came through the box once again, “Ladies and Gentlemen! Our contestants have arrived at the cage! Let’s hear some noise!!”

At this point, the noise was so loud that Sin couldn’t distinguish a cheer from a whoop. In fact, she’d come to believe that all cheering was just the same. All she could hear was an amalgamation of noises. She turned to Naam, who was quiet. Naam turned to her and smiled. Sin smiled back.

The noise simmered down.

The box spoke once more, “That’s what I like to hear! Now... it’s time for the MAIN EVENT! The Berserker versus The Bulwark! Ladies and Gentlemen, you’ll wanna remain standing for this one. The fight will begin shortly!”

The noise continued. Sin frowned. She liked that people were excited to see the fight, but did they have to be this loud all the time? She noticed that Naam also wasn’t a fan of the noise. Even though Naam worked in the Secret, Sin never knew if she actually enjoyed working there or not. Sometimes it was quiet, but other times it was just as loud as the Ring. Still, this was an experience unlike anything Sin had ever seen before. It was... fun. She smiled to herself.

Naam watched Sin smiling, which prompted her to smile herself.

The Bulwark demanded everyone’s attention once more as he walked over to the ring. His armour was so bulky and well-made that Sin was somewhat impressed. Even though it couldn’t match the exquisite barbaric aura surrounding Sanguis, the Bulwark’s armour was very well-made, nonetheless. Sin hoped that the fight would be interesting at least.

The cage walls opened on both sides of the arena, allowing for both Iris and the Bulwark to enter.

The tension was rising. Iris watched as the Bulwark spent a solid minute walking into the cage.

The fight was about to begin.

The box made its third appearance, “The fight will begin on the ref’s countdown!”

The elven man in a black and white striped shirt stood outside the cage. He spoke into a speaker that amplified his voice, “Three. Two. One. Begin!”

The Bulwark sprouted large white wings out of the back of his armour. There were two slots designed to allow him to do so.

The crowd reacted with intrigue. The dwarf was confused though, “Why’d he do that?”

Sin agreed with his questioning. There was no reason for an Archangel to sprout their wings just like that. It doesn’t do anything other than let him fly, but he can’t fly with all that heavy armour on...

The Bulwark laughed. His voice boomed, “Berserker. You’re nothing. Come. Let me sh-ACK”

Iris struck. Sanguis cut through the Bulwark’s armour like a hot knife through butter. Blood spurted out of the front of the Bulwark’s armour outwards onto the cage floor. A gaping wound could be seen from where Sin stood.

Iris had cut his chest wide open.

The Bulwark fell forward. With a loud clang, he landed on the cage floor. A pool of blood began forming underneath his body on the ground.

The audience was silent. Then they erupted. Many of the people in the audience were amazed that Iris was able to end the fight so fast.

Sin stared at the cage. Is it over already? All she did was slice his chest... That’s... so anticlimactic. But... it was still fun! Sin turned to Naam.

Naam wasn’t expecting that, “What are y-”

Sin bowed.

Naam’s eyed widened, “Princess get up! You shouldn’t bow to me like that!”

Sin stood up, “Thank you Naam. I had a great time!” She smiled warmly, “I’m sorry for misreading you before.”

Naam shook her hands, “Not at all Princess...” She placed a hand on Sin’s shoulder, “I’m happy that you had fun. Let’s... go back now.” Naam held back from telling Sin everything that she wanted to.

Sin nodded, “Sounds good!”

Sin turned to the dwarf who looked down at the cage with a hint of disappointment in his face, “Mr. Dwarf! Thank you for answering my questions!”

The dwarf turned to her and smiled, “Of course Crimson Bunny! I’m happy to have been of help.”

Sin smiled at him, then left the Ring with Naam.

Iris looked up at the audience on the upper floor. She watched Sin leave. Instead of waiting for her prize, she stored Sanguis in her spatial storage and ran out of the cage. The announcer called after her, but let it be after a moment. Iris’s agent accepted the reward in her stead.

Sin and Naam exited the Ring. Naam stretched, “It was way too loud in there.”

Sin nodded profusely, “It really was... but I liked how passionate everyone there seemed.”

Naam grinned, “If you want passion...” She glanced at the sign with two women and a love heart on it.

Sin fervently shook her head, “Naam I can only handle so much craziness in one day. Also... I... only like Rai.”

Naam laughed, “Suit yourself Princess.”

Footsteps echoed behind them.

They were fast.

Danger.

Sin called forth her daggers. She turned around and readied herself. Wait... isn’t that Iris?

Iris held out her hands as she ran, “Nonono wait!” She skidded to a stop. Iris seemed out of breath. She heaved and panted, “Those... stairs... so... long...” She gulped down a few mouthfuls of air, “I’m... Iris. It’s nice to meet you.”

Sin stared at her. She held her defensive stance, “How do you know me?”

Iris stared blankly at her. Sweat ran down her body. She only just realised that she didn’t properly introduce herself, “Hahaha! I’m sorry. I forgot that I know you, but you don’t know me yet. I’m Iris. I’m the Huntmaster’s daughter. It’s nice to meet you, daughter of the Deceiver!” She held her hand out.

Sin stared at her, “Huh?!” She withdrew her daggers.

Naam giggled, “Another Aspect’s daughter. And it looks like she’s into you... Am I right or am I right?” She raised her eyebrows up and down at Iris.

Iris blushed, “That’s...”

Naam waved away Iris’s nervousness, “I’m only teasing. I like seeing this one squirm, but she didn’t even react. Look, she’s shocked to meet another Aspect’s daughter.”

Sin’s face was blank.

This was it.

This was officially too much to handle.