We had a long and peaceful bath but also an extended conversation about her training regime that she was going to put me through.

It honestly didn't seem bad, and our bond grew just a bit as we had finally reached something that we both liked… fighting.

It was obvious at first glance, but it took a while for the topic to come up… so yeah… I guess I trust her just a bit now.

…

(Lucy POV)

I stared in the icy mirror before me and noticed the very apparent change in my body… as I now had a lean six-pack, a slimmer waist, and slightly bigger arms and legs.

If I wanted to, I could've honestly bulked and maybe built an ever bigger body, but I wanted to keep some of the mobility and dexterity that comes with such a slim body.

Plus, I didn't want to get too muscular and become a muscle monster… I can't see myself as one of those, and I think Mia would disown me.

"Nah, she wouldn't disown you," My maid chuckled a bit before I put on some of the clothes given out by the colosseum and warmed up my body.

Today, I had my first tough match against a guy who used a sword coated in fire.

He was a descendant of a race called the fire giants, and though he may not look like one at first glance, once you see how hard his hits are, you'll be begging for the match to end.

Of course, I'll be the one making him beg for mercy, but I still have to be wary about getting hit just once this time.

Dodging and my absolute flexibility will be the key factor in winning this fight… because, to be honest, I don't see myself winning against a swordmaster.

I'll try to pick things up from him as we fight, but as of now, my only main chance of winning is probably going to be picking up a few sword tips from him.

"Alright, let's put this armor on," I muttered as I scanned the armor set I had received over fighting countless small fry as a reward.

First, there was the winged and rusted helmet that had a tinge of gold which was created through the mixing of mana and blood.

Then there was my chest plate which was fitted for a woman and also fitted for somebody who focused on more of their dodging rather than tanking hits.

There were some holes in the chest plate, which allowed for easy movement, but all of my vitals were covered; otherwise, it wouldn't be a very effective chest plate.

It held a familiar rusted gold color as this chest plate was infused with highly condensed mana, causing this to also double as armor for a mage.

Then there were my grieves and boots, which were something you'd see on a heavy set of armor made for tanking.

These weren't anything special, and they were highly rusted by the amount of bloodshed on them.

Finally, there were my twin rusted gold gauntlets that made sure I wouldn't lose grip of my newly acquired white longsword.

I felt the power basically just radiating from it as I held it tightly within my grasp.

"Alright, let's go," I muttered before letting the guards escort me instead of taking me away since I had climbed up the ranks.

When you reach the pinnacle of the colosseum, you become a dog of the empress and are forced to serve her until you drop dead.

I mean, at least you get some half-decent food and way more freedom than if you were in this place.

Also, to actually rank up from number one, you have to impress the empress, and if you don't, well, you might as well say your goodbyes to life.

Right now, I am currently ranked around 15, and I'm about to fight the number 9, so if I beat him, I basically take his spot.

"AND FOR THE FIGHT TODAYYYYY! WE HAVE THE TRAITOROUS WENCH! VERSUSSSSSSS! YOUR FAVORITE! YOUR ABSOLUTE FAVORITE! DEMON OF FIRRRRREEEE!" The announcer shouted into his microphone, and as always, I was ticked off by being called a wench.

I didn't care if you labeled me as a traitor, but being called a wench was just disrespectful… geez.

A man dressed in full black armor and long red hair flowing out from under his helmet slowly approached me.

His obsidian longsword was set alight with a purple demonic flame that shone with hints of red, signaling it hadn't been completed yet.

As we both approached each other and the announcer was getting ready to start the fight, I scanned the colosseum.

There were way more people than usual as a top 15 fight was surely a sight to see… and of course, the empress was watching this fight as well.

"Fooooo… I really don't like her," I muttered as she was only glaring at me and just gazing coldly at everybody else.

"LET THE BATTLE BEGINNNNN!" The man sitting atop a ledge in the colosseum announced, and the crowd erupted with adrenaline.

It was so loud I couldn't even hear my boots clanking against the dirt.

The cheers continued to persist, so I just decided to ignore them and focus on the man before me who suddenly lifted up his foot, right to where his waist us.

Confused as to what he was about to do, I took a step back, and my intuition was right as once the foot came crashing down, a large shockwave mixed with sparks of red fire cracked the ground under us.

I was just barely out of the range of the blast, but it wouldn't have done much damage to me anyway.

"I'll give you a chance to surrender and have this round end quickly. I can end you without suffering, but if you choose to continue, I don't even know what suffering I might bring upon you," He said, but it wasn't arrogance behind his words.

It was a genuine concern, as if he was worried that my life would end with suffering as he won't be able to control himself.

"I'm gonna have to decline your offer," I replied before stabbing my white longsword into the dirt below, displaying my absolute confidence.

There was no arrogance but just confidence within my blade.

"I see…" He muttered, and his words seemed to rattle the colosseum itself, shaking the stands and causing the barrier protecting the stands to waver.

"Then, let's get this started," I muttered coldly before pulling out my white longsword and taking a stance that was prepared to deflect.

If I get hit by his opening skill, I'll be fucked for the rest of the match since it's a debuff and one hell of a debuff at that.

"[Sin of the Goblet of Flames]," He muttered, and sparks of fire exploded around him, damaging him slightly as he sacrificed his blood for the skill.

A fire erupted from the splashes of blood coming off his body, and this large quantity of flames suddenly shrunk.

It began to rain yellow fire within the arena, but this wasn't the climax of the skill.

The droplets of flames that fell on me did absolutely nothing due to my chest plate and headgear, but I quickly took a step back as a claw made completely of orange and yellow flames reached towards me.

I deflected it with the sword that I had coated in rainbow flames and then swung up into the air, slicing a demon made of fire in half.

I avoided touching the demon's body as much as possible as he exploded into thousands of pieces.

The ones that I couldn't dodge, I deflected and held my ground as the man with flowing red hair clicked his tongue.

"You've been watching me… huh… I wonder how you've been doing that," He muttered, and an eerie smile could be felt from beneath his full-on helmet.

I had riled up the beast, and now I had to pay the consequences as he suddenly appeared before me.

It was like teleportation as there was no draft that came with his sudden move, and not the ground shook… well, it did… right after his sword collided with my own sword.

BAM

I was sent flying across the arena, and once my back smashed against the wall, I coughed up a mouthful of blood.

I thought I had deflected part of the damage… No, I did, but his swing was just that powerful.

Plus, he was able to move that fast with such accuracy… I can't even begin to imagine how powerful the number one rank is.

"*sigh*... People who get into the top 15 think they're the shit, and it's just a linear rise from there… But in reality, it's exponential. Each person is at least 1.5 times stronger than the person behind them. Well, unless it's number one. When you're number one, you reign supreme above all, maybe even being five times stronger than the second place," The man with red hair explained.

"That's nice… But you should check your sword," I muttered with a large smile.

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