Laura wakes up the next morning feeling refreshed. She gets dressed and goes downstairs where she finds Eleonora waiting for her at the training grounds.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
Eleonora and Laura exchange pleasantries before proceeding to the training grounds.
"Looks like you got some good rest."
"Yeah I did."
They both begin their practice without delay. Same as the previous day the warmup proves to be quite exhausting for Laura. Eleonora notices this and makes sure to give Laura an extra break.
"You're doing great Laura. Don't push yourself too hard though."
After the warmup comes the first sparring session. Despite being about as tired as yesterday Laura gives it her all but is unable to put up a decent fight. After a few sparring matches Laura sprawls onto the ground exhausted.
"I don't know if I'll ever get better at this…"
"You will get better Laura, trust me. It's only day two."
The next day Laura sprawls onto the ground exhausted once again.
"You're getting better at it at least."
"I-I guess."
Her stamina, speed, reflexes, and strength are all improving bit by bit and before she knows it a month has passed. The days are filled with training and sparring alongside Eleonora. As the days turn into weeks Laura can somewhat keep up with Eleonora after the warmup.
However her skills aren't enough to beat her yet.
There wooden practice swords cross each other in a stalemate. It's been a month since they've started training together and already Laura can handle the pace of the training, however.
*clunk*
Laura's sword flies out of her hand and she falls over on her butt. Eleonora's wooden sword is pointed at her neck as Eleonora smiles at her.
"I win again Laura."
A smile spreads across Laura's face as she stands up. Eleonora had beaten her every time they spared over the past month. However, Laura still hadn't become strong enough to defeat Eleonora.
"Not bad for a beginner."
Eleonora laughs as she sheathes her sword.
"Anyways, it's almost noon. I'll let you go now."
"Fine by me. I'm hungry."
"Me too."
"See you tomorrow then."
Eleonora walks away while Laura stretches her arms and legs. After Laura finishes stretching she heads back inside the colosseum to eat lunch. However she's stopped before she enters the dining hall.
"Hey Laura Roderick needs to talk to you."
It's Olivia, Roderick's secretary.
"Sure thing."
Laura follows Olivia to Roderick's office. She wonders what this could be about.
"Miss Laura, please sit down."
Laura does as she's told and sits opposite Roderick who is sitting behind his desk.
"So what's up?"
"Well we're here to introduce you to your new personal maid. Her name is Avery and she's just gotten done with training."
"That name sounds familiar."
"Well she was working under Marie during her training period but after Marie got kicked out of the colosseum Avery had to go through even lengthier training to make sure none of Marie's prejudice rubbed off on her. Now that she's finished her training and graduated from her apprenticeship she's ready for her first job as a maid in the colosseum."
"Honestly I've been doing fine without a personal maid over the past month so you don't have to."
"Nonsense! Every fighter in the colosseum has their own maid to do tasks for them so they can focus on getting better."
"I consider myself low maintenance though."
Roderick jumps out of his seat and puts on leg on top of his desk while pointing at Laura.
"Proposal for no maid is rejected Laura. Plus a strong fighter escorted by an attractive maid is the perfect picture don't you think?"
"Um...okay sure."
"Great!"
Roderick sits back in his chair and claps his hands.
"Now Olivia bring in Avery."
"Yes sir."
Olivia walks out of the room and returns a moment later with Avery. Avery is a young woman who looks to be slightly older than Laura.
She's tall and slim with red hair.
"This is Avery, she's 16 years old and from today onward she's your personal maid. Avery, this is Laura. Introduce yourselves."
Laura stands from her chair and hesitantly walks over to Avery who bows her head.
"I am Avery. It's a pleasure to be in your care Miss Laura."
"Likewise."
Their handshake is firm and gentle. Laura is surprised at how soft Avery's hands feel.
"Wow so these are demon hands?"
Avery curiously examines Laura's clawed hands like she's just found something rare.
"They're not a big deal."
"They're pretty cool actually."
Laura awkwardly turns away and lets go of the handshake.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. Just didn't expect someone to be so fascinated by my claws. It's not a problem though."
"Then can I look at your claws more?"
"I'd really rather you not."
"But they're so cool. I'd really like to-"
"Avery!"
Roderick shouts at Avery causing her to freeze in place.
"Not even 5 minutes on the job and you're already making Laura uncomfortable. Do I need to send you back to training?"
"No, no! I mean I'm sorry Miss Laura. I just thought they were interesting."
"Please do not cause Laura any trouble Avery. Understood?"
"Yes sir."
Roderick rubs his chin as he thinks something over.
"Alright then. Now onto the next topic. Since you're training with Eleonora has started you've progressed quite a lot right?"
"I'd say I've improved my fighting skill somewhat."
"Good so in a few days we're going to be doing some exhibition matches between lower ranked fighters and since you're the lowest ranked at the moment I'm asking you to participate."
"Honestly Roderick I'm curious as to why I haven't been participating in the weekly fights until now?"
Roderick scoffs. "Well I can't just throw you out there every single week now can I? You're a rare fighter that people would pay top dollar to watch fight. I threw you out there in a match against Anton for two reasons. Reason 1 was to introduce you to the audience and reason 2 was to finally get that worthless Anton out of my colosseum. But I do need to throw you out there at times so people's interest in you won't vanish."
"I see."
"Anyways we're also doing this so you can fight Vannix."
"Who's Vannix?"
"Vannix didn't participate in the tournament a month ago because of an injury he sustained. He's still not at 100 percent but I'm hoping you and him can put on a good match. You and Vannix are the final match of the night so give it your best for the main event. Alright?"
"Got it."
"That's good Laura. I hope your training pays off and excites the crowd. Go ahead and enjoy the rest of your day Laura, you may leave now."
With that Laura exists Roderick's office with Avery following behind her. Once they're alone in the hallway Avery asks Laura, "So Miss Laura what are we going to do now?"
"I'm going to go eat something, I'm hungry. After that I'll probably work on my magic by myself."
"Oh is that all?"
"Yup. I can't go outside the colosseum without Roderick's permission after all. Since it's an order engraved into my collar. I'm kinda bummed about that but oh well."
"Oh right I heard about those collars. Each fighter is given one but each one has different amounts of freedom depending on the individual right?"
"Well since I'd draw a lot of attention if I was exposed he'd rather not risk any trouble. So it's better this way."
"He must not have a lot of confidence in you huh?"
"More like he just sees me as someone who can make him a ton of money so he'd rather not risk anything happening."
Laura looks down sullenly while walking. She wants to see what the capital is like without the massive festival crowds around. But she's stuck inside and unable to.
"Hey Miss Laura?"
"What is it?"
"You seem like you're having a bad day."
"Ahh... No I'm not."
"You don't look too happy."
"I just... want to go outside a little bit. I've spent this entire month either training or reading books."
"Oh, sorry."
"Don't be, it's fi-"
Just then Laura is tripped by a person walking in the opposite direction.
"Huh!?"
She falls to the ground with her head hitting the stone floor hard. The sudden impact causes her vision to blur for a moment before snapping back into focus. When she does she finds herself looking up at a man covered in armor with a scar over his right eye.
"Ugh..."
"Are you alright?"
The voice comes from a woman standing beside the man wearing the same uniform as Avery. The man scoffs, draws the sword at his hip and points it at Laura's face.
"So you're the demon I'll be killing in the arena?"
"S-Sir Vannix please stop this."
The maid next to Vannix attempts to admonish him but he just ignores her.
"Don't worry I won't kill her yet. I want to do that in front of all the spectators. I won't tolerate a demon stinking up this place. Don't worry little demon girl I'll make sure you die in agony."
"Oh? Big talk from someone who had to trip a 12 year old girl in order to come off as somewhat intimidating."
Laura stands up with Vannix's sword still pointing at her head. Her attitude causes Vannix to growl in frustration.
"What did you say!?"
"I said you had to trip over a 12 year old in order come off as somewhat intimidating. To be honest that's kind of pathetic Vannix. I heard you were recovering from an injury but if it's so bad that this is the only way you can threaten me then I'd recommend taking a few more months to heal."
"You little braaaaat!"
Vannix begins to swing his sword at Laura before a voice interrupts his swing.
"What are you doing Vannix?"
It's Roderick.
"You two are going to fight each other in a few days. I'd rather you not try to slash your opponent before the audience has a chance to see it. Now drop the sword and move along."
"Fine fine! But I'm killing this little brat in front of everyone. And I'm going to make sure she suffers."
"Yeah yeah yeah. Just move along Vannix."
With that Vannix turns away and starts walking in the opposite direction.
"Thank you Roderick."
The maid following Vannix nods in appreciation towards Roderick. He smiles at her.
"No problem."
After that Laura stands there confused for a moment until Roderick addresses her.
"So Laura, what do you think of your opponent?"
"Honestly, not a very good first impression."
"Yeah I figured he'd hate you when he heard he'd be fighting a demon. He's always been a little quick to anger."
"Oh really, why?"
"He's the same as Marie. He's had a bad experience with a demon and that's how he ended up with that massive scar on his right eye."
"Well I had nothing to do with that so I'm not going to take his anger as a proxy for his inability to sort out his own problems."
"Dang that's harsh."
"It was the same with Marie. These people see me as some proxy that'll take their anger and won't fight back and it pisses me off."
"That's fair. But are you saying you don't sympathize with them?"
"Not when they project their anger on me."
"Harsh."
"Whatever Roderick."
Roderick chuckles at Laura's response.
"Anyway I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Make sure you're ready for the match."
"I will be Roderick, you can count on it."
Laura wakes up the next morning feeling refreshed. She gets dressed and goes downstairs where she finds Eleonora waiting for her at the training grounds.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
Eleonora and Laura exchange pleasantries before proceeding to the training grounds.
"Looks like you got some good rest."
"Yeah I did."
They both begin their practice without delay. Same as the previous day the warmup proves to be quite exhausting for Laura. Eleonora notices this and makes sure to give Laura an extra break.
"You're doing great Laura. Don't push yourself too hard though."
After the warmup comes the first sparring session. Despite being about as tired as yesterday Laura gives it her all but is unable to put up a decent fight. After a few sparring matches Laura sprawls onto the ground exhausted.
"I don't know if I'll ever get better at this…"
"You will get better Laura, trust me. It's only day two."
The next day Laura sprawls onto the ground exhausted once again.
"You're getting better at it at least."
"I-I guess."
Her stamina, speed, reflexes, and strength are all improving bit by bit and before she knows it a month has passed. The days are filled with training and sparring alongside Eleonora. As the days turn into weeks Laura can somewhat keep up with Eleonora after the warmup.
However her skills aren't enough to beat her yet.
There wooden practice swords cross each other in a stalemate. It's been a month since they've started training together and already Laura can handle the pace of the training, however.
*clunk*
Laura's sword flies out of her hand and she falls over on her butt. Eleonora's wooden sword is pointed at her neck as Eleonora smiles at her.
"I win again Laura."
A smile spreads across Laura's face as she stands up. Eleonora had beaten her every time they spared over the past month. However, Laura still hadn't become strong enough to defeat Eleonora.
"Not bad for a beginner."
Eleonora laughs as she sheathes her sword.
"Anyways, it's almost noon. I'll let you go now."
"Fine by me. I'm hungry."
"Me too."
"See you tomorrow then."
Eleonora walks away while Laura stretches her arms and legs. After Laura finishes stretching she heads back inside the colosseum to eat lunch. However she's stopped before she enters the dining hall.
"Hey Laura Roderick needs to talk to you."
It's Olivia, Roderick's secretary.
"Sure thing."
Laura follows Olivia to Roderick's office. She wonders what this could be about.
"Miss Laura, please sit down."
Laura does as she's told and sits opposite Roderick who is sitting behind his desk.
"So what's up?"
"Well we're here to introduce you to your new personal maid. Her name is Avery and she's just gotten done with training."
"That name sounds familiar."
"Well she was working under Marie during her training period but after Marie got kicked out of the colosseum Avery had to go through even lengthier training to make sure none of Marie's prejudice rubbed off on her. Now that she's finished her training and graduated from her apprenticeship she's ready for her first job as a maid in the colosseum."
"Honestly I've been doing fine without a personal maid over the past month so you don't have to."
"Nonsense! Every fighter in the colosseum has their own maid to do tasks for them so they can focus on getting better."
"I consider myself low maintenance though."
Roderick jumps out of his seat and puts on leg on top of his desk while pointing at Laura.
"Proposal for no maid is rejected Laura. Plus a strong fighter escorted by an attractive maid is the perfect picture don't you think?"
"Um...okay sure."
"Great!"
Roderick sits back in his chair and claps his hands.
"Now Olivia bring in Avery."
"Yes sir."
Olivia walks out of the room and returns a moment later with Avery. Avery is a young woman who looks to be slightly older than Laura.
She's tall and slim with red hair.
"This is Avery, she's 16 years old and from today onward she's your personal maid. Avery, this is Laura. Introduce yourselves."
Laura stands from her chair and hesitantly walks over to Avery who bows her head.
"I am Avery. It's a pleasure to be in your care Miss Laura."
"Likewise."
Their handshake is firm and gentle. Laura is surprised at how soft Avery's hands feel.
"Wow so these are demon hands?"
Avery curiously examines Laura's clawed hands like she's just found something rare.
"They're not a big deal."
"They're pretty cool actually."
Laura awkwardly turns away and lets go of the handshake.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. Just didn't expect someone to be so fascinated by my claws. It's not a problem though."
"Then can I look at your claws more?"
"I'd really rather you not."
"But they're so cool. I'd really like to-"
"Avery!"
Roderick shouts at Avery causing her to freeze in place.
"Not even 5 minutes on the job and you're already making Laura uncomfortable. Do I need to send you back to training?"
"No, no! I mean I'm sorry Miss Laura. I just thought they were interesting."
"Please do not cause Laura any trouble Avery. Understood?"
"Yes sir."
Roderick rubs his chin as he thinks something over.
"Alright then. Now onto the next topic. Since you're training with Eleonora has started you've progressed quite a lot right?"
"I'd say I've improved my fighting skill somewhat."
"Good so in a few days we're going to be doing some exhibition matches between lower ranked fighters and since you're the lowest ranked at the moment I'm asking you to participate."
"Honestly Roderick I'm curious as to why I haven't been participating in the weekly fights until now?"
Roderick scoffs. "Well I can't just throw you out there every single week now can I? You're a rare fighter that people would pay top dollar to watch fight. I threw you out there in a match against Anton for two reasons. Reason 1 was to introduce you to the audience and reason 2 was to finally get that worthless Anton out of my colosseum. But I do need to throw you out there at times so people's interest in you won't vanish."
"I see."
"Anyways we're also doing this so you can fight Vannix."
"Who's Vannix?"
"Vannix didn't participate in the tournament a month ago because of an injury he sustained. He's still not at 100 percent but I'm hoping you and him can put on a good match. You and Vannix are the final match of the night so give it your best for the main event. Alright?"
"Got it."
"That's good Laura. I hope your training pays off and excites the crowd. Go ahead and enjoy the rest of your day Laura, you may leave now."
With that Laura exists Roderick's office with Avery following behind her. Once they're alone in the hallway Avery asks Laura, "So Miss Laura what are we going to do now?"
"I'm going to go eat something, I'm hungry. After that I'll probably work on my magic by myself."
"Oh is that all?"
"Yup. I can't go outside the colosseum without Roderick's permission after all. Since it's an order engraved into my collar. I'm kinda bummed about that but oh well."
"Oh right I heard about those collars. Each fighter is given one but each one has different amounts of freedom depending on the individual right?"
"Well since I'd draw a lot of attention if I was exposed he'd rather not risk any trouble. So it's better this way."
"He must not have a lot of confidence in you huh?"
"More like he just sees me as someone who can make him a ton of money so he'd rather not risk anything happening."
Laura looks down sullenly while walking. She wants to see what the capital is like without the massive festival crowds around. But she's stuck inside and unable to.
"Hey Miss Laura?"
"What is it?"
"You seem like you're having a bad day."
"Ahh... No I'm not."
"You don't look too happy."
"I just... want to go outside a little bit. I've spent this entire month either training or reading books."
"Oh, sorry."
"Don't be, it's fi-"
Just then Laura is tripped by a person walking in the opposite direction.
"Huh!?"
She falls to the ground with her head hitting the stone floor hard. The sudden impact causes her vision to blur for a moment before snapping back into focus. When she does she finds herself looking up at a man covered in armor with a scar over his right eye.
"Ugh..."
"Are you alright?"
The voice comes from a woman standing beside the man wearing the same uniform as Avery. The man scoffs, draws the sword at his hip and points it at Laura's face.
"So you're the demon I'll be killing in the arena?"
"S-Sir Vannix please stop this."
The maid next to Vannix attempts to admonish him but he just ignores her.
"Don't worry I won't kill her yet. I want to do that in front of all the spectators. I won't tolerate a demon stinking up this place. Don't worry little demon girl I'll make sure you die in agony."
"Oh? Big talk from someone who had to trip a 12 year old girl in order to come off as somewhat intimidating."
Laura stands up with Vannix's sword still pointing at her head. Her attitude causes Vannix to growl in frustration.
"What did you say!?"
"I said you had to trip over a 12 year old in order come off as somewhat intimidating. To be honest that's kind of pathetic Vannix. I heard you were recovering from an injury but if it's so bad that this is the only way you can threaten me then I'd recommend taking a few more months to heal."
"You little braaaaat!"
Vannix begins to swing his sword at Laura before a voice interrupts his swing.
"What are you doing Vannix?"
It's Roderick.
"You two are going to fight each other in a few days. I'd rather you not try to slash your opponent before the audience has a chance to see it. Now drop the sword and move along."
"Fine fine! But I'm killing this little brat in front of everyone. And I'm going to make sure she suffers."
"Yeah yeah yeah. Just move along Vannix."
With that Vannix turns away and starts walking in the opposite direction.
"Thank you Roderick."
The maid following Vannix nods in appreciation towards Roderick. He smiles at her.
"No problem."
After that Laura stands there confused for a moment until Roderick addresses her.
"So Laura, what do you think of your opponent?"
"Honestly, not a very good first impression."
"Yeah I figured he'd hate you when he heard he'd be fighting a demon. He's always been a little quick to anger."
"Oh really, why?"
"He's the same as Marie. He's had a bad experience with a demon and that's how he ended up with that massive scar on his right eye."
"Well I had nothing to do with that so I'm not going to take his anger as a proxy for his inability to sort out his own problems."
"Dang that's harsh."
"It was the same with Marie. These people see me as some proxy that'll take their anger and won't fight back and it pisses me off."
"That's fair. But are you saying you don't sympathize with them?"
"Not when they project their anger on me."
"Harsh."
"Whatever Roderick."
Roderick chuckles at Laura's response.
"Anyway I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Make sure you're ready for the match."
"I will be Roderick, you can count on it."
