“So… you want to be a House Fighter?”
While Arkiir didn’t seem nervous on the outside, on the inside, they were shaking. But Arkiir was a Rethan, they were not allowed to be nervous.
“I do, yes.”
Sitting before Arkiir was Tanok Stormcloud, the House Master, technically the highest ranking gladiator of the arenas, who was now fighting again, despite missing most of their arm. Tanok wasn’t intimidating at first glance, but considering how he was utterly covered in scratches and scars and was still a menace despite only having one arm, Tanok was definitely identifying a a threat right now.
“May I ask why?”
Arkiir nodded, then pulled put a small list. Well, small and well-folded for Arkiir. Large for most folks. Rethans always had an odd relationship with scale.
“First off, I want to remain a gladiator long term, which I cannot do in the 798th Legion, my contract in said Legion is only 10 years, but as a House Fighter, I can continue until I am no longer fit to fight. Secondly, I am having disagreements with members of the 798th Legion, and would rather promote the Rethans as a House Fighter, where we only have one person promoting our kind currently. Thirdly, I prefer team battles when fighting other races, but there is currently no such permanent position available in the 798th Legion. Fourthly, I enjoy venator battles and I cannot do those outside of training in the 798th Legion. I want to fight gigantic monsters all the time and in front of an audience.”
Tanok didn’t say anything at first, but he did take the list out of Arkiir’s hands, so he could read it for himself.
“Is this your writing?” Tanok eventually asked.
“Um… no…”
“Who assisted you?”
“Um…” Arkiir was now genuinely scared, but they held their fear in. “I spoke to your House Fighters, namely Kyr Timik, Kyr Kayess-Ksi and Kyr Abius, and they assisted me in writing a list. I thought it was logical to speak to them and ask them for advice.”
“Hm. Understandable.”
Tanok went back to being silent. He headed over to his computer and started looking stuff up. Arkiir assumed that Tanok was looking up Arkiir’s match and training history, and that was what worried Arkiir the most. They’d only done four live matches and had lost two of them, both to other Rethans. Sure, the other two matches, a duos match with another Rethan against two Thraki, had gone great and a solo match against another Thraki had also gone very well.
“Hm.”
Arkiir sat as still as they could, not sure what to say or do. Tanok was probably inspecting those losses. Probably thinking that Arkiir was not a good gladiator.
“I see that Kayess-En used you as a punching bag.”
“Um…”
“She does that a lot. She likes to pick on newer gladiators to bolster her own stats. To this day, I swear, she can’t get over the fact that Retvik repeatedly beat her, and that she also lost to Abius. Abius doesn’t even normally break streaks, Kayess-En is just too reliant on her team and prone to anger and distractions…”
Arkiir blinked. “What do you mean?”
“You fought Kayess-En twice. Pretty sure she only did that second match because she wanted a high after very nearly losing her previous Dessaron match.”
“Oh…” Arkiir sighed. “I was not very good at fighting Kayess-En.”
Tanok tutted. “You just haven’t learned how to counter her fighting style yet. Abius could probably help with that. But I can tell you’re not a bad fighter because you have two wins, and one of those is a solo win against a Thraki. Which means you do have potential as a venator gladiator.”
“Oh…” Arkiir frowned. “I sense that there are buts here though.”
Tanok thought for a moment, then nodded. “There is one but, and that is that you are inexperienced. But in all honesty? I don’t think that’s an issue for you. We’ve taken plenty of inexperienced gladiators before. Heck, Levik, our Spast House Fighter, he had zero experience when he started off.”
“Will… will that stop me though? You already have a really good Rethan House Fighter.”
“We do, yes!” Tanok leaned back a bit. “Abius is really good. But we do literally only have Abius now. We used to have eight Rethan house fighters in 2023, we have one now. Sure, Lord Tromos is doing his best to move away from having House Fighters with streaks and stuff, but we still NEED House Fighters. After all, normal gladiators rarely do venator and beast matches, and House Fighters often are used as referees, and we are definitely lacking in those lately.”
“So… I have a chance?” Arkiir asked.
“More than a chance!” Tanok beamed. “I would actually like to have you as a House Fighter. However, there’s more to it than what I want. I need to put your application through to both the Arena Council and Lord Tromos, and you will have to do several private matches in front of the council and Lord Tromos, against a handful of House Fighters. After that, you will have to do a series of training matches in public. If you put on a good show, then you will have a reveal match against an opponent of your choice, after which, assuming you win, you will be properly initiated as a House Fighter, with a title and everything.”
“A… a title?”
Tanok inspected Arkiir a bit. “Yes, a title.”
“A real title that I can use?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
Tanok inspected Arkiir some more. “Oh. Right. You’re a Rethan. You lot have a thing about titles. But I will be clear, being a House Fighter is HARD WORK. Levik admittedly got through the process fast, because he’s a Spast. You will have to prove yourself over and over.”
“I do not care!” Arkiir exclaimed, their lack of confidence fading away. “I will always work hard! I WANT to do this and I will prove that I can do this!”
Tanok smiled, tapping his hand cheerfully on the table. “Okie dokie. I’ll get started on the paperwork and the vetting process. In the mean time though, you need to speak to General Kaiga, and you will have to remove yourself from the 798th Legion.”
“Oh…” Arkiir stuttered briefly. “Alright. I shall speak to the General. What else do I need to do?”
“Train as much as possible. You need to be your best. Anyway, you are free to leave now.”
“I shall do that!” Arkiir bowed as they stood up. “Thank you!”
“No worries, Arkiir. Have a nice day.”