Isaac walked up to the empty receptionist's counter and tapped the bell. A sharp chime rang out through the lower floor of the Guild Hall. The clattering in the kitchen stopped a moment later, a moment after that, a young man in an apron walked out and stared at them, dumbfounded. "We're looking for the receptionist." Isaac told him from across the hall. His voice was only as loud as if he was carrying on a conversation in a lively tavern but it easily carried across the dead silent Guild Hall.

"I receptionist." The young man said but otherwise just continued staring at them. His hair was dirty blonde and his skin was pale just like the rest of the residents. His accent matched them as well, marking him as a native to this city on the edge of civilization.

"We need a guide to the elven city." Isaac told him.

"The Citadel in the Leaves or Material de la Celestia?" The young man asked.

"Whichever one the Fatebreaker resides in." Isaac replied.

The young man nodded. "Material de la Celestia."

"Why is it called that?" Isaac wondered.

The young man shrugged. "No idea."

"Can you get us a guide?" Isaac continued his questioning. The short and simple replies of the locals were starting to grate on his nerves.

The young man looked in thought for a long moment. "Arena." He eventually said with a nod. "Walter Walker." He gave them a name. "He best option. If no, he tell who agree."

Isaac nodded. "Thanks." He replied. "Where is the Arena?"

"Outside town." He rather poorly explained and pointed towards the south east.

Isaac sighed. "Good enough. Thanks." He said and turned to leave.

Lenna nodded towards the young receptionist. "Thank you." She told him and then joined Isaac.

Isaac and Lenna spent the next half an hour just trying to find their way through the city towards a gate that was close to where the young man had pointed. By the time they had made it outside, and to the walled off arena area, the snow had stopped entirely and the ground had turned muddy.

An announcer called out over the sounds of cheering and booing crowds. "And next we have our reigning second place champion! I wonder if he will run away before he fights our real champion once again?!" Isaac and Lenna could hear his voice before they were even inside the wooden walls that blocked off the arena from the road. A large woman, with a smoking pipe in her mouth and a club leaning next to her, was blocking the way in and moved to stop them before they could enter.

"One silver to enter." She told the duo, even after she got a good look at their double platinum tags. Isaac raised an eyebrow and tossed her a silver coin. "Each." She added and dropped it in a small bucket that was hanging next to her. It made a dull clunk as it landed on top of only she knew how many other coins. Isaac gave her a flat look and tossed her another coin. She caught that one too and did the same as she had with the first. "Find Mark for bets." She told them and then stepped out of the way.

Isaac nodded. "What about for fighting?" He asked her.

"Also Mark." She told him with her eyes narrowed on his tags. It looked like she wanted to say something but didn't and just waved them through.

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Once Isaac and Lenna were inside the wooden hallway, that would take them inside the impromptu coliseum, Isaac turned to Lenna. "I wonder what that was about."

Lenna shook her head. "I don't know." She replied. "But I have a feeling today is going to get a lot more interesting."

Isaac and Lenna walked out of the hallway and into a circular open space. There were bleachers made out of wood that surrounded an arena that was only thirty feet across. A small pathway and an even smaller fence separated the crowd from the fighters. Everyone seemed to follow some unspoken rule and stayed off of the path unless they were using it to go from one place to another. Two hundred or so people filled around half of the six level tiered seating. There was a raised section where the announcer was standing and yelling through a speaking trumpet to project his voice over the semi-subdued rowdy crowd.

At the base of the tower, there was a red fox the size of a large wolf curled up next to a pair of saddlebags. In the middle of the muddied arena there was a large man with muscles that could have only come from decades of crushing stone with a pickaxe wearing working clothes that had seen better days. There was another man approaching him from where the fox was resting. The new challenger had already discarded his shirt, somewhere but it was nowhere to be seen, and had his hands wrapped and ready for a brawl. The new challenger was an elf who stood a full five inches shorter than the miner but was toned with muscles that looked sculpted more than naturally forming. His muscle definition was so absurdly perfect that Isaac had to question if they were real or created via an illusion. There was no way that the man had a deity built body after all, was there?

"Get ready folks for either another beat down or the upset of the month!" The announcer called out. "Walter Walker has arrived to maintain his second place title! Can Alek Volkov defeat the nearly unbeaten elf from across the world!? Or will he fall just like so many others!?"

"That's our guy?" Isaac wondered. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but a jacked arena boxer was not what he was not it.

"His name is strange." Lenna commented as the fighters squared off. "That is not an elvish name. That is as 'Plains Human' of a name as it gets."

Isaac nodded. "And his muscles don't look natural." He added.

"They look like yours." Lenna replied.

Isaac nodded again. "I had the same thought." He agreed. "Let's see how good of a fighter he actually is."

Walter slipped inside Alek's heavy right cross with one quick step that seemed entirely unhindered by the muddy ground. His fists closed into a familiar position with his thumbs bracing his middle fingers to keep their second knuckles protruding outwards. He drove a knuckle into Alek's breast bone with his right hand while he pressed the outside of his left forearm against the inside of Alek's right to keep his extended arm from coming back into play. As Alek stumbled back and started doubling over in pain, Walter twisted and drove his left middle knuckle into Alek's front teeth, sending them into the back of his mouth and down his throat before the larger man could even react.

Alek tried to grab onto Walter's shoulder as he pulled his right hand back and brought his left up in a weak uppercut that was robbed of most of its strength by Alek's now broken breastbone. His fingers scraped against Walter's bare shoulder as the smaller man took half a step back and leaned away from the uppercut just enough for it to miss his chin by an inch. He turned that temporary retreat into a spinning back kick that landed his boot directly on Alek's liver and the large man finally crumpled in a whimpering heap as he simply could not power through the pain any longer. Walter's boot had cut open Alek's midsection but not badly enough that some clean water and bandages wouldn't fix it. The real damage was the broken breastbone that now, combined with the heavy liver shot, made it hard for the large man to even breathe. The missing teeth and blood filled mouth were the least of the large miner's worries and would be for the foreseeable future unless he could afford a healer. Walter had just ended the man's entire fighting career in two and a half seconds with three attacks.

"He's decent." Isaac told Lenna. "Not great though. Anyone decently trained who wasn't slow as all hells could've beaten the larger guy."

"The dodge into a kick was impressive." Lenna offered.

"Do we have any other challengers before our main event!? That brutal beatdown was over before it even began!" The announcer called out over the near silent crowd. It seemed that to some, the outcome was expected, but to others, it seemed like they were in shock at how quickly it had all been over.

A human with pitch black hair and olive skin hopped the fence as two others entered with a stretcher to help the defeated Alek. They also arrived with a healing potion to ensure that he survived his recent injuries.

"And we have another challenger!" The announcer exclaimed. "Jet Jikan! A man from across the sea! A descendant of the Lady of Time herself! Let's see what this young martial artist has in store for us! He has been waiting to challenge our champion but I see he has found someone worthy in our second place winner! Place your bets everyone! The fight will start in one minute!"

"Something is off about Lady Jikan's descendant." Isaac told Lenna. "Other than the fact that Ori Jikan both has descendants and one of them is in this mud pit looking for a bare knuckle brawl."

Lenna nodded. "He is a monk." She told him.

"Like a devotee to copying books?" Isaac asked.

Lenna looked at him like he was crazy. "No. Someone who devotes their life to studying how lifeforce flows throughout the body and how to harness it, usually for combat." She explained. "I am sure we have talked about them at least once before."

Isaac nodded. "We have." He agreed. "Though, this is definitely the first time I have seen one. He moves unnaturally… but somehow incredibly naturally. I don't know how exactly to describe it."

"His steps follow a precise curve and cadence, almost like a dance." Lenna explained. "Probably one that moves in perfect form with the flow of life energy in his body or something. I don't know. Monks are weird."

Isaac frowned. "That is both helpful and entirely unhelpful."

Lenna shrugged. "Ask him about it when the fight is over." She replied.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Isaac asked.

"It depends on how good the monk is, really. I have heard stories of them causing great trees to splinter with one punch, or cause cave-ins with one kick." Lenna told him. "I guess we will have to wait and see."

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