Ben opened his mouth to continue talking, but Lucius was already moving. There was no time to indulge the speech. He had heard enough. The words were unimportant.
What mattered was the distance between them.
Ben blinked, surprised. He hadn't expected the powerless one to close the gap so quickly. His voice caught in his throat, and irritation replaced smugness in an instant.
"Hey! I was talking-"
Too late.
Ben raised a hand, fingers already glowing. A fireball hissed to life in his palm, pulsing with orange heat. He hurled it without a word, then another, and another, the air heating with each throw. The fireballs spiraled toward Lucius, howling with kinetic speed.
But Lucius... moved.
He weaved.
With a dancer's grace and a predator's precision, he dodged each one. Not a single spark grazed him. The fire lit up his face in flashes, orange, gold, then shadow. His expression didn't change. His body moved on its own.
Ben gritted his teeth.
More fire.
More misses.
Lucius's footsteps rang against the reinforced alloy ring, echoing like a drumbeat. Steady. Controlled. Not a hint of panic.
He was close now. Very close.
Ben pulled back his arm to conjure something larger, more devastating, but Lucius closed the distance in the heartbeat it took to blink.
One kick.
That was all.
Lucius' foot connected cleanly with Ben's chest. The blow wasn't flashy, but it was fast, direct, and precise. It knocked the breath from Ben's lungs, sent him stumbling backward, gasping.
And Lucius was there again.
In a single, fluid motion, he stepped forward, unsheathed his sword, and pointed it at Ben's throat.
The arena fell quiet.
The silver blade glinted under the arena lights. Its edge was chipped, imperfect, but it was steady.
The tip hovered just above Ben's skin.
Then light.
Both were enveloped in a shimmer of white-blue energy.
The match had ended.
They disappeared from the ring.
Back in the waiting area, Amanda Verre sat with one leg crossed over the other, idly flipping her blank coin into the air.
She watched the fight unfold on the floating screen in front of her. Her face remained still, unreadable, except for a brief parting of her lips when Lucius kicked Ben in the chest.
The coin landed.
Tails.
Again.
A breath escaped her lips. Something like a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Interesting.
Her eyes flicked back to the screen, but the fight was already over.
Lucius returned to the observation stands, where Alex was seated with his legs sprawled across two chairs, watching the chaos unfold with a mix of fascination and boredom.
"That was clean," Alex said without looking away from the screen. "A little too clean, honestly. You sure you don't have a blessing hidden in your back pocket?"
Lucius dropped into the seat next to him.
"If I did, don't you think I would've used it by now?"
Alex laughed. "True. Still, I like how you kicked him in the chest. Straightforward. Honest. Not a lot of honesty in fireballs."
They both continued talking for a little while before Alex went into one of the rings.
Lucius decided to watch some of the other matches, then he turned his attention to one of the rings and immediately he opened his eyes in shock.
A figure stood tall in the center of it, arms raised. Robots poured from his side like loyal soldiers. Gleaming steel. Clicks and whirs. Controlled movements.
Alex.
Lucius watched as Alex's machines overwhelmed his opponent with ruthless efficiency. It wasn't even close. One robot disarmed the other combatant, another pinned them down, and a third gently held a blade to the person's neck.
Elegant.
Effortless.
Robotic.
A few moments later, Alex was teleported out of the ring. The instructor's voice echoed again.
"The combat assessment is now concluded. Results and accommodations have been transmitted to your watches. Please check for your housing assignments."
Lucius looked down at his wrist.
Room: 117-G.
Occupant count: 1.
He let out a small, bitter laugh.
Of course.
Of course they put him alone.
It wasn't just preference. It wasn't luck. It was deliberate.
No divine signature. No ability. No place among them.
They saw it as a disease. As contamination. He could practically hear their thoughts.
Keep him isolated.
Don't let it spread.
Lucius leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment.
Solitude wasn't new to him.
He had grown up with it.
He had learned to make it comfortable.
It meant fewer expectations. Fewer lies.
And most importantly... privacy.
When he opened his eyes again, the crowd around him was already thinning. People checking their watches. People heading toward the dormitories. Conversations swirled around him, loud and boastful, but none of it touched him.
He stood.
Alex raised an eyebrow. "You okay with being in a room by yourself?"
"Better than sharing a room with someone who sees me as a target."
"That's Fair."
Lucius paused for a moment. He looked out over the now-emptying arena.
The breeze stirred his hair.
Somewhere in the distance, Amanda flipped her coin again.
Alex watched the blank coin fall into her hand.
He didn't see it land.
But he had a feeling.
Tails.
Lucius arrived at Room 117-G just after sundown. The hallway was quiet, lit only by sterile ceiling lights. The door slid open with a soft hiss.
The room was simple. A bed. A desk. A wardrobe. A single chair.
A small window let in the dying light of day.
He dropped his bag on the floor and sat at the edge of the bed. The springs creaked beneath him.
He looked at his reflection in the dark glass of the window.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same powerless demigod.
But there was something else now.
He had stepped into the ring.
And he had walked out of it.
He closed his eyes.
And smiled.
Let them talk.
Let them judge.
He was still here.
And that was enough.
For now.