évra steps forward. Each step makes me doubt my footing. I try to stay in place, to resist, but my legs step back on their own. She stops. A bestial smile slowly stretches her lips.

  — Survive.

  Aris’s back faces me. He steps forward alone, without hesitation, his feet firmly planted in the sand.

  — It is an honor to be trained by someone so powerful.

  He lunges and strikes évra in the stomach. The impact lifts sand around them. évra does not move. She shows no sign of impact, as if the attack were nothing more than an insect striking a wall. She grabs Aris’s arm and hurls him away. His body scrapes across the sand for several meters before coming to a stop. évra walks toward him.

  Fortuna’s voice rises, light, with a tremor she does not even try to hide.

  — Hey… big beast. Come fight me.

  évra does not spare her a glance and continues toward Aris.

  My body moves without me deciding anything. I end up between them. Her pressure is too close. She advances, I retreat. I shout to force myself to hold and move forward without thinking.

  The impact comes instantly. Something heavy and brutal smashes into my face. I am thrown backward, fly several meters, then crash into the sand. I cough, blood rises in my throat.

  Fuck. She hits hard.

  My body trembles, but I am still standing. Not for long.

  Fortuna slaps her own face with a sharp gesture. The sound snaps, brief, almost ridiculous, but her tone changes instantly.

  — évra… do you want to play a game?

  The pressure around her shifts slightly. Not stronger. Different. The pressure no longer weighs down, it slides. Her body looks sharper.

  évra stops abruptly. Her amber gaze locks onto Fortuna. Her body trembles just barely, an infinitesimal but real reaction. She strikes the ground with her foot and walks toward her.

  — Let’s play.

  A wave passes through the arena. Space vibrates, warps, then stabilizes. A giant die appears between them, one meter tall, carved from gleaming steel. Each face catches the light with cutting precision.

  Fortuna tilts her head slightly.

  — The honor is yours.

  évra steps forward and places her hand on the die. It immediately rises, spinning in the air, unstable, unpredictable, as if it rejected any logical trajectory.

  — Stop.

  The die falls. It slams into the ground with a sharp crash.

  Five.

  Fortuna does not react. She simply raises her hand, without effort, without visible intent.

  — Stop.

  The die rolls one last time. It is not her decision. She merely lets luck finish the work.

  Six.

  Something passes through évra’s gaze. Clarity or irritation, hard to tell.

  Around Fortuna, a faint golden glow appears. Nothing dazzling. Just enough to be noticed. She raises her arms with almost theatrical enthusiasm, as if all this were just another game.

  — Perfect. Today, luck plays.

  She smiles. Her gaze locks onto évra.

  — Aris, Heyo, counterattack, on instinct.

  I do not know why, but Fortuna’s words hit me head on. Something activates. Not an idea. Not a plan. Just a raw impulse. I charge on instinct. It is simple. I have to hit évra. Hard. No matter how. I do not think. I remember being locked here.

  évra raises her arm to strike before I reach her. I prepare to dodge and, without stopping, sweep the sand with a kick. Dust bursts up, biting at her eyes. I barely avoid her attack.

  Something snaps shut over her face.

  Noise cancelling headphones. An opaque blindfold.

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  They appear without warning, like a delayed answer to my movement. évra loses two senses at once, just for a fraction of a second, but it is enough. I focus everything I have into my fist and aim for her face. I feel that she still perceives me even like this. I know she will dodge. She shifts, except this time she misjudges.

  My punch lands cleanly. The impact cracks. évra stumbles back several steps, surprised for the first time. Not hurt, but hit. I know it is not enough. Just a mistake she did not anticipate.

  Fortuna is already there. She strikes her ribs. It is not a powerful blow, it is a precise one. The sound rings like something perfectly placed. évra feels it and tries to regain footing.

  I attempt a sweep. I am too far, I know it, my leg cuts through empty space. But it does not matter. Under évra’s foot, something slips. A banana peel. Absurd, instantaneous, inevitable. Her balance breaks for a fraction of a second, just enough.

  Aris is already on her. He strikes with a violence that steals my breath. The impact echoes through the arena. évra is hurled backward and her body crashes into the Colosseum wall with a deafening roar.

  Silence.

  All three of us are standing. Fortuna wears a delighted smile, almost proud. Aris is breathing badly. His shoulders tremble. He gave everything.

  In the distance, évra is still partially hidden by dust. She is standing. Her aura grows heavier. Then she walks forward, calmly.

  — That will not save you.

  — Fortuna. Luck. Your power favors the improbable. That is why this sequence worked.

  She keeps walking, her voice steady.

  — Heyo. Free. You do not control your power. But luck gave you a semblance of control. Two anomalies. Two miracles.

  She pauses, as if calculating something.

  Her gaze slides to Aris.

  — Aris. Best. You struck with strength equal to mine. Perhaps slightly above. Your Word makes you physically superior to your opponent… but your body is not designed to withstand that overload. The backlash is severe.

  The dust settles. A shape emerges.

  Her body imposes a brutal obviousness. The upper part is built to crush, broad, dark, saturated with force, incapable of finesse, like a mass born to seize and break. The lower part, by contrast, is stretched toward momentum, ready to spring, designed for pure speed, built for pursuit. Nothing truly aligns, and yet everything functions. It is not a hybrid creature, nor a living metaphor. It is an optimized form, stripped of what was not useful.

  évra stands there. Without the slightest visible weakness. She applauds slowly, unhurried.

  — You are less weak than expected.

  She lifts her chin slightly.

  — I can therefore go a little harder.

  I blink. évra’s hand is already closed around Fortuna’s head. Her feet leave the ground in a suspended instant, too short to react, then her skull is smashed into the sand. The impact is final. Fortuna does not move.

  évra turns to Aris and walks until she looms over him.

  Aris senses it and strikes. Even harder than before. The impact is brutal. The shock almost lifts her. For a moment, one could believe it was enough.

  évra absorbs it without stepping back.

  Aris is the one who collapses.

  — Two blows only.

  He tries to get up. His mind is still there, stretched toward the fight, clinging to the challenge. But his body no longer follows. His arms do not respond, his legs are dead. He forces himself with his torso, with his head, refusing to give up.

  A smile appears on his lips.

  — Magnificent…

  His eyes close.

  évra disappears from my field of vision. Then something hits me like a truck at full speed. My body slams into the ground. My vision blurs. My mind gives out.

  The world goes dark.

  …

  My body hurts everywhere, then a strange warmth wraps around me, soft, almost pleasant. When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is blue flames, all over my body.

  — …Help, I’m burning.

  I roll in the Colosseum sand, panicked. The fire refuses to go out and yet it does not hurt, on the contrary. I finally stop and breathe. The fire consumes nothing, it repairs.

  The flames react to évra’s presence. She restores us. The pain fades little by little, my body grows lighter, my energy slowly returns.

  I lift my head. Fortuna and Aris are still lying there, also surrounded by blue flames, their bodies regenerating slowly before my eyes.

  Fortuna suddenly screams.

  — HELP I’M BURNING I’M BURNING…

  She crawls toward me in panic.

  — Heyo! Save me! Make water appear, something, anything!

  I look at her, hesitant, first because I cannot, then because I understand these flames are not dangerous. She stops abruptly, looks at her own body, blinks.

  — …Wait.

  She jumps to her feet.

  — Wow. I feel much better. These flames are amazing.

  Aris is already standing, calm, lucid, and joins us without a word, as if the situation were obvious. Fortuna crosses her arms, clearly recovered.

  — Well played, my companions. Total defeat… but not humiliating. Ahaha.

  A voice bursts out behind her.

  — AHAHAHAHA!

  Fortuna jumps, turns, and murmurs.

  — …The demonic beast is here.

  évra is relaxed and far too cheerful.

  — Well done. I must admit I was bored when they assigned me this role. Playing babysitter, not for me. I was afraid I would rust.

  She looks down at us.

  — But you are… quite interesting.

  She smiles.

  — So let’s start properly. I am évra, your supervisor. If you become a threat, I kill you. If you are useful, I make you stronger.

  She taps her own chest.

  — My Word is Beast. I live for war. And in the end… these little “vacations” with you are not so useless.

  For her, capturing and beating people up counts as vacation. That does not bode well.

  évra continues, already turning toward the Colosseum.

  — The program is simple. Survive until the end.

  She turns back to us.

  — Now that you are standing… we resume.

  I stay frozen. This is a joke, right? No break? Not a minute? I glance at Fortuna. She has exactly the same expression as me. Aris, on the other hand, is smiling, eyes shining, almost awed. He is delighted.

  I swallow. I am not sure I will survive this training.