The Ashen Dominion

Three months passed unknowingly.

Peaceful months— at least, on the surface.

But not for Kaiser and the others. Not for gladiators like them who are trying to survive the coliseum everyday.

Kaiser had fought six more matches during the three months.

Six. And he didn't lose once, of course.

That brought his total record to eleven wins and zero losses. A clean streak.

He started making a name for himself around the Silver Rank now.

People started whispering more when he walked around the training ground. The other gladiators eyed him differently. Some were impressed. Some were wary. But fortunately, none of them were stupid enough to bother him.

Anyway, Kaiser didn't care about any of that. He never did.

In fact— he didn't even realize he had turned 17 until Rai mentioned it offhandedly after giving him his daily protein supply.

"Your birthday passed two weeks ago."

He said that time, Rai told Kaiser that he saw it on a list about new gladiators— his personal information.

But—

"...Cool."

That was all Kaiser said, dead reaction.

He didn't even sound happy to know that. He didn't celebrate, he didn't even think about it.

That day?

He just trained.

He trained harder than usual, actually. Kaiser pushed until his body felt like giving up. He kept swinging his wooden greatsword until his arms screamed. Until his vision blurred. Until his legs were shaking uncontrollably.

By the time he returned to his room— He couldn't even feel his hands anymore.

He leaned against the wall, panting.

Then chuckled faintly to himself.

"Ugh... I can't believe I'm used to this routine now. I was just an office worker a few months back."

He whispered under his breath.

...

...

...

On the other hand—

Viktor.

Unlike Kaiser, he didn't take as many fights.

During the three months, he had only participated in a handful. Carefully chosen.

But still... He now have 18 wins to his name.

No losses.

Viktor only accepted fights with opponent slightly stronger than him, and he uses them as stepping stones to improve and get stronger. Fighting against different weapon types, different movement styles—facing people with faster footwork, stronger frames, longer range...

All part of his training plan.

And during that time— he made a big change.

He switched his weapons.

Gone were the standard-sized dual axes he used to favor.

Now, he wielded something heavier. Thicker! The axes he trained with now were longer, their heads broader, their weight doubled.

At first, it was a disaster, obviously.

He became noticeably slower. Sloppier. His strikes were off balance. His recovery was late. It even made him lost a few spars during training, earning bruises and scratches that covered his entire side!

He cursed a lot during those days.

He even thought about going back to his old pair.

But he didn't...

He clenched his jaw and kept pushing forward. He adjusted his posture. He tightened his swings. He forced his body to move as one instead of just flailing limbs.

And after weeks of doing that, along with nonstop sparring matches—

He finally got it.

The weight became part of his rhythm.

And his power? It exploded several levels up.

When he struck now— it wasn't just fast. It was devastating!

In a recent spar, he broke a wooden sword clean in half with a single diagonal slash!

Viktor was trying to expand his strength.

...

...

...

Meanwhile... Edmar.

He was quieter. He took even less matches than Viktor.

But he's not idle.

In terms of official matches— he had the highest number.

Twenty wins. One loss.

And unlike the others, Edmar wasn't just focused on personal growth.

He was organizing and expanding the foundation of something much bigger than himself.

[Ashborn].

He handled most of the logistics and stuffs as the vice-head.

He recruited. He managed. He even trained newcomers!

Edmar taught the newer members personally at least once a week.

He was used to this kind of thing anyway so he didn't mind.

And Kaiser? He helped too, he's feeling responsible because he's the head and leader of [Ashborn], after all

Edmar was levels way above Kaiser in terms of managing. But Kaiser was willing to learn.

Oh, and also... He has the last call in everything.

Sometimes, Edmar would show him a potential recruit's profile, and Kaiser would quietly send Rai to contact them first before Edmar even moved.

"I'll be right back with a good news, hopefully.."

Rai would casually say to Kaiser before leaving.

Their relationship just got much closer.

Anyway, going back...

Edmar focused on reaching out to Copper Rankers with raw potential. Not the ones already standing at the edge of Silver Rank.

No.

Those people were already being scouted by the big and old organizations. The flashy ones. The rich ones.

So Edmar didn't care about them.

He cared about those who could be something greater.

And now...?

[Ashborn] had grown.

It have 22 members currently.

More than half of them were Copper Rankers though.

Damian. Rose. Jhamillah. Jenna.

They all joined officially, literally the same day they received the invitation from Kaiser through Rai.

And because their numbers are increasing...

People began to notice them.

Other organizations started to eye Kaiser and the others from a distance.

Watching... Calculating.

But none of them made a move yet.

Maybe waiting to see if [Ashborn] would collapse under its own weight. If it will disappear without them doing anything.

...

...

In the three months that passed—

There were no flashy headlines.

No giant duels or special events in the main arena.

No massive changes.

But the ground was shifting beneath everyone's feet.

Kaiser's presence became heavier.

Viktor's swings sharper.

Edmar's eyes colder.

And behind all that—

[Ashborn] kept growing.

Slowly. Quietly. Relentlessly.

A storm was coming... Slowly...

And they were at the center of it.

...

...

...

*****

Back to the present...

It was evening now.

Torches around the Silver Place flickered on, casting a warm glow over the area, the hall, the rooms... and the benches.

Kaiser, Viktor, and Edmar sat on one of them, a quiet corner not far from the edge of the place. They all just got back from training in the training ground.

Tray containers were in their hands, steam wafting up from freshly reheated bread and meat. Each of them had their own tray—nothing fancy, just a regular meal.

But after a long day of training, it tasted good as fuck for them.

The three didn't speak at first.

Just ate in silence.

Until Viktor suddenly let out a small grunt and wiped his mouth.

"...Hey, Edmar."

He muttered.

"You mentioned something earlier, about recruitment?"

Edmar didn't look up immediately.

He was still chewing, methodically. Then, after a moment, he swallowed and leaned back on the bench.

"Yeah."

He nodded once.

"We're running out of people to recruit."

Kaiser raised an eyebrow slightly but didn't say anything.

Viktor frowned.

"What do you mean? There should still be tons of new gladiators we haven't looked at yet."

Edmar exhaled.

"There are."

He lightly stabbed at the meat in his tray using his fork.

"But they're not untouched anymore."

"..."

"The other organizations have started moving, but not actively."

Kaiser glanced sideways now.

Edmar just continued.

"They're not doing anything obvious. No public poaching. No open badmouthing."

He looked ahead, eyes narrowing.

"But they're watching."

"Every Copper Ranker that shows a bit of promise—we're not the only ones eyeing them now."

Edmar paused, tapping his utensils lightly on the side of his tray.

"And the moment they see us trying to approach someone... the bigger groups are already ahead of us."

Viktor clicked his tongue.

"So they're gatekeeping now?"

"More like... Suppressing."

Edmar nodded.

"It seems like we're growing fast. So they're playing it smart."

"They're getting in the way—quietly. Nothing you can point a finger at. Just pressure."

He sat forward again, elbows on his knees.

"Some of the recruits we scouted this week? They backed off. Didn't even give a reason."

Kaiser closed his eyes briefly.

Then opened them again.

"...Tch."

He wasn't angry, but annoyed.

He didn't care about politics. But he hated pointless roadblocks.

Viktor scratched his head with a grimace.

"So what now? We just wait for scraps?"

He asked, disappointed.

"No."

But Edmar shook his head immediately with a simple reply.

"I'll shift our focus. Start looking at the overlooked ones again. Gladiators who didn't rank high in the fighter test but are showing improvements now."

Then he added with a serious look in his face.

Kaiser glanced at him.

"You sure?"

"I've already got names. I'll start checking them one by one this week."

Then Edmar responded with a small smirk—

"If they're getting desperate enough to block our scouting, that just means we're doing something right."

"...Heh."

Viktor smirked too.

"True."

They all went quiet again.

Just eating.

Swoosh~

The air was a bit cooler now that they figured that out.

Then—

"...By the way."

Viktor spoke again, glancing sideways.

"Kaiser."

Kaiser turned slightly toward him.

Viktor then pointed his spoon at him. And opening his half-full mouth—

"You got a match tomorrow, right?"

He asked that.

Edmar turned to Kaiser too after hearing that.

"Yeah. I saw it on the board."

He commented.

The two stared at him now. Waiting.

Kaiser looked back down at his tray, picked up a piece of roasted chicken, and chewed slowly.

Then—

He swallowed.

"...Yeah."

He muttered.

Then silence again.

Only now, both Viktor and Edmar leaned in slightly.

Waiting for what he'd say next.

Waiting to see if he was ready.

Waiting to see if the storm was coming back again.

"..."

But Kaiser didn't really say anything else after that.

"..."

"..."

Edmar and Viktor were in disbelief. Like really.

But they didn't say anything and just decided to go back to eating.