The Ashen Dominion

The news about the organization registration and the new event [Organizations VS Organizations] quickly spread.

As a matter of fact, it reached every fighter slave's ears in just two days!

And with that, the organizations started moving fast. They started registering, and preparing for the new event.

Kaiser, Viktor, and Edmar did the same as well. They let every member of [Ashborn] know about the new event as soon as possible through Rai, and they told them to prepare.

The three of them trained normally like they always do, after all—they were already training hard before. If they did more than what they were already doing, then they'd just destroy their bodies.

And just like that, before they even knew it—

Three weeks had passed.

...

...

*****

"Fwaaaaaaaah~"

Kaiser let out a deep breath.

He leaned his head back, then slowly submerged it again into the warm water... letting the heat soak into his body.

The bath was quiet.

The steam lingered calmly above the water. The scent of herbs filled the room. The only sounds were occasional splashes, water dripping from the walls... and subtle breathing.

Kaiser sat up again, his medium length hair dripping wet. He wiped his face with both hands before leaning back against the edge of the small pool.

His entire body was warm, relaxed, and heavier than usual.

It was a good feeling.

This was one of the perks of being a Silver Ranker.

Once a week, they were allowed to use the bath area inside the Silver Prize Room. And today was that day in this week.

Kaiser didn't fight anyone recently. In fact, he hadn't stepped into the coliseum since the day he beat Ramon. That was three weeks ago. So he hadn't earned any new rewards lately.

Still...

This bath alone made being a Silver Ranker worth it.

"...Haaaaaah."

He sighed again.

"Comfortable?"

Then Viktor asked from the other side of the bath. His head was resting on the stone edge, arms spread lazily to both sides.

Edmar sat between the two, his eyes closed, steam rising from his wet hair. His swords were set aside in a corner of the room.

"Yeah."

Kaiser replied briefly, enjoying the bath.

His voice was soft. Calm. Distant.

Right now, he wasn't thinking about anything stressful.

He was just… here.

There were five more people in the area, but none of them made noise. No splashing. No shouting. No picking fights. All of them just soaked in the heat like they were made of stone.

The atmosphere was peaceful.

No guards. No announcers. No audience screaming for blood.

Just silence.

It had been a long time since Kaiser could enjoy this silence.

There was a time when he couldn't even enter this place without his heartbeat spiking. He used to frown and be nervous at the smallest sound, the echo of footsteps, the rustling of towels…

(Back when he was Cooper Rank, Kaiser always gets in trouble whenever he's in the bath area, so he was a bit traumatized :v)

But now?

Now he could close his eyes in here. Now he could breathe without tension.

He had overcome that trauma. Not completely, as he still scan the surroundings every minute or so. But it was enough that he could relax better now.

The bath area doesn't scare him anymore.

Anyway, moving on—

"...You two heard anything about the new event?"

Kaiser opened his eyes as he spoke.

And Edmar was the one who responded to his question.

"Yeah. Yesterday. Some servants said the preparations are going well. They might really launch the event next week if nothing delays it."

He said.

Kaiser nodded slowly.

"If I'm going to guess, they're probably ranking and judging the strength of organizations now based on their numbers and members."

Then Viktor suddenly added that, mumbling.

"Yeah, that's most likely the case right now."

Kaiser muttered, totally agreeing to his words.

Then he leaned forward a little, lowering his arms into the water again.

"So..."

"Are you guys nervous?"

He asked it casually, as if he were asking about the weather.

Edmar raised an eyebrow.

Viktor just laughed.

"Nervous?"

He scoffed.

"For what? It's not like this is gonna be different from what we already do."

"Yeah."

Edmar agreed.

"We gladiators fight most of our time. Sometimes we live. Sometimes we don't. That's the rule here."

"The two of us are totally cool about this everything."

Then he declared that.

Kaiser smirked a little after hearing his words.

"Same here."

Then he replied.

"I don't really feel anything about it. Just another fight."

"...Just with more people involved, I guess."

"Right."

Viktor chuckled.

"At least we won't have to kill each other."

He said jokingly.

"...For now, at least."

Kaiser added, glancing sideways at him.

"Haha, true. Just for now."

That got a small laugh from both Viktor and Edmar.

But they knew it too.

Nothing here was permanent. Just because you fought beside someone once, didn't mean you wouldn't be ordered or forced to kill them later in a match.

That's just how gladiators lives.

But still—

This was going to be different.

Kaiser and the others are used to one on one matches.

But this time…

It was going to be a chaotic brawl between organizations.

Multiple members. Group formations. Maybe even strategies. And glory to the group that wins.

Even if it's still killing, the format was changing.

And [Ashborn]—the group they built from nothing—was part of it.

Kaiser sat back again and stared at the ceiling.

He thought about all their members.

Most were Copper Rankers. Some didn't even have that much talent. But they were loyal. Hardworking. Most of them came from the Copper Place, where life was harder and crueler than here.

He wondered how many of them would survive this event.

"..."

He closed his eyes.

He didn't want to think about it too hard.

He just wanted to enjoy this warmth for a little while longer.

...

...

...

Kaiser, Viktor, and Edmar stayed there in the bath area for almost an hour.

The three of them didn't talk much after that.

It was mostly silence again.

Sometimes Viktor would sigh loudly and stretch, his bones cracking underwater.

Sometimes Edmar would ask if they should head out soon, but no one answered right away.

And sometimes Kaiser would just zone out, feeling the heat on his skin, his muscles loosening.

Though eventually... they knew it was time to go.

"Hup."

Edmar stood up first, grabbing his towel.

"I'll go first. If I stay here too long, I'll pass out."

"You're weak."

Viktor joked.

"You're the one who fainted last time."

"That was because I skipped breakfast."

"Excuses."

They kept bickering playfully as they stepped out of the water, towels over their shoulders.

Kaiser stayed behind a little longer.

Just a few more seconds.

Just one more breath.

Then finally—he stood up too.

Fwip~

He grabbed the towel and slung it over his neck, droplets of water still falling from his arms.

"...Let's go."

He muttered.

Viktor and Edmar were already drying themselves at the side of the room. The two of them were still chatting, Viktor teasing Edmar about something again.

Kaiser didn't bother joining in.

He just followed them silently...

...

...

The three of them dried up. Got dressed.

And after making sure they left no belongings behind—

They stepped out of the bath area.

The calm heat was replaced by the dry air of the hallway outside.

Their relaxed muscles would soon be tested again.

And with that—

"..."

"..."

"..."

Kaiser, Viktor, and Edmar headed back to the Silver Place.

*****

Meanwhile...

Clang~

The sound of plates and trays echoed across the narrow hallway.

Rai walked calmly, carrying a large metal tray filled with simple dinner sets—rice, stew, and bread.

His footsteps were quiet.

His presence, even quieter.

"..."

He blended in perfectly with the other servants.

But unlike them... Rai had a different purpose.

While Kaiser, Viktor, and Edmar were probably swinging weapons and tearing apart dummies in the training grounds—

He was here.

Moving silently between places filled with unfamiliar faces.

Listening.

Watching.

Memorizing.

'The two from the last Silver Place were carrying curved daggers. They had green sashes on their belts… maybe they're from the same group.'

He thought to himself, entering a different Silver Place.

As soon as he got inside, a loud burst of laughter came from the end of the cell.

"Hah! That guy from [White Vulture] couldn't even land a hit!"

"Well, can you blame him? Our captain's too fast."

"He better be! If we're gonna wipe other organizations off the map, he needs to keep winning."

Rai's eyes narrowed, but his expression stayed blank.

He scanned the area quickly.

Seven fighters.

Three women. Four men.

Some were eating. Some were chatting. One was sharpening his axe.

All of them wore dark grey bands around their right biceps.

Rai took note of that immediately.

'Grey band... that must be the sign for their group.'

He made sure to remember each face before turning around and quietly stepping back.

He just put the tray full of food in his hands on one of the empty benches. The other servants will take care of it later.

He got out of the Silver Place after that.

In the hallway, one of the senior servants waved him over for the next delivery.

"..."

Rai took another tray.

He didn't stop moving.

He didn't react to anything around him.

But his ears locked onto every word.

[Blood Chain]. [Iron Reign]. [White Vulture].

He was building a map in his head.

He needed to know how many they were.

Who their leaders were.

And whatever he can find about them.

'I need to keep going... there's still more Silver Place I haven't seen.'

Rai adjusted his grip on the tray, breathing out quietly.

'I can't fight, this is the only way I can help them.'

He thought to himself, before heading to a different Silver Place to help in distributing food for the gladiators.