After a quick trip up to the observation deck so Fen and Xain could properly get a feel of the sensation of being surrounded by nothing but water in all directions, an experience Vector said they should have even if it was modified by an illusion, the three made their way down to what Xain thought of as the activities deck.

  On the short trek Xain found it difficult to pull his mind from the scene above, the endless ocean making him feel smaller and more insignificant than he thought possible. It wasn't until Fen gave him a nudge as they reached the bottom of a staircase that his focus was finally drawn back to the present, and he realized they had reached their destination.

  Deck 3 held none of the opulence of the floors above, but in the huge open area adorned with bare green walls and a large steel paneled floor, Xain felt more at home than he had since stepping foot on the ferry.

  Bow would love this.

  He knew the deck was broken into several parts that included a variety of rooms reserved for specific activities, and a space near the front meant to house the other runic creatures, but from where they stood it was difficult to see beyond the boxing rings, sets of weights, running track, pool, and several nondescript rectangular areas marked out in paint on the floor.

  The latter, he quickly surmised from the flashes of power emanating from the three pairs of Seeds who each occupied one of lanes, were places designated for runic sparring.

  Xain wondered for a second if the lines were just to mark the boundaries, but when a stray bout of fire veered toward one of the lines, and dissipated the moment it came in contact with an invisible wall, it became clear that the paint held runic sigils which kept the powers contained.

  After a quick glance around, Xain saw that aside from the six people sparring, there were another handful scattered around the room using the various equipment, as well as a group of four Jotun by a boxing ring to his left.

  “Have you been here already?” Xain asked Vector, who seemed to be equally enthralled by the scene.

  “No,” Vector said, shaking his head.

  “Yesterday was the first time I ventured out of my suite.”

  Well, seeing as what happened at dinner, that makes sense.

  At the thought, Xain searched for any sign of the Asgardians, and sighed in relief when failed to see any hint of a golden cape in the gym. If they were able to successfully go the rest of the voyage without meeting the group, Xain would call it a success.

  “Hey!”

  The call came from the left, and Xain quickly identified its source as one of the Jotun by the hand they raised in greeting.

  Xain raised his own hand, unsure if the welcome was directed at him or Vector, but when the Jotun beamed and waved him over, he only hesitated for a moment before Fen’s head hit his back and pushed him toward the group.

  With Vector and Fen beside him, Xain made his way over while wondering exactly how today was going to go. As they approached however, and he saw the bruised and bloody face which had called out to him smile broadly, he was able to hazard a guess.

  The Jotun were easily two feet taller than Xain, with large muscled arms, and necks so thick they could have been the trunks of mature trees, but the friendly smiles each of them wore quickly dispelled any fear he had that this meeting would be a repeat of his dinner time scuffle.

  “Xain, right?” the one who had waved him over said. He had dark blue skin, and a thick black beard, but it was the man’s mismatched eyes which drew Xain’s attention. The right held a white iris and a black sclera, where the left had a red iris and an almost grey sclera, creating a scene unlike anything Xain had seen before.

  “I’m Logan,” he said, reaching out his massive hand for Xain shake.

  As he did, Xain couldn't help but notice how small it was compared to the Jotun’s, his whole palm disappearing as the man closed his hand around Xain’s own.

  “This is Lyssa, Slate, and Brim,” Logan continued, gesturing to the others in the group.

  They were all similar in height, and all wore their long black hair braided down their back, but each had a unique tone to their skin, and bore mismatched eyes with combinations he had never before seen.

  Lyssa had one green eye and one yellow, with dark grey skin.

  Slate’s deep purple skin was shimmering with a slight sheen of sweat, and held a pure black left eye, while her right was a deep red that almost seemed to burn as she met his gaze.

  Brim held his hand out next, greeting him with a smile much like Logan’s which gave Xain a good view of his purple-blue eyes set into a clean shaven light grey face that showed no signs he had yet stepped into the ring.

  “Nice to meet you all,” Xain said, as he quickly shook Lyssa and Slate's hands in turn.

  “This is-” he started, but stopped as Logan cut in, “Vector. Of course. If I didn't know better, I would say you were a Jotun from how those Asgardians talked about you. And this guy, I don't think there is a person on the ship who doesn't know Fen,” he continued, stepping forward, hand outstretched, head slightly bowed as he introduced himself to the wolf.

  Xain inwardly thought if this continued, Fen’s already inflated ego was going to become unbearable soon, but he still couldn't hold back a smile as Fen gave the man's hand a quick sniff before shoving his head toward it for pets.

  “You all made quite the impression last night,” Logan went on, chuckling as he tussled Fen’s hair.

  “Yeah…” Xain said, unsure what to do with his sudden notoriety.

  “I wondered how long it would take before someone hit that dick,” Slate said, not hiding an ounce of her contempt.

  “The whole voyage down we had to listen about Asgardian superiority, and how we were all so fucking lucky to be allowed on the same ferry as royalty.”

  “That, or what he was going to do with that Husk traitor when he saw him again,” Brim added, giving Vector a smile as he said it.

  “Alright,” Logan said, glaring back at Brim, “I don't think we need to bring that up again.”

  “Anyways,” he continued, looking at Xain once more. “You moved well. Most rune users you see rely only on their array. But you looked like you learned to fight without using any power. That's not something you see every day.”

  “Outside of Jotun, at least,” Lyssa added.

  “Right. I mean, we're not brutes, but part of our training is non-enhanced combat.”

  “I have heard about that,” Vector said, sounding interested.

  Until last week, I didn't know I could use my rune…

  Xain had known fitting in would be difficult, but he hadn't even imagined that not using his rune to do basic things like throw a punch would make him stand out.

  “House tradition,” Logan said. “If you rely on your array too much, you fall into the trap of thinking it will save you. Not to mention those with non combat focuses. A healer who knows how to throw a punch is more likely to survive than one who has never had to fight.”

  “Some of our best boxers actually have Artisan arrays,” Slate said, proudly.

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  “True,” Logan agreed.

  “A few years ago the champ was a Scholar. And not a support focused Scholar. Like, a pure fucking Scholar. I think he was an archaeologist or something,” Brim added.

  Xain knew with the number of potential arrays there were, and in an effort not to need to fully explain the general capabilities of every one of them, arrays were often grouped into the main categories of: Combat, Healer, Support, Academic/Scholar, and Artisan.

  The description was just a general overview of the focus of your array, but it helped in categorizing particular skills and abilities.

  “So you fight without using your runes?” Xain asked.

  “Exactly!” Logan said, slapping Xain on the shoulder hard enough he nearly fell over.

  “And based on what we saw yesterday, we thought you might be interested in joining us for a bout or two?”

  Bow had taught Xain numerous forms of martial arts as part of his schooling. His favorite, which for reasons unknown to Xain had made Bow extremely uncomfortable, was using a stave, but he was well versed in hand to hand as well.

  Bow had crushed him every time they actually sparred, but he had gotten good enough over the years that he could last for a few minutes with the man, before getting his ass fully kicked.

  But Bow, despite being built like a bear, was a cub compared to the Jotun before him.

  They would kill me.

  Xain was about to say as much when Fen pushed his head into his back, and nudged him forward.

  “Well,” Logan said, smiling as he wrapped one huge arm around Xain, “I'll take that as a yes!”

  …

  Vector was about to say what a bad idea this was when he felt Fen beside him, and noticed the wolf’s lip lifted in what he could only take to mean, ‘don't you say a fucking thing.’

  “Alright,” Vector whispered to the wolf, to which Fen let out a low growl he somehow understood as approval.

  Am I just fooling myself, or am I actually learning to understand Fen?

  After witnessing their teamwork yesterday, Vector no longer had any doubts that Xain and Fen could communicate with one another as well, if not better than, anyone he had ever seen; however, the idea that this could extend to him was not something he had, until recently, considered to be possible.

  Vector knew some maintained connections with runic beasts far beyond what was commonly conceivable, but this was his first time seeing such a relationship himself. Still, he could not deny that from the moment he had met Fen, he had gotten the sense that the wolf was perceiving him in a way others could not.

  This should have been disconcerting, as he had been taught that a runic holder's greatest strength often lay in how well they could hide their secrets, but with Fen it felt different. Trust had never been a part of Vector’s life, as he knew exactly how easy such a thing made it to be betrayed, but with these two he wondered if, when properly placed, it could somehow be a source of strength.

  “Hey!” Logan called, snapping Vector from his thoughts.

  The Jotun was waving toward one of the crew members Vector only now saw were positioned around the room, as they blended into the background so well they were nearly invisible, beckoning her to join them by the ring.

  Without a word the woman stepped out of the shadows and approached the group just as Xain and Brim stepped into the ring.

  “Can we request a ref and healer?” Logan asked when the woman was only a few feet away.

  “I will act as both,” The woman said, nodding her ascent.

  “Perfect!” Logan boomed, turning back to the ring.

  Vector sensed it as the woman, who looked to be no taller than he was, with short cropped brown hair, and a face like stone, tapped her array in obvious preparation for whatever Brim was going to do to Xain. She wore a green jumpsuit with black lace up combat boots, and stood at a relaxed attention as she casually watched Xain and Brim move to opposite corners of the ring, before calling out “No runes, means no sigils either.”

  What?

  Xain, clearly understanding what the woman meant, quickly stripped off his long black jacket, boots, and began to take off his shirt before he glanced at the woman with one eyebrow raised in question.

  She subtly shook her head, and Xain visibly sighed with relief as to not have to reveal his array.

  I had not sensed any sigils from his clothes…

  The thought made Vector slightly uneasy. He had been around sigils his entire life, and as far back as he could remember, he was able to quickly identify sigil enhanced equipment by merely being in its presence.

  The fact that he had completely missed the gear Xain wore told him how well crafted it was, and again he found himself reassessing the man.

  Clearly this was not alone in this, as he noticed the Jotun giving one another looks of surprise as Xain tossed his coat to Fen, and kicked his boots over the edge of the ring, before rolling up his sleeves to reveal thick forearms crisscrossed in a variety of faded scars.

  Based on what Vector knew about the man, which was admittedly not much yet, he had guessed Xain had only begun using his rune recently, though his proficiency with it yesterday had been that of one long practiced in the art. Still, he knew Uruz well enough that the scars further confirmed his theory, as the rune provided enough healing capabilities to heal most injuries without a trace.

  Had he been well acquainted with his power, there would be no reason for him to sport such a mosaic of past pain.

  “So,” Xain said as he began to move around the ring, clearly warming up his muscles. “What are we doing? Three rounds, two minutes each?”

  Brim smiled at that as he began to move on his own side, his grace not the least bit hindered by his size.

  “Let's say, one round, and go from there.”

  If Xain could last more than a few seconds against such a height and weight disadvantage, Vector would be shocked.

  Xain looked to have a bit of Jotun in him, but compared to the full blooded one he faced, he seemed little more than a child.

  “Sounds good,” Xain said, dancing a little closer as he raised his left fist before his face, and moved his right slightly behind it in a classic boxer stance.

  Vector had little experience in such combat, but at the behest of one of his combat tutors, had often watched bouts in the capital in an effort to expand his martial knowledge.

  “Ref?” Xain asked, turning to look at the woman.

  “No restrictions, besides runic. Break if I call it, and don't make me come in there,” she said, without a hint of emotion.

  Even so, Vector could tell she was interested to see what would happen.

  “Right,” both Xain and Brim said at the same time.

  “Tap fists,” she said.

  Xain and Brim complied, moving forward and quickly touching their fists together, before stepping back and taking position once more.

  Brim let both arms hang by his side, and only watched as Xain continued to dance from side to side, clearly believing this would go just as Vector had anticipated.

  “Fight,” the woman said.

  At the command, Xain moved forward, obviously waiting to see if Brim would show his reach, but the Jotun just stood there, not making a move.

  Xain dodged in and out, trying to provoke the man into at least raising his fists, but did not push far, as he kept his eyes on the Jotuns huge fists.

  When it became evident that was not working, Xain moved in closer, jabbing out his left hand toward the Jotuns body, before dipping right and bringing his right arm to slam into the Jotuns side.

  Before Vector could fully process the move, Xain had already danced back, out of Brim’s reach.

  He… he hit him.

  From the slack faces of the other Jotun, he knew they shared his surprise, but Brim, who raised one hand to his ribs, only smiled as he took a step forward.

  Faster than someone of his size should be able to move, Brim’s right fist shot out, connecting directly with Xain’s chest, who had left it open as he raised to block his face. It made sense, as the difference in height meant Brim had to crouch down further to connect with his body, but the motion had been so smooth and natural, Vector only had a split second to wonder how much practice he had, before he watched as Xain was thrown out of the ring, landing in a heap a good fifteen feet from the ropes.

  “One to one,” The ref said, walking slowly over to Xain who lay unmoving on the ground.

  Vector was caught between rushing over to the man to see if he was still alive, and running out of the room before Fen decided to take revenge, but the sudden laugh from where Xain lay cut through his thoughts, as he turned to see the man slowly sit up, wearing a smile so broad it nearly split his face in two.

  Blood covered his teeth, and he spat to the side as the woman reached him, her hand extended to help him up, but even as he watched Xain take it, Vector was unable to grasp how he was able to move, let alone continue to fight.

  “Grr,” Fen growled, and Vector saw the wolf had both lips curled back in what he thought may be a smile.

  Are they insane?

  “Good one,” Xain said, nodding thanks to the woman as he jogged back toward the ring.

  “You're faster than I expected.”

  Brim, Vector saw, looked as confused as he was, a feeling obviously shared by the other three Jotun who watched, mouths open, as Xain slid under the ropes and back into the ring.

  “We said no runes,” Logan sputtered, looking at the ref.

  “None were used,” the woman said as she walked back, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

  “What?” Xain asked, looking down at the group, his smile turned feral. “You think that love tap was enough to take me out?”