The side room looked more like a laboratory, with flasks and shelves and books and burners everywhere.

  “Hope you’re not planning to experiment on me?” I said, eyeing a bed with straps. “I’m not a good patient.”

  “I’m not sure yet,” he said with a thoughtful expression, leading me over to two chairs. “That depends on your usefulness. You are quite the enigma, Earther Three.”

  I gestured around room. “Oh sure. I’m the enigma. The name’s Earl, as well. Not Earther Three.”

  “Of course you are. Now tell me,” he said, taking a seat. “How did you attune to the Imperial Guard’s knife?”

  I picked up a conical flask with some orange smoky liquid in it and swirled it around before giving it a sniff.

  After I finished choking from the acrid, lung-burning fumes it produced, I wiped tears from my eyes and answered, “Dunno what attune means. I just slipped it from its sheath because I thought it might come in handy. It’s a bloody sharp knife.”

  “The armor and weaponry of the Unalaran Hunters are some of the finest craftsmanship in the Union. High-level equipment designed for elite soldiers, and requires you to be at least Level 20.”

  I picked up a glass cube next and peered into its center. There was something inside and reminded me of a snow globe, only it was a cube.

  “Not really sure what you’re talking about,” I said, shaking the cube vigorously.

  The Able winced but said nothing. He was like a patient father. Just with slick-back hair. Nothing like my own. He was bald, and he was a miserable fucker always complaining about me. But that was neither here nor there.

  “Maybe I’m Level 20 and you just can’t see it?”

  He was smiling now, and I wondered what would happen if I lunged for him. There were two of the guards over by the door watching us, but I reckoned I could snap the chatty purple wanker’s neck before they got close.

  “That seems highly unlikely, Earther. But it seems we will find out soon. With a fight against an established pool fighter, you can prove that your first fight wasn’t a fluke. And we will apparently fast-track your ascension to discover the truth of this matter.”

  As tempting as it was, I decided not to croak him. I didn’t think it would help my mission of finding Adam, and he might even be able to help.

  “Sounds good,” I said with a fake smile. “Can I have an opponent who’s similar in size this time? I don’t mind a bit bigger but that was just ridiculous.”

  “You should concern yourself more with level than size. When you face a pool fighter, they will be ascended. Rest assured that we won’t let you in with someone too strong, but once ascended, you are at a considerable advantage.”

  “So how does it all work? I’ve heard arena mentioned and ranked and pool fighters. What is actually going on here?”

  “We are a Peripheral Arena. We hold tournaments four times a year, once every fifteen cycles. People come from all over the Union to fight here for prestige and money.”

  “Okay. So the fight I just had was part of a tournament?”

  “Of a sort. We have gauging fights every day to select our pool fighters. Win five gauging fights, and you are ascended and enter the pool. The pool are our house fighters. Because we are required by law to have one hundred and twenty-eight fighters with a maximum level of 20 to hold a Peripheral tournament, having pool fighters means that no matter how many fighters come to take part, we can always make up the numbers.”

  “So my fight was a gauging fight?”

  “Correct. If you win, you will become a pool fighter.”

  “Nice. You won’t be sorry to give me a step up. I’m a fighter back on Earth, so I’m wasted in the gauging fights.”

  His eyes narrowed. “How wonderful. Modest as well, I notice.”

  “Always. So do the pool fighters get pitted against the fighters who travel in? Or do you just fight them against each other?”

  “An interesting question.” He was grinning now. “We make most of our money from the gates of the tournament and from the sale of quality pool fighters. To get good gates, we need good fighters from across the Union. And those fighters need wins, or they won’t come back again. So we choose the weakest from the pool to fight the number one seed from the entrants and so on, with weakest facing strongest until we reach the middle ranks where it is more balanced. In the early stage of the tournament, those are usually the most competitive and entertaining.”

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  I whistled long and low. “Fuck me, that’s a brutal system. Poor, shitty pool fighters.”

  “Indeed, it is. But we want the best to thrive, and we want our best pool fighters to showcase their abilities and attract attention so that we can sell them.”

  “Ah, I got it. Makes sense.”

  “I should add, Earther. Should you join the pool ranks, you must understand that death is strongly prohibited. While accidents happen, once you enter the tournament, you should avoid the ferocity in which you finished the Ogrid.”

  I was in genuine shock. “I thought this was a death tournament! How am I supposed to fight properly if I can’t kill? Why does everyone always take the fucking fun out of things. I thought you guys were different.”

  I saw the familiar look of disgust flit across his face as I spoke. “If half of the fighters die every tournament, explain to me how we will continue? This is a business, and people need to be able to grow and develop and come back stronger. So I repeat, you cannot intentionally kill in the tournament.”

  “The next fight isn’t technically the tournament though, is it? So if it comes to it, I can kill them, yeah?”

  He stared at me in long silence. I continued to fiddle with things on the counters while he composed himself.

  “What manner of creature are you?” He held up a finger before I could respond. “Please, do not answer. It matters not. I would prefer it if you could show restraint against your next opponent once the announcer calls for the end of the fight. You killed the Ogrid after the fight was called in your favor. That is unseemly even for a gauging fight where death is permitted.”

  I nodded along, barely listening until he finished speaking. Then I jumped in with the most important question. “So! When is my next fight?”

  “Never mind that. We have other work to be about for now. Let us focus, if you will, on why you are so resistant to both healing and mind magic. That may well make you valuable enough on its own.”

  “Sure,” I said, moving closer to inspect a glowing pendant.

  “Would you please come and sit, Earther Three? You’re making me dizzy pacing around like that.”

  “Earl,” I replied, irritated that I had to remind him again. “And I’m fine, thanks. I prefer to think on my feet. Unless you’ve got something to drink. And by drink, I mean alcohol. Whisky, vodka, beer? I’m not fussy.”

  The frown was back. “Not today, Earther. We are not friends. We will not drink together, and I will not use your given name until you are ascended. Until then, you are an oddity to inspect and nothing more. It’s best you understand this.”

  I shot a finger gun at him. “I knew I didn’t like you. Now I know why. What a twatish thing to say.”

  “Undoubtedly. And to avoid confusion, you may call me Able.”

  A guard entered the room, interrupting our conversation. He snapped out an immaculate salute as the Able stood from his chair.

  “The Monarch has set the fight for the Earther in two hours, my lord.”

  “So soon?” He cast another irritated look in my direction. “Well, I suppose that is for the best.”

  The guard left, and the Able turned back to me. “So much for learning your secrets. Though it should be easier if you are ascended, and if you are dead? Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter at all then.”

  “Fair enough. To be honest, I thought I was coming here to be executed, so I’ll take the wins where I can get them.”

  “I notice that you don’t seem overly concerned about being executed?”

  “Nope. Because you wouldn’t have been able to execute me.”

  The Able chuckled at that. It was a pretty creepy noise that sounded like a choking gerbil. “And why in the Union not? Are you hiding secret reserves of power that we don’t know about?”

  “Nah, I’d have just went apeshit, attacked anyone near me, and you’d have had to kill me to stop me.”

  “So the same result?” He said looking confused. “Your death.”

  “Not at all. I’d have gone out in a blaze of glory! It would have been beautiful.”

  He paused and inspected me more closely. “I don’t know Earthers very well, but your attitude concerns me. Are you typical of the species?”

  It was my turn to laugh. “Sure I am! And that reminds me, probably should have asked this earlier, but I got carried away. My brother’s here somewhere. An Earther called Adam Henshaw? Came about three weeks ago. He’s a crackin’ little fighter, so he’s probably already through the gauging fights. You heard of him by any chance?”

  The Able didn’t turn back to face me, but he laughed way longer than I thought was necessary. I found I just couldn’t keep my eyes off his neck as he did.

  “Of course I don’t, Earther. I don’t even know your name, remember? As for the person you seek? Three weeks ago? He could be anywhere. You were all captured by the Unalaran Hunters, so only they would know. They have control of approximately 70% of the dross portals, and provide cheap servants and fighters to the highest bidders. The person you’re looking for could be on the other side of the Union. For example, there are approximately eight hundred Peripheral Arenas all looking for fresh blood for their own pools. He could be in any one of those. He could already be dead. He could be in a work-camp somewhere!”

  “So I need to have a word with the Unalarans, then? Makes sense.”

  “You belong to the Velkyn Arena, Earther. You won’t be going to speak to anyone.”

  I chuckled at his over-confidence, but he ignored it and carried on. “For now, we must get you prepared to fight.”

  He headed out of a different door that led directly to the corridor. The two guards followed us closely, watching me like fat, angry hippo-hogs.

  As we walked, my mind wandered again over how I could kill all three before they could bring me down. I went through a number of glorious scenarios, eyeing drapes and ornamental weapon displays that dotted the corridor walls.

  All of those thoughts fled as we entered a cave of treasures.

  Brutal weapons as far as the eye could see.