One word came from the other side. "Training."

"Now?" Jason rolled his eyes.

Olivia invoked the sacred oath Jason swore not long ago. "You promised."

Jason's eyebrow twitched. "Fine. Meet me at the colosseum in ten minutes."

"If you aren't there…" Her voice trailed off.

"I'll honor my word." Jason groaned inwardly. This girl is so needy.

With that, the connection was severed. Jason shook his head before performing a final check on his kingdom. After confirming that there were no problems, he paused time itself. The villagers, and even the wind halted in their tracks. It's better to play it safe. Only when the kingdom was fully self-sufficient and there was no chance of the kingdom randomly collapsing would Jason keep time running when he was outside of the kingdom building floor. Before then, it wasn't worth the risk.

Just as he was about to take out a teleportation scroll to the thirtieth floor, his communication necklace rang again. He answered impatiently. "What?"

"Hey, hey, Jason! This kingdom thing is so freakin' cool. I never would have thought the tower would have something so different!" Roy's animated voice came from the necklace.

Jason's impatience was swept away by Roy's vibrant energy. It was something Jason found to happen quite frequently. He responded with a warm smile. "I'm glad you like it. What day are you on?"

"The fourth, uh, no, the fifth! I'm getting prepared for the monster wave right now." Roy sighed lightly. "Man, if Index didn't write that book, I don't think I would've been ready for the attack. I really have to thank them!"

Jason's smile widened. The guide book he wrote was probably even helping those top-tier guilds. It contained a bunch of tips and tricks that even a top-tier ascender might not know.

Roy clicked his tongue. "One thing sucks, though. My village sp.a.w.ned in a mountainous region; I don't see the sea anywhere. How the heck am I gonna build my seafaring kingdom now?"

Jason shook his head. "Unlucky. Keep in mind that there might not even be a sea for you to find. The geography is random, afterall."

"Noooo! Don't jinx it!" Roy exclaimed.

Jason coughed. "Well, the odds of finding a sea are pretty high. I'm sure you'll find it."

"I better! I already have five scouts searching for one right now." Roy explained. "I did find a river though. It might lead to a sea."

"One can only hope." Jason remarked. As he talked, he teleported to the thirtieth floor. He didn't want to disappoint Olivia by being late.

"Anyway, I was calling to see if you wanted to go get something to eat on the thirtieth floor. I asked Olivia to come, but she declined." Roy lamented.

Jason walked through the crowd as he headed towards the colosseum. "I can't right now. I told Olivia I'd train her."

"Ah. How long will that take?"

Jason mused for a moment. "Probably an hour? It depends on when she gives up."

Roy chuckled. "You realize how arrogant that sounds, right?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders. "I'll give you a call when we're done. If you're still hungry, then we can go out to eat."

"Sweet." Roy paused briefly. "I suppose I'll challenge the colosseum while I wait. I haven't done it in awhile."

Just as Roy was about to hang up, Jason added. "Oh, and if you really want Olivia to come with us, just tell her it's a weekly guild meeting. A required one."

"Oooh!" Roy's eyes lit up. "Nice idea! She can't decline the guild master, hmph, hmph."

With that, the call ended. Just in time too, because Jason could already see Olivia standing in front of the colosseum entrance, eyeing her surroundings like a hawk. No doubt she was looking for him. When she spotted him, her face lit up, only to return to normal a moment second later.

Jason walked up and greeted her. "How's your kingdom coming along?"

"Fine." Olivia responded curtly. "So how are we going to train?"

"Right to business, huh?" Jason chuckled inwardly. At least in this regard, Olivia was the same as the one in Jason's alternate past. No funny stuff. Straight to the point. "We're going to be duelling each other. Simple, right?"

Olivia tilted her head. "What about the differences in our gear? And aren't the levels of my skills higher than yours?"

"Don't worry about that." Jason waved his hand dismissively. He manipulated the colosseum's screen, adjusting its options to fit his plan. "The colosseum will supply us with equivalent gear and change our stats and skill levels so that they match. Should I make us the same height and weight too?"

Olivia paused and considered the last sentence seriously. "No, don't do that."

Jason almost fell over. "It was a joke, a joke! The colosseum doesn't even have that option."

Olivia gave Jason a strange look. "I know it was. I was joking too. What, do you think I don't have a sense of humor?"

Jason inspected Olivia's expression, only to find it was as flat as a board. Doesn't she know with her personality, she can't joke that way? n.o.body can tell the difference!

Coughing awkwardly, Jason sent Olivia an invitation, which she promptly accepted. A second later, both of them appeared in an independent dimension inside of the colosseum.

Different from before, a screen appeared in front of Jason, asking him what equipment he would like to use. Deeply familiar with the interface, he selected a set of thin metal armor, a s.h.i.+eld, and a longsword. On the other side of the arena, Olivia picked out a set of leather armor, a pair of daggers, and a belt which was equipped with various tools.

Olivia glanced upwards, but found no countdown, only a scoreboard which said zero to zero. Jason swung his sword lightly to become familiar with its weight. He noticed Olivia's confusion and explained with a shout. "I set it so that there is no winner, only an endless amount of duels. Pain is set to normal. If you die, the arena will be reset and we'll both return to full health. That okay?"

"Perfect." Olivia drew her daggers and leaned forward, her posture low. Jason could notice a slight grin tugging at her lips.

Without any warning, Olivia slowly disappeared. It wasn't abrupt, which meant it wasn't teleportation. That left only one option: stealth.

Jason called out. "Don't make me wait too long!"

He recalled one instance when he fought a life or death battle against an ascender with a high stealth level. Jason had been mentally exhausted near the end and almost lost his life. Sometimes, the threat of an a.s.sa.s.sin appearing at any moment was worse than fighting one. Thankfully, Olivia was using this opportunity to train, not to a.s.sa.s.sinate someone.

Jason squinted his eyes when he saw footprints coming towards him from the left. He smirked. "Hey, don't forget the arena floor is sand."

The footsteps paused. A second later, Olivia appeared, her cheeks deep red. "You… did you do that on purpose?"

"Of course!" Jason roared with laughter when he saw how embarra.s.sed Olivia was. This only caused Olivia to tremble.

Jason wiped a tear from his eye as he explained. "I'm here to train you remember? If I hadn't told you I could see your footprints, I would have acted as if I didn't see them and caught you unaware. Wouldn't that be terrible?"

Olivia's mouth formed a big 'o'. To be honest, she didn't expect Jason to take this training seriously. She had had to nag him repeatedly for this to even occur. She was planning on going all out at the start to teach him a lesson. Only now did she realize that Jason was a man of his word. Although he embarra.s.sed her, she only felt grat.i.tude now.

She clenched her daggers and lowered her posture once more. "I'm going!"

Jason notice her regain her composure and grew serious. "Come!"

Instantly, Olivia disappeared. Jason's eyes widened, and without hesitation, he rolled forward while swinging his s.h.i.+eld behind him. Not even a split second later, there was a loud clang, followed by the click of a tongue.

Jason jumped to his feet, only to find Olivia hot on his tail. Her daggers glinted in the sun as they flashed forward, only to have a s.h.i.+eld meet her every blow. In just five seconds they exchanged over twenty moves.

Olivia specialized in agility, while Jason's stats were distributed over stamina, strength, and agility. Even though Jason's speed was far lower than Olivia's, he was able to keep pace with her.

Every time Olivia's dagger met with Jason's s.h.i.+eld, her weapon seemed to be magically pulled out and to the side. It left her exposed. Realizing this made her feel vulnerable. Thankfully, Jason didn't seem to have time to counterattack.

"You seem to think you're safe?" A deep voice awakened her from her thoughts. Before she could react, a large wall of metal covered her vision. With a bang, her nose shattered as she was sent flying backwards.

She hit the ground with a thud. Anxious, she forced down the pain with her iron will and used the momentum from the attack to roll to her feet. When she recovered, the world spun around her. Glancing up, she found her body fall to the ground. Just as she understood what had just happened, and as the thought of death entered her mind, she found herself standing thirty feet in front of Jason.

Glancing up, she found the scoreboard change. Jason: one. Olivia: zero.

She stepped back, horrified at what had just occurred. She died? Just like that? She thought the fight was one sided, with Jason on the run. He could only defend himself, right? So why did it turn out like this?

After the horror was antic.i.p.ation. This was strength. This was the power she seeked. The wall that must be overcome. The three realms. She needed to seek it with all her strength. Fear and cowardice was not allowed. It must be culled, as her father would say.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked with concern, his voice breaking the silence.

"I-I'm fine." Olivia tried to calm her breathing. To her surprise, she found that her heart was beating fiercely in her chest. The thought of death had overwhelmed even her.

"Are you sure? We can take a break." Jason suggested. Even though death in the colosseum wasn't final, it sure as h.e.l.l didn't feel that way. Even after experiencing a hundred deaths in the arena, most ascenders still weren't used to it.

Olivia was silent for a few moments as her breathing returned to normal. She lowered her posture, clenched her daggers, and took a step forward. Her intent was clear.

Jason smacked his sword against his s.h.i.+eld. "Come then!"