A cat, a fluffy cat with smooth white fur ys leisurely upon the desk. It g Quasi with a hint of i, and then it loses it as though Quasi is not even worth its time.

  You dare! You think yourself superiarbage! Pathetic furry garbage is what you are!

  “Gino, it seems you’ve brought a stray.” Vulturan begins with hands grasped together. “Not that I mind. Cat’s are such beautiful beasts and impressive hunters.”

  “You called for me?” Gino asks with the slightest hint of disdain.

  “I did. Take a seat.” Vulturan points at the chair opposite his desk.

  Though upset, Gino plies. Whes down, Quasi hops upoable- only to be hissed at by the other cat.”

  “Tiera, my girl.” Vulturan pces his hand o's fur. “Rex. They are not threats.”

  “Meo.” Quasi says in what sounds like denial.

  “Hisss,” Tiera replies.

  “Um, maybe I should take Quasi outside.”

  “Quasi? You’ve already named him?”

  “Um-”

  Vulturan shakes his head. “It’s fine, but you really should have chosen a better name. Quasi is so… ckluster.”

  “Meo,” Tiera aowledges the statement.

  “Growl!” Quasi stands up aggressively.

  First you call me a mut and now you insult my name? You are c death! Need I make an example of who the superior cat here is?

  Tiera seems to accept the challenge. She stands and even chuckles at Quasi.

  You have choseh!

  Then it happens, Quasi rushes towards Tiera. Tiera, seemingly expeg this, lu Quasi. And then it happens. Instead of lunging himself, Quasi impnts his froended cws into the desk and shifts his momentum to the backside. Tiera expected to be met with teeth and calls, instead, Quasi’s hindleg smacks her in the fad knocks her off the table.

  To Quasi’s surprise, Tiera doesn’t crash. She rolls into a standing position and growls threateningly. If the cat wasn’t pissed before, it’s pissed now.

  Quasi hops off the desk and the two cats start cirg. The fight is far from over.

  “Should we stop them?” Gino asks.

  “It’s fiiera is a Mixian Pureblood trained for small-beast arena bat. Her breed has a natural tendeniher feline species through violence.”

  Gino frowns at the cirg and growling cats. “They are a bit loud.”

  “A simple fix. I’ll o activate the sound bubble anyways.”

  With a wave of his hand oable, runes begin to glow and activate. A wave of air brushes against Gino before f a clear bubble around them. Immediately, all soundwaves disperse when toug the bubble.

  With the bubble activated, Vulturan grasps his hands once more and smiles at Gino. “That should keep any prying ears from hearing. Now Gino, I have a job for you.”

  “No.”

  Vulturan raises an eyebrow. “No?”

  “I'm going to be busy.”

  “Your dockw job? Don’t worry, I’ll talk to the [Foreman].”

  “It’s not about my [Dockw] job. I’m going to bee a [Gdiator]. I already qualify for the first round tomorrow.”

  Vulturan frowns. As he does, Gino notices the fighting in the background. Tiera found her way behind Quasi and is choking him while he attempts to get her off. Gino watches, surprised as Quasi climbs up a bookshelf before jumping off and smming his body on Tiera, f her to let go. “A [Gdiator]? What reason do you have to bee a [Gdiator]? You’re a [Rogue]!”

  “I he moo save my sister.”

  “You’ll have it if you do enough jobs for me.”

  “Your st job is the reason why my sister is now an iured servant!” Gino practically yells before realizing that angering the man in front of him will do more harm than good. “And I ’t wait. My sister needs her freedom as soon as possible. The winnings from the coliseum will be enough.”

  The stick of a man un-grasps his hands and strokes his goatee. A clear sign that he is agitated.

  “I uand yer. Your sister paid a cost for your life. But, you shouldn’t put the bme on me. Bme the [Spy] that ratted you out.”

  Gino frowns. Both at Vulturan’s words and at the battle unfolding behind. Quasi has Tiera by the head and is systematically smming her into a bookshelf. “You think we have a [Spy]?”

  “Nobody should have known you were going to be there. They were clearly waiting for you to show up with plenty of forewarning.” Vulturan expins.

  Reliving that day in his head, the thought of a [Spy] makes a great deal of sense. His failure was already pnned. “It still doesn't matter. Unless you offer me a faster way to buy my sisters freedom, I’m stig with my pn. Every day I wait is one where my sister suffers.”

  “Do you actually believe you wiire tour? You, a [Rogue] who just does odd jobs for me while w as a [Dockworker].”

  Though Gino tries to listen, he finds it hard, for the battle has grown excessive. Quasi is biting Tiera by the tail and is now spinning her like one would a sling.

  “You’ve no ce, Gino.”

  “I don’t o win the whole tour. I get paid for wins and I gamble on myself with my winnings. I just o win enough to pay for her freedom.”

  Vulturan shakes his head. “You’re a child who knows nothing of the world. But fine, go, I’ll allow it. Just know that when you eventually crawl bae, you’ll find the jobs I provide to be far less profitable.”

  In the background, Quasi yeets Tiera into a bookcase, shattering and causing the whole thing to start ing down. Tiera somehow survives the impad is barely able to dodge the debris falling upon her. She turns to his hiss at Quasi, only for a book to smack her across the face.

  When she recovers, Tiera gres at Quasi like one would a mortal enemy. She seems to hiss in what are expletives before turning and running outside the room. Quasi watches her retreat, going so far as to raise a paw and meow into the sky. None of which Gino hears, but the sight alone is enough to give plenty of text.

  “I’ll take my ces,” Gin stands up.

  Quasi hops ba the table and then perches on Gino’s shoulder.

  “Your ces will fail.” Vulturan warns. He deactivates the bubble rune on the desk.

  Gino turns around and starts walking out of the room. Just before he closes the door, he hears a yell.

  “What in bzes happened here!?”

  The door closes with a grin on Gino’s lips.

  ______________________________________________________________

  Ohe two are outside of Vulture territory, the first to speak is Gino.

  “That was a hrow you did on his cat.”

  “You saw that? Good, it’s always o have an audience when I win. Though, Tiera is fug strong for a cat. I’d thought I broke her bones several times, but she just kept moving. She was also very smart and tactical. Good reas too. Tried tle me at one point- though I used gravity to show how bad of ahat was.”

  “Animals trained by [Beast Tamers] tend to be smarter and strohan otherwise possible. sidering Tiera is bred for arena bat, she’s going to be even more superior.”

  “Huh. Maybe you should enter me into these bats.”

  “They check for jobs and csses.” Gino ters.

  “Damn. That would have been an easy money maker. Welp, where are we heading to now? Food?”

  Gino nods. “Yup, food. And I’ve got just the pce.

  The two weave through the streets of undercrust, ign all the hedonism that is prevalent oreets. Eventually, they arrive at what looks like a market street with stores aplenty on both sides.

  Not far from there, Giers a restaurant called the Stew Fever.

  _______________________________________________________

  Tiera is o be seen. The damn cat must have caused a bookshelf to colpse and then ran arobably to make the bm fall oher cat.

  “Smart enough to win in a fight, but too dumb to avoid making a mess of things.” Vultura the destroyed bookcase for a moment before deg that the fault lies in Gino. If Gino hadn’t brought the mut, then this mess never would have happened.

  Shaking his head, Vulturan takes a seat in front of his desk. He takes a paper and begins writing orders. The first is to have a new bookcase ordered and the current mess ed. The sed is a small anonymous bounty that reads:

  500 Trist to any [Gdiator] that defeats Gino in the uping tour. Expenses will be paid on Tour pletion.

  He signs the bounty and leans bato his chair. “Let's see if you eve past the first round.” Vulturan taunts.

  _____________________________________________________

  The moment Cillian steps into the undercrust, he is immediately reminded of his stay in prison. From the sounds, smells, and light- it’s like walking in memory ne. With exceptions, of course. There are actual women here instead of men dressed as ones and the general feel of the whole pce doesn’t give off the vibe that you’re trapped.

  “This pce smells like a den of violend death. The air is fresh with the st of blood and flesh.” hes says. Her eyes roam the streets like a tiger searg prey.

  “Yea, it’s a good thing we left Myers and the kid back at the tavern. Those two would stick out like a sore thumb.”

  “You already do. Many eyes focus on you and the bags of trist at your hip.”

  Cillian straightens his back. “Good. A [Mert] that walks with wealth visible is either an idiot or someone who you should take seriously.”

  hes tilts her head. Ownership of anything outside one's body is a fn thing to her. Her prior home did not have such extensive cepts of wealth or mohe only trade that ever happened was in favors. Otherwise, all were expected to obey the Matriarch.

  “Which are you?”

  Cillian shrugs. “Depends on how well you keep prying arms away from my hips.”

  “I see. Then I will endeavor that my is not depicted as weak.”

  “You do that,” Cillian pauses a moment, “Just avoid making too much of a se. Cutting an arm off from a [Thief] is ohing, but I’d rather not deal with eviscerated children.”

  “Do not worry. The Matriarch has informed me that childreo not be dismembered or killed regardless of reason. For that, I will only eviscerate adults.”

  Cillian shakes his head before starting his dest. As he does, hes is following vigintly behind.