"The gods must have been born of injustice. So, out of spite, they punish their worshippers in the same way."
*****
Pierre would never dare to admit it out loud. But the beautiful black-haired girl was, without a shred of doubt... more skilled than he was.
She stood a rank beneath him, and he was a Master. A Master! And yet the girl... she was even faster than he was. She was more skilled than he was. Her technique, her movement, her control, her strength, all of it was somehow superior to his own.
He could tell. He could tell that she possessed, without a shred of doubt, years of experience, years of grueling training.
While Pierre relied on none of that...
But it did not matter.
He looked toward the girl at the very far end of the arena. She... had lost. She was out of the battle now. It was over. He had won.
And so, watching the black-haired girl, Jasmine, rise and flee pathetically through the gates of the arena, he smiled viciously.
