Kai didn't return to Vepice in the stands. He left the coliseum without saying a word to anyone.
The sun cast long, golden rays over the behemoth of a building as Kai exited its shadowy interior. The roar of the crowd still echoed faintly behind him, but it felt like it belonged to another world.
'Grim's fight is probably about to start. I can ask Vepice about it later.'
He stared up at the sky.
Blue, cloudless, and achingly calm.
His limbs trembled. His muscles screamed with exhaustion, his bones felt heavier than ever before, and every breath was a struggle against the lingering pain from the fight.
He was utterly spent.
There was no energy left to burn.
His sigil trickled a thread of ambient mana into him, a delicate, almost invisible wisp that converted into a bare flicker of life essence, but it wasn't enough. It was like catching drops of rain during a drought.
Kai lowered his gaze, eyes hardening with thought.
