The walls were a muted cool blue, the torches flickering, casting dark shadows along the way. Two guards trailed behind, while my hands were clasped on my front, facing the guard leading the way.

  So far, there haven't been any doors or turnovers. Just straight across the path. Until we reached a doorway.

  We entered a room with a table etched at the center. On top of it was a metal box. Just like what Skymint said.

  I spent the time thinking about how to survive the arena.

  After a while, they brought me to the stairs leading to the sandstone room.

  Applause rang out in my ears. The battle has ended and I'm the next one. My heart pounded so hard that it might jump out of my chest.

  "We'll have another princess for this morning!" The herald's voice came from outside.

  I looked at the arena gate, large and unbreakable.

  Then, the guards opened it.

  Bright sunlight hit my face, and the heat would toast me, especially since I was wearing a cloak. I should have taken it off, but I'd feel vulnerable to the thousands of eyes watching me. And the knight I once had would finally see me. Confirm that I have been ensnared in this prison too.

  "From the icy kingdom of Glacia, who we thought was dead... Arie Glaciouso!" He declared.

  The Sunstarians made surprised looks, their gaze pinning me down to the sand. I'd feel slightly at ease if Caron wasn't here. I didn't want him to worry that the princess he once protected was in the same harsh place as him.

  I gazed at the cloudless blue sky. So hot. So uncomfortable. As though the sun entered my skin.

  "And from the hot kingdom of Inferno... Pyrovanth Ignisteel!"

  The opposing gate opened, and a steel-armored man came in the scorched sand, flanked by guards. He wore a stern expression, as though the sun drained off his hopes.

  The guards removed my handcuffs and opened the metal box containing my fruit cube. The cube sensed the magnetic force of my hands and flew to rest on my palm. The same to my opponent, then our guards went away, closing the arena gates. Trapped now here for a life-and-death game of Jamaico's.

  What the heck is wrong with that young king for making me fight a grown-up man?

  "Summon Chillberry." I commanded.

  The cranberry glowing with a light-blue aura hovered on the black cube and I ate it. I tucked the cube in my pocket.

  Too bad, I didn't see what fruit my enemy had eaten, so I've got no idea what his passive ability is. The anxiety simmering inside me was intoxicating.

  Without hesitation, Pyrovanth sent a gust of flames towards me. I dodged, the heat searing off my skin. He slowly walked towards me like a metal golem. And sent another wave of fiery storms. I dodged again, but I felt like I only barely moved.

  I paced around the arena while feeling conflicted about freezing this man because it felt wrong. He has his own life too. But his flames remind me of my brother's burning body, eating off his flesh. Felipe's flames.

  My eyes damped. But there's no time for dwelling over the past. I have to survive. I might as well learn how to counter him when we cross paths.

  Pyrovanth moved with ease, unbothered by the burning sensation on this battlefield. He's keeping his distance away from me, and yet he's sending a burst of flames. So I lunged forward the moment he raised his hands for an assault and blasted ice on his arm.

  I circled to his other side, charging ice to his leg. I hoped it would be enough to stunt him. But ice melts easily, and it doesn't help that we were fighting in a kingdom of desert. He flung me with his steel arm, landing myself on the sand. I gripped the ground. I'm not going to fall.

  With a stomp, jagged ice erupted from the sand, and he countered with fire.

  I sent blades of ice while running towards him, but the closer I got, the farther he went. His frame is starting to glow with red and orange. Then, with another surge of heat, I felt sweat all over my body, and it lowered my patience to hold on to this fight. I might collapse anytime.

  I shouldn't blindly follow him; it would drain my stamina, just like what happened to my cousin. Instead, I removed my cloak and left them on the sand.

  The Sunstarians made some noise. Without my cloak, my lavender tunic is visible now, lining my body. Are they objectifying me now? I wanted to bury myself in the sand and never come out again. The cloak has been my safety, the one I held on whenever I was in distress. It gave me a sense of protection. Now that it's gone, it made the heat more manageable but replaced by a new unsettlement.

  Pyrovanth threw off his armor, able to move faster now. He turned off his flaming aura.

  He bolted towards me, and I leaped with a trail of ice that struck his form, wounding him. We're close now to each other, and when I turned, he locked eyes with me.

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  "You're able to kill me, and yet you keep on hesitating." He summoned a blaze that lightly touched the ends of my hair as I ran away.

  His words hit hard. I felt underestimated. I fiercely eyed him. The heat, the eyes, the thirst, the heat over and over again. The burning palace, crumbling down into liquid. While I wasn't able to save it.

  I got back to my senses when he summoned a fire blast, and I quickly dodged. He is distanced away again, and it annoyed me. More blasts of flames came by, and I kept on dodging.

  I could feel the eyes of the spectators peeling me, unsatisfied that I kept on being boring. I have no intent of fulfilling Jamaico's cruel entertainment, but I reminded myself that my life is at stake here, and I must survive and escape this place.

  But maybe I could convince this man to stop fighting.

  "You're right, but I wanted none of us to die." I stated, my voice hoarse of dehydration.

  "We're already dead inside. Even if you don't think so, you will after this battle." He answered.

  "No, no, I have an idea. I'll pretend to die, and you claim victory." I suggested.

  "Please." I pleaded more than asking. I have planned this before heading to the arena.

  "Makes sense that you were supposed to be dead already." He said. "But I don't want trouble and complications."

  He held his hands in front and summoned flames, radiating heat waves that prickled my skin. I remembered the moment I saw my brother's grotesque burnt body again. It was this oppressive.

  The Sunstarians started throwing fits of their impatience. What I feared struck.

  "Do something!"

  "What a clumsy princess!"

  "Is that all you could do?"

  Is that all you could do? It echoed over and over again in my mind, while my ears hurt. I know what I can do.

  'I've seen what you could do.' The writing on my cell reminded me.

  The way I fight is Ice Technology. No, no, no. There's no way I would craft something out of that when all I want is to end this fight as soon as possible, let alone this useless opponent that wouldn't help me with my plan, and I hate Jamaico who's smirking on his balcony right now, so why would I owe him a cool battle?

  I sent a gust of sharp icicles, piercing his unarmored skin, while I lunged towards him.

  I moved like a feral beast. I swung ice blades, slicing him and bleeding him that dripped, coloring the sand in red. He shouldn't have taken off his armor.

  My hands kept on moving, unstopping. I felt a strange pleasure from what I'm doing, which is weird. At the same time, I felt sick about how Pyrovanth was just defending himself using his muscular arms, as though my attacks were futile, amateur.

  Suddenly, I stopped, gasping for breath, but I was not over. I'm not over yet. My ribs rose up and down, and my nerves tensed.

  Pyrovanth just stood there, full of wounds but still breathing even, as though he was mocking me for being weak.

  My limbs were fine, but I was exhausted because of dehydration. I feel the edges of my vision blurring. But I have to defeat him first before that could happen.

  But my body betrayed me, my knees buckled, and I collapsed on the sand. I can't die here, I can't, I can't. Then, I heard the crunch of sand, his footsteps approaching me, ready to burn me. I focused all my energy on internally generating as much ice as I needed.

  The moment he crouched down, I sent an ice blast. It exploded, shattering into pieces and catching the light. I saw my reflection on a shard, twisted and warped.

  And I summoned a massive lump of ice, towering down on him. It pierced deep into the sand, as though it swallowed him whole.

  Then, I realized he wasn't actually attempting to burn me. He never did.

  I killed a man who was holding back.

  My face went blank like the sunlight seeped any life remaining. I stayed in the sand, unblinking. Until the herald landed, causing dust that clouded my vision.

  "Arie Glaciouso wins, acquiring her first victory!" He declared.

  "As expected of the daughter born possessing the bloodline of Glaciouso and Windcore." Jamaico added with a grin, peering down at me from his balcony.

  He said it as though I'm no more than a product of my origin. Is that all I'm worth?

  I suddenly remembered that Skymint's hardened body wouldn't be penetrated by the cactus spine. So he really did become unconscious out of exhaustion.

  The guards locked my wrists in handcuffs again, turning off my ice abilities. I didn't fight back. I don't want to end up like the guy I saw earlier; what happened to him was painful.

  We entered the door beside the arena gate. Inside, there's a doorway back underground, and I assume it must be a different pathway from before, and possibly an escape route. And on the back is a door.

  "Fruit cube." The guard said, his tired eyes squinting at me.

  I pulled it off from my side pocket and handed it over. He placed it back on the metal box and locked it using one of the keys dangling from his neck.

  I've noticed that there weren't any light, electric, and phantom fruit masters, at least from the battles I've seen. They are the only ones able to teleport out of the other elements, so it's extremely difficult to turn them captive. If there's any, they probably kept their fruit cubes. I wondered if they could make a profit out of them.

  The harsh light struck my face again when we stepped out of the door. I turned back behind me.

  I noticed the cool blue fabric of my cloak resting on a guard's shoulder, and he quietly handed it to me.

  "Thanks." I said.

  It confused me, though, because it was unnecessary. Definitely not what I'm expecting as a prisoner. Maybe, these guards have a good heart after all.

  Another guard gave me water. It soothed my throat, and I choked on brittles of sand.

  But their whips at their sides reminded me that they have a duty that involves a lot of violence.

  I wore the cloak dusted in the sand and tucked the hood to protect myself from the heat of the sun.

  "Aren't I supposed to be back on my cell?" I asked.

  "This is the training area; because you're still functioning, we placed you here." Said the guard who took away my fruit cube.

  Hold on, I just battled to death. Their looming frames intimidated me. I turned and continued to walk over the open field.

  A girl approached me with a warm expression, clasping my hands.

  "Hi, I'm Morgan, and I'm glad you have survived your battle. Although I didn't see it because I'm trapped here, I definitely knew it when I heard the applause."

  I recognized her coral earrings. And her turquoise hair. We've met before during the Horse Racing Competition.

  "How did you get here too? An Aquamarinian noble?" I asked in surprise.

  "I should be asking the Ice Princess that too." She nudged my arm, walking us around the sand. "During the bounty hunt swarm, Sunstarian guards pulled me away from the cramped space. It saved me from sardines, but brought me in carcasses." She said it as though our life here was a joke.

  Then, I spotted two limp bodies sprawled on the ground. They smelled horrible.

  "What happened to them?" I asked.

  "Accidentally killed each other during training." She answered.

  "But don't worry, we'll be back in our cells if we try to do that too." She added.

  I felt a shiver down my spine.

  "If you're wondering, I've been here since yesterday, because the Sand King thought I wasn't fit enough for fighting. You're the first one that came here that I could fight, so let's start."

  She stood opposing me, her fists on her front.