The ride back home had been silent. Neither Aysha nor Craytia had initiated a conversation nor discussed what had happened in the dance. As far as Aysha was concerned, it had been a dance, nothing more. After all, it had to be. She was supposed to be the person that Craytia had chosen to compete in the Blood Trials. Nothing more and nothing less.

Aysha had never been in any romantic relationship before. When you were struggling on the streets, begging and stealing simple scraps, there wasn't much time to have a relationship. Those that did have a relationship on the streets either drifted apart or fought with each other after some time.

When they arrived home, they both slammed the doors shut. Craytia barely glanced at Aysha, her attention too busy on her phone. "Training starts tomorrow. Wake up at 6:30. If you are late, there will be a punishment."

Aysha had changed into an outfit suitable for the night, courtesy of Craytia. A simple cotton, baby blue nightgown that hung at her knees. Training started tomorrow but Aysha felt anxious. Every time she closed her eyes all she felt was the guilt eating at her of having no guilt. It wasn't the first that she'd killed someone but it felt wrong to not really feel anything. She was like an empty hole looking for different things to fill it. Looking for something that could provide pleasure or purpose, but she already had a purpose.

To change the way of the world.

That had to be enough.

The next morning came quicker than Aysha had expected. She couldn't believe that an entire day had just passed. She hurried into the shower doing so as fast as possible, preferring to not know the punishment that Craytia had in mind. When she finished, she finished wearing the clothes from last night. It had been comfortable and Aysha saw no need in changing it.

A knock on the bathroom door could be heard followed by a cheerful voice, "It's 6:31 Aysha!"

Craytia.

Aysha felt dread as she opened the door to greet Craytia. "I'm sorry-"

"Fight me," Craytia had cut her off before she could finish her apology.

In response to Craytia's request, Aysha was baffled. "Fight you? The last time we fought, I lost."

Aysha could care less as to whether the blade was poisoned or not. It wasn't uncommon to dip your blade in poison to increase your chances of winning. In her opinion, those that believed that such an act was a dirty move or unfair, were simply people that were angry at the fact that they hadn't thought of doing so first.

Craytia put one hand on her hip. "So? You had good speed and agility for someone who had been stabbed multiple times with poison. You don't have much strength, but you're bold. For someone as quiet as you, you'd think that there are multiple plans running through your head, but you act more like a savage animal that needs to be tamed. And I will tame that beast."

Craytia turned around and led Aysha to the training room. Surprisingly, the training room also doubled as the basement. A solid black floor and a wall full of a variety of weapons.

"We're going to be focusing on hand-to-hand combat today. Weapons can come later," Craytia stated.

Aysha didn't bother asking anything, preferring that Craytia would simply lead the entire way. Craytia had both her hands on her hips in a defiant way.

"Fight me Aysha."

Aysha had never thought much on how to fight a person. She'd always relied on some sort of weapon or an ambush to give her the advantage. Fighting hand-to-hand especially with someone like Craytia was most definitely a challenge for her. Regardless, she decided to give it a shot.

Should I charge? No. She'll dodge it too easily.

Aysha decided to simply circle Craytia slowly. Craytia herself was also mimicking Aysha's movement. Aysha bent her knees a bit and put her fists up. She swung at Craytia with as much force as possible, but wasn't surprised to see she had easily dodged to the side. Aysha used that opportunity as an excuse to use her other arm to grab Craytia's wrist and twist it. Aysha then used a leg to kick Craytia's abdomen, but Craytia in turn had kicked Aysha's legs out from under her and had then tackled her to the ground.

Aysha's head hit the hard floor with a thud.

She had most definitely lost.