Oro was staring down at the ant, who in turn was looking up angrily, a snarl clearly visible under his hood

~Where do you think I'm going? Back to the colosseum to reclaim my honor and teach those fools a lesson! Now step aside!~

Ah yes, there it was, Oro was expecting this kind of behaviour, most of the fools at the colosseum were in it for money, but those who came for ''honor'' were much more common than they used to be before the number of shops in Hallownest fell drastically

Those daring adventurers came in all shapes and sizes, but they all had at least one thing in common, their overinflated ego could be shattered into million tiny pieces with almost no effort whatsoever

So yes, Oro expected the ant would want to return to the colosseum, and probably before he was fully recovered too

But what surprised him was just how soon this guy would try to do this,by the wyrm he literally just woke up!

Unfortunately for him, Oro wasn't gonna let him go so easily, he didn't care for the ant in the slightest, he had no reason to, but he had carried his unconscious body through that white wasteland outside all the way from where he was lying back to his hut, bandaged his wounds and even shared his food with him!

And he wasn't going to let all this go to waste because this prideful idiot was too thick headed to realize when it was time to stop

~No you're not, you wouldn't survive an hour outside and not even a full minute in the colosseum, now stop with this childish nonsense and go lay back down, you need more rest~

Unsurprisingly, this only angigated the ant more, he thrust his chest out to make himself look bigger (an amusing sight from oro's perspective) and let out a warning hiss before shouting

~Nonsense?! You're the one talking nonsense! I'm Tiso, the future champion of the colosseum of fools! Now move before I make you!~ and with that he gripped his shield and assumed a battle position, with his knees bent, head low and the arm holding the shield bent backwards and ready to thrust

And if it weren't for the delicate yet clearly visible trembling of his limbs, Oro might have gotten just a bit concerned

Instead, he was just getting angry

So far he had done a great job of keeping his emotions in check, but this ''Tiso" was really getting on his nerves, but he didn't want to smack him around too much because then his wounds might open again and-

The pacifist path could not be explored however, as Tiso decided he was done waiting for Oro to let him out, and in a moment of sheer genius, decided that he was going to move the two-times larger bug himself

In an instant he crouched down and launched himself at the nailmaster, but his moves were sluggish, slowed down by pain and stiffness, and Oro simply stepped aside, dodging the attack easily

Tiso flew by, pain and surprise mixed on his face, and landed on the floor, or at least attempted to land

Back in the day he would have no problem with a leap like that, but now his body was too weak to support his mad acrobatics, and so he crashed hard to the floor and tumbled a few meters with a pained grunt

A faint smell of hemolymph filled the air, and Oro realized that the absolute idiot opened his wounds again in the process

The Nailmaster was past being angry, now he was absolutely pissed

Tiso attempted to lift himself up, but before he could get far a massive hand wrapped around his neck and raised him into the air, his feet were dangling a good distance from the floor, and he could see the furious face of his rescuer right in front of him

~YOU MORON! DO YOU REALIZE HOW PITFULLY STUPID YOU ARE BEING RIGHT NOW!? YOU COULDN'T DEFEAT A FAT HUSK RIGHT IN YOUR STATE! YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY IN PAIN AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A NAIL! ARE YOU REALLY SO DELUSIONAL TO THINK THAT YOU COULD BE ANY CHALLENGE TO ME?!~

He held the wriggling ant tightly, and carried him back to the pile of curtains

~I DIDN'T NEED TO DO ANYTHING FOR YOU, I COULD HAVE LEFT YOU ON THAT LEDGE TO DIE AND NO ONE WOULD CARE, AND THAT IS HOW YOU THANK ME?!~

The ant was unceremoniously dropped on the makeshift bed, and Oro lowered himself to face him, the rage in his voice replaced with cold fury and disdain ~And I hate to break it to ya, ''Tiso'', but even before you fell in the colosseum, you were nothing special. I know your type, you arrogant and prideful fools! You strut around like butterflies, bragging about your skills and what not, but when the push comes to shove, you turn out to be as average as one can get~

He started to walk off, stomping angrily

~But I wasted too much of my time on you already to let you die like an idiot now, so stay where you are while I get new bandages for you, and take off that armor so I can put them on!~

And with that, he was gone, but Tiso could still hear his angry grumbles and stomping

Tiso just sat there stunned, after a while he started mechanically removing his armor

He was stunned and speechless, nobody has insulted him like that since, well, since he left the colony. Some small part of him wanted to stand up and go tell that ignorant brute to go drown himself, but this time his self-preservation instinct finally started kicking in

Also, some small part of him couldn't help but wonder, what if Oro was right? He did give out an impression that he knew what he was talking about.

Tiso always thought highly of himself, even before he left the colony to wander the wastes, and he has won every fight he got himself into since then…

...well...maybe ''he survived every fight'' would be more appropriate...but he never really had a reason to doubt himself before…

Then again, in the wastes he only ever faced mindless beasts, or poorly equipped bandits, and though they weren't by any means harmless, the fools at the colosseum were in a different league entirely

That was the reason he seeked it out after all, to find a real challenge

He hissed, as a new wave of pain shoot through his body, Oro was right, his wounds were open again, his hemolymph was leaking out, and he had nobody to blame for it but himself

When he finally took off his chest plate and the now bloody bandages, his moves slowed down by his wounds, Tiso just laid down and waited, after a short while Oro came back with fresh cloth and (grudgingly, but still) got to re-bandaging Tiso's wounds

When that was done, the bigger bug simply walked off without a word, leaving Tiso with all the time he needed to think, and boy, did he have things to think about

A lot of things has happened to him in the past few days, some of them he would never think could, but they did anyway

And with everything that has transpired, it awakened something in Tiso's mind, some thought he'd since long buried under an unhealthy amount of arrogance and pride

And that something was a knowledge, knowledge that he was not even half as amazing as he kept telling himself and everyone around him. He always knew this, deep, deep down inside, but he never wanted to admit it to himself, always making excuses when things didn't go his way

Except he couldn't pretend any more, not after everything that happened, and that realization almost crushed him like that beast on the arena

Because if he wasn't Tiso the great warrior, then who was he? Simple workers didn't get to have much personality in the colony, at least his colony, so that was essentially all he knew about himself and who he was, but if that wasn't true then was he still just a pitiful drone? Meaningless and weak on his own?

He didn't like where this train of thoughts was going, so he attempted to distract himself with something different

Like the big bug, again meditating in the middle of the room

It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but Tiso didn't pay his rescuer nearly as much mind as he should, sure he asked him his name, but that was pretty much it, after that he was busy inspecting hi armor and shield, and after that with...other things

But now he was watching Oro closely, who was that giant warrior with his enormous nail? What was he doing here? Living alone in one of the most remote places in all of Hallownest?

Tiso suddenly remembered a conversation he had quite some time ago, with that old bug in the city of tears who asked him if he had anything of historic value that he could buy

Tiso usually wasn't interested in useless trinkets, but he just so happened to have one with him at the time, a white...fork...thing he found in the bubble canyon, he thought it looked neat, so he took it

He offered it to the old shopkeeper, who nearly jumped out of his shell when he saw it, but instead of geo he asked for information about the colosseum and where to find it

The old bug was evidently a bit of a babbler, as he told Tiso the location of the colosseum, but also everything else he knew about Kingdom's edge. And even though Tiso stopped listening at some point, he could still remember the detail if he concentrated really hard

He was certain the old guy mentioned someone important living somewhere in Kingdom's edge. He was supposedly a pretty big deal, at least before Hallownest fell. Tiso struggled to remember what the old shopkeeper called this bug…

Yes he was prettys sure he said Oro...Oro the….the….hmmm…

wait

~Are you Oro the Nailmaster?~ Tiso almost shouted

The big bug looked up at him

~What gave it away? The giant nail on the wall?~

Tiso didn't care about his mocking tone, he knew who Nailmasters were! Great warriors, responsible for teaching nail arts to whole generations, their legend extended even beyond Hallownest

~I've heard you were one of three greatest warriors in the whole kingdom!~

Oro sighed, he was kinda hoping the ant would just shut up, for a while at least

~Well four actually, and there were also knights…. But anyway what's it to you?~

Well a lot actually, Tiso knew that Nailmasters were obligated to pass down their knowledge and skill to those willing to learn, and with the recent realization about himself…. well let's just say Tiso was more than willing

But when he suggested this to Oro, the Nailmaster just gave him an amused look and a cold laugh. ~Really? You're quite something you know. First you attack me, disrespect me in my own home, and next you ask me to teach you. Do tell me, Tiso, why should I agree to this?~

That was a good question, unfortunately for Tiso, who was once again gripped by fear, has his hotheadedness cost him his only chance? No, no he couldn't give up so easily

~I thought the Nailmasters are obligated to pass on their knowledge?~

Oro groaned when he heard that, yes this ridicolous rule,he had hoped the ant woudn't know about it , sometimes he wondered who was stupid enough to come up with something so dumb

Oh well, time for the good old discouragement

~Yes that's true, however there's no rule preventing me from demanding a payment for my troubles, let's see, how about…..

And then he demanded a sum so outrageously big, it took Tiso's brain a solid five seconds to process it

~Are you mad? I don't think there's even that much geo in the entire Hallownest!~

Oro just gave him a wicked smile ~Watch your mouth or I'll double it, that's my house and my rules, and I say my lessons are worth that much, of course if you can't pay….

No, Tiso couldn't pay that, not in a million years. But he needed this, so he started wondering what could he offer to this bug instead

When Oro saw the ant go quiet, he was sure he successfully discouraged him from further attempts, good, now he just had to wait a week or two until he heals enough to not get killed immediately upon leaving, and he'll be out of his….

~What if I worked for you in exchange for lessons?~

Well that has never happened before

He gave the ant a critical look ~And why do you think I'd prefer your work over money?~

~Not many places left to spend the money, and don't take it the wrong way~ He gestured at the floor and furniture covered with dust ~But it looks to me like you could use a hand, don't worry about the quality of my services, I'm an ant, I can work hard~

Oro grumbled to himself, as much as he hated to admit, he found Tiso's proposition kida alluring, it would be neat to have his own servant to boss around, plus the ant was right about the money, not much to do with it these days

He thought about it some more, and finally made a decision, yes he was going to teach this ant in exchange for his work, and who knows? Maybe he can knock some sense into his head in the process

~Hmph, fine, I agree to take you as my student AND as my servant for the duration of your study, you better don't disappoint me as either~

Tiso was overjoyed, he didn't think that would actually work, he was also kinda nervous about what his new master was gonna put him through, he didn't like the thought of having a master again….but that was different. He eagerly extended his arm

~It's a deal!~

Oro rolled his eyes, but shook his hand, careful not to grip to hard, and walked back to his meditating spot

~Now for your first task, lay back down and have some more rest, the lessons and work will begin after you're healed enough for what I have in store for you~

Tiso nodded his head and laid back down, careful not to disturb his bandages,He was much more hopeful about the future now than he was just a little while ago, but he could also tell the next months will be long and hard, and he'll have to get used to taking orders from others, again

But after that, he's going right back to colosseum, and this time, he will be victorious