I looked around the arena, and grudgingly marveled at the sight. Although the idea of an arena terrified me, I did appreciate the architecture. Even with the far away glance I had been able to take of the arena from the mountain days ago, the actual structure was colossus. A giant stone circular hole had been carved into the cliffside, allowing the accommodations of hundreds of seats with lavish walk isles and services in between. The giant arena loomed at the bottom of the pit, and the ground had been showered with flowers and coins. Spectators were scattered around the arena, I noticed for the first time in Runeterra, residents of other continents. There were small, humanoid creatures whom I recalled to be Yordles, tall Demacians bearing some type of armor that seemed to be made of white wood, and Noxians in their usual red tabards. It was the first time so far that I had seen Noxians act aggressively, and some of them even seemed like pleasant folks. Yasuo had walked over to a railing that looked out towards the sea while Master Yi and excused himself to meditate, saying that he felt it unnecessary to participate in the viewing of such savage acts.

Ahri took a glass of yellowish liquid from the table, sniffed it, before handing it towards me. "Here Wentao. Drink this."

"Umm, is it alcoholic?" I asked uneasily. "I don't really drink."

Ahri laughed, her pleasant voice cutting quite clearly through the arena. Her face lit up as she stretched one of her fluffy tails around me. "No sweetie. It's just apple juice."

Quite thirsty, I sipped from the class cup before putting it down on the table.

"Is there going to be an actual fight?" I asked Ahri unsurely. I was extremely conflicted, as one side of me was quite disgusted whereas the other side wanted to watch since I had read about gladiator fights in Roman mythology books. "Sett said something about a show."

"Well, it would appear so." Ahri scanned the crowd of spectators before glancing towards me with a slightly concerned expression. "The crowd seems excited, so I'm almost certain there's going to be a brawl of some kind. Are you sure you can handle it? I have never seen one of Sett's brawls but I've heard they're quite violent. Then again, you did just fight a Noxian."

"I guess I can stay for a little bit." I explained. "If I don't like it too much, we can just leave."

Ahri looked up towards the sun's position in the afternoon sky, before smiling and gently patting my head. "Alright then darling. We won't be doing anything until nightfall. Just promise me you'll tell me when it gets too violent for you, alright?"

"Okay Ahri." I said, resting my head on her arms. "I promise."

"Awww." She simpered, as she gently stroked my hair. "Good fox."

After a few minutes, trumpets blew as a door in the arena opened to reveal Sett, down beneath us. He waved his hand, and the spectators cheered. Demacians raised their fists in the air while Noxians waved their red colored flags in celebration.

"Ladies and gents!" Sett shouted into some type of megaphone, lined with blue gems and trimmed with gold. I recognized it as hextech equipment most likely smuggled from Piltover. Sett waited for the clapping to die down before continuing. "As we are all aware of, the battle between Noxus and Demacia rages on even now! Today, we shall witness a duel between two great warriors who represent that of each nation!"

The crowd cheered louder, as two steel gates started to open at opposite ends of the arena, adjacent to where Sett was standing. One of Sett's henchmen threw down a rope towards Sett, which he grabbed onto before pulling himself onto a platform overlooking the arena.

"I present to you, a fighter who's traveled leagues to represent her nation! One who has sought countless battles to find a worthy opponent!" Sett rambled on as the gates were fully opened to reveal a familiar looking woman, seemingly in her late twenties. She was dressed in a white and blue set of body armor trimmed with gold edges, and sported a short, dark pinkish blue colored haircut. She took a step out from the gate and raised a sleek white rapier with lines of gold embedded within its steel with her right hand, while putting her left hand behind her back. "The glory of Demacia, the Grand Duelist herself, Fiora Laurent!"

I was taken aback immediately, for I actually knew who Fiora was. From Fiora's in-game description back home, I had always assumed she would be some type of all righteous noble who stuck to legally organized dueling competitions in Demacia. I did not expect her to venture into the pits of crime in search of combat.

"Umm Ahri?" I said as I leaned closer to Ahri. "Isn't Fiora a Demacian?"

Ahri turned her eye's towards me, and blinked. "Why yes, darling. Fiora is of House Laurence, quite a well known family in fact."

"Then why's she here?" I questioned in a low voice. "Aren't Demacians meant to be righteous and honorable or something? I thought she of all people would uphold this as she's a noble."

"Hehe. That's a common misconception, little fox." Ahri giggled as realization dawned on her. She pulled me in close and wrapped one of her tails gently around me. "Although Demacians may seem like white knights in shining armor, it's quite the opposite. Demacian politics are all over the place. It might seem better than Noxus, certainly, yet it too, has its faults."

Ahri's face darkened slightly, as if she recalled something unpleasant. Her expression grew stormy as she continued, the blue streaks on her cheek glowering somewhat menacingly. "In fact, I haven't been to Demacia much in my 800 years of life. It's one of the only places in Runeterra where I am vulnerable."

"What?" I wondered. "But you're so powerful. And wonderful too, but how can a few white knights in shining armor defeat you?"

"Well, look over there Wentao. Do you see the white armor the Demacians are wearing?" Ahri asked me, as she pointed her right hand towards a crowd of cheering Demacians. "Their armor is made out of a special type of wood named petricite. This specific type of wood has the potential to absorb magic."

"Ah." I said, as I recalled the few Demacian articles I had read. "Didn't they build their city out of that thing since a bunch of them were killed by magic?"

"Well, not exactly." Ahri explained, putting her hand across my lap. "The whole story is quite long. In short, once upon a time there was a great battle known as the Rune Wars. People used the world runes in a massive, deadly conflict against one another. A handful of survivors found a forest of petricite trees, and upon discovering its magical, or unmagical properties in this case, they built a city from it."

"Their troops even wear petricite armor." I noted. "Does that mean they're invulnerable to magic?"

"Not exactly darling." Ahri smiled, and bent down to gently rub her cheeks against my head. "Their armor's just for show generally, as it's only a thin layer of wood. It's still regular metal underneath. Furthermore, petricite is only extremely effective against elemental magic. Although it interferes slightly with spiritual magic, which is the brand of magic I wield to summon fox fires or dash short distances, it will require much larger amounts of petricite to completely suppress my powers. Furthermore, my charm magic is based off of emotions. Human emotions are more volatile than even the deepest magic. Petricite has very little effect against it."

Ahri glanced towards the fighting pits before continuing. "But let us get back to the matters at hand, shall we. If I'm not mistaken, Sett will usually give part of the entrance fee to the winning side. As the entrance fee is extremely high, the sum for victory is quite hefty. No doubt Demacia sent one of its best duelers to make some easy money. For them, even honor has a price."

Down in the pits below, Sett announced the Noxian warrior's name to be Enorox. A large burly man, much stronger looking than Teralious or any of the other Noxians I had seen, emerged from the open doorway on the other side of the pit. He unsheathed two ginormous cleaver-like swords and swung them in a circle to draw cheers from the Noxians in the crowd. He wore a suit of heavy metal armor, and the only part of him that was exposed was his head. Enorox easily dwarfed Fiora in size and strength.

"Take your positions," Sett shouted into his megaphone, and the two fighters approached each other. The Noxian eyed Fiora with both hatred and respect, lowering his head towards her in acknowledgement before staring acidly at her. Fiora bowed towards Enorox, and curved her lips into a smile before making two swift swishing motions with her rapier, and placing it at her side. "Fight!"

The crowd cheered themselves hoarse as the two pit fighters leaped into battle. Ahri watched from her seat, showing neither approval or disgust. Despite myself, I was somewhat interested as the fight prolonged.

Enorox cleaved downwards with his right sword, before spinning to cleave once again in an arc with both weapons. Fiora sidestepped the first strike, following up by dashing to the left of the Noxian and lunging with her rapier. The blade sunk through Enorox's armor to leave a small wound on his left arm which made the crowd howl with excitement. The Noxian seemingly ignored the injury as he swung his sword to deflect Fiora's second jab. The Noxian pressed on with a series of swift yet strong swings, which forced Fiora into a corner of the arena. Enorox struck one of his swords into the wall, trapping Fiora while cleaving towards with his other. Fiora raised her rapier to parry the blow, but it seemed as Enorox had been expecting it. As his blade made contact with Fiora's, he removed his other sword from the wall at lightning speeds, and used it to trap Fiora's rapier. He held onto both swords with his left hands, before swinging his fist into Fiora's face. The Noxians in the crowd cheered as Enorox turned and grinned at the applause. The Demacians yelled angrily.

"Ahri, why didn't Enorox just kill Fiora?" I asked Ahri as I fidgeted with her tails. "He could have just punched her lights out and stabbed her."

"Well, you must understand that this is more of a show than a proper fight." Ahri explained patiently. "The fight wouldn't be quite as interesting for the spectators to watch if it was over too quickly, so both sides usually have an agreement with Sett to make the fight as entertaining as possible before making the killing blow. This way, Sett makes more money for himself, and the winning side will also receive a higher share."

I nodded, before turning my attention back towards the arena below. Fiora had gotten up once more, and spat blood from her mouth before glowering humorlessly at the Noxian. She raised her rapier, and once again lunged at Enorox. The Noxian swished with his two swords to deflect the jab, and Fiora's blade bounced harmlessly off of the Noxian's armor. The Noxian jumped towards Fiora with both swords to perform a downwards cleave, but Fiora was too fast. She sank lower to the ground as she held her rapier above her head, parrying the blow before going in for a riposte. Her blade managed to find a chink in the Noxian's armor, and she drove her rapier into the Enorox's right arm in one quick stroke. Demacians cheered as Fiora withdrew her blade, now tainted with blood. Enorox grinded his teeth and held up his twin swords, though his right arm was now much slower than his left arm.

Now at a much greater advantage, Fiora went on the offensive. Skirting around Enorox at speeds he couldn't follow, Fiora delivered purposeful jabs to slowly whittle down the Noxian's defenses. At last, she managed to hit a weak spot in the Noxian's leg, bringing him down to one knee. The Demacians in the crowd grew wild, as I watched Sett nod his head once from his podium.

"Alright darling." Ahri said, as she pulled me closer to her and used one of her tails to cover my eyes. "This part is just a bit violent. I don't think you should watch it."

Through the cheering of the crowd, I could barely make out the sound of a weapon piercing flesh, before the clung of heavy metal sounded from the ground. When Ahri removed her tails from my eyes once more, I saw Fiora bowing to the body of Enorox, who was slumped on the ground. Blood covered his forehead, where I assumed Fiora had made her fatal blow.

"The game has been won! Victory goes to Demacia" Sett announced from his podium, as the crowd whooped. Finally, the spectators filtered through the door as the sun started to set. Sett returned to us with a grin on his face, no doubt quite satisfied with the day's profits. With a snap of his fingers, he summoned a pair of servants who swiftly brought plates of luxury foods to our table. A few henchmen went out to recall Irelia, Master Yi, and Yasuo.

We sat down to a proper feast on the arena's edge, sipping our drinks as the sun started to set, casting a shadow behind the clouds. Finally, Sett took out a delicate looking hextech watch, and announced it was seven in the evening.

"Day's over." Sett exclaimed, standing up and motioning us to follow suit. "Time to get you all shipped out. We'll be in Noxus by sunrise."