Start of the Match

Maximus lightly shook his head, "It's Tycondrius."

"Huh?" Theo furrowed his brows. 

"The Tactician's name... It's Tycon."

Theo opened his mouth to argue... but the words stuck in his throat. He wasn't familiar with any current or former gladiators named 'Tychon'... but there was something in Maximus' seriousness that gave him pause. 

"That man," Maximus turned to him with a grave expression... "is worth more than your entire f*cking guild combined."

"You... you're... joking, right?" Theo forced a strained laugh. 

The dragonblood did not respond, once more returning his gaze to the doors. 

...Maybe it was a joke. Theo hoped it was a joke. 

Ha ha. 

It wasn't very funny, though...

The doors opened abruptly, the scraping of metal-on-metal nearly making Theo piss himself. Two attendants from within the arena grunted noisily, straining to push the heavy doors open.