Recovering from the incident took a lot more energy and too much time in a quiet room for Leo's liking. More often than he liked, he was left with his own thoughts. Sometimes, it was good to think, but most were full of regrets or replays of the events that had passed. Leo found that if his thoughts weren't on his goal of saving Hazel, they were on the pain he'd inflicted on Tiam, or the destruction he had somehow gotten away with causing. Whenever someone arrived at his room, he worried they were some sort of official come to send him off to Hell for his deeds as the Dragon.
So naturally, it was understandable when he hid himself as a burly individual walked into the room unannounced. Leo lay beneath the covers of his bed, Tiam's unconscious form directly behind him. They exhaled lightly and rolled over. That would really help him hide away from the new intruder.
'Are you sick?' a hardened voice asked. Relief for the irrational thought was surprisingly satisfying. Leo sat up to greet Jun who sat in his usual spot by the dresser. The man looked a little battered–likely all fresh bruising from another trip to the colosseum. He had been making a lot of trips to Leo's room between fights, and entered even more fights than Leo knew how to make time for.
'Not sick. You doing okay?' Leo gestured to the blood patch on Jun's robe. The man barely acknowledged it and turned to cleaning his blade.
'The last guy made a bit of a mess. He used whips of hellfire that ended up around himself after a few attacks from me.' Jun ran a cloth down the bloodied side of his blade. Right then was the moment Leo saw reason to believe this man could cause a massacre. His posture was upright, but relaxed. Jun cleaned his blade with caring hands that detracted from the cold and almost soulless look in his eyes.
'Not that I have a problem with it, but why don't you rest at your room?' Leo pulled himself to the edge of his bed. 'My floor has to be uncomfortable.'
'A little,' Jun admitted with a flash of his teeth. 'However, we are a team now. Witnesses from the other day already have spread rumours of a few fighters defeating the Dragon. You, Tiam and I have been identified as the ones who helped bring it down, along with a mysterious pair of warriors.' Jun sighed, then put his weapon aside. 'It is wiser to stick together. Groups working together in the colosseum do not last long when people learn of them. The mistake is getting separated.'
'I see your point.' Leo summoned Nameless and checked it for any tarnishing or damages. He'd never really needed to look after the weapon–it always seemed fresh and clean every time it was resummoned. Bellestar needed regular cleaning, however. Honestly, he wondered if he could just start paying for a cleaning service for his weapons. Maybe there was a Key upgrade that would save him the hassle. Naturally, he had to care for that new weapon he'd received from Selaphiel as well. He resolved to ask Jun if he knew about such a thing.
'On the same subject.' Jun pointed a calloused finger at Leo. 'I would like to start acting as a team. There is a tournament in the morning that I want you to attend with me.'
'Huh?' Leo forgot what he was supposed to be bringing up with Jun, and got stuck on the fact that there was a tournament in an arena that sort of already was just a giant free-for-all tournament.
'You and I will enter the team tournament tomorrow. It is small with only four rounds. Sound good to you?' Jun folded his arms, head laying back as his eyes closed for sleep. He didn't give Leo much of a chance to respond, really. Was the guy outright rude, or just blunt? Leo knew it was the latter, but sometimes he really wanted to be ignorant and think the former.
'Let's do it. After all, the House of Power should really start making a mark.' Leo waited a few seconds to get the reaction he wanted.
'House of Power? What is this?' Jun's head shot upright, and his eyes gained a glimmer that had possibly never crossed them.
'Yeah. That's what Tiam and I called our team up when we worked together in a survival game. Like it?' Leo found himself thoughtlessly running a hand through Tiam's hair. They should have their say on whether the name stayed, but there really wasn't much helping it, now.
'I think it is suitable. For now, at least, we will grow in strength and attain power to achieve our goals.' Jun clasped his hands together with his eyes on the balcony. 'Maybe we will add more to our ranks, in time. We can create a formidable team that will guarantee we all get our desires.'
'Let's not get too excited, now.' Leo waved a finger as if he were speaking to a child. 'Too many people means a bigger chance of wants clashing. I'm happy with just us and the archangels, for now.'
Jun nodded silently. His head lulled back and he immediately began snoring.
It was then Leo finally remembered that he needed to ask about the weapon cleaning thing.
Upon the new morning, a roaring crowd greeted Leo alongside the glaring shine of the battlefield. The space was quite literally speckled with glowing gemstones. The lights acted like coloured beacons that struck the air with multicoloured stripes.
Being on for the first fight, Leo and Jun strolled onto the battlefield. The fight's beginning had already been announced, so they looked for their first opponents to make an appearance.
Jun chewed on some sort of grainy bar he'd been working away at all morning, as Leo summoned Bellestar to better his chances of landing the first blow. The search for their foes took longer than expected, and it took a misstep from the announcer for them to realise they were being hunted.
'That mirror tactic is really throwing the House of Power duo off.' The announcer called brazenly. 'They don't even suspect their opponents are closing in.'
Jun pulled his blade just in time to block the weapon that fell from above. It was hooked and attached to a chain. The weapon yanked on Jun's blade before he could pull back, and it tore out of his hands.
Then, their enemies descended.