The Pit smelled like blood and sweat, which made it feel almost like home.
Astrid descended the stairs into Umbral's underground fighting arena, her axe left at the door because apparently even criminals had rules about acceptable weapon sizes. The space opened up below street level, a natural cavern converted into an amphitheater of violence where the city's less respectable citizens came to watch people hurt each other for money and entertainment.
She loved it immediately.
"First time?" The doorman was a scarred Noctis with patterns deliberately mutilated, probably as punishment for some past transgression. "Surface types usually don't know about this place."
"I heard there was fighting. I wanted to fight." She kept her answer simple. Complicated lies required complicated maintenance.
