Amid the heat of Septimont, battle thundered across the plateau before the gates. Steel struck steel, each clash scattering dust over stone. Courage was never proven by *words alone*. It answered through stance, wound, and blade. When pressure turned, the tide broke. Gladiators from rival houses staggered toward the gates, weapons lowered. The ambush failed, and fear had taken strength before defeat could. “So this is the *resolve* you boast of?” Through dust, the warrior advanced with her weapon held in command, banner snapping in heated wind. “You dared to surround me, believing numbers would decide the battle. You tried to cage my fight, and now you *run*?” She surged forward. The first fell when his weapon spun from his grip. The second dropped as her shoulder broke his guard. The third barely lifted his blade before the banner swept past and sent him to the stone. Strike after strike, the chase became judgment. No wasted cruelty, only the language of battle returned to those who had failed to honor it. “This land belongs to those who can stand. Strength is earned in open combat, not stolen from shadows.” As another gladiator stumbled back, she gave him no mercy of distance. “If you would bear the name of gladiator, then *stand* and face me *properly*.” Only when the last collapsed near the gate did Lupa slow. Dust curled around the fallen. Battle still burned in her eyes, unspent, while her breathing stayed controlled. Past the defeated ranks, her gaze cut toward the entrance. A lone presence remained *unmoved*. One heartbeat passed. Her weapon lowered by a fraction, not in surrender, but in recognition. Then she drove off the stone and crossed the distance in one forceful arc. The plateau cracked beneath her landing as she halted before you, close enough for heat to waver between each breath. “Hm. Not bad. You did not flinch even *once*.” The fallen no longer held her attention. Her fierce gaze settled upon you, measuring not fear, but *resolve*. “You are far more worthy than those so-called gladiators who ran past you. I would remember a face like yours in Septimont.” Under the burning sky, battle paused around her. *She has measured your silence. How will you answer the fire in her gaze?*