The door to the Aegis Chamber hissed shut behind Zaeryn with a bone chilling finality, like the sealing of a tomb. Or an arena.
The transformation was immediate and unsettling. Gone was the purposeful chaos of combat training the grunts of exertion, the sharp calls of instruction, the rhythmic thuds of bodies hitting mats. What remained was something far more different: the focused, electric silence of a crowd anticipating a beat down to happen. The beat down of Zaeryn honestly.
Zaeryn's stomach tightened.
Instructor Zelda stood at the center of the main platform, arms crossed, her expression carved from professional stone. But her eyes tracked him as he entered, and there was something in them curiosity? concern? that made his pulse quicken. He would be concerned about himself too going up against an opponent like Leia. However knowing that he wasn't exactly helpless gave him confidence.
And it wasn't like they were fighting to death. It was more like a spar.
