Reim Empire

"Atta girl! Gramps might seem really tough at first, but he'll build you up. Promise!" As they entered the building, Malik took note of how Shadiya supported herself. With a light chuckle, he slid himself under the girl's arm to lift it over his shoulders. "It's as normal as you want it to be, I guess. C'mon. Job's done for today." Malik would aim to escort the purple-haired girl to a more suitable location, his target being a chair which he was considering having a seat on as well. This secret training was gruesome indeed, but even he couldn't imagine the specifics being pushed on Shadiya. "Need some water or anything?"

Meanwhile, the man known as Dio stood in conference with the Yambala Gladiators, just outside the group's current place of residency. "That's right. He thinks these kids of yours are Artemyran spies. He's already declaring war on them, and the representative has yet to come."

"Thanks." Shadiya managed as Malik lent her a hand in finding a chair or something. Since her apparent death feeling was normal, she'd just take it as part of the training and move right along. When asked if she'd like a drink or anything of the sort she shook her head. "No, really, I'm fine. I'm just not used to doing so much... I feel exhausted. Plus I am not sure I could manage to eat or drink anything if I tried right now." she said with a giggle. She never would have seen herself doing any of the sorts of things she had been doing in the last few hours. Then again, she kind of enjoyed it, the exercise, the work, her new friends. All of it was well worth it to the girl and as such a smile would be seen on her face.

Meanwhile the Gladiators were having a conversation about this supposed war, and it would be the redhaired young woman known as Erza who would chime in. "It's pretense... you can look at them and tell they aren't from Artemyra. He likely would have tried to do something to that representative when they arrived, to spark his war, perhaps it's better this way." she said. Chalking this up to something which was unavoidable in the first place. A yawning old pink haired woman seemed to agree. "He would have found some excuse..."

"Gotcha." Since he would not be retrieving any water for Shadiya, nor for himself, Malik allowed himself to fall onto the chair as well. Though he had grown accustomed to Makarov's training, he remained winded as well. "I'm surprised, y'know? I thought you were gonna be too soft for training. No offense. You just don't seem like the type."

Against the wall, at the rear of this gladiator group, a blue-haired man interjected. "I doubt this is an excuse to start a war. Sorio is past the point of excuses. I'd call it... justification." This man seemed quite calm and calculating for one who had just received news of a war that would impact the country in which he lived. As he stood with his arms crossed, he gave his views to the others, causing the man known as Caelus to look at him with a raised brow. "Excuse, justification, same shit," he said. To this, the blue-haired male shook his head. "Quite the opposite, I'm afraid. Sorio's reason is his own, but a king must not risk his throne. There is nothing the citizens of Reim could do about a war sparked for any reason. But, to have a king who has initiated numerous wars for reasons other than the country's benefit... even the Fanalis Corps would turn against him eventually. We should inform our guests. If nothing else, I imagine Sorio will have them targeted to be made into trophy heads."

As Malik also took a seat it would seem that everything was in order. He at least seemed to be a bit winded even after all the time he'd spent training here, and with this in mind, she didn't feel so bad about her sorry physical state. The pink haired lad, then went on to exclaim disbelief at her apparent ability physically. This caused her to laugh mostly because she was totally feeling at the moment like she shouldn't have been doing anything. "No need to apologize, I'm not much for it. But I'm willing to try my hardest. To be honest, I would have preferred to be curled up all afternoon with a good book, but... I want everyone to be able to do that if they want to, and as such... I need to be able to take care of myself." the girl said with a firmness she didn't seem to possess about anything else. Apparently reading was a trigger of some sort for her.

"Well look at you being all politically minded." said Uzma as she moved around the room towards the blue haired young man who had so recently spoken. His words made a great deal of sense indeed, and though Uzma would have liked to have argued about it, she couldn't well deny that the newcomers should at least be notified. Especially given the history some of them had with the sorcerer known as Sorio. "Yes, tell them all. Though I can't say I've seen either of the other two since you two freed them up this afternoon." she said of the missing people who should be notified of their apparent danger.

"Ah... I get it," Malik said as he relaxed into the chair, leaning back until he was able to hold his hands between his head and the chair's back. With this posture taken, he closed his eyes and smiled. "So that's what makes you a candidate. Good to know you're not just one of those people who got lucky."

"They came back just a few minutes before Dio did," said the blue-haired man regarding the whereabouts of the Yambala Gladiators' trainees. "They're all in that building right over there. The same one the master's pupils went into just now."

"Huh? What do you mean?" these were the words of Shadiya who didn't understand what he was getting at. She still didn't think herself much when compared to people like Fudo, Yasmin or Malik but she did at least have in mind a thing she wanted to do. Though she didn't know how much her idea would sit with the others she was now friends with, she figured since it wasn't bad, they wouldn't shun her for it at least.

Meanwhile, Yasmin was sitting beside Nasira applying bandages to the girl's cuts and bruises with apparent knowledge of more than a little first aid. Just like she'd realigned the nose of Fudo earlier she did so kindly and swiftly. "Hm, seem like you're about done. Baki, you're up next." she said as she let Nasira go. "You know I didn't need this..." mentioned the black haired girl who didn't even want treatment in the first place. But such a thing just made Yasmin stick out her tongue at the girl. "I don't remember making it an option~" the pink haired girl chimed in apparently only very serious about her overarching goals and taking care of her friends. The girl's reaction made Nasira smile. "Thank you." she said to the girl who simply brushed it aside because she would have done it regardless. But she heard laughter coming from the other room and smiled. "I guess, Shadi and Malik are back too~" she mentioned.

And now it was only left to decide who would be informing the group of trainees that they were now targets of the empire. Erza stood knowing that no one else would really want to go and offered to tell them herself. "I have no problem relaying this message." she mentioned to the group as she turned and stood getting ready to go tell the newest group of kids some interesting and apparently bad news.

"I mean there are two kinds of Dungeon Capturers. The first is the guy who gets lucky, who just has the skill to make it through and reap the benefits. The second kind comes with or without the skill, but is someone I think is fit to be King... Someone with resolve. Knowing Shula, it's always been hard to tell what makes her choose a candidate, but now I'm glad to say we were chosen by the same Magi."

As Bakura stepped forward to receive the unavoidable treatment of Yasmin, Fudo sat in an open window, looking out at the night sky. He could also hear noises from outside the room, and indeed, he also attributed the voices to the two missing individuals from their group. "Mm. I wonder how Shadiya's training went."

"Oh... I hadn't thought of that." said Shadiya. She didn't know that her goals would be the reason that she'd been chosen by Shula to become a leader. She found it odd that anyone would even appreciate the sort of thing she wanted for herself and anyone else who chose in their lives. Still, she was happy this young man appreciated the sentiment. "Thanks, me too." mentioned the purple haired girl. She was quite relaxed at this point.

Nasira hopped off the place she'd been sitting and freed it for Bakura to take her place. She found it strange that Yasmin chose to take care of her friends in such a way, but attributed this to the girl's very caring attitude and the kind of life she'd led up to this point. If Bakura got to Yasmin, she would begin the same process with the young man, cleaning and bandaging his wounds from his days mischief. "I am also kind of curious, we should check on them." she said of the pairing of people right outside. But as she spoke she also worked on fixing up her Household Member and soon enough he'd be ready to go as well. Nasira stood by the window next to Fudo a small smile on her face, apparently appreciating the kindness shown to her by Yasmin. "You're all finished now too, Baki." the girl said after double checking her bandage job she seemed satisfied that he was alright and stood opening the door to the room all of them had been occupying. "Come on then~" said Yasmin as she headed out and into the open space occupied by Malik and Shadiya.

Meanwhile, Erza was making her way over to the villa which housed the group of trainees. She'd make it there a bit after they all gathered in one place, mostly because, she was trying to figure out the best wording for the things she had to say.

Bakura stretched away the feeling of tightness in his body when he was fully bandaged up. "That's better. Thanks Yas," he said. With this done, he began making his way toward the next room. Fudo, though hesitant to move from his place of comfort, was curious enough to look for the others as well. When they entered the room Malik and Shadiya inhabited, Fudo was even the first to speak. "You two look like hell. Must have been rough."

"No problem, Baki~" Yasmin said as she disappeared into the other room. Once there, she and Nasira both heard Fudo's assessment of the status of their two newer companions and this caused the pink haired girl to chuckle. Nasira could only nod her agreement, but as they entered Shadiya looked up at the group of four and her eyes widened. As at least two of their number looked to be a bit worse for wear than they had been the last time they'd seen each other. Fudo's words didn't escape the girl and she simply waved him off, though she didn't make any quick movements either. "Yeah, I feel like I'm dying but apparently that's normal." she said as she tilted her head up. "What about you guys?" she said looking back and forth between them and trying to figure out how they'd come to be in such a state.

It would be then that Erza would arrive within the house and having heard the statement made by Shadiya she found the proper opening to broach the subject she'd been sent to talk about. "Your friends here, didn't experience rough training." said the red haired young woman before she turned her gaze to the group at large. "Uzma thought it'd be prudent for you all to know that Sorio likely considers you four prime targets. And that he's declared war on Artemyra so... staying away from the palace in general is recommended." stated the young woman, but she was no one's baby-sitter she wouldn't tell a bunch of people what to do, and she instead waited for any questions that would come from the group at large.