Chapter 9)

"Really?!"

"Would I lie to you?"

Barsanti put the tray down on one of the tables in the shop, all three croissants that had been previously placed were now eaten, only crumbs scattered the tray. 

"So when are we going to start then?"

"Hmm, I think right now would be the best time to start. We can go into the grey path so we don't interfere with anything in Modena."

"Are you guys just forgetting about me?"

"Woah, Iris!"

Iris had been standing between Barsanti and I with an agitated expression, her eyes glancing between the two of us back and forth. Barsanti, surprised, came up with a quick excuse.

"You know, there's a lot more sugary food I keep in the shop that you can eat if you just let us train for a little bit. I'll tell you where it is~"

"Hrmmm..."

Iris stood in thought for a while, perhaps contemplating whether or not to take up Barsanti's bribe for her to eat more food. Watching her decide on whether or not to get mad at us for not letting her train or to eat more food while we train was definitely funny to me.

"I'll take up your deal."

She kept a blank expression as she said this, a small drool formed from her mouth as though she could not contain her hunger for much longer. 

"Ahaha! The food is in the kitchen in the furthest closet. Eat as much as you please!"

Iris dashed towards the kitchen door, slamming it shut behind her as I could hear her opening the closet and stuffing her mouth with food. It was not something I would have expected from her, to say the least.

Can't really blame her though, sweet foods are also my weakness.

"Aaalright! Now that she's busy, let's start heading out! If we continue talking for much longer the sky will get darker. Let's go!"

Barsanti lead me towards the door, unlocking the knob as it swung open to reveal the stone path outside. Closing it shut, we started to walk towards the grey path.

Whilst walking towards the grey path following Barsanti, he took me through parts of Modena I had not yet previously seen before. There were tons of large buildings topped with round pillars, structures with fountains at the entrance with green bushes all around. We walked across a large pathway which connected to parts of Modena which had been separated by a river that flowed throughout the city. 

There was a large cathedral in the middle of Modena where many of the civilians had been around, it looked as though today was a day where they would go to pray. To Barsanti, tjis was nothing more than another building in Modena.

But there was another building that had taken my eye, more so than any other of the structures that I saw. It was a large coliseum, like the one from the Italy on Earth. Large red flags circled across the top of is structure, blowing in the direction where the wind carried. It had many intricate designs scattered throughout it's stone walls. Large lion patterns made from concrete had been carved and were placed on the entrance, a large archway covered the entrance as well.

"What is that place?"

"Oh, that? Hmm, if I remember correctly, that was the place the former king of Modena ordered to be built, pretty much just a memento now, I think it was an arena in the past where a lot of strong people would fight to the death."

"Why would he do that?"

"For fun, I suppose. He was basically the strongest person in Modena at the time, so he had nothing else to do except for watching others fight."

"I see..."

The large coliseum had definitely taken my attention for the remainder of the time spent walking towards the grey path. Why was it so much more important than all the other buildings?

"We're here!"

After about five more minutes of walking, we had made it towards the large grey path that I had previously been on with Iris. There was no sight of any of the residents of Modena on the grey path, only the grass and the large hill covered the area.

"Why is there almost no one here?"

"Eh, I guess they just feel safer inside of the city. Sometimes some nightmares end up roaming across this area, and people tend to go missing when they are out here for too long."

So that explains those creepy looking birds when I had first gotten here...

"Enough of that, though! Now that we're here, it's time to start the training!"

"I'm ready whenever you are!"

"Haha, that's how I like it! However, just a warning like I've said before, my training is a lot different from how others train. I won't be going easy on you!"

Saying that, a sudden burst of wind covered the area, the large piles of grass began to sway as I could hear the wind blow past my body. 

"Is this...?"

"Let's see how you can handle a small fragment of my essence!"