A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

 

“The next fight is about to start, this is the last chance to place your bets!

While we wait for the fighters to enter the pit, let me remind you of the usual things.

In a short while, ten warriors signed up to compete against each other until the first blood.

Anyone who participates is at least at the early third stage aura rank and quite a few of them are famous for their outstanding skills and have won first place in other events.

No one is allowed to interfere from the outside, and fists and blades have no eyes, hence the Arena and the participants cannot guarantee that no heavy injuries occur.

Healers are on standby, but accidents can always happen.

Are you ready for the show to start?!“

Glancing at the ranks as the guests gradually returned from purchasing food and drinks as well as placing their bets, the announcer no longer dragged out the enticement and switched to heating up the atmosphere gradually.

Only if the common people enjoyed themselves and got a joyful experience would they be willing to spend money, bet on the fights and return in the future.

Sensing that her shiny treasures were no longer under dire threat, Nisha also lowered her hands and no longer blocked her ears.

Society was dangerous and the dragon had to remind herself that pitfalls were everywhere in the outside world.

Thankfully, she managed to stow away her treasures in the [Inner World], and only the dragon herself had access to them.

Under the cheers of the crowd, the big wooden gates on the left and right side of the arena lifted up and several figures entered the sand pit one after the other.

Every time one of them raised their hand to greet the crowd, the announcer would cooperate and introduce them formally.

“Here are the powerful heroes that are competing for victory!

The first entrant is already a famous guest, so I don't really need to introduce him.

For our newer guests and the sake of formality, let us welcome ‘Fierce‘ Olaf, the man of a thousand battles!“

Holding his fist high and looking at the crowd like a king looking at his subjects, the first fighter could not be anyone unknown, it was a special honour reserved for a regular guest in the pit.

A head taller than a regular adult man, ‘Fierce‘ Olaf only wore trousers made of hide and showed off the bulky muscles on his chest and arms.

Dense scars covered nearly every inch of his skin, some bulky and crawling like earthworms while others were silvery and shallow cuts in the skin.

It was easy to tell that they were trophies from many battles, each a mark of honour for the warlike man.

 

“Next is Leonard Highpass. Don‘t be fooled by his good looks, while the man is from a noble house, his attacks are anything but noble.

Many of his opponents vowed to stay far away from him, afraid of the neverending stream of attacks that threatened their lives.“

Nisha found it hard to judge whether the man was good looking or not, she still had not quite mastered what humans and elves deemed attractive and what exactly was desirable in appearance.

The dragon preferred shiny things over everything else, yet not everyone shared that preference and were willing to part with a lot of glittering gold and silver to purchase artwork or similar objects.

The man that just got introduced was tall and had a bright disposition, waving to the audience and greeting them in return for the cheers.

Overall, he appeared honest enough and the elf had a hard time believing that his methods were really as sinister as the announcer made them out to be.

He‘s probably tricking us. There‘s no way he is telling the truth, that must be a ploy to make others underestimate him and influence the bets!

Ever since the pervasive voice of the announcer almost caused her to let go of her shiny treasure, Nisha got overly defensive against him.

Even if he told the truth, she would think that he was lying, because only a dirty soul thinking of dirty things would conspire to steal her shinies!

Unwilling to think about that evil man, Nisha examined the second fighter again.

Just based on his name, he was not a relative of the different Dukedoms, who would either have their last name outright or took part of the name to make their own family name.

Only the south-east of the kingdom had any mountains worth mentioning, so the Highpass family should live around the territory of the Blackburn sphere of influence, perhaps a Viscount or Baron estate.

There was always a chance that names were misleading and he came from a territory in the north, where fields sprawled all the way until the ground became too sandy to yield much harvest, or east among the dense forests and lakes, with the occasional hill being the highest elevation around.

No matter which of them ended up being the case, it was still exciting to see a noble in the sand pit, fighting against others with his life on the line.

The positive image and seeing a noble partaking in the same activity as the commoners, the cheers from the stands were overwhelming and long lasting.

 

Only when Leonard Highpass reached the middle of the pit together with the first fighter did the crowd calm down enough that the announcer could continue with his job and introduce the rest of them.

“Next up is ‘Sharp Blade‘ Jason, a veritable grandmaster when it comes to fighting with the sword.

Although he had stalled at the late second aura rank, he surprised everyone when he made a leap quietly and entered the third rank.

Few warriors managed to match him in his past fights, he has a long record in our Arena and won the majority of his fights!“

While the announcer generally stayed neutral and only highlighted the achievements of the participants to attract more money to the betting pool, this time around he looked genuinely impressed and held some veneration for the fighter in question.

People at the same rank in cultivation could have drastically different strengths, which relied partly on the skills and spells they grasped, as well as their choice of weapon and their mastery with it, and other auxiliary means such as movement technique, strategic thinking and quick reflexes.

The third candidate was a bona fide master when it came to the sword, so much that his nickname reflected his high skill.

On the outside, he was shorter than the two before him and his stature was not very impressive either with thin limbs and a dull look that made people question whether he was somewhat slow in the head.

Yet the rather ordinary man would change in a split second once he got hold of a sword and got into a fight, turning into a veritable demon that hunted for the blood of his foes with the sharpest tool in hand.

Although he did not pay attention to the crowd and greeted them like the others, the response to his appearance was even fiercer than before.

Some people directly chanted his nickname, others were too excited to properly form words and screamed wordlessly.

Nisha was a little surprised to see such a reception and paid more attention to ‘Sharp Blade‘ Jason, perhaps there was more to him than met the eye.

 

Although the crowd cheered for him and was in an uproar, the man in question had little response and simply trudged forward to stand with the others.

Perhaps used to such a scene, the announcer quickly redirected the attention of the audience to the next challenger.

“Let‘s welcome the next fighter, you probably know him better than I do!

Here comes Ralf the Butcher!“

Contrary to the previous cheers and greetings, the crowd reacted strongly to him as well.

Countless jeers and boos resounded from the stands and some of the visitors even stood up to curse the newcomer.

This was the first time that the dragon witnessed so many people swearing at a single person, and it didn‘t help that their words merged into one giant litany of ill words and maliciousness.

Perhaps the announcer knew he would be dragged into this mess if he said anything more after his provocative way of introducing the fourth warrior, so he stopped while he was ahead.

Normally, a butcher was rather respected in the city, as they dealt with various monster and livestock remains and turned them into food, though clearly the nickname butcher was not used in this way for the man who slunk into the sand pit.

Similarly scrawny to the last competitor, Ralf the Butcher was rather short and had thin eyes that squinted at the crowd that cursed at him.

Nonetheless, a constant smirk played around his lips as if the jeers and ill wishes were accolades and cheers instead.

Even Nisha considered him a little sinister, based on his posture and shifty gazes, he surely was not a good creature.

The light in his eyes was just not right and his mind was probably twisted to some extent.

“Let‘s invite the other heroes who dare to brave the same spot in a fight against the Butcher!

Perhaps, some among them might rise as the new generation of veteran fighters and earn their own name right here and now.

The young ones are always working hard to catch up, our old guard has to stay at the top of their game, lest they get replaced by a newcomer.

Here they come!“

 

Under the introduction by the announcer, seven more warriors at the early third stage entered the sand pit.

Two women and five men faced the crowd rather calmly, either because they were used to the atmosphere from prior excursions into the pit, or perhaps because they were too nervous to react at all.

With their cultivation level, these fine men and women already stood at the peak of the common people in the entire kingdom, very few adults managed to reach the third rank without a fortunate encounter or attaching them to some kind of force.

It took vigorous exercise, nutritious meals and constant training to reach this rank, not many commoners had enough leisure or financial resources to support that kind of cultivation.

At most, one or two members of a large family with the best aptitude were supported in the hopes that they broke through to a higher rank and earned back the investment several times over.

Quite a few of the baronies in Leandar had been formed that way, once a talented family member managed to take that step past the first great divide, it was not difficult to find a local noble willing to recommend them for a title.

Nisha counted as an irregular in that regard, as cultivation was the same as eating and breathing to the girl.

With the [Dragon Force] leaking out of her Heart along with the blood and constantly polishing her body and channels, it was hard not to progress even if she wanted to do so.

At least, her two familiars restrained the elf‘s progress a little bit, the contract between them shifted some of her attainments to her followers to bring them to the same cultivation level.

Only when they reached the peak of the early fourth rank together with their master would Nisha have the opportunity to go further on the path of cultivation, yet the girl was not in a hurry either.

She already towered over her classmates and pretty much everyone else at the [Royal Academy], usually the graduates yearned to make it to the fourth rank and a big part of them only managed to reach the late third stage when they had to leave.

Whether they managed to unearth all of their potential and make that crucial breakthrough affected which forces would be interested to take them in and their future career, hence most fourth turn students did not go out much unless they had to gather more resources for their cultivation.