A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

 

Eventually, the events followed to expected path and the remaining nameless participants got injured to varying degrees and had to bow out of the competition.

One of the few women that took part had a good showing against ‘Fierce’ Olaf and managed to resist his shortaxe for the longest time, even alone, but unfortunately the pressure eventually mounted as ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason approached and she was caught between two powerful heavyweights.

Leonard Highpass did not make use of his [Violent Storm Staff] again, likely trying to preserve aura for the final confrontation.

With the nameless participants out of the way, only three famous people with their own moniker were left in the arena pit.

Leonard Highpass, ‘Fierce’ Olaf and ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason were among the best fighters the arena had to offer around the early to mid second rank, no one with that cultivation would want to encounter them in a duel.

At first, the scene was rather awkward as there were three of them left, yet they had to engage somehow.

No matter who teamed up with someone else against the last party, it would acknowledge that the two who teamed up thought of the odd one out as a significant threat, thereby hinting that they felt inferior to them.

They could also choose to make it a melee free for all, each side going all out until two were cut down, but for many reasons that would make it difficult for them to showcase their power and remain in control of the following developments.

Most likely, the chaos would make the final winner random, and the difference in treatment between the third place and the first place was rather significant.

Ultimately, the three parties converged towards the middle of the pit and gauged up each other, trying to spot a weakness or grasp a good opportunity to act.

Exchanging glances, it was an unspoken agreement between ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason and ‘Fierce’ Olaf as they turned on the noble warrior at the same time and besieged him from two sides.

 

Leonard Highpass did not complain or escape from the pincer attack, his staff drew wide circles in order to safeguard as much space as possible for himself.

He needed plenty of room to maneuvor, it was not easy to resist two strong foes at the same time, so he could only focus fully on defense for the time being.

Perhaps the other two thought that his aura reserves had to have taken a dip after using staff techniques several times earlier, hence they planned to eliminate him first.

And while ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason and ‘Fierce’ Olaf agreed to deal with him, it was not a stable alliance either and they had to guard against each other, giving the noble warrior the breathing space he needed to resist them with all his might.

The crowd around the pit heated up into a fever pitch, the rapid blows and showy moves were their favorites.

A grand brawl between many fighters was fine, a display of skill and showy moves was fine as well.

As long as it was exciting, the crowd was happy and willing to spend more coins on food and bets.

Since the end of the event was already visibly approaching, none of the participants preserved their energy anymore.

Olaf’s short axe gleamed with a heavy earthen light as he invoked his signature skill, [Shattering Strike], a famous move for its heavy weight and how easy it was to break rocks and bones alike.

‘Sharp Blade’ Jason was more subdued, his shortsword only gained an additional coat along the edge of his blade.

[Severing Blade] improved the cutting power and durability of any bladed weapon it was used on, making the heavy blows from the unassuming weapon all the more deadly, especially considering that it belonged to the metal attribute, a subattribute under the earth element.

Not everyone had the talent to learn a subattribute, they were viewed as mutations of the original element and shared the same root, yet differed significantly in effect.

Soldiers dreamed of having access to the metal category of spells and skills, their use was near endless on a battlefield and vastly improved their survivability.

It was a coincidence that both challengers had an affinity with the earth element, but the noble warrior was not cowed at all by their trump cards.

Leonard Highpass’ staff swirled with a fresh stream of air every time it clashed against one of the other two fighters, either offsetting the charge or borrowing the power of a strike to rebound against the other warrior.

The metal capped tips revealed some signs of wear and tear as the metal dented and tore under the stress, but it held up for now.

 

Nisha learned the details of their skills through the annoying screams of the announcer, that shady guy would not stop babbling along ever since he accidentally revealed his secret intentions to steal away the dragon’s treasure.

She filtered out his words almost automatically by now and only picked out the useful bits, such as the name of the skills or the detail about the metal element.

The announcer was nearly superfluous by now, the brawl was visibly toning down as the end approached faster than ever.

Right as the elf thought about what exactly would herald the final decision, ‘Fierce’ Olaf jumped forward and brought down his axe in a mighty arc, bent on taking down the biggest obstacle between himself and the first place.

Yellowish fluctuations coated the edge of his axe as it ripped away part of the metal covering of the staff blocking it, and the recoil sent both Leonard Highpass and Olaf staggering back.

At this exact moment, ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason seized the initiative and made his move, jerking the hand he had kept in his pocket all this time forward.

Unable to evade because of the recoil, the hidden dagger sailed through the air smoothly and embedded itself deeply in the back of the shirtless warrior.

Suddenly, neither of the three participants moved and only the crowd raged as another party was eliminated from the fight.

Perhaps ‘Fierce’ Olaf was not reconciled to accept this outcome, he had fallen to trickery and deceit instead of an honorable way to go down, but he had no choice but to accept that the weapon had torn his skin and sliced his flesh, as a thin line of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

The dagger itself was not long enough to injure his inner organs or deal significant damage, or ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason would not have been able to carry it in his palm ever since they picked their gear at the start of the brawl.

It was a long-planned trap for one of the final contenders, and it was just an unlucky turn of events that it was ‘Fierce’ Olaf and not someone else in his position that eventually necessitated the use of the hidden dagger.

Glaring once at the sneaky bastard, the shirtless warrior discarded his weapon and shield and strode off, ready to leave the pit and look for a healer.

While it was not a deep wound, it was always wise to seek early treatment instead of delaying and dealing with a massive injury instead.

 

Leonard Highpass took the opportunity to catch his breath and watch the drama in silence, while the third place walkled off the sandy field.

Although he had good stamina and relied less on his [Violent Storm Staff] skill during the besiegement, it was still a physical drain to borrow strength and defend himself from a constant assault.

‘Sharp Blade’ Jason did not want to upset the defeated warrior either, if he really disregarded the rules and attacked him out of anger, the gains would not make up for the losses.

When the pit was left with only two final contenders, Jason once again focused on the obstacle to his path of champion.

Nisha did not disdain him for the use of a hidden weapon, honor and chivalry were things that are nice to have around, but only extremely stupid people would sacrifice their own goals and perhaps their life for the sake of them.

Sometimes, only the most ruthless fighter would prevail and survive, not the most powerful one.

As long as ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason took first place, the process was no longer important.

No one would remember if he used dishonorable means, only who came out on top.

Sadly, in the elf’s opinion, the chances for the aforemention contender were not favorable at all.

The decision to use his hidden blade to take out ‘Fierce’ Olaf first already showed his stance, and to some degree that Jason was uncertain of taking on Leonard Highpass.

If he was confident in his own strength, he would not have needed a hidden piece in the first place, or he would have brought a shield or second blade instead.

Bar a string of very unfortunate coincidences, ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason always aimed for the highest spot and carefully navigated around the pitfalls along the way.

The nameless competitors did not manage to force his hand earlier and he was not surrounded to the point where he was at risk of being eliminated.

Ralf the Butcher was somewhat of a wildcard, yet the influence on his own position was minimal, the lunatic eventually quit of his own volition.

Then it was down to the three of them, each with a moniker to denote their strength and fame.

Regardless of the results of the duels between them before, it was hard to say how a situation would unfold if all three warriors fought all out from the start.

To prevent the worst outcome, ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason teamed up with Olaf and turned against Leonard Highpass, which showed that the two of them acknowledged him as the strongest party and a significant threat.

 

Perhaps Jason judged that his chances of successfully ambushing Leonard were not high to begin with, or else he could have waited for the other two to expend each other’s stamina and aura before making his move.

While that approach had the highest potential payoff, securing him first place, it also was the riskiest approach.

If ‘Sharp Blade’ Jason failed to injure Leonard Highpass, then he would face the joint retaliation of the other two contenders and most likely waste his preparations and patience, making him end up third.

Contrary to that, it was the safer option to take out ‘Fierce’ Olaf first and secure second place no matter what.

He would have waited even longer to make his move, but the shirtless warrior performed too well and together they pushed Leonard Highpass towards a dead end.

If they attacked him too feriouciously, there was a good chance that the noble fighter would use his trump card and fight them to the end.

Whether he took down Olaf or Jason would rely on pure luck and ‘Sharp Blade’ didn’t fancy his odds in that gamble.

Now it was only him and the last obstacle on his path to champion left, the final struggle would decide if his gamble paid off.

Although the elf was not part of the struggle, she had seen many similar deliberations in the Wilderness once monsters with similar strength ended up in conflict.

It was hard to judge the best course of action, and sometimes all the planning in the world did not manage to overcome the strength of a fist.

Nisha rose from her seat, confusing the other members of the audience near her.

The grand finale was about to play out, none of them would leave their spot right now even if someone offered them money.

 

Nisha did not need to watch the remainder of the match, the quality of the contenders was just too far apart for the result to change much.

One side schemed endlessly and assessed every potential outcome carefully, while the other party did not treat them like a problem in the first place.

Throughout the entire fight, Leonard Highpass always drew the most attention, consciously or not.

He had to face the most foes, and every time the overall situation shifted it gravitated around his position.

No one wanted to allow the skilled nobleman a breather, constantly engagin him and trying to deplete his stamina reserves and drain his aura pool.

Yet despite all the obstacles in his path, Leonard persisted to the end and never lost the easy grace that powered his staff techniques and soft movement technique that threw the others off.

Ultimately, the elf firmly believed that the fight was bound to end shortly, now that no one could hamper Leonard Highpass to giving full play to the range of his capabilities.

The crowd cheered as another climatic encounter between the last two fighters started, whereas the dragon entered the building and moved downstairs.

It was time for her to sign up and participate in an arena match.

Luthais did say she should enjoy herself, and right now a brawl with someone closer to her own cultivation level sounded great.