A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

 

“I signed up for a fight and it should be the next contest.

In the preparation area, I was told to come here after picking my weapons and gear to get them checked.“

Even if Nisha knew what the man was really thinking, she was rather impressed by the operations of this place.

She had expected some trouble because of her age and small figure.

At times like these, the dragon wished that she could master an ability to transform into her original form sooner rather than later, being unable to fly freely was rather depressing.

Those that never soared through the open sky and covered the sun with their wings would never understand how sad it was to be bound to the earth.

While the elf form was more convenient to work with small items and dexterous with her hands, Nisha sometimes dreamed about returning to her dragon form and roaming the Wilderness.

“Alright then, let me check the gear first.“

Puzzled as he was, the man quickly dealt with his job anyway, it was nothing complicated either.

Each of the weapons and supplementing items purchased by the Arena would have a stamp with the outline of the arena building marked on them, as well as a number representing the specific item.

With the ledge of third rank items and supplementive items on hand, both the stamp and the respective entry in the ledgers was confirmed, making it very hard for outsiders to smuggle their own gear inside the pit.

The man was even kind enough to remind Nisha about the flaw of the [Dark Shroud], although his concerns were rather unnecessary since the dragon had picked the item and knew about it beforehand.

“The verification is complete, the current contest inside the pit should be about half over.

You can either wait here and rest on one of the benches or enter the room next to the counter, someone will call you to enter the stage once it is time.

Do you want to use the name on your account or pick your own callsign?“

By estimating her age and strength, the worker did not think that the girl had the right to a private lounge, which was reserved for the top fighters, long time champions of the Arena League or high rank cultivators.

He would have been quite astounded to know that the elf, in fact, did have a whole room to herself.

 

Unaware of the other options, Nisha did not mind waiting here for a little longer, her blood was already pumping faster as her heart beat faster in anticipation of the upcoming fight, a pleasant sensation of fire and blood that had been missing for some time now.

“You can just put my alias as Hunter.“

Nisha had spent more than ten turns surviving in the Wilderness and slowly climbed to the position of a predator, with an additional turn using bow and arrow to make a living in the [Royal Hunting Grounds].

The position of Hunter was more than just familiar and comfortable to the elf, she had picked the name almost right away once she knew that she could use an alias inside the sand pit.

Behind the counter, the worker had to force himself from smirking at hearing the name Hunter.

Quite a few participants had to make an effort at least to not appear in public openly, even the city guards had a few fighting fanatics that regularly signed up for events, but had to conceal their identity because of their position.

Tags like Hunter, Warrior, Champion and the like, even if there were not a thousand of them, there were at least a few hundred participants who used them.

As a general rule, most of the people who chose general names like that were either not too strong or picked something more sophisticated once they had success and increased their strength.

It was not his place to comment though, so the employee faithfully recorded the name as told and finished the file on hand.

Making a short notice with the information on hand, he called one of the younger men behind the counter over and gave the sheet of paper to him.

Jogging in the distance, he was soon out of sight.

“The procedures are complete now, you only need to wait for the last event to finish, then your fight will start.

Later on, the bell will ring when the current event is finished, a group of workers will enter and prepare the venue for the next fight.

You can either put the gear you chose on now, or once the bell rings, the choice is up to you.

When the bell rings for the second time, the gate opens and you can enter the pit.

We wish you the best of luck and that you may remain victorious.“

Putting the file on the girl in front of him away, the worker gave her a quick set of instructions and pointed towards the benches and the waiting room.

The runner should convey her chosen alias and some basic information about the coming fight to the announcer, which was the last part of the preparations for her upcoming fight.

Nisha thanked him quickly and walked over to one of the benches.

 

While the elf looked calm on the surface and had her eyes closed, the boiling blood hidden beneath was everything else but peaceful.

Nisha had held herself back for a long time now, and it was time to change that soon.

The passage of time became blurry in a moment of spontaneous meditation, the second bell rang out before the girl had a chance to properly sort her thoughts.

With a reminder from a worker nearby, the dragon rose from her seat and immediately gathered all of her momentum in a strong surge.

The nearby people gave way without question and watched with wonder as the petite figure stepped into the sand pit through the raised gate.

Waves of dark and fiery energy surged into the surroundings as the circulation inside Nisha‘s physique overshot the limit.

It was finally time to meet a worthy opponent!

Armed with a broken club, a tattered shield fixed to her arm and a cowl casting a deep shadow over face, making it impossible to see her features, the dragon radiated fighting spirit and wildness as the tiled floor of the arena gave way to red sand and white gravel.

Just as the young madam entered the pit, the crowd in the seats cheered for the next event that was suddenly added.

The announcer teased the crowd and promised an extraordinary feast for the eyes and a clash between the strong, which meant that the current fight was going to be near the peak of the contestants in the Arena, either at the peak of the third rank or a fourth rank knight level being.

Normally such events would be advertised in advance and given more time to prepare to lure more spectators and increase the betting pool, yet it was not impossible that two parties had a sudden disagreement and took a grievance to the pit or agreed to have a fight for other reasons.

Whichever cause it was, it was a big profit for the spectators who would get to see the clash firsthand as a sudden bonus.

Nevertheless, the enthusiasm of the crowd diminished a lot once they got a clear look at the figure that entered the ring first.

With the [Dark Cowl] protecting her head and concealing her face, Nisha brought two broken weapons and donned a set of regular leather armour.

The powerful momentum behind her brimmed with a set of dark and fiery energy and gave her a mighty vibe, it was just a shame that the effect dimmed a lot when compared to her short height.

 

Most of the warriors participating in the Arena matches had bulging muscles and tall physiques, with only a few exceptions.

Furthermore, she was at best half the height of the regulars, with her limbs short and frail in comparison to the usual warriors.

Perhaps a magician would fare better, but she brought a set of weapons for a melee and did not embody the general idea the spectators had of a powerful combatant.

Without the cheers, it was easy to hear the disgruntled shouts of a few people who questioned whether the Arena was trying to fool them or make a pointless joke.

No matter who the opponent for the kid in the pit was, the guests did not come here to watch a farce where one side completely dominated the other.

An adult bullying a child was too much and two children fighting each other was not worth watching, how exciting could such a match be?

“Because this match was arranged rather shortly, our esteemed guests might not be familiar with the contestants.

Let us introduce the challenger first, this fight will definitely satisfy everyone, please calm down first.“

At this moment, the announcer had to step up and pacify the crowd first, otherwise the Arena would not manage to make any profit from a match between fourth rank cultivators.

“As mentioned just now, the challenger this time around is a newcomer and has agreed to fight for the first time in our humble establishment.

To give you an idea of the strength of the upcoming fight, I will share with you the results of our measurement directly to show you the strength of the Hunter!“

While the words successfully attracted the interest of the crowd again and were quite positive on the surface, the announcer himself carefully turned his face to the side in order to prevent the spectators from seeing the smirk on his face.

Despite not being particularly powerful himself, it was up to the announcer to build a positive image for a participant and it was just as easy to destroy their image as long as the crowd was guided in a particular direction.

As a professional, the announcer had seen many fourth rank cultivators before and did not need to bow his head to them, some of them even approached him in order to curry favour and adjust their image before the spectators.

He disdained a childish name like Hunter and even faintly felt that his own status was higher in the Arena than a newcomer, no matter how high their cultivation was or what rank they attained.

If they went against him, he could make them lose their face and lower their bets and turn public attention against them, vastly lowering the resources these fighters could obtain.

 

Of course, the announcer did not have a grudge against this newcomer either, he simply looked down on the simplistic alias and the unimpressive fighter that chose it.

If it was not for the information handed to him beforehand by the runner from the registration branch, he would have completely looked down on this participant.

“Appearances can be deceiving, after going through the test, our experts have determined that the Hunter has reached the early fourth rank in aura and mana cultivation.

Not only is this guest a rare dual cultivator, they have also done so with two different elements, Fire and Darkness.

Don‘t miss the fight this time, this is a rare event that only comes around every other moon or longer!“

As expected, the news was like a powerful spell thrown into the crowd, which exploded immediately!

A dual cultivator with two attributes at the fourth rank?

Such a cultivation level was already enough to receive a title from the Royal Court and establish a family, not to mention that dual cultivators and cultivators with two attributes were extremely rare.

Having both appear on the same person, who did not look very old either, meant that an extraordinary genius had appeared, which would likely reach greater heights in the future.

Being able to spectate the fight that involved such a pinnacle existence was a good fortune that might not even happen once a turn, the announcer was already very generous when he implied that the Arena could prepare fights on this level every two or three moons.

The crowd cheered even louder than before and countless burning eyes wanted to peek beneath the cowl and figure out who exactly managed to achieve such a stunning feat.

“Because the fight was arranged just recently, our guest chose to challenge a prisoner managed by the Arena. Let's welcome the second fighter!“

With the words of the announcer, the second gate on the opposite side of Nisha rose and revealed a lone figure standing beneath the door.

Unlike the earlier commotion when the elf stepped into the pit, the crowd neither cheered or jeered this time.

Because the prisoners often appeared in Prison League matches to maintain the enthusiasm of the spectators, they were well aware of the characters that ended up in the dungeons beneath the Arena.