A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

 

Once the tumultuous dark mana died down, most of the dust in the air settled as well, revealing the situation of Owen inside.

Similarly to the posture before the spell impact, the convict still had his back turned toward his opponent and did not move.

Scraps of cloth fluttered in the air and danced above the blood-stained sand in the arena pit, resulting from the previous attack.

The [Shadow Bolt] managed to land perfectly on its target, ripping the area around Owen’s shoulder and back apart, shredding his clothes and tearing his skin.

Because the spells beneath the fourth rank mostly gathered the mana used to cast them, the damage was centered around the site of impact and did not spread to other areas.

Perhaps some of the surface area of the prisoner’s shoulder was a minor shade paler than usual as the dark attribute had eroded his defenses, but that was the extent of the damage overall.

Owen was still a fourth-rank warrior, after all; no matter how accurately a third-rank spell hit him, the warrior would not take too much damage from it.

The crowd watched with bated breath as well, trying to figure out what the current status of the match was, most of the spectators did not have the necessary cultivation base to watch the minute details of their exchange and were only catching up with the happenings now that there was a break in the action.

Rolling his injured shoulder to check the damage and verify the range of motion he could still execute, the prisoner showed no signs of anger, pain, or dismay.

‘“What a good Hunter. That really surprised me.”

Still, the comment by Owen showed that he was not quite as calm as he portrayed himself.

From the clumsy actions and hesitant movements, as well as the commentator's introduction, he actually knew that the Hunter was a newcomer in their first match.

Due to his status as a prisoner, he never underestimated any opponent, yet he also never thought that a newcomer could get the upper hand and snatch first blood from him.

It was not like the first to be injured had a special meaning or got an advantage from the rules or anything, Owen subconsciously held himself in a superior position thanks to his seniority and more significant experience.

This was a wake-up call for him and forced him to put down his prejudices against the smaller opponent.

While the Hunter barely came up to his chest, the blood dripping from the superficial wounds on his shoulder was as real as could be and a sign of the things to come.

 

On the other hand, the stands around the pits erupted with madness as the new challenger managed to pull off an incredible upset and took first blood in an incredible manner.

The announcer was caught off guard as well and struggled to find the appropriate commentary to keep a neutral stance, that move just now was really too exciting!

Unaware of the ruckus outside the raised defenses, Nisha kept her eyes trained on her opponent, who slowly turned his body to face her direction with squinted eyes and an unreadable expression.

Instead of going for the weapon on the ground close to him, Owen kept his eyes fixed on the Hunter and treated them as a real threat.

Carrying his dilapidated gauntlet on one hand and nothing in the other, he advanced with measured steps and constant vigilance in Nisha’s direction.

Responding in kind, the dragon squinted her eyes and felt the change in atmosphere.

It was a regular brawl before, albeit one with higher cultivation than she was used to, yet now the confrontation grew more severe and made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

She readied the short kitchen knife in her left hand and pointed it straight at the convict, ready to lash out at any moment, while the increasingly broken wooden club guarded her body closely.

Since the man was coming at her anyway, the elf did not need to meet him in kind and risk giving him an opening to attack her weakness while moving.

Owen gave up the fancy moves and complicated skills, using nothing but the most simple earthen chain enhancement skill to prolong the life of his gauntlet and strengthen his skin.

With newfound sharpness, he stepped up bravely and came straight at his foe, leading with a straight jab.

Due to their difference in height, what would have been a body blow turned into a headshot and startled Nisha, who was a beat slower in catching up to the change in rhythm from her opponent.

The threat made the skin on her face prickle well before the strike came anywhere close to her face, yet the grin hidden by her cowl only got wider as the fight got more intense.

In response to the attack, the elf ducked below the punch and pushed up his extending arm with her wooden club to prevent him from striking down while she closed in as well, brandishing her short blade in a piercing manner forward, aimed at his belly.

 

Normally, Owen would have definitely backed off and looked for a different opportunity to attack again to guarantee his own safety.

Now, however, he admitted that the Hunter was on his own level and that it would be difficult to obtain a chance that he was satisfied with.

If he could not perform significantly better than his opponent, the convict just had to make some sacrifices to obtain something in return.

He ignored the incoming blade and used his other hand in order to block the stab, despite having nearly no defense at all aside from his earth strengthening skill.

Pushing against the kitchen knife with his bare palm, a cut ran straight through it all the way to his wrist, yet he did not need to back up like earlier and search for another opportunity or an opening.

His fist followed the elf downward and slammed against Nisha’s shoulder and neck instead of her head, bruising the flesh and skin in the area as well as giving the girl a serious jolt.

Because her frame was smaller compared to the convict, she lacked the reach to make the most of her attack and fell back together with the momentum from the attack pushing against the girl.

She did not forget to drag her knife along Owen’s arm again, leaving behind another cut.

Skipping back several times to regain her footing, Nisha rolled her neck and peered at her opponent from beneath her cowl, assessing the damage to her body while keeping an eye on her opponent at the same time.

Compared to the probing and fast retreats from the first portion of the clash, the dragon enjoyed the current state of affairs more.

Thanks to her peerless physique, her own injuries were pretty limited, at most her skin would bruise up in the coming days, which would recover on its own quite fast.

Owen, on the other side, similarly opened and closed his hand several times to confirm that his hand did not lose mobility due to injured ligaments.

It was imperative for both fighters to keep a grasp on their own condition as accurately as possible, or there could be unexpected nasty surprises coming for them all of a sudden in the future during the brawl.

Meanwhile, the crowd above the ring got another chance to get a clear picture of the progress of the event as the contestants separated and took stock of their own condition.

From an outside perspective, the Hunter was tossed back after eating a heavy punch near the neck, while the criminal Owen suffered a number of nasty cuts and spilled red blood on the sand.

Either event was enough to drive up their excitement, not to mention that both happened simultaneously, which drove them into a frenzy of cheers and furor.

“What a compelling exchange of moves!

Both contestants pulled out all the stops and ignored their own safety to make the other side suffer.

A real feast for the eyes, we sure are lucky!”

Even the commentator was impressed, fights above a certain cultivation level often put safety first as it was not easy to reach their level.

Having knight-rank fighters spill each other’s blood would draw a crowd for sure, the number of visitors would skyrocket soon.

 

In a regular match, as long as participants got injured, they would most likely retreat first and do a more thorough assessment of their afflictions and act more cautiously in the short while.

Contrary to expectations, Owen did not pay attention to his damaged hand at all and charged ahead as soon as he confirmed that he could move it at least.

He had been misled before by the Hunter’s small stature and seemingly young age based on their physique, subconsciously lowering his alertness.

The spells had woken him from his misconception, and now the convict gave his all to end the fight as soon as possible, or it might spiral out of control even more.

Nevertheless, it was out of his expectations that a blow that he traded injuries for was shaken off so easily, chiefly due to the feedback from his hands.

He knew he had struck true and delivered a solid straight, yet the resulting sensation was much closer to striking chainmail or half-plate mail than the leather armor that his opponent was wearing, only that it lacked the metallic qualities.

Unfortunately, the prisoner had no time to ponder on the exotic material that could have been used to make the gear, he had to keep up the pressure and conclude the match soon.

Nisha welcomed the charging warrior gladly, she learned about little details and small tricks every time they engaged each other and gained more combat experience against humans.

She briefly considered falling back to replace the mace that was falling apart with each clash and ultimately chose to ignore it for the time being.

Whilst the weapon was on the verge of breaking down, the elf would still be left with the wooden handle and a jarred edge that could serve as makeshift gear, she was going to rely on the knife as the main tool for the time being anyway.

Holding the wooden club in front of her body, Nisha aligned herself with the weapon and offered only a small surface area for the other warrior to attack.

Together with her smaller height and slender limbs, the girl only left a very small target to attack.

Instead of allowing the same pattern to repeat, Nisha decisively took another step forward and charged into the convicts range, stabbing her blunt weapon directly at his chest.

While a hit from that would certainly not be too bad and quite likely not leave a wound behind, it would throw the man off-balance and allow the real threat to close in on him, the knife in her other hand, waiting for a chance to strike.

Owen frowned for no other reason than that it was becoming harder and harder to deal with his foe, who constantly surprised him with new moves that set off his combat instinct.

 

The Hunter had not been a very adaptable fighter at the start of their brawl, the moves displayed were rather stiff and resembled stances more than actual tactics and were rather easy to pick apart.

It was during the course of their engagement that the disjointed movements lost the gap between one action and the next, as well as a certain fluidity that only came with practice and experience.

He was still able to stay ahead thanks to his strong sixth sense and instinct for danger, as well as his plentiful combat experience, but the prisoner felt the distance between them shrinking at a pace that should not be possible.

Keeping his eye on the approaching challenger, Owen ignored the extended club and gathered a good portion of his earth element aura towards his lower body whereas the man leaped half a step high into the air right before the two of them would collide.

Albeit it was impossible to see through the [Dark Cowl], he managed to catch Nisha off guard, who had not expected her opponent to give up his stable footing and balance for some reason.

Before she had a chance to figure out what exactly the convict planned, he suddenly plummeted down faster than Owen should have been able to by himself.

It was only at the last possible moment that the dragon noticed the unusual concentration of earth aura around his legs.

Her eyes widened just as the prisoner impacted the ground and set off a wave of sand in her direction, packed full of energy.

“Fall down! [Ripplewave]!”

The origin of the skill was too close to the dragon for her to avoid it, a ring of agitated earth aura spread in all directions and Nisha was no exception.

When the earth aura washed over her feet, it was no longer a matter of balance, which the elf happened to have in spades and then some left over.

Thrown into turmoil by the skill, the sand of the pit was assimilated by the wave and rapidly changed position within as it roiled outwards, effectively knocking down everything it encountered in its path.

Seeing that the Hunter fell on their back, Owen’s eyes lit up and he hurriedly followed the path of his skill to approach his enemy.

When he was next to the toppled figure, he raised his gloved hand and racked up all of his power to deliver a final blow with it.

As long as the punch struck true, the prisoner had no doubt that the fight would end.