The Dragon of Dreams

Chapter 407: Learning

Early Evening - Mid Winter : Eikasía | Eastern Bahamut

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"Bets! Place your bets now! The current odds are 26-1 in Sigmond's favor! Do you wish to gamble on the mystique of the beauty or bank on the power of a brute? Come place your bids now! We accept silver here!"

Listening to a group of young guys trying to collect bids at the top of the stands, I watched as Krystallo and her opponent were given a quick debriefing inside the arena, essentially just going over a more specific list of rules and exchanging formalities with the elder who would be the referee.

In the meantime, everyone in the stands was debating who they think is going to win and why. "I'm surprised the odds are so close. Is it because it's the first fight of the festival?"

"Probably, but after hearing about 'the underdog' in Atlas during the last festival, people are more willing to bank on unknowns."

Overhearing the dragons behind us speaking, I glanced back. "The underdog?"

Turning to me, the man, around Father's age, was quick to continue. "He was a few meters shorter than his opponent, like that missus out there, and had 8500-1 betting odds against him, but he completely decimated his opponent who was from a big-name noble family." Looking out toward the arena, he was simply oozing excitement. "This time around it looks like people have learned to judge the contenders' personalities more, whether they're confident or just cocky, y'know?"

I was quick to nod as I relaxed and turned back to face the arena. "It's certainly not a bad way to do things. That makes me wonder who you guys voted for though."

"We decided to bank on the missy." The guy's friend was quick to speak up. "The way she holds her snout up makes us think she's from some noble family and is just undercover. What about you guys?"

I immediately shrugged my wings. "I think it could go either way."

And Hera was quick to agree. "If he has any proficiency with that sword, she'll have a really hard time."

-Hm?- Hearing an odd sense of familiarity in her voice, I looked over at her. "Do you know about that fighting style?"

"I played with it a bit in my younger years." Switching to using her divinity so the others nearby couldn't hear us, she spoke bluntly. "~Although I doubt any techniques have survived to this day and age, if his sword isn't too heavy, and he knows any techniques, she'll seriously be in trouble...~"

-Hm...- "~Is that so...~" Watching as he leaned down and let the referee put an emergency artifact around his neck, something meant to stop the fight at a moment's notice, I wasn't sure I could agree. "~I think if she can keep herself from getting hit by the first few swings, she will win.~"

"~Hoh? I thought you weren't confident she'd win.~"

"~I'm not.~" The issue was that Krystallo had never been in a real fight before, and considering her relaxed stance even as they lined up to start, I slowly became more pessimistic. "~If I'm honest, her getting through the first exchange will be a miracle.~" She simply wasn't ready.

But while a part of me wanted to warn her, I stayed silent.

Some things are better learned from mistakes after all.

"Alright! I hope everyone is ready!" As the referee finally backed away to the edge of the arena, and the boy picked up his sword, the announcer's voice boomed through the arena. "After much preparations, the first fight of the festival will begin on my mark. Are the fighters ready?"

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Biting down hard on the sword's handle, the tip instantly swung up off the ground before he nodded. *Woom*

And as Krystallo nodded, the crowd suddenly went silent, waiting for the signal of the announcer with bated breaths and eager looks.

Until finally... *SNAP* A thin laser-like column of light zipped across the middle of the arena, and in the same instant, the boy hurled his sword at Krystallo.

*Clang-WOOSH* "WHAT THE-?!" Barely managing to move her head to the side in time, her eyes shot open and her pupils thinned.

But her opponent wasn't going to give her a chance to think.

Slowing his sword with his aura and using the force to close the distance between them, he reached up and bit the handle again before swinging it down to drive it through Krystallo's neck, leaving her no choice but to either jump out of the ring or close the distance further and get caught in the space between the blade and his body.

*CLANG-CRACKKK* But while it was clearly baiting her into a trap, as the tip of his blade slammed into the ground over her back, she closed the distance just like he wanted, reaching up his paw as he let go of his sword with a smile.

She was completely caught in his trap with nowhere obvious to escape to.

But instead of taking the moment he let go of his sword to make space and utilize her range advantage with magic, her paw shot up and interlocked with the boy’s.

It was a sight that made Hera and I both want to facepalm.

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In one swift move, she had put herself in the worst possible situation.. a battle of brute strength against a dragon that probably weighed twice what she did.

However, just as disappointment washed over my face, a wave of ice blew over the arena and she twisted the boy's wrist, forcing him to turn toward her and inevitably slip before she dug her hind claws into the ground, yanked him closer, and slammed her paw into the base of his neck, flipping him over in one swift motion. *Fwip*

In the blink of an eye, she had completely pinned him down. It was a flawless victory.

Before the dust could even settle, the crowd simply exploded. "NO WAY!"

"DID YOU SEE THAT?!"

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!"

But while they cheered, Hera and I couldn't pull our dumbfounded expressions off her. "~Y..You saw that.. right?~"

I was quick to nod as Krystallo finally let go of the boy's dislocated wrist.

Although the crowd seemed to of missed it, believing the poor boy was simply outplayed by her utilization of ice magic, as my eyes drifted from the deep claw marks dug in the stone to the boy's broken claws after trying to anchor himself, a very conflicting mix of feelings surfaced in my mind. "~Did she really just.. overpower him that aggressively..?~" Honestly I was struggling to believe my own eyes.

And Hera wasn't any different. "~What the hell has your mom been feeding her..?~"

The thing was, even with help from magic, muscle mass and density were by far the biggest factors that went into a being's strength, however, Krystallo, who had neither denser muscle nor more mass by a massive margin, managed to not just overpower the young boy, but completely manhandle him. -How is that even possible...-

Finally pulling her paw off the boy's neck, revealing a series of broken scales, she looked down and clenched her paw a few times, seemingly unsure how to feel while the referee came up to check on the boy.

But, it didn't take long for the referee to nod and back off, letting the boy get up himself after fixing his dislocated wrist.

"And the first match goes to the flower!"

""RAAHH!!"" The crowd's cheers were deafening.

"It seems I misjudged you, Miss." Bowing his head to Krystallo, Atticus spoke rather formally before looking up at the announcer. "However, I would like to request a best of three!"

"Hoho!" The announcer instantly lit up with excitement. "Are you sure? If you lose, you won't be able to fight anyone else for the duration of the tournament, and even if you win, you must win twice or else you will still fall to the losers bracket!"

The boy instantly nodded with overflowing excitement while a confident grin spread across his face.

It was almost like he was waving a huge warning sign over his head, but somehow not seeing it, Krystallo just combatively held her head up. "I agree as well."

-Uh oh...- Watching her confidence grow while the boy went and retrieved his sword, my worry instantly resurfaced.

Now that she knew she was stronger than him physically, she was going to lean on and utilize that advantage again.

But this time, her opponent knew exactly what he was up against.

Knowing what was about to happen as they geared up to fight again, I simply watched in silence.

*Flash* Once again, the instant the beam of light zipped across the arena again, the boy threw his sword, but this time tossed it sideways as if trying to hand it to her.

And, not understanding what he was doing, she simply caught it before... *DIIIING* Atticus lowered his head and slammed it into the side of his own blade, sending her flying off the edge of the platform and tumbling onto the sandy colosseum floor.

*THUD-CLANG* THUD* *THUD-Thud* Eventually catching herself on her feet, she vigilantly took a combat stance, only to be presented with the referee claiming Atticus as the winner.

"Haha," Hera couldn't help but let out a little chuckle as we watched Krystallo's confidence turn to annoyance. "You think she'll have it figured out in the next round?"

Watching her make her way back up on stage, holding her snout much lower with her wings flared out a bit, I nodded. "It depends on what her takeaway from the last fight was, but I think she will." -She just needs to use her head...-

And so, it came down to the last fight.

One final brawl.

And as they lined up on opposite ends of the arena, and Krystallo bent down, lowering her head below her shoulders, it was clear she was going to take a different approach.

"Beware both contestants! Whoever loses this match will be sent to the loser's bracket!" Riling up the crowd, the announcer used magic to amplify the stadium's roar.

It was only the first set of games of the festival, but it was already becoming one people would remember.

However... *Flash* This time, the moment the column of light zipped across the arena, they both darted toward one another and met in the middle.

Using his weight and reach his advantage, Atticus was quick to plant his paw and swing his head down, slamming the blade down right in front of Krystallo, forcing her to stop and change directions before he changed the way he held the sword in his mouth and lunged toward her again, trying to force her to the outer edge of the ring as they dashed around it.

-Uh oh...- She was in trouble again.

But as the boy continued to use his sword to keep her from getting too close and limit her movement, he slammed the blade down in front of her, expecting her to try and hop over it before she slammed into it, only for her to face the palm of her paw to it, and turn to him.

*Vwoom-CRRRACCKK* In an instant, the massive iron sword vanished, teleporting into the walls surrounding the arena before plowing through them, taking a large slab of the raised stone stage with it.

It was a magnetism spell similar to railgun magic, and by using the repulsive force from it to not only stop her momentum, but throw her in the opposite direction, she got her paw on Atticus's head, and wasted no time spreading her wings and driving his face into the ground. *CRACKLE-WHAAAMMM*

As I watched her skid to the opposite side of the ring after knocking the kid out, a smile spread across my face, and soon after, it spread across hers as well. -There she goes…-

As she turned her gaze up into the stands, she gave Hera and I a beaming smile and held her head high.

“And the winner is Miss Anthisi!!”

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