Arc | Chapter. 67: Escalation

Chapter. 67: Escalation

The Dragon of Water knew, he knew that his actions were for lack of a better word counter-productive in the eyes of the other dragons, and especially in Arc’s eyes. After all, why would he initiate in wanting a deal only to immediately create animosity with the other party.

However he had his reasons, and they required him to be the villain even if his reputation amongst the dragon elders would be permanently tarnished. And it all began with finding out more about the Heroine of Frost, while at the same time ensuring his own safety.

His eyes narrowed looking at her.

How could he let go of a hero’s important information just like that after all?

* * * * *

There was a brief silence, my fists tightened and I gave him a death glare but he just continued to stare at me.

“Are you threatening me?” I asked with a hiss.

He shook his head. “I am establishing a boundary, if you have a different way to pay me back then go ahead. But I expect to be paid back for this before the end of our journey.”

I felt more annoyed now than ever looking at the Dragon of Water. Then contrary to my expectation, Regis’karr spoke.

“Are you sure you cannot just let this go? She’s our⁠—”

“She might be your queen, but she isn’t mine,” he said coldly, looking at him. “I do not need her, nor do I even need to be part of the Grand Dragon Elders to live my life. It’s just convenient that is all.”

“Dragon of Water,” the Dragon of Earth hissed.

The Dragon of Water turned, his eyes narrowing. “That is a fact that you have known for a long while. Out of all the elders I am the least present.”

The tension rose between the Earth and Water dragon, Regis’karr seemed off-standish. Malz ignored it, and the Dragon of Wind, Faral let out a sigh.

“Let’s not fight over this, I’ll go to the colosseum in Arc’s place.” She stepped forward. “However, you are too brusque.”

He shrugged. “I don’t care, I do deals. Everyone is an equal party to me, if I do something that makes me owe her then it is reasonable of her to demand something of me.”

For some reason I found that irritating. The Dragon of Water had such a haughty way of behaving himself that the statement came off as hypocritical. It was simply put: annoying. I wanted to put him in his place, and I wanted to put his logic to the test.

But for that I had to…

He turned to Faral. “If you want to do that I have no problem, but she has better chances of getting fights than you do. Posing as a hero is more believable than pretending to be one of the Grand Dragon Elders, and their renown is far more widespread.”

“I’m not pretending, I am one,” Faral hissed.

“Ah, yes.” He nodded. “Good luck convincing the humans of that⁠—”

“Enough,” I interrupted, annoyed at his attitude. “I’ll just fight in her place, as for paying you back sure.”

“Alright, then I’ll hold you up to it,” he said simply.

A snort left me, and with that we set off to the arena.

* * * * *

Yasin loved this place.

The Miri-Sunre Republic. A place where strength was everywhere to be displayed, a traditional territory. One with a vast history and one of the biggest deserts in all of Arlas. It was said that immemorial beasts roamed the land in ancient times, and with it, lots of remnants were left behind from the previous inhabitants.

Monuments of strange carvings, with traditions that were passed down through time and refined. Food recipes, dances, rituals, all of them hundreds of years ago and important through the land. However, the tradition that was the most important were the rites for strength.

And upon finding out more about them, Yasin had truly fallen in love with one in particular. It was bloodied. It was brutal. It was primal. A way for people to truly test amongst themselves in a crucible of pure blood, a rite that almost every single true warrior went through in order to become great; it was the path of greatness, it was the…

Colosseum.

However, if it had been just that he would’ve gotten bored a long time ago. Of course, he had a good year or more enjoying the fights, they were fantastic. While deaths were rare, they were bloodied and each warrior gave it their all. Sometimes limbs would fly and have to be healed, sometimes fatal wounds would be inflicted but thanks to the present healers fights would continue.

It was beautiful. It was a place where people fought without reservation. A place where the limits of the warriors would be constantly surpassed. A place where new records were always made. That was the arena of the colosseum. While there was a death in the daily, it witnessed hundreds of battles. They weren’t exciting for the spectators every time but they were always enlightening to those that went through the fires of battle.

Yasin loved watching the improvement repeated fighters showed, it was like a sport to him. He was someone who had never witnessed such a culture before, and when he finally did in this way it was like he had been enraptured ⁠— captivated. It was his life for a long time, it was everything he did, using his life savings he stayed around and even barely ate all in order to see more of things.

And then came the betting.

He got addicted to it, sometimes he won, sometimes he lost, but in the end he made just enough to support himself and watch the battles. However, even though it was like a newfound passion to him, eventually the spark and burning desire slowly faded for him. He had thought that that was everything.

That he had experienced everything Miri-Sunre had to offer, but even then he decided to stick around for a few days. Perhaps it was to give the place a proper farewell, or give himself closure that he had truly experienced everything, Yasin didn’t know why he did it to this day. But his last day changed everything.

He wasted himself in the arena, drowned in alcohol, and for some reason he commentated on the battle. He narrated it as if his life depended on it. And someone overheard him⁠— the arena manager.

And since then, the arena has never been the same, and all because Yasin became a narrator for it. So many years had passed, and he thought he had seen everything there was to see. But today, after finishing commentating on a battle, something surprised him, and that was the information he got on one of the contestants. Normally nothing was interesting to him, but this was…

He watched the sheet of paper confused, baffled and oddly excited.

Name/Title: Heroine of Frost. Tier: Unknown ⁠— Reason to fight: Payback to an asshole.

Bet on herself: 1 cobalt coin, 1 gold coin.

Note: Bet per battle to be reinvested along with earnings towards the next battle.

It was… something that was truly unique, the reason to fight said enough, but there was something else too.

Someone who dared to claim to be a hero? Yasin smirked, it was interesting.

Still he didn’t get to pick who fought her, but those that were in the queue instead. However, it didn’t take long before another paper appeared in his hands. It wasn’t someone strong, but it wasn’t someone weak either. Yasin memorized his information before walking out of his office and down an entrance to the arena.

And he smiled to himself.

This is going to be fun.

* * * * *

His name was Ri-Drus, and he was a proud warrior of the lands of Miri-Sunre, he had come to this place to test himself in the colosseum, it was only one out of three across all of the republic. He had gotten a few victories under his belt, and he was confident in beating this person who called themselves a hero.

Especially because it was a woman. Ri-Drus smiled to himself thinking of his victory, and if she was pretty.

Perhaps he could marry her.

With all the confidence in the world he strode down the passage and down to the arena. Ri-Drus took in all of the crowd’s roars, their great energy and grandly cheers riled him up, and then he gestured hyping them up for greater effect.

At the corner of his eye he saw a white woman, white hair, clothes, even pale skin, the only contrasting thing were her black pants. It was odd to him, but she was undoubtedly attractive, something that made him even more excited.

And then, the commentator walked in, holding a voice amplification artifact within his hands.

“Ladies and gentleman, we have someone special today, someone that calls themselves the Heroine of Frost!” The crowd paused for a moment before breaking into a mixture of cheers and laughter. “As we all know heroes are mythical beings, is she a true one or is she a phony?!”

Ri-Drus smiled as the man continued.

“Guess we can only find out! Ri-Drus is the most promising newcomer, will he take home the victory, or will he be beaten?”

The crowd continued to go wild as Ri-Drus turned to the woman to smirk, only to notice she wasn’t even looking at him but at the stands with an awful frown. Then she shook her head and turned to him, for a moment the world went silent as he felt a tinge of fear.

What was⁠⁠—

“Begin!” The commentator called.

Ri-Drus shivered and turned in her direction to fight only to see her already standing in front of him, her fist looming as she said a single word.

“Sorry.”

And she punched numerous bones breaking within his body as he was sent flying.

Then there was silence as he lost consciousness.

* * * * *

Yasin blinked looking at the completely knocked out man.

She had used a movement skill and won the fight with a single punch.

What…?

A moment later the crowd went wide as his heart skipped a beat. He moved the artifact to his mouth and spoke.

“What a victory! Does the newcomer wish to continue fighting?!”

“I do,” she spoke simply.

The cheers within the crowd somehow increased as preparations for a new battle began. Yasin retired to his office in order to digest things for a few minutes. It was impressive that she had defeated the person in a single punch, however, the thing was…

He hadn’t been able to perceive her.

It was odd, almost eerie to him. He was a commentator of the arena, and his perception as a [Ranger] was quite high. Yet somehow, he hadn’t been able to sense the slightest of things. It had been instant…

A sigh left him and at that moment, he received the papers of the new challenger. Nodding to himself, Yasin memorized the information and set off once more to the center of the arena.

“And a new challenger has emerged!” He said. “Bone-Crusher, taker of ashes! One of our most popular contestants!” At that moment the cheers began once more as a person emerged from the entrance. “Versus, the Heroine of Frost, real or fake, her capabilities are true!”

The bustling sounds inundated things, and then Bone-Crusher spoke turning to the heroine.

“You, I want your body!”

“Say that again and I will kill you,” she said coldly.

Yasin flinched for a moment feeling a cold gust of wind, meanwhile Bone-Crusher laughed and readied himself for battle.

Just what was going on…

Yasin took a deep breath before making his announcement.

“Begin!”

At that moment the heroine disappeared, Yasin turned only to hear a squeal from the Bone-Crusher as he was held by his arms and spun before being thrown across the arena with terrific strength. Striking and shattering the wall as he was immediately knocked out.

Yasin blinked, the crowd roared and the medics moved.

What the… This was the second time he couldn’t understand what had happened.

It seemed simple enough to use a movement skill like that, but that strength and also that lack of presence is what terrified him. Unless she had a skill that erased her presence, but he doubted that was the case, instead it meant… she was so fast he couldn’t perceive her?

Yasin found it hard to believe and prepared himself to narrate the next battle⁠— even though there was hardly any narration.

But soon enough the next opponent came, everyone wanted to fight the so-called hero and know what she was made out of.

So he stepped out, made the announcement as the crowd got even more excited for the new-comer’s brutality. But this time Yasin kept an eye on her, and she noticed her gaze moving to the crowd from time to time.

She was looking at a weird dressed man of blue clothes and bandages. Was that the payback she spoke about? Yasin couldn’t afford to think about it just yet, instead focusing on his job as he called:

“Begin!”

The heroine vanished, Yasin turned only to see the new fighter get kicked by the neck and instantly knocked out. He blinked, it was the third time but it was…

So fast⁠—

And the crowd broke into roars.

He got back to prepare himself to see who the next opponent was. He was sure of it, but she was already a favorite and her name would become widespread across the entire town within a few hours. However, Yasin was sure she also had made a pretty penny from betting already, but he couldn’t know.

Shaking his head, he decided to focus on what he was seeing.

Was she really a hero…?

It couldn’t be⁠— and he got a paper. Yasin read it rapidly and his eyes grew wide.

Her next opponent was the strongest fighter in the colosseum currently. The Red Death, a man who was completely bandaged, a foreigner from other lands who sought to train and learn here. An S Tier adventurer.

Surely… Yasin thought, getting up. She will struggle against him, right…?

For some reason, he wasn’t so sure, but he didn’t let his thoughts affect his narration as the entire crowd went wild hearing the name of the challenger. Bets were rapidly made⁠— Yasin was sure of it.

But still, looking at the Red Death he was sure. The man was emmanating bloodlust and he made sure to voice it out.

“To think I get to fight a hero! I can’t wait.”

There was no reply back as he chuckled.

“Quiet type I see? Then I’ll make sure to hear you plead.”

With that the man took out his daggers. Yasin took a breath, making another announcement to excite the crowd even more, then a moment later he called it⁠—

“Begin!”

And a squeal echoed. In a single moment before he could even turn the ground of the arena exploded on the heroine’s side. A massive cloud of dust billowed all around as the crowd went silent in suspense.

Could it be…?

Yasin paused. All this time she had been the one on the initiative, but this time she had been the one attacked.

It had to be.

She was finally defeated…

That’s right… how could a hero be here⁠—

And he saw her. The heroine was leaning down, her hand against the ground as a man laid there fainted. That was the Red Death…

Defeated just like that.

Yasin swallowed and announced the results as the crowd went wild, however in his mind there was only silence as a single realization hit him.

This woman was the real Heroine of Frost…

A mythical being…

But why was she⁠—

“Hey you,” she called to him.

And at that moment Yashin shivered.

* * * * *

The commentator was trembling, but I didn’t care as I continued.

“How much have I made from bets?”

The man took a step back. “I don’t think⁠—”

“How much?” I asked again.

This was enough. I was annoyed, and I intended to put an end to this. The commentator swallowed and hastily raised his oddly shaped microphone⁠, before requesting it outloud.

There was a silence in the arena, confusion evident amongst the spectators while I moved for the healers to take the man I had knocked out away. Then a moment later, a pouch appeared with the man’s hands.

He turned to me and simply handed it to me, as he stood there in front of me.

I opened it and saw two platinum coins and five cobalt coins, almost a pale white and blue respectively.

I nodded and immediately threw it to the crowd⁠— at the Dragon of Water who caught it and nodded before opening it and making a confused face. Then, I took the microphone from the commentator, and injecting my mana, I spoke into it.

“Water Dragon, repayment is there, and the rest is for this simple request.”

My voice echoed throughout the arena, everyone seemed confused before I continued.

“Fight me.”

He stood there for a moment before shaking his head and throwing the pouch back at me, three cobalt coins missing.

“There is no way I’d agree to something like that if you’re paying me,” he said coldly. “I’ll do it for free.”

With those words he jumped down onto the arena, his body glowing as he turned back into a blue dragon. People screamed as he turned down to face me as if he was looking at an insect.

“Because in the end, frost is just colder water.”