A new challenger has appeared

Alex woke up sandwiched by Anna and Lily, they had gotten a bit carried away last night and shifted to demi dragon form, the room was in a bit of a state. He grinned to himself, oh well it gave the maids something to do at least. He gently woke the girls with a kiss and reminded them he had to go sign up for the games and do his prelim matches. They let go enough for him to slip out of the bed and go get ready, after getting dressed in gear appropriate to take part in a few fights, a pair of dark pants loose enough to move freely in but not as to cause to much drag during high speed movement and a white sleeveless top that hugged his body so it wasn't easy to grab on to and left his arms unencumbered and lastly a pair of combat boots with steel caps just in case any of them were stompers. Making sure he had everything he would need in his space storage he said goodbye to the girls, who had fallen back asleep, and left for the arena.

An hour later Kayla Vale and Rose came into to the room to see when Alex was heading out only to find him gone and the two lazy dragons fast asleep, waking them up they asked where Alex went they mumbled something about him waking up and getting ready but they had been so comfortable they had fallen back asleep and didn't see Alex leave.

Vale sighed, "I should have guessed this would probably happen you two aren't exactly morning people and Alex is too considerate to wake you up just for his sake".

The sisters felt incredibly guilty over not waking up with Alex as they had promised to go with him and cheer him on. "No point dwelling on it now we will have to make it up to him somehow", said Rose. "Anyway, let's see if we can still cheer for him, there is a good chance he hasn't had a match yet, and Anna and Lily can partially make up for it by using their bond to find Alex". The girls all agreed with the idea and the dragon sisters hurriedly got dressed.

The group of women headed out to the town, to find their fiancé.

Meanwhile at the arena Alex was bored out of his mind, He had waited in queue outside for about an hour just to register now he was waiting his turn to approach an arena to challenge, and at the speed this was going it was probably going to be at the very least another hour before he go around to having his chance. Everyone else was occupied watching the fights but they were all of such low level that they just couldn't hold his interest, so he just watched everyone else watching the fights, which was only marginally more entertaining than the fights themselves. He had of course received his fair share of snide comments, as many people thought he was some sort of pretty boy out to prove himself, he found the idea amusing. So he just waited.

A commotion kicked up at the entrance about twenty minutes later, probably just another bully boy causing problems, it wouldn't be the first time such a thing had happened over the past hour and a bit, so Alex didn't pay it any mind. He heard a voice sound out from the direction of the commotion and could have sworn it sounded familiar, he just couldn't place it though which bugged him a bit.

A murmur started up in the crowd which was getting progressively louder as whoever was causing the disturbance was making there way in his direction.

Starting to get a bit curious Alex looked in the direction of the murmurs. It just so happened that as Alex was turning to see what was going on that two human shaped projectiles launched themselves and glomped onto him. Surprised at the development, he looked to see Anna and Lily both clinging to him almost in tears, he asked them what had gotten them in such a state. They both started to apologize for not getting up with him and coming together like they promised, he assured them both he didn't mind. He knew what sleepyheads they were which is why he hadn't woken them up. He glanced up to notice Kayla thanking Petra, that must have been the voice he heard. Apparently she was here with Raul whose troops were maintaining order in the arena, seeing the girls were having difficulties getting in Petra had swooped in to save the day so to speak. She said it was the least she could do after the help she and Raul had gotten from Alex.

The surrounding people began talking about the 'pretty boy' and how badly he was going to lose in front of his women, most were talking out of jealousy of course. However no amount of jealousy could prevent the stunned silence when the three other gorgeous women walked over and each gave him a quick kiss in greeting.

"It's nice that you all turned up I was honestly bored out of my mind waiting on my turn", he squeezed the two in his arms as they hugged him tighter. "You're not mad at us for falling back asleep?" Anna and Lily chorused.

"Of course not, why would I be angry at such a small thing", then he chuckled a bit, "The appearance of you girls is likely going to speed things up". They looked at him puzzled. He explained that most of the contenders here thought he was some sort of pretty boy, and their appearance and obvious relations with him would spur them on to fight him.

"Well I do have to say you look pretty hot in that getup", Kyla said smirking, Rose and Vale both nodding in agreement. "I just wore clothes suited for duelling rather than my normal stuff", Alex said adorably unaware of his looks as usual. They continued to banter on back and forth for another hour or so before Alex finally got the chance to go up.

At last Alex thought to himself looking at the contestants already in the arenas, rather than rush he just observed their state, There was one guy that everyone seemed to be avoiding. Without realizing it while he had been studying the opponents, all of them but the guy he had just taken note of was paired off against someone. Rather than wait on someone to finish he picked that guy.

Murmurs picked up once again in his wake as he approached the arena, he didn't pay any attention to them, he just wanted this boring exercise over with.

His opponent in the arena watched Alex approach and noticed things the normal people in the crowd didn't. The way Alex walked with confidence and a smooth fluid grace, perfectly in balance at all times. Anyone with training would recognize a man who had probably been taught by a master. The man in the arena showed a smile at the thought that he might finally get a good challenge, he didn't care about the games, just if he could find someone to have a good fight with.

Alex ascended into the arena looking at his soon to be opponent, he could tell that he had gotten lucky, this man was a capable fighter. He was slightly shorter than Alex but had a bulkier build he looked like he focused more on power. Looking at him he seemed relaxed but there were no openings to attack, he wasn't a simple brawler who had gained notoriety in bar fights like a lot of the people here.

Alex adopted the practices Melliandra had drilled into him when they sparred, and formally bowed to his opponent. He took a fighting stance, indicating his readiness for combat, the man nodded his head at Alex in appreciation and mirrored his bow, he also adopted a fighting stance.

The two of them just stared at each other neither blinking. Alex made the first move, he pushed off against the floor and with a burst of speed approached the man facing him. While Alex couldn't use his magic that didn't mean he wasn't fast, he closed the gap in an instant, throwing out a strike intended to test this opponent.

Alex was confident in his victory but Melliandra had beaten into him repeatedly that no matter how confident you are you should never underestimate your opponent.

The man swayed back from the blow causing it to miss as he uses the momentum generated he thundered back a hook at Alex. Most people would have been caught by this simple tactic with flawless execution, Alex however grabbed the swinging fist and using the force from the blow spun himself into the man his leg sweeping the opponents feet and the moment his balance was lost Alex pulled hard on his arm and threw the man over his shoulder slamming him into the ground. Testimony to his toughness the man recovered instantly and rolled away before Alex could push the advantage.

Alex didn't let him recover his momentum, keeping up with him Alex levelled a low swinging kick at him as he tried to rise, knowing full well that the kick would take a leg out if he continued to rise the man braced down on one knee to take the blow and use the impact to bounce up. Sorely underestimated the power behind Alex's kick it felt like a wild bull had just impacted into him at full charge. Instead of bouncing to his feet he was hurled to the side.

The mans side was numb from the impact, he knew he was no match for the young man but he refused to simply give up.

A voice came out from the crowd.

"Oi Vidar hurry up and surrender, you know you can't beat him and you have played around here long enough".

Vidar suddenly deflated, he looked over at a somewhat amused looking Alex who simply said nice fight and Vidar raised his hand to call out his surrender. As he did so an old man walked out of the crowd looking at Alex and gestured him over.

"It is unusual to see one such as yourself in a place like this, should you ever breach the gate seek me out. Just ask anyone beyond the gate for a Master Zen and they will point you in the right direction.

He turned to Vidar and gestured for him to come along, the two departed without saying another word.

Alex looked puzzled as he returned to his side of the arena, and sat on the edge so he could chat with the girls while he waited on his next opponent to appear. "What did that old man say to you?". asked Vale".

"Something about breaching a gate of some sort and seeking him out if I ever go through, I have no idea what this gate he was on about is", Alex shrugged. He chatted with the girls and patiently waited for the next opponent.