Ready? Fight!

The bear reared up on its hind legs as Roko approached, intimidated by his aggressiveness and trying to make itself look bigger in defense. Roko stopped as the bear made a swipe with one claw, dodging it and backing away as the bear landed back on its forelimbs and began to try and bite and swipe at him. Roko dodged and dodged, stepped backwards and backwards until his back was near the edge of the ring.

The bear's strong point was its strength and constitution. It's weak points were its dexterity and intelligence. That's what the stats told him at any rate. Some of that was usable information though the vast majority of whatever weaknesses this creature had was supplemented by the sheer tank that was its power and toughness. Both of which Roko was hopelessly outmatched against with whatever his stats were supposed to be. The only chance he had of beating a juvenile bear was…

The moment the bear's next swipe missed, Roko's foot shot out and smashed right into the bear's snout. The bear roared as it reared back in pain but Roko's other foot swung out around him and kicked the bear in the jaw, forcing it further upward back onto its hind legs. As the bear rebalanced itself after Roko's assault, Roko hooked one foot behind one of the bear's remaining legs and pulled it forward, throwing the bear off balance and forcing it to fall onto its back. The bear roared as it swing it's arm around and twisted its body in pain, Roko planting a firm foot onto the bear's haunch and pushed, spinning the bear on it's back until the bear's head was in front of him. Roko stomped one last time, slamming the bear's head into the ground, the poor creature's moans growing weak until it collapsed on its side.

Murmurings began to break out around the participants, some excited, some horrified.

"Yogi?!"

A knight ran up besides the bear and pushed an ear against the creature's chest, breathing a sigh of relief when he heard a heartbeat. His worries now assuaged, he turned to Roko angrily, "How dare you do this to a poor young bear!"

"Excuse me?" Roko said, glaring at the knight from the corner of his eyes, "If you didn't want your bear to get harmed, you shouldn't have forced it to fight for you in a public fighting ring."

"You didn't have to go this far, it's just a poor animal!"

"Go this far?!" Roko stormed over to the knight and lifted him by the collar of his armor until he was glaring the frightened man in the eyes, "I was fighting for my life! This is not a sparring match! These creatures don't know how to spar! They don't know what they're doing, they're just putting their trust in you! Maybe next time you can pretend to be concerned about your bear's health BEFORE you make it fight for your pleasure!"

Roko threw the knight onto the ground, drawing a sharp gasp from all the onlookers. Even Corissa seemed shocked by how furious Roko was.

"Griffin."

A sharp cry and flapping of wings alerted Roko to the arrival of the bear's former opponent, a young griffin that swiped at him with clawed talons. Roko brought his arms up and blocked the attack, the claws tearing through his clothes and into his forearms.

"Hey, that's my griffin!" Someone shouted from the sidelines.

"Shove it." Gaurav sneered.

"Yeah, don't you know how much Gaurav needs this?" Roko called, "He's only the sole knight assigned to protect the princess of an entire country. You can't expect someone like that to fight his own battles. Hell, he probably needs to get his own knight to protect him cause he can't do anything himself."

"You-"

"Hold on, I'm not done." Roko interrupted Gaurav as he struggled against the griffin, "This guy is so bad at doing things himself that he will invite you over to his house so you can fuck his wife because he just can't do her himself."

A round of snickers echoed around the group, embarrassing the churlish knight.

"You know what?" Gaurav scowled, his temper barely contained, "If you manage to beat the griffin, I'll fight you myself."

"Are you sure?" Roko replied, "I'm sure you can borrow someone's egg to make me fight next. I'm sure the egg would make for a much better opponent than you. Just don't want you to strain yourself, you know?"

"KILL HIM!"

Gaurav's roar stirred the griffin as the creature spread its wings and began to flap them, lifting its sizable body up all while still holding onto Roko's arms.

"Sorry, I can't fly so we're staying on the ground." Roko grunted as he sung his legs off to the side to give himself a counterweight and twisted the top half of his body around, slamming the creature's body back down to earth, the creature writhing in pain and letting go of Roko, dropping him onto the ground.

Roko pushed himself back up, his sleeves shredded from the griffin's talons and blood bleeding out from the series of scratches on his forearm. It hurt but as far as he could tell, it wouldn't impede him from throwing a few punches. As Roko stood back up, the griffin picked itself back up with him, the monster shrieking at him as they faced each other again.

The griffin's strength and constitution is much lower than the bear, Roko thought. Its dexterity is much higher though and it had a surprising amount of wisdom. Which meant trickery and misdirection wouldn't be very effective against it. And even as a juvenile, the griffin's stats were high enough that overpowering it was an unlikely feat. It was smart, or rather, perceptive enough to recognize any plan he tried to set up. But there was one trick Roko could pull for a creature with a limited intelligence.

The griffin reared up with its sharp talons and made a lunge at Roko. Roko stepped back, letting the claws miss him by inches as he reached out with one hand and grabbed the griffin by the neck. With all his strength, he slammed the griffin's head and body into the ground before he pulled its head back up and dragged the creature around by its head. Lifting the battered animal in the air, Roko tossed the head up before shooting out with his foot, landing a critical kick in the griffin's torso, sending it reeling back on its hind legs before it tripped and fell onto its back.

"Griffin!" Roko called out as the griffin tried to right itself again, "Answer me. Why does the king ride the horse?"

The griffin tilted its head and blinked, clearly confused by the question. Roko just began to walk towards it, confidently, without fear of retaliation. The griffin took a few steps back, caught off guard by Roko's actions.

"Can't come up with an answer?" Roko taunted.

The griffin reared up again to try and swipe at Roko but his movements were stalled, slower. Roko launched his fist upward, hitting the griffin in the chin and interrupting the griffin's attack, forcing the mythical creature further back.

"Better come up with an answer soon." Roko called, "Before you fall in battle. Decide on who it is you want to carry on your back."

Roko could see the gears turning in the griffin's head as it tried its best to process what it was Roko was saying. Roko lashed out with attack after attack, the griffin now barely putting up a fight back as it was lost in its thoughts. Roko himself was holding a little bit back on his attacks. He probably didn't need to, the griffin was probably strong enough to barely take damage from his basic attacks but he did feel a bit guilty attacking an animal in such a state. The griffin tried to defend itself, trying to attack back where it could but his own thoughts were slowing down his actions, making him predictable. Roko launched attack after attack until the griffin suddenly dropped its head. Roko stopped his kick as the griffin seemed to bow and coo peacefully.

"Figured it out then?" Roko asked, "Then head back and think about who you'll follow."

The griffin nodded and began to trod away. More murmuring began to build up around the onlookers as Roko took a deep sigh as he rested his weary body and mind for a moment only for someone to punch him square in the jaw. Taken completely off guard, Roko fell onto the ground, pain taking over his mind as he did his best to pick himself back up as soon as possible.

"What's wrong, amateur?" Gaurav sneered as he kicked a kneeling Roko in the stomach, sending him rolling across the ground, "Can't take a hit?"

"Varis!"

Roko could hear the clanking of armor that placed itself between him and Gaurav and the princess hurrying to his side.

"Are you okay?!" Corissa yelped.

Roko tried to answer but his jaw still felt sore and it hurt to move too suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Gaurav called tauntingly, "Can't handle me? Why don't we go back to what you do best? Beating up animals."

Roko glared at Gaurav from the corner of his eyes.

"Hey, I'm not blaming you." Gaurav sneered, "This is a fight club for animals which I think you count as. I mean what else can you do if you can't even hatch your own egg properly?"

"That was a cheap shot!" Corissa cried.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gaurav shrugged, "But if you want to redeem yourself, I'll let you fight my personal pet."

Gaurav snapped his fingers and a the sound of a couple dozens of questing hounds filled the clearing as a large beast emerged from the woods with the head and neck of a snake on the front half of a leopard and rear end of a lion with feet like a stag. This monster roared again, shaking the earth with its cacophonous roar. It stood taller and bigger than any of the creatures Roko had fought.

"What is that?" Corissa gulped.

"Come on then." Gaurav said as the creature reared his head down to glare at the group, "Why don't you give it a shot?"

"I've seen enough."

Everyone turned as Aida strode into the clearing, the pet dinosaurs that she was taking care of following her.

"I honestly don't care about what you people are doing or whenever or not the school cares but I'm shutting down this meeting right now."

"Oh? I don't remember asking you for your permission, brat." Gaurav smirked, "What do you think you're going to do?"

"If you insist on fighting..." Aida sighed as she brought her fingers to her lips, "Then you can fight my partner."

Aida whistled loudly, the sharp noise carrying through the forest, beyond the trees. A loud roar heralded the monstrous figure that burst out of the treetops seemingly jumping through the air to land by Aida's side.

"What's that?!" Someone from the sideline cried as the lion like creature leveled a scorpion-like tail at Gaurav and his pet.

"A manticore?!" Gaurav scowled, taking a step back as the monster growled at them.

Aida stood by the side of this giant monster, a size that was comparable to Gaurav's monster, if not a little bigger. The spines on the manticore's tail seemingly ready to fly out at a moment's notice and its body wrapped around the small child protectively. Aida stood there, calm and unfazed as she stared the knight in the face, waiting for him to make his move.

"Hey! What's going on here?!"

From the skies, Helena soared down, her body carried by Aves' talons by the arm. The two landed on the ground by Roko's group, looking around at the everybody lining the trees.

"Tch...let's go." Gaurav scoffed, "Let's get out of here!"

The crowd started a small mumbling as everyone turned and dispersed into the woods, Gaurav and his animal turning to melt into the shadows of the woods as well.

"Hey, you." Helena called, "Don't think I don't see you. What are you doing here, Roland?"

Roland jolted as he stopped trying to escape from the woods. He turned around nervously, "I-I saw saw was going on and came to see what was going on?"

"Why's your sea goat out of its tank?"

"Ummm..." Roland looked down at the blank faced animal in his hands, "Uhhh..."

"A fight club?" Helena frowned, "That's stupid. The staff is going to find out about this and punish them with extreme prejudice. This is a school of royalty. Stuff like this is not tolerated."

"I see you've decided to pretend like you aren't interested." Roko said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Helena scratched the neck of Aves innocently.

"Like princess like knight then." Roko sighed.

"Can't deny that." Helena winced, "Still, I don't know why you thought your sea goat stood a chance against anything."

"I wasn't throwing it against monsters like chimeras and stuff!" Roland protested, "Just stuff like a skvader."

"How were you going to win?"

"I don't know, I just figured if it won a fight against...anything, I would like it a little more!"

"Oh you." Helena sighed.

"It was really cool how you flew down on your falcon though." Corissa said, "You and Aves are really good partners."

"Oh yeah." Helena smiled, "I saw that manticore leaping out of the woods and was climbing down the mountain that I was checking out to see what was going on when Aves just decided to help me out by picking me up."

"What a smart bird." Corissa smiled as she scratched Aves' head as well, "Who's a good bird?"

"I'm surprised to hear that manticore belongs to Aida of all people." Helena continued, "I thought for sure that Roko's egg had hatched."

"Even if it did hatch, it wouldn't be combat ready." Roko sighed.

"You never know. Aves could fly right out of the egg."

"Ctesias was pretty small when he hatched too." Aida said as her baby dinosaurs played around with a sitting manticore.

"Ctesias is a pretty good name for a manticore." Helena smiled, "You're good at naming things, Aida."

"I had a dog named Radames back then." Aida said as she stroked the manticore's mane, "He's dead like everyone else though."

"Ahahaha..."

"Anyway, if this incident is over then you should report to that Stephen guy right? I'll lead you back to the edge of the forest."

"A fight club?!" Stephen cried, "Oi, that's horrible! We need to stop this activity at once!"

"Well, it would be stupid for them to continue now." Helena shrugged, "So problem solved? Just need to make sure they don't get to reestablish themselves."

"Ay, that would be an optimistic way of looking at it." Stephen sighed, "But..."

"Just like how these royalties would not want to be caught in a scandal like a fight club, they also have the resources to continue it away from prying eyes." Roko finished, "Right?"

"Ay." Stephen nodded, "So long as there's an interest in this kind of activity, we can't be sure it wouldn't happen again."

"Then there's no way to stop them then?" Helena raised an eyebrow.

"No, if we can keep this kind of activity down until the week is up, we'll be fine once all the creatures are released into the wildwoods."

"So we just keep breaking them up until the week's over?" Helena said, "That's not going to get old at all."

"Most likely we'd just end up hunting each other." Roko nodded, "But we can't just leave them to do as they please."

"That's why you're going to help right?"

Helena and Roko turned to look at Stephen who looked at them hopefully, "You're going to help right?"

…

"Well, I guess we don't have much else to do." Helena sighed.

"I certainly don't want them to get away with it." Roko said.

"Great! Think of it as extra credit!" Stephen beamed.

"Am I going to have to help?" Aida asked.

"You don't have to." Roko replied, "You're already busy with your village."

"The dead aren't going anywhere." Aida shrugged.

"Unless you live in Hatsuyuki." Roko smirked.

"I do need you to look after my pets though." Stephen added.

"Really? Can't you do it yourself?" Aida frowned.

"Fraid not."

"Besides, I don't think you're all too interested yourself." Roko noted.

"Can't say I'm comfortable being part of this whole pet fighting business." Aida sighed, "I don't like it but I also don't like the idea getting Ctesias involved."

"That's perfectly fair." Roko nodded.

"In any case," Helena turned back towards the forest, "What's wrong with the unicorn?"

"Ah, well she seems to like being in the forest so much that she doesn't want to leave. Corissa's trying to convince her to come back into the castle."

"Come on." Corissa cooed gently as she rubbed Aglaea's neck, "I know there isn't anything to hunt you in this forest but it's still safer to come back with us okay? Come on."

Aglaea just shook her head, snorting softly.

"Oh dear." Corissa sighed as she hugged her egg, "What are we going to do?"

CRACK.

A sharp cracking sound alerted Corissa to a sudden change in her egg. A small break in the shell and small bits of movement.

"IT'S HATCHING!" Corissa cried out, overjoyed, "Guys! My egg is hatching!"

Corissa turned to show off her egg to Roko's party. More and more cracked began to rapidly appear until the egg finally broke and a large shadow knocked Corissa over, pushing her to the ground and behind a bush.

"AAAAAAHHH- Help!"

"Corissa?!" Roko cried as he, Helena and Stephen began running towards her.

"It's a slime!" Corissa cried, "Noooo, it's all over me! Oh no, it's melting my clothes!"

Roko, Helena and Stephen suddenly stopped running, unsure how to approach the situation now. Roland tried to sprint right in between them but Helena grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.

"Let me go!" Roland cried, "I need to help!"

"What do we do?" Helena asked as she turned to Stephen.

"Ummm..."

"Do any of you have any water bottles?" Aida asked.

"Huh? Yeah."

"Hand them over."

Roko, Helena and Stephen all reached into their respective bags and pockets and pulled out different flasks of water. Aida took all of them and went behind the bush. She dug a small hole a few feet away from Corissa with her hands and used two of the water bottles to fill up the hole with water. With the last bottle of water, she walked up to the slime that was covering all over Corissa's body and tricked a bit of water over it, drawing a small line with the water to the hole she made. The slime reacted to the water, gathering itself back together and following the line of water off Corissa and dropping snugly into the hole, absorbing all the water there.

"It's just thirsty. That's the case for a lot of newborn slimes. It was probably just trying to eat your sweat." Aida explained as she lowered one of the flasks up to the slime. The slime slid up through the opening and into the flask. Once all the slime was inside, Aida screwed the flask shut and handed it over to Corissa, "When you get back, find a wide pan, at least a foot and a half wide and with a rim that is at least five inches high. Fill it halfway with water and let the slime out in there. Keep it well hydrated and it should behave itself for the first few days."

"Okay..." Corissa sniffed as she took the flask from Aida, "Thank you."

Corissa got up, covering her sensitive parts as she quietly began to walk back to the castle, trying not to look at anybody. Varis and Agalea quietly followed her inside.