Dragon City Arena

"How do you feel?" Mother Tiamat asked.

"Stronger and hungry, "Will said

"You and Nisha both underwent tremendous growth. Now you're both a step away from the grandmaster rank," she said proudly.

"Xing'er bring them some food. After they've eaten why not take them to the arena so they may understand and practice with their new powers," Mother Tiamat said before she left to rest.

"Yes, Mother Tiamat. Will and Nisha, I'll be right back," the priestess left as well.

"I'm tired!" Will yawned. He looked over and saw Nisha was already asleep.

In the afternoon, Will was woken up by a knock at the cave entrance.

"Will, Nisha, are you awake?" the priestess's voice resounded from outside.

"Yes… we're awake…" Will responded in a sleepy voice, stretching his arms.

"I just want to let you know that lunch will be ready soon," she said.

"Okay, let us wash up first and we'll be ready," Will said to her.

After they bathed with the herbs and soap, they felt fresh and wide awake.

"We're sorry for arriving a little late. The bathe just felt so good this morning," Will apologized to her.

"It's fine. Today, you'll dine in my cave. Let's eat before the food goes cold," the priestess said leading them to her cave at the bottom of the mountain.

We they arrived, Will and Nisha saw a large feast prepared. Not only were there more large steaks, but large eggs, bacon, and toast.

"Let's dig into the food," Nisha said joyfully tearing into a large raw steak.

Lunch lasted for an hour, and there was as much food last their previous meal.

After lunch, the priestess asked them, "Do you want to visit the arena now?"

"We do," Nisha immediately nodded.

"Okay, then let's go," the priestess happily smiled.

Once Will's belly had settled from eating so much food, she brought them outside and proceeded to escort them to the arena.

"I understand why dragons eat and sleep so much. Increasing your mana core all the time is tiring," Will said.

"Ha-ha…you're right. But even dragons need adventure once in a while. Once we leave our realm, the mana outside isn't as dense so we don't need to eat and sleep so much.

"Why are you the only one called a priestess?"

Will asked.

"Ha-ha…I'm not. But I am the only priestess outside the cathedral. Do you want me to take you?" the priestess said.

"Yes, we'd love to see it," Will and Nisha nodded.

As they walked on the streets to the cathedral, Will saw people greeting the priestess.

"Good afternoon, Priestess Xing!" said a comparatively smaller dragon.

"Hi, Jeong-Hoon! You'll be turning 6,000 soon do you have any plans?" the priestess asked.

"I want to visit the human world?" Jeong-Hoon said.

"You're welcome to visit my city," Will said.

"Oh, that would be nice, thank you for inviting me. Mother Tiamat has shared many nice images from the dragons living there now. Goodbye," Jeong-Hoon said.

The priestess led Will and Nisha to a large cathedral. Inside were stained glass windows depicting the birth of Tiamat. From Gaia modeling her out of clay to Aether blowing into her lung the spirit of life. The glass presented the dragons' story of creation and Lucifer's rebellion.

"Welcome home sister," said a far older priestess.

"Thank you! Will and Nisha asked me why I was the priestess, so I brought them to see all of you," Priestess Xing said.

Will and Nisha met over twenty priestesses.

"In here dragons or people may offer prayers to Mother Tiamat. And no, praying to Tiamat does not go against Aether or Gaia. By praying to Tiamat, who are honoring Gaia and Aether's creation. Only Tiamat has ever met the primordial gods and their offspring," the Head Priestess said, answering Will's questions before he could raise them.

"Is this the only cathedral in the world?" Will asked.

"Yes and no. There are pockets of people who worship dragons around the world. These people have built altars and temples to Tiamat. But yes, this is the only cathedral dedicated to Tiamat," the Head Priestess said.

"Could I build a Temple to Tiamat in my city?" Will asked.

"Of course, I'm sure that might encourage more dragons to visit your fief," the Head Priestess and other priestess laughed.

"How do you become a priestess?" Nisha asked.

"Priestesses are dragons who gone out into the world and given birth. Once our egg is laid, Mother Tiamat gives us the option to become a priestess. There are 23 of us, who have accepted the honorable position. It's our responsibility to make sure a dragon's prayers reach Tiamat no matter where they are in the world," the Head Priestess said.

After the last cathedral, Priestess Xing continued giving them a tour until they arrived at the arena. On the way there, Priestess Xing gave them a history lesson on some of the buildings they passed.

About an hour later, they arrived at the arena, which was filled with Dragonkin.

"This is an arena? It's the size of a human town," Will said with his eyebrows raised.

"This is only entertainment we dragons have," the priestess said.

And she continued, "And yes, we have fun by battling with each other."

Inside the arena, Will and Nisha were speechless at the arena's majesty. Gold adorned the floors, doors, walls, and ceiling. Large gems were embedded in the ceilings and walls. Dragons walked by diamonds, rubies, and emeralds like they were petty rocks.

The priestess led Will and Nisha to a small arena to watch an ongoing battle.

"There are six smaller arenas and the main arena inside. You can challenge whoever you want—"

"Oh my god! He died!" Nisha suddenly exclaimed, interrupting the priestess.

On the stage, one of the fighters had decapitated his opponent.

The priestess chuckled at her reaction and said, "Don't worry, he's not dead."

A few moments later, the 'dead' fighter suddenly disappeared from the stage and appeared outside the stage with his head reattached to his body, and the person himself looked perfectly healthy.

"There's an array in these areas. As long as you stand on it, even if your body is destroyed, you will not truly die. This allows the fighters to go all out on each other. However, you will not be able to enter the stage for one week if you die because your body can only handle so much of the formation. If you die twice in a short time, the formation might not work properly," the priestess explained to them.

She then pointed to another arena and continued, "That arena over there also has a formation that can limit both fighters to a certain cultivation base so they can fight on fairer terms. For example, if a Grandmaster wants to fight a Master fairly, he can do so by fighting in that arena, where both of them will be Grandmasters. This is the arena that would be best for you?"

When someone noticed their presence and announced it, everyone there turned to bow to her, and even the fighters on the stage stopped fighting momentarily just to bow to her.

"Good Afternoon, everybody! Please, continue what you're doing! Don't mind us!" the priestess waved at them.

"Priestess Xing, are you here to fight today? There is a line of people waiting to exchange techniques with you!" One of the judges there suddenly said to her.

"Hahaha! There's always a line!" Another judge laughed out loud.

One would expect a graceful priestess like Xing to avoid such things, but to Will and Nisha's surprise, Xing loved to fight, and she was a regular at the arena.

Not only that, but she also accepts a fight from anyone no matter their background. Of course, she has yet to experience a single defeat in the arena.

"Sorry, but I am not here to fight today. I am just showing our guests around the city," the priestess said.

And then she thought of something.

She turned to look at Will and said, "Unless you want to try it? You don't have to worry about getting hurt, and you get rewards if you win."

"What kind of rewards?" Will asked.

"From gold to ancient treasures, I guess. The spectators can bet on the match, and if you win, you get a portion of it. The fighters can even gamble their treasures in a match."

"They won't die even if I kill them, right?" Will wanted confirmation.

"Yes, you don't have to worry about hurting anyone." the priestess comforted.

"Okay, I will participate in a match," Will agreed.

"Judges! Our guests here would like to participate in a match!" the priestess said to one of the judges.

"Oh? Sure! Which stage would he like to fight in?" One of the judges then asked.

"What do you think, Will? Do you want to fight as a Grandmaster? You can even fight as a Master or Sage."

"I'd like to fight as a Master," Will said, as he was more familiar with his strength as a Master than a Grandmaster.

"Judge! Master!" the priestess then relayed his response to one of the judges.

"Go to stage number three. He can go after this fight," the judge then said to her.

Although there were people in line, who would dare make the Priestess Xing wait? The fighters didn't voice any complaints either, as they were used to this favoritism for her.

"Thank you," she said to the awaiting fighters, as Will walked onto the arena stage.

Thus, Will's first fight began.

[Dragon Slash]

[Flood]

Will sword met his opponent's glaive

When the weapons connected a large shock wave sounded. Boom!

The sound rippled across the arena, and the mana swept the area around the two fighters.

"Ah!" Will's opponent yelled after their techniques collided. The collision sent the fighter flying off the arena stage a second later.

"Match ends! The winner is William vont Ballard!" the judge announced.

"Do you want to continue fighting?" the judge then asked the Will.

"Of course, who is my next opponent?" Will asked.

The judge pointed to another fighter in the cue.

"Thank you for the duel!" Will said to his next opponent.

"Come on the stage!" the judge said to Will.

Many spectators that had been spectating the other stages suddenly left their stage to spectate Will's second match, as they were impressed after watching his first bout. Many were curious about his capabilities, especially since he was human.

"Does anyone recognize him? I don't think I have seen him before," a spectator asked out of curiosity.

"He's the human that came here two days ago," said another spectator.

"The human?" several people in the audience repeated in astonishment.

"I've never fought a human," a fighter in line said happily.

"Me too! Well, there's a first time for everything," said another fighter in line.

"Well met human, best of luck to you," Will's second opponent clasped his hands and respectfully bowed to Will.

"Yes, good luck to you as well," Will followed his movements and returned the bow.