Divine Beast Ascension

At the same time, the prefecture lords were all sorting through varying thoughts.

“Treeda, you’ve trained that tiger well...” Warak complimented, offering a genuine grin.

“Thank you. But it wasn’t me who trained him. It was Zelsh and Jeerda that trained him,” stated Treeda.

“Either way, he’s a fine candidate. Though, if that’s what happens to him against Harmot, then I don’t believe he can take Belma, let alone my brat’s nephew.”

Shrugging, Treeda agreed, “It’s sad but true. It would be a great struggle, that’s certain.”

Toseko’s voice abruptly caught the lord’s attention, “So far, it seems Treeda has a candidate in two of the quarterfinals. I wonder if that trend will keep up?”

.....

“I doubt it,” Isaac remarked.

“Do you think God Toseko was speaking to you, someone who couldn’t even make it this far?” Isla barked, shutting up her brother.

“Hmmm...” Peimar sighed, “Treeda just might pull that off. Maybe. I wasn’t expecting the tiger to actually defeat the dragon, and Toxic-shadow’s strongest candidate has yet to fight. So the odds aren’t bad... But that doesn’t mean she’ll dominate the top four. That’s what truly matters today.”

Nodding, Toseko agreed, “True, Peimar. That’s what matters most. I guess we’ll find out soon.”

“Time for the fifth match!” shouted Slazza. “Contestants, come down!”

The first contestant to reach the arena was the Thundercat. They raced down the steps in no time. By the time the cat was ready, their opponent was barely getting up.

Belma took an extra moment to congratulate Harmot on his excellent fight, giving him a comforting lick on the side of his face. Then, she flapped her wings and rushed to face her opponent.

“A Thundercat from Thunder Prefecture versus a Razor-hide Dragon from Razor prefecture! Are you two ready? ... FIGHT!”

Lighting fired off in every which way, but the bolts were instantly funneled in one direction. The lightning bolts crashed onto Belma with impunity.

However, Belma was unaffected. She roared and bellowed flames right back at the Thundercat. Belma also chased after it, still disregarding all lightning bolts thrown her way.

But the Thundercat was too fast for Belma to catch so easily. It kept to its strategy. It dashed around in evasion while hurling more and more lightning. After watching the last match, the Thundercat was certain that it would never cut through the dragon’s physical defenses. So, it tried to do whatever it could without getting critically injured.

Belma caught on to the strategy so she quickly adapted. Flying even lower to the ground, Belma allowed her wings to till the ground and throw up rocks everywhere she went. She would spin and turn while chasing the Thundercat. And, gradually, the Thundercat was getting slower and more predictable as the flat terrain became a valley of jutting stones.

There wasn’t much anticipation left in the fight. Every spectator could see where the fight was going and they were merely waiting for the moment the cat was caught.

After Belma managed to connect with one of the cat’s legs, shattering it, Slazza called the match, “It’s over! The winner is the Razor-hide Dragon from Razor Prefecture!”

Without delay, the Thundercat was healed and returned to the stands. Belma also returned to Harmot’s side, getting some congratulations from him.

“Time for the sixth match! Contestants, come down!”

Looking across the stands as one beast started down the steps, Vant chuckled, “You got this, Korvik.”

“Show ’em how much you’ve improved,” added Tilgron.

“Thank you, guys.”

Korvik smiled and raced after his opponent. He was eager to move on and prove that he was just as good as his best friends.

“A Molten Salamander from Razor Prefecture versus a human from Toxic-shadow Prefecture! Are you two ready? ... FIGHT!”

Right away, Korvik dashed ahead. His twin shortswords appeared, one covered in flames and the other covered in steam.

The Molten Salamander covered the area in fire and was already trying to melt the repaired arena floor. However, the salamander failed to stall Korvik who leaped through the flames without a care in the world.

The fiery amphibian tried to spew fire at the human but again failed to slow its foe.

Korvik slashed through the fire with one sword while thrusting the other blade into the salamander’s shoulder. The wound was small thanks to the salamander’s earthen armor, but a flood of water vapor rushed into the salamander with nowhere to go thanks to the essence armor wrapping around the blade.

Boom!

“It’s over! The human from Toxic-shadow has won!”

Slazza offered Korvik a healing salve but was turned down. So Slazza focused on the salamander, mainly the beast’s left shoulder. “Ahh, do you realize what went wrong?”

“... I’m not sure what just happened,” answered the salamander, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“You tightened your earth essence around his sword, trapping his steam. Then, the heat of your fiery body expanded the trapped steam until the pressure was too much and blew apart your shoulder,” Slazza explained. “This isn’t a grave injury, but it’s complex. It will take a little extra time for you to fully recuperate. Take this elixir for your lost blood and have your king or prefecture lord put you under constant care for the next few suns.”

“... Okay. Thank you, sir.”

Korvik bowed to his opponent with a soft smile and then walked back to his seat. The salamander soon got up and returned, but everyone could see that it was still painful to use his front left leg.

“Time for the seventh match! Contestants, come down!”

Two drastically different beasts got up and made their way down. The behemoth wyrm took up most of the stairs while a monkey with webbed hands and feet rushed ahead to not get pushed aside.

When they looked at each other, the monkey was surprised to see such a huge, draconic beast bow her head.

“I look forward to a good match,” Jeeta stated.

Nodding, the monkey replied, “So do I. Thanks for actually looking me in the eye!”

Seeing the exchange, Slazza announced, “A Sea Monkey from Thunder Prefecture versus a Permafrost Wyrm from Toxic-shadow Prefecture! Are you two ready? ... FIGHT!”