Divine Beast Ascension

“Normally, the quadrant never reveals their candidates until the quadrant finals every ten years. Yet, nearly every time, all eight private candidates make it to the final round of the Mortal Championship! So, today is a rare event, a chance to see one of the strongest mortals in the entire West Quadrant!” Slazza declared, helping the common crowd understand the weight of the exhibition a little bit more.

“Now, here he is! The quadrant’s private candidate!”

Entering from one of the tunnels, a young human man stepped out. He wore a slight smile but didn’t seem particularly enthused to be there. His clothes were normal. There was no sense of luxury or power coming from the young man, whether in his clothes or his demeanor.

“His name is Hathal!” continued Slazza. “Now, there’s something different and interesting about this exhibition. To remind our prefecture lords and inform our audience, I’ll explain.

“Unlike in the Mortal Championship, killing is not permitted today. However, there is one candidate that the other combatants are not only allowed to kill but are encouraged to kill! And that candidate is Hathal! Should Hathal be killed in any of these matches, the quadrant will award the killer a free entry into the final round of the Mortal Championship!”

The crowd roared and cheered louder than ever!

.....

Yet Hathal still stood there, disinterested in the entire event.

Speaking telepathically, Slazza commented, ‘Young Master Hathal, you’re permitted to show some excitement.’

‘I would if I was excited,’ replied the bored young man.

‘That’s fine. But don’t take this too lightly. We pushed to create this exhibition to help you-‘

‘Either way, I just need to compete. I can do that. Now, can I go sit down?’ grumbled Hathal.

Slazza nodded and shouted, “Now, Hathal will join the other contestants in the stands, allowing us to begin the first match!”

Hathal did just that. His silent compliance was practically screaming to the other contestants about how bored he was. But Hathal didn’t care. He didn’t even glance at any of the mortal candidates. Hathal glanced at the prefecture lords above and scoffed, finding a seat at one of the uppermost corners of the contestant seating area.

“Time to start!”

As Slazza shouted, Narja flew in circles above the colosseum, dropping hundreds of papers. She then descended onto the lord’s platform. Narja humbly bowed her head while handing out a paper to God Toseko and each of the prefecture lords.

Next, she jumped into the contestant area to pass the papers out to each king and candidate.

This gave the prefecture lords a moment to look over the upcoming matches. Already, they were making predictions or questioning the possible semifinalists.

“This is fairly even,” commented Peimar. “I suppose we’ll each end up with someone in the top four, along with the private candidate.”

“Hmm, it does seem pretty even. But the second grouping is definitely the most brutal,” Warak added. “It seems Kartzal’s up to his old tricks again, using us to test his own candidate.”

Toseko laughed, “Since you’ve figured it out, I hope someone will offer a genuine contest for the young man. That’s the kind of fight I want to see today. Though I’m not entirely sure if I agree, Peimar.”

“... What do you mean, Kartzal?”

Shugging, God Toseko replied, “We wanted to have a fairly even bracket, keeping each of your strongest candidates from facing off before the semifinal matches. But, if there’s another sort of fight I want to witness, it’s to see someone rise up to humble one of your best candidates, a dark horse!”

The lords all sighed in unison. They all knew God Toseko fairly well, especially Peimar and Warak. If anyone could sense how excited Kartzal was under his masking grin, it was them.

“Candidates,” stated Slazza, “when your match is up and we call for the contestants, waste no time entering the arena. That being said, it’s time for the first match! Contestants, come down!”

Immediately, the Thunderbird took off and landed in the arena’s center. At the same time, the huge Mountain Bear rushed down the steps. But the bear wasn’t happy at all to be staring back at the Thunderbird.

“A Thunderbird versus a Mountain Bear, each representing Thunder Prefecture! Are you two ready?” asked Slazza, getting nods from each contestant. “FIGHT!”

“I concede.”

“That’s understandable,” commented the Thunderbird.

Slazza nodded and smiled. “The winner is the Thunderbird!”

The crowd didn’t quite boo but they weren’t excited either. Though, no one present was going to argue that the fight’s end result would’ve been different.

“Now, for the second match! Contestants, enter the arena!”

“Good luck, Vant.”

Chuckling, Vant smiled back at the huge cat. “Thanks, Tilgron, but don’t worry. I’ll be right back.”

Vant strolled down the stairs, looking down at his opponent who had flown down in seconds. The moment he reached the arena’s center, Vant bowed to his foe. “Thank you for the chance to do battle. I respect your abilities quite a lot.”

“That’s fine. Now let’s start,” cawed the Cloud Crow.

Shaking his head with a brief sigh, Slazza announced, “A Cloud Crow representing Razor Prefecture versus a human representing Toxic-shadow Prefecture! Are you two ready? ... FIGHT!”

“Ha! I won’t fall for your trick like that stupid eagle!” the crow scoffed, rushing into the sky. Already, the crow was beginning to spread water vapor everywhere.

Vant, on the other hand, kept standing where he had started. He casually yet thoroughly watched the crow’s flight path.

“What? Are you unable to attack while I’m up here? How sad...”

Ignoring the crow, Vant continued to spectate the bird’s movements. He let the bird create more and more streams of dense vapor across the sky. There was nearly twice as much vapor than what the crow used in its previous match.

However, just as the vapor began to gather together, Vant unsheathed his sword. A single swing. Vant launched a speeding wind blade into a certain part of the water vapor. Then, Vant immediately sheathed his sword without a word.