A Dragon’s Curiosity

Right before Owen’s fist reached the prone figure of the Hunter, they slapped their palm on the ground, detonating a sizeable portion of fire aura with a bang.

Although the elf had only used the method to speed herself up through her feet before, the mechanic behind the skill was the same.

The only unfortunate detriment was that Nisha still had her dagger in her hand, which broke to pieces and scattered around as the detonation sent her away from the attacking warrior.

Borrowing the momentum of the recoil, the dragon rolled to the side and narrowly dodged the fist aimed at her, escaping a strike that would have likely given her moderate injuries despite her strong physique and defense.

Blinded by the sand thrown into the air due to Owen hitting the ground with his enhanced gauntlet, as well as the additional flakes and debris from the broken dagger, the warrior could only confirm that he did not land a direct hit. 

However, the shock and discharge of aura might have inflicted secondary damage.

Owen only saw a vague figure in the affected area move away from him near the ground.

In theory, he should wait for the vision to clear up and assess the situation first, but the convict no longer wished to drag things out and was determined to end the fight one way or another soon.

Recovering his stance, the warrior opened his unarmed hand in a claw form and raised it high above while he rushed to the general location of his opponent.

Dark yellow chains crawled up his entire arm and strengthened the limb to the limit, preparing to deal out another big strike in a decisive manner.

Nisha half kneeled at the far end of the dust cloud and squinted her eyes at the charging figure, mostly having her attention attracted to the earthen glow up in the air.

Despite not calling a name, it should be a skill effect considering the appearance of the earth attribute chains, and the elf was not keen to tank a skill with nothing but her body anyway if she could avoid it.

Right before the girl confirmed her plan to dodge to the side and avoid a direct confrontation, Nisha’s [Spirit Sight] caught a hint of unusual activity around the convict’s waist.

It was not only the clawed hand above that gathered aura for a move, a suspicious large amount of energy also gathered on the other hand he kept hidden.

Since it was a risk anyway to defend against the obvious move and a hidden one was on the way as well, the elf did not attempt to go against the attack by force and did not stand up either.

Rolling several times on the sand was the lower risk compared to getting caught off guard by the convict’s hidden move and getting injured for no good reason.

Just when Owen arrived at the area where he estimated his adversary should be, he did his best to swing the enhanced overhead strike in the general direction and forcefully create an opening.

To his dismayed surprise, the Hunter exceeded his expectations and did not counterattack, block, or move to the side, which would allow them to dodge or counterattack depending on the follow-up.

If it was any of the mentioned possibilities, he could adjust the trajectory of his claw at the last moment, he needed to finish the attack now or the gathered aura would disperse - or even worse, inflict backlash on him - if he did not complete the swing.

As long as the opening succeeded, it did not matter whether his opponent blocked, dodged, or tried anything else.

The prisoner already had a backup plan and quietly gathered most of his earth aura on the gauntlet fixed next to his waist.

Once the Hunter was entangled, it would become apparent that his overhead strike was mostly a diversion and barely had any real power behind it, but at that time the second strike with the gauntlet would already become a finisher.

Owen roared and tried his best to extend the length of his stride so he could make up for the missing distance quickly, anything was fine as long as the first move connected and set up his trap.

He was getting slightly anxious, as the fighter had used many of his skills in a row and expended a considerable amount of aura.

Although it was not to the degree where he would pass out soon, it was a significant drain on his strength and would limit the time left for him in a fighting state.

After all, normal strikes and physical strength were also based on aura and expended small amounts, though stamina would usually run out first as long as someone did not use skills.

With that in mind, Owen did his best to lengthen each step and skip a bit further, doing his best to make the claw connect and position himself to unleash his trump card, the hidden fist.

His plan progressed well too, or at least the man assumed so as he confirmed that the Hunter was looking at the enhanced claw above from beneath the shadow of the cowl.

The combo did not need to be a finishing move either, it was enough if the claw and fist could swing the balance in his favour and allow him to get the upper hand until he exhausted his foe.

Sadly, he was unaware that his hidden motive had already seen through by the elf, who might not know exactly what he was planning to do, yet had no intention to get hit with a dangerous amount of aura.

Just as Owen swung down with his hand, trying to entangle her with his claw, Nisha squatted down and barely managed to get out of the range of his hit.

Undeterred by the failure of his first move, the prisoner withdrew every mote of aura in his first attack and quickly shifted it to his waiting fist, making the gauntlet around it creak with worrying noises that left no doubt it would reach the end of its durability soon.

While the Hunter managed to dodge, it also placed them firmly in front of Owen’s true attack, with no time left to shift away or evade again on short notice since the two strikes were so closely linked together.

Most of his remaining aura reserved for skills gathered on his fist and shot out with a dark brown glow, ready to crush anything before the convict.

Unfortunately for Owen, his little tricks were plain as day before [Spirit Sight] and the dragon had been guarding against this move all the time.

If Nisha really had no idea and crouched without a backup move, then the punch would have certainly reached its goal and done a great deal of damage.

Therefore, the elf had injected her aura into the ground already while she bent down and kept a way out for herself.

While Owen was carried forward by the raw strength of his strike, Nisha detonated the fire energy beneath her feet and shot forward like an arrow loosened from the bow, crossing her arms in front of herself.

Owen’s eyes shot wide open as the confirmed hit suddenly missed a target to strike and could not understand what went wrong.

Due to the strong forward momentum, he could not control his direction and turn around to assess the problem or formulate an effective defense.

Even worse, the Hunter’s course of escape went through a path that was already occupied by something else - the convict’s legs.

Before figuring out what was going on, Owen sailed through the air in an uncontrollable manner and bounced on the arena floor two times before the aura in his charge was depleted.

Disoriented and confused from the sudden flight and unexpected damage, the convict was suddenly unable to move by the time he got his bearings back and was ready to stand up and continue to fight.

Standing above him with one foot on his torso and the broken club on his shoulder, Nisha pinned the man down with little effort, grinning under her concealed hood.

She had been quick on her feet and while knocking down the man was an accident, it was still an acceptable course of action.

Now, looking down at the defenseless Owen, the rush of victory gave her enjoyment similar to the rush when the dragon broke the neck of prey after a difficult hunt, though it was a shame that the arena discouraged finishing off the losers.

It was not that the elf was bloodthirsty or had a particular penchant for violence, it was just unwise to leave potential trouble behind, a lesson that all inhabitants of the Wilderness either learned early or paid a particular harsh price later on.

Perhaps, the prisoner’s sharp sixth sense acted again as he came under a vicious killing intent that he had trouble matching with the petite figure that easily pinned him down.

He already had trouble reconciling himself with the fact that a newcomer actually managed to overcome his trap and trump card, and now he experienced the shivers like he was under the threat of an atrocious slayer.

“Who … who are you?!”

No matter how much Owen struggled to push himself up with his feet or use his hands to get back up, he was easily pressed down with one weapon and one foot and pinned in place.

The helplessness as well as the unease from the unexpected killing intent sent him into a panic, making him overthink as a result.

Nisha, on the other hand, had no idea what the man was thinking.

Does he not know that I put on a disguise because I don’t want to reveal who I am?

While the elf was thinking, the silence only unnerved the prisoner further.

“You can’t be a normal contestant! Did the Viscount send you to silence me?”

Despite his hopeless situation, Owen wanted to fight for his life and attempted to start a conversation.

As long as he kept his life, the arena workers would eventually interfere and resolve his current predicament, even if only to protect their investment.

Nisha had no idea what the man was suddenly talking about, she did not even know any Viscounts or planned to deal a finishing strike.

Her killing intent was merely a passive reaction to overcoming her hunting target, similar to a lion roaring after taking down its next meal.

Perhaps if they were outside the city walls right now and not in front of a big audience, the dragon would resolve potential future trouble, yet they were only in a competition right now and would never encounter each other again.

Owen took the silence as agreement and struggled even harder, clutching at the foot that pinned him down as well as attempting to slip away.

Anything was fine to him if he could get away this time.

“Even if you kill me off, the trail does not end with me. I have already informed the city guards about the things I saw and what happened before my sentencing, so it’s useless!”

Compared to the seasoned warrior who faced her previously, Nisha found the current convict extremely pathetic and sad.

While he obviously had a story of his own and only fought for his life in a different way, the dragon was not part of his story, and had no idea what he was blabbering about.

The corners of her mouth pulled downward because a more than decent fight now got tainted with unnecessary distractions.

Owen did not get an answer yet and had no idea what the Hunter was planning to do, fearing that his life might come to an end suddenly without giving him a chance to escape.

Nisha pushed the prisoner down with the broken club and took a step to the side, pulling back the leg that pinned the man down as well.

Before the convict had a chance to rejoice about his sudden freedom, the elf delivered a swift kick behind his ear, knocking her opponent out before he ruined the remaining joy of the fight.

Based on the noise of a dry twig breaking, his skull probably fractured from the sudden violence, although there was probably no risk to his life.

Nisha was very good at controlling her strength, it was enough to knock him out but not enough to destroy anything important.

The arena employees who previously walked slowly into the ring after the fight concluded to clean up the scattered weapons and prepare the pit for the next fight sped up after seeing this scene and hurried to the side of Owen, who slumped to the ground with a lifeless appearance.

Although they had no idea why the winner of the fight struck another time, the priority of the workers now laid on the injured party, they had no way to judge the seriousness of an injury and could only hurriedly carry the knocked-out man to the priest outside on standby.

The elf managed to vent her displeasure and ignored the busy workers around her as she turned in direction of the nearest exit and prepared to leave the pit with her head held high as the victor.

At that time, the defenses of the arena pit lowered in accordance with the conclusion of the event and let in the cheers and cries of the audience, as well as the hateful voice of the announcer.