Volume 3, Chapter 18: Assemble, Inter-clan Tournament!

When I found myself back at the Driad's Enclave, inside Elder Jarukir's living room, multiple questions were raised by Eden and Kiara.

“Verath! What happened?” they shouted.

One one side, Elder Kronos was looking at me thoughtfully. “I presume you were in Nilfloria?”

I was too disoriented to answer. I was still wondering why Navra had dragged me into Nilfloria so suddenly just to tell me all of this? What had changed his mind? Was there something even more he was not telling me? And in the end, the true reason behind my reincarnation was flimsier than I thought. It seemed almost like a lie.

And what was that screaming near the end when he had summoned all those blue flames around the both of us? Had someone been killed by Navra? If so, why had I not even seen that someone? Was it some kind of illusion magic, or perhaps some magic which rendered me unable to sense that someone? The scream had also sounded like it came from a female...

I stopped wondering, and finally nodded to the deathly silence that was in the room. Eden, Kiara, Xalanth, and Aria were all looking at me, waiting for me to answer. “Yes,” I simply said.

Elder Kronos became silent, and looked even more contemplative. He was staring at me with unusual intensity. “It seems like the meeting for the centennial renewal of the Unity Treaty has ended,” he said. “Did you see the other six Eldests there?”

“I didn't, just Navra and...” I paused, unsure of whether to continue.

“And?”

“A woman named Sabrial vral Lethios, the leader of the Slayers.”

“What are you both talking about,” Eden interrupted. “Just what is Nilfloria?”

Elder Kronos sighed a little. “I do wish Eldest Navra would stop doing such impulsive things. It is hard for the rest of the Elders to clean up his mess. Ah well, the secret is out, but I will hold everyone in this room to not speak of Nilfloria to the others.”

Everyone around the room nodded, including the two Driads. I did wonder about Elder Kronos though; for him to speak of a secret before the two Driads told me that he must have had a high amount of trust in the two creatures.

“Have you not wondered why you do not see many dragons around the territories?” Elder Kronos asked.

“Isn't that because of the First Tribulation,” Kiara replied sharply. It was the first time I had ever seen her angry or use a sharp voice.

“You should not blame your father so much, little one,” Elder Kronos said in a soft voice. There was a slight weariness to his voice that could not be hidden.

Little one? I thought to myself. It was the first time I had heard Elder Kronos call Kiara that. Was it due to the fact that Elder Kronos had replaced Eden and Kiara's father as their broodkeeper? I realized that I did not know much at all about Eden and Kiara's past—I had been avoiding that topic due to their unwillingness to speak of it.

Beside me, Kiara was clenching her fists, her body tense with anger. An angry expression was seen, and her golden, white and red tinted eyes were drawn into a glare. Beside Kiara, Eden looked as if there was a mix of emotions running through her. Anger, depression, sadness, and perhaps regret, I observed.

“I hate him with all my heart, for he forced all of my brothers and sisters to kill each other!” Kiara shouted. “It was only when Eden remained that I chose to rebel!”

Eden fell into an even deeper silence, most likely thinking of her past memories.

“Every dragon who has passed the First Tribulation went through that ordeal, little one. You and your sister are possibly the only two who survived, except for dragons who are born as bonded twins.”

Xalanth and Aria, the other female dragon of our team, watched with their own mix of emotions. They knew first-hand of the First Tribulation; the two of them, after all, had most likely undertaken it.

I was the only one with a calm, indifferent face. It was an irony to think that dragons, gigantic monsters in the eyes of humans, would have even more emotions than me, a former human. It made me all the more aware of the fault in myself.

I felt a warm fire through from the bond I had with Seraphine; it was most likely her way of telling me of her presence, her companionship.

No words were needed. Just that alone was enough.

Perceptive, I thought to myself. It was either that or the bond I had between Seraphine and I was more sensitive than I had initially thought. I felt somewhat undecided of what to think of that bond. The slightly increasing changes to my emotional capacity felt unfamiliar to me. I felt like a blind man grasping at straws, looking to describe colors I had never seen before.

“There is a reason behind the First Tribulation,” Elder Kronos continued, looking at each and every one of us in the eyes. “All of you, no doubt, know of the Greater Races, but what you do not know of is the Unity Treaty made in Nilfloria between all the Greater Races and the many other races.”

We waited in silence, wondering at what this treaty was, though I already had some clues as to what it was.

“The Unity Treaty, made between all the Greater Races, the Fae, and the many other races, is a self-imposed binding rule to limit the populations, so that there shall never be an outbreak of massive, global inter-realm wars again. Most of the dragons who have not passed their 1000 year mark do not know of the Unity Treaty. ”

“Do you know why there are not many older dragons to be seen in our territories?”

Elder Kronos brought up a good point. I had always been wondering why there were not very many older dragons. I had only attributed the cause to be the First Tribulation, the fact that dragons only mated once every 20 years, and that most dragons did not live past a thousand and a half years old.

“It is because most of the older dragons live in Nilfloria, intensively training themselves,” Elder Kronos continued. “You see, once a dragon soul passes its 1000 year mark, the dragon must undergo the Ultimate Tribulation. Many dragons do not come out of it alive, and those who do, will live longer and become more powerful, yet few of the dragons who come out alive will live more than a thousand and a half years.

Elder Kronos chuckled softly to himself. “Even I do not know how much longer I will live. A few years, the next week, or perhaps a few more centuries? None of us Elders and the Eldests who have passed the age of 1500 years know when we will die. We only await hell, the place of concept we go to when we die.”

I was surprised. Did Elder Kronos not know of the Realm of the Dead? Perhaps only Navra knew of it, and the Goddess of Death. It was an interesting thought, which I would need to ponder more about later.

And the Ultimate Tribulation?

Did that even apply to me, a human soul with two other integrated souls inside a dragon's body? It was a thought worth pondering. I would need to ask Navra when I see him again at the Inter-clan Tournament.

“Your words are nothing!” Eden shouted out loud, finally breaking her silence. “Why should we kill our own brothers and sisters just because of a mere Unity Treaty? We have plenty of lands! Why can't we expand our territories?”

“I agree,” Xalanth added in. “Why must we even have the First Tribulation?”

Kiara looked thoughtful and after a short moment, she added her agreement.

Elder Kronos replied calmly. “If we expanded our territories, many of the other Greater Races would start protesting. Even the Fae Realm, which you have no idea of, would interfere with this world. And the Slayers, the most warlike race, would gladly pounce at such an opportunity. Then the Curatix, the self-proclaimed Justice and Protector of the Realms, would not remain silent.”

“Why don't we expand our territories to the other Realms then? Just like you mentioned, it seems we have territories in Nilfloria,” Kiara argued.

“There are a multitude of races in the other realms, even in Nilfloria, that are not part of the Greater Races. Some of them are even as powerful as the Greater Races,” Elder Kronos replied.

Arguments and questions passed back and forth between Elder Kronos and us, with Aria and I the two exceptions who were listening and observing intently. It made me think that Aria was most likely reserved, or perhaps somewhat like me.

Finally, the arguments came to a stop with Elder Kronos final say.

“Enough,” Elder Kronos said with finality, a tone that would allow no objections. “I do not wish to argue with dragons who are not even of five years of age yet.” He turned toward the two Driads who looked withdrawn, as if wanting to have nothing to do with the conversation.

“I apologize for this display made before the both of you. I thank you for your hospitality, and I trust the both of you to keep silent of what has transpired today,” Elder Kronos said in a polite voice, though it must have sounded more like an order to the two Driads.

“No, it is fine. I am glad you trust the two of us this much, Elder Kronos,” Jarukir replied. Beside the grandfather was Mareivea shortly nodding in agreement, her light-brown antlers bobbing up and down.

With a nod back, Elder Kronos said, “We shall take our leave now. I hope the two of you will not mind me using magic here to directly go back.”

“You are welcome to, Elder Kronos,” Grandfather Jarukir replied.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Elder Kronos said.

Magic soon enveloped all six of us, teleporting us out of the Driads' Enclave.

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When we came out of teleportation, the scenery around me changed into that of an enormous arena, larger than even the eastern Amphitheater of Dominance.

There were no words I could use to describe it. The scale of the colosseum was grand—there was no doubt in my mind that it was an arena made not for humans, but for dragons. I estimated the length of the arena to be more than 1200 feet long and possibly more than half as wide. And that was not even counting the outer walls, which were taller than two hundred feet. The shape of the Inter-clan Tournament Colosseum seemed to form a rectangular structure, so the fighting floor was also most likely similarly fashioned.

The land which the arena stood on was a vast, flat land of rocky terrain that seemed to stretch on for miles. Beside the arena, there was a huge lake, the waters still and undisturbed except for the reflections of the sunlight. Around me, I could see that the members of my team were somewhat wide-eyed at the scale of the colosseum.

“This tournament will mark its one hundred and fourth anniversary,” Elder Kronos said.

I quickly did a mental calculation. Twenty times one hundred and four; that was a total of two thousand and eighty years since the creation of this tournament. It was even older than Elder Kronos, who was 1678 years old!

In human history, we were in Year 1121, the Age of Prosperity. Before this age was the Age of Expansion, which spanned for 450 years; prior to the Age of Expansion was the Age of Reformation, which lasted for 1500 years. In total, this made for around 3000 years of recorded human history.

Some time before the recorded 3000 years of human history was probably when the Age of Unity came to be, along with the forging of the Unity Treaty. It seemed like a good guess based on what Navra and Elder Kronos had told me of the world's history.

“Elder Kronos, how much magic does teleportation consume?” I asked. Elder Kronos had done a group teleportation twice already to and from the Driads' Enclave; this meant a total of 12 individual teleporations, and that was discounting the other trips.

“I suppose I can tell you, since it is no real secret,” Elder Kronos said. “No doubt you know this already, but the greater the distance, the more magic you use for teleportation. Teleportation is also greatly limited; you can only use it to travel to places you have been.”

I suppose that did make sense, I thought to myself. Navra—no, there was no use trying to relate teleportation magic to that ancient dragon. He defied every logic. Navra was definitely not a good model to obtain a better idea of the relativity of magic.

“How exactly does one use teleporation?” I asked. Navra had never deigned to tell me of that. He had only deemed me too weak to use it. Consequently, I also had no in-born talent for teleportation like some of the human mages I had seen.

“Hmm. Teleportation is a hard magic to learn, especially if you have no inborn-talent. You would have to wait until you become more familiar with your Animus, say, around a century of familiarity or so, before you can teleport yourself through great distances. It also consumes a fair amount of magic reserves for those with no talent for it.”

I pondered upon those words. “Then how would one teleport another dragon?”

“Well, you need only wrap your magic around that other dragon and use yourself as the main linking vessel to bring that other dragon along. Also, I am far more proficient in my magic capacity than all of you, so it is easy for my magic to overcome the resistance of your magic territories. I encounter very little resistance imposing my magic on all of you, due to your weak magic territories.”

“Then—”

I stopped my words there. I could sense a glare from Eden and a withheld sigh from Kiara. Xalanth was also giving me a strange look. It was obvious. The three of them were telling me to shut my mouth, so that we could move on.

Dull. Quite dull. I could only sigh a little at their impatience. Knowledge was the font of power.

“Let us move on now.” Elder Kronos looked up at the sky. “It is already late afternoon, and the others are no doubt waiting.”

Elder Kronos kept up a fast pace as we walked through the middle entrance of three entrances on the side of the rectangular Inter-clan Tournament Colosseum we were standing upon. As we went through the entrance, the scale of the colosseum left an even more distinct impression. The height of the entrance was for a dragon. It was more than a hundred feet tall, which was the average height of a full grown dragon.

The architecture of the colosseum consisted of curving arches proceeding to trusses at every regular intervals, and various other patterns which were pleasing to the eyes. The white and black marbled inner walls, just like its outer walls, were plain looking to the eyes, yet its noble look could not be denied. Perhaps it was just the size of it all, the varying structures, or perhaps the many materials the colosseum was made out of, but I felt as if the colosseum was a grand building.

I was also a little surprised. I would not have thought dragons would have cared that much about structures.

After passing down through the spectator seats, each section made large enough for a dragon to comfortable watch, and through another entrance, we arrived at the inner arena, the floor which we would do battle. The primary surface of the arena floor was a layer of sand on top of a solid rock layer.

“So those are our contenders,” Eden said with a glaring look, a hint of excitement in her belligerent eyes.

“I shall carve my name upon their hearts,” Xalanth silently muttered to himself. His words did not fit his kind-looking face, which was a strange look for a dragon.

I didn't bother to retort to Xalanth, since he himself knew that everything short of killing your opponents would be allowed in the Inter-clan Tournament.

“Go line up beside the others,” Elder Kronos said in a stern voice.

There were thirty young dragons our age, five from each of the six major Astlan dragon clans, lined up in a horizontal line. We quickly formed up near the left end side of the line, facing the six Elders, who were soon joined by Elder Kronos.

All thirty five participants, including me, were now facing the seven Elders, each of them from a different clan. The seven of these Elder dragons, every one of them powerful in their own rights, all in their human forms, were wearing black uniforms with golden collars that marked them as the official trainers of the seven dragon teams. On each uniform, the symbol of the clan which the Elder dragon belonged to, was also emblazoned boldly on the chest.

The Arkanan clan, which we belonged to, had the symbol of a scarlet tear wrapped around by orange flames. As for the Scorchgrasp clan, the territory upon which the colosseum was built in, had the symbol of black dragon talons of a forelimb grasping a wild, scarlet fire, which could not be contained.

“Glad you could make it, Elder Kronos. I was beginning to think you were not going to show up,” a red-haired man in his late early thirties commented. He had a steely gaze and a reddish beard dotting his strong jaw. The beard made me think that the red-haired Elder was probably close to Elder Kronos' age, perhaps even older.

“I was caught up in something unexpected, Elder Thorne.”

“Oho? And what would that something be?”

“Eldest Navra, our king, had a bit of business with Verath, his broodling,” Elder Kronos said offhandedly.

At his words, I could almost feel the tension in the arena become even more intense. There were even some dragons who tensed up, glancing and measuring the members of our team, looking for the one known as Verath—looking for me.

“Who would this Verath be?” Thorne, the oldest Elder of the territory Scorchgrasp, the host clan of the Inter-clan Tournament, asked in an intrigued voice.

Elder Kronos glance at me. That glance alone was enough for Elder Thorne, who quickly followed along, his steely gaze soon resting upon me. “So this is the infamous black dragon, the young dragon whom our king has taken an interest in, even to the point of becoming his broodkeeper? And what a coincidence that he has the same white hair as our king.”

I became a little nervous at that. My “coincidental” white-haired appearance had been a point that Elder Kronos also had commented on during the last five months. It wasn't too strange, since some other dragons also had white-hair, and the human appearances of dragons were mostly random, only sometime reflecting the nature of our elements and personality.

None of the dragons also knew of Navra's ability to transform into possibly anything and anyone he liked. Navra's human form, to the dragons, was of a tall white-haired man with ancient, brown eyes.

Due to the slow and clear-cut deliberateness of the words of Elder Thorne, every dragon, except for the Elders, strained their necks to stare at me. Those thirty pairs of intense eyes of various colors felt overpowering when combined—I even felt somewhat taken aback, though I did not show it outwardly.

Whispers and mutters went through the thirty dragons like a flash of lightning. They were loud enough that I even heard the nearby ones declaring to each other that they would humiliatingly defeat me in the tournament.

To become the center of attention was a disadvantageous position. All eyes would be estimating and measuring my strength, looking for any weaknesses.

'It looks like every one of these dragons except the ones in your team want to sully you,” Seraphine commented from inside my mind.

'You sure are popular,' she continued in a fiery, sing-song voice. It was strange hearing that.

'Why is it that you only speak to me during these times?' I half-sighed in almost-exasperation at the Lesser Fire Elemental.

'Because it's more fun that way!'

'Hah, you sure are passionate about that.'

Seraphine retreated back into Animus after that; the Lesser Fire Elemental was most likely comforting me, I thought to myself...even though I didn't need such comforting. Hah.

“Enough staring. It is unbecoming of dragons who are nearing their third tribulations,” Elder Thorne finally said with calculated timing. He was one I would have to watch out for. There was a look of hidden cunning and playfulness to the Scorchgrasp Elder dragon.

“Elders, may I be the spokesdragon for us?”

“Of course, Elder Thorne,” a female Elder from the Brismar clan said in a light, amiable voice. “You are the most senior of all the Elders, after all, not to mention, we are near the heart of the Scorchgrasp territory.”

There were consenting nods from the other Elders.

“In two days, young dragon participants, the one hundred and fourth Inter-clan Tournament will start. In these two days before the start of the tournament, all of you will be free to do whatever you like, so long as you stay within this area. In these two days, interested dragons from all the seven major Astlan dragon clans, and perhaps even dragons from the minor clans, will be arriving early morning tomorrow. All thirty five of you shall display the might of your clan and the prowess of your generation.”

Elder Thorne paused, as if waiting for a cue. The cue was soon answered.

All thirty five dragons, including me, shouted a battle-cry, roaring with our transformed dragon chords. Our combined roars shook the ground and the very air, and had there been any birds flying overhead us, or animals around us, they would have no doubt already run away in fear.

Dragons were one of the Greater Races. We were the predators, but not just any predators—we were the apex predators, the highest of the highest. Not one animal could challenge us for the throne of being the top carnivore—not even the other Greater Races.

(By the way, the roaring was a part of the initial ceremony, which Elder Kronos had coached us on, so I had no choice but to participate in this tedious thing).

Elder Thorne held out a hand, and we all stopped our roaring, which had been continuing for quite some time. “The seven of us shall serve as the judges of the Inter-clan Tournament and a few of the Eldests of our clans may even come to watch. Our king, by the way, will also be here to watch all thirty-five of you. It seems he has a gift for the winning team, and the strongest individual dragon.”

A silent fell upon Elder Thorne, and as if an invisible cue had been lit up, all seven of the Elder dragons started in one great, powerful voice, almost similar to the time during the crowning of the second Astlan Dragon King. “May the fire always burn,” all seven Elders spoke in one united voice, which resounded throughout the whole colosseum and perhaps even further out.

No doubt, had there been any animals in the vicinity, they would have all froze in fear.

Then all seven Elders teleported out of the arena, leaving the thirty-five of us alone...without supervision. Tight-knit groups instantly formed up, five dragons in each group from a clan.

Most of the dragons in these groups were all measuring me, watching me closely.

From one of these groups, a tall male dragon with a lazy expression and half-closed eyes, which still looked piercing despite its half-closed state, walked up to me. I instantly recognized him, his dark black hair and yellow eyes, especially his expression. He was Izara of the Casmaw clan, the violet dragon who had attacked me out of nowhere a few months ago.

Mutters flashed across some of the dragons in the other clans. “It's Izara,” I heard a few of the whispers say.

“Would you care for a small spar, oh black dragon?” Izara asked with a lazy, half-crooked smile. “The Elders did say we could do anything in these two days, and the spectating dragons will be arriving tomorrow.”

I narrowed my eyes at the violet dragon. “No, I do not care for a spar with you.”

“Where is your pride, black dragon. Where is your fire, Verath?” Izara said in a slight, yet lazy provocative tone.

“Why don't you leave that unwilling black dragon alone, and spar with me instead,” a voice called out.

“Tch,” Izara said, turning around to face the voice, which had come from a tall male with pink hair. “Do you really want to lose that bad, Kaiser of Dulanon clan?”

“You shouldn't go deciding the outcome before the match even starts,” Kaiser said with a large grin on his somewhat feminine face, though it was more handsome than beautiful. His slightly pointed ears and pink hair, however, was off-putting.

Izara laughed out loud a little. “The day I lose to a pink dragon of the Dulanon clan is the day I cut off my two horns.”

I was somewhat amused in my mind at having my suspicion confirmed. Pink hair, from what I had been told, was an intrinsic and unique sign of the pink dragons which were only seen in the Dulanon clan.

“Color is nothing, you know,” Kaiser only replied with a shrug.

I almost felt bad for the dragon. Being a pink dragon as a male must have been hard on him.

I had to admit, however, that I was more amused than pitiful for the pink dragon. Imagine! A pink-colored dragon. The irony.

“AHAHAH!” Izara deliberately laughed loudly. “I can never take you seriously, Kaiser! But if you really want to go at it with me, then I will gladly oblige!”

Magic of a violet color poured out of Izara and shrouded him.

At the same time, magic of a slightly lighter shade of red poured out of Kaiser, likewise shrouding him.

“Virdus Terram-Glacia-Incentia!”

Dragon Earth-Ice-Fire Armor!

“Virdus Arcanum!”

Dragon Arcane Armor!

Every pair of eyes in the arena turned instantly interested at this sudden breakout of a fight.

“I shall go easy on you, Kiaser. I will only limit myself to three elements!” Izara said in a lazy voice.

I could not tell what expression he was making due to his back turned to me. I knew, however, that I would be closely watching their spar.

They were both idiots for displaying their power before the tournament would even start. And not to mention, these two were part of the most favored candidates to win the tournament.

By the way, I wasn't included in this list of favored candidates due to not many dragons knowing about me.

“I can say the same for you, Izara!” Kaiser said, putting a hand through his short, spiky pink hair.

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AN: gonna have to cliffhang you there xP. I might release another chapter on the weekends. Not sure yet, been a bit busy these days.

Also, just one more chapter left until end of volume 3 ^_^