The beginning of the championship!

Alice’s POV:

The arena was exactly at the center among the three continents. It was built on a huge island which covered an area of seventy thousand square kilometers. An enormous arena was built on the plain island, with hundreds of thousands of seats for the visiting spectators. Its center was made plain, thanks to the cultivator’s magical powers while the island itself had mountains surrounding its coasts. This island had a warm climate, and it had rainforests on its mountains.

This island was a really nice place. It was made for the purpose to hold these championships among all three races. When we arrived, we have seen thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of cultivators gathering at this place. I guess this is a really big event. The bigger the better! Hiro was embracing my waist tightly while we were going into the receptionist building. There was a long dark tunnel connecting the main hall of the arena to the building. He was in a melancholic mood and thought deeply about our path, and about how we can rely only on each other.

I too was sad to leave Rose just like that. She has grown to my heart. But I can’t be tied down by my emotions. I have to become the strongest, to learn what is beyond the end, and to be able to stay with Hiro forever. I can’t let my momentary laziness or happiness, get the better of me! If we want to stay together for eternity, then we have to move one. We will make sure that no one can stop us! Feeling that he was the only one, truly close to me, who would never leave me, I only felt my love rising from my heart into my mind once again.

My love didn’t become stronger because it can’t. My love for my dearest mate is the strongest in the whole universe and this! I dare to say! My overflowing love made me want to shower him with my kisses and hugs. He was still thinking about his morals when I couldn’t help myself but hug him. He stopped moving as he looked down on me. He put his hand on my head and gave a loving kiss on my forehead.

[Uww~ 💗 I love you so much, dear.] I sent my thoughts to him as I stood on my tips to kiss him. My tail was hanging out from under my skirt, and I’m quite sure that it was whipping from left to right happily.

[I too love you, my wife.] Hiro sent back to me, with the most loving tone he had. We left the dark tunnel and entered the room, which appeared before us.

Although the room was really big, but it was filled to the brim with young and powerful cultivators. There were hundreds of them at the ninth stage, not mention those who were at lower stages. There were many beastmen, humans and even elves, who rarely showed themselves among the other two race, but at this time, they didn’t hide either. We did gain some attention, but everyone was busy with chatting excitedly. Everyone was looking forward to the forthcoming battles. They wanted to show off their talents to the cultivators who were at the higher levels, and they wanted to gain fame among their peers.

Although we were quite well known among the newcomers, but we didn’t attend the classes or the little events in the school, so we were unknown among these people. I can’t wait to play around with them~ I can’t help it! The battles are divided into nine stages to make it fair, and there are going to be rewarded respectively. The real deals would fall in the hands of the top three, but the weaker ones would also gain some benefits. I wonder what are they going to give for us.

Though we had a problem. How the hell are we supposed to attend this ceremony? What if we were to be against each other? There is no way that we would surrender, but then one of us would have to surrender? There is no way! But for now, we don’t have to worry. We can rack our brains after learning the details. We have registered through the school, so we didn’t have to do it once more. We just had to verify that we were here. We went up to the counter and stood in line for five long minutes before we were finally able to get our turns. Maybe we should have cut the line. It was better like that last time too…

“Hello, please tell me your names.” Said the receptionist woman politely, who was unexpectedly at the peak of ninth stage. She looked to be about thirty years old, but we all knew that she was much older than that. She was possibly over three thousand years old. I guess they are here to make sure that everything is valid and safe.

We told her our names and she wrote it on two badges, which were in front of her. She also wrote two numbers on it and then used some kind of magical array to seal it. She handed it over to us then said: “This badge is going to stick to your auras, and you can’t take it off without our help. When the championship finishes, please come back to remove it. It’s to identify you as participants, and to verify that you are the real person battling.”

Hearing her explanation I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Why? Is there a way to fake your auras and appearance?” I asked her curiously. She looked at me as if she would have seen a country bumpkin, which caused a tint of red to appear on my face, but she answered nonetheless. “Yes… Where have you been living up till now….? There are treasures which can change your looks and your aura too, and it’s not even such a hard thing to get. You can exchange for such treasures at your schools too. It’s really not rare…” She wasn’t so polite anymore.

Though I get that it must be hard on her. I too would hate if idiots and stupid people were to come in front of me for a whole day, and I would have to listen to their stupid questions about things which were common sense. I wanted to get angry or annoyed by her tone, but after thinking this over, I couldn’t. I don’t want to be like the other people who can only think in such a straight line. I’m sure that she has heard many such questions, even before us. I’m sorry for being uncommon…

“Thanks… Do we have to do something else?” Hiro said, which caused a slight smile to slip on her face as she nodded. There aren’t many people who know how to thank for something. To be honest our weakness was the word ‘sorry’. But we had no problems in saying thanks! “No, you have nothing to do anymore, other than wait, though the battles are going to start on the next day, so I wouldn’t recommend you staying here or in the waiting room for such a long time. But tomorrow be sure to be on time, in the waiting room!” She advised us, then she caught to her head and continued.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Do you have a team?” - Seeing that we hadn’t had a clue what she was talking about, she continued. - “*Sigh* You came here without knowing anything? Whatever... So!” - she said as she slapped her hands together - “You can join or create a team which has at most five members. There are going to be team battles too, where you can fight two on two, three on three or five on five. If you are daring enough then you can fight even two on five. It depends on you if you accept the challenge.”

My eyes became stars upon hearing this so I happily questioned her. “If we are a team then we won’t have to fight each other right? But otherwise, we can crush any other team, right!?”

“I’m not sure if ‘crush’ is the word you are looking for… Everyone is really powerful here you know? But yes, it’s like that. Also, you can still battle one on one too if you think that you can bear to fight so many battles. So which one are you going to compete in?” Hearing her question we looked at each other, and after nodding we said: “Both of them!”

“.... You sure?” - “Yes!” We confirmed her question once again. She sighed loudly and mumbled to herself - ‘another bunch who don’t know their limits.’ - then she talked to us: “Then give me your badges to modify the data on it, and tell me how your team is going to be called. I guess it’s going to be a two-member team, right?”

“Yes.” We answered and handed back our badges to her. After fiddling with it for a while, three new words appeared on it, saying: 1v1 | 2v2 Hollow - Hollow was our team name, while she also added 1v1 and 2v2, which meant the size of our team. I guess she didn’t add 1v1 before because that was the ‘default’. I know that our team name might be lousy, but we wanted to make it into something which had something to say about us. We were quite hollow inside, except when it came to our love.

Since we were done with everything for now, we left the arena and flew towards a random mountain. After landing on it, we quickly made a little house, in a tree. We are like woodpeckers… But I’m a dragon!!! “What is your number?” Hiro asked as he sat down on the side of our bed, and I sat between his legs. He put his chin on my shoulder, and coiled his strong arms around my stomach. I felt really great and safe in his arms. I pulled my blonde hair behind my ears to look down on my badge, I don’t like when my hair is behind my ears, but I had to do it to look at it…

“My number is 20304. And yours?” I told Hiro as I turned my head towards him and gave him a light kiss on his face.

“Mine is 20305. It seems like they aren’t giving it randomly. I’m happy about that. But if we have got such a high number, I can only wonder how many cultivators are going to participate in this championship because there are still many to come.” Hiro said as he snuggled his face and body close to mine.

“Ehm, yes. Though when we registered in the school, they also asked at which stage we are. I guess, they know about that here too, so we are going to be distributed accordingly.”

After a bit of silence, Hiro said: “I’m quite sure that there is going to be a preliminary round where they are going to round up the numbers and clear out the trash…”

“Uhn~💗” I kissed him lightly. He laid down on the bed and pulled me with himself. I was lying on his stomach as he was still holding me in his arms. “*sigh* Whatever I do, or wherever I am, you are my only possession Alice. Stay with me forever. After tasting you once, I wouldn’t be able to live without you.” Hiro said emotionally. “Fufu~ Don’t be stupid. You know that it’s going to be like that.” I answered him as I looked upwards while laying on his stomach. My upturned eyes met with his. Love making was inevitable at this point…

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The next day we woke up refreshed, and ready to cause some havoc. We quickly flew over to the arena. There were five hundred waiting rooms all around the arena and a hundred was placed in a single room. Since we were the 20304th and 20305th we had to go into the 203th waiting room. It wasn’t complicated… But before reaching the room we found someone! Fufufu~ My little toy tiger is here! Pat had the number 20156 on her chest, which meant that she hadn’t come much before us.

She stood with her back facing us. We saw her long silver hair, her sexy body from behind. I sneaked up on her and grabbed onto her tits. She yelped as she turned around, striking with a lot of strength in her arms, but she had the wrong person as her enemy. I restricted her movements with my Dragon Qi, but she also realized who was it. She had a panic stricken face upon seeing me. [You do know that I felt her boobs just like you, right?] Hiro chimed in, but I didn’t care about it. His head was full of thoughts like - Ahh, but Alice’s are so much softer and bigger! How could- So I didn’t have to worry about him feeling her.

“W- What are you doing here!? Go away!? I- I wanted to win this damned championship, yet you had to come here!? Why are you fucking up my plans all the time!? I’m out! I’m leaving!” She shouted at me and to her teammates who were looking at her weirdly, then panicked.

“N- No! Don’t leave! How are we supposed to win if you leave!? We can easily win the team battles at the seventh stage and we even have a good chance against cultivators at the eighth stage if you are here! Why would you leave!?” A guy from his team tried to stop her from leaving with a panicked face. These lousy people wanted to live off of her by creating teams?! It’s better if she leaves...

“Hey~ What are you talking about? We haven’t screwed up any of your plans, you are just imagining things, Pat!” I said to her jokingly, and at this time the same guy looked at me. His eyes opened widely, then he asked. “Who are you two? I’ve never seen you before even though I know those who are talented. How are you related to Pat, and why does she want to leave after seeing you?” He threw his questions towards us, which was quite annoying. I wouldn’t mind it that much if not for him being such a bootlicker. This trait of his was clear from his behavior.

“Yes, they are related to me, and I want to leave because I don’t want to be beaten up, alright? If you want to lose in front of so many people then go out and fight.” Before we could answer, Pat chimed in with a dark face and an annoyed tone.

Pat was at the seventh stage just like us, which was quite surprising. I really want to know how she has got to such a high level in such a short time… Seeing my inquiring eyes, she said as she started walking away. “Come, we can’t talk here.” We still had time before the battles would start so it was no problem to leave. After finding a more silent place she started spilling the beans. Or that was how I would have liked it to happen.

“So? How did you reach the seventh stage in such a short time?” I questioned her. The same sadistic smile I usually have was now on her face. “Eh~ You want to know? But you know I really would like to take part in this championship. Unfortunately, if you participate, then I won’t do so. I can tell you how I’ve reached this stage if you won’t participate in either 1v1, either two against five in the team battles. Can you promise that to me?” She said…

“You are no fun… But crushing five-member teams would be the best! Why don’t you kick out that guy, and another one, and you could go three versus three? In that case, we can have our fun and you can also ‘shine’.” I offered up to her, hoping to get a positive answer. After some thinking, she agreed on my words! I’m so good at persuading~ Or maybe my hands which were indicating some Patting helped her in deciding.

“O- Okay… I’m going to do as you said. He isn’t such a good fighter, and his friend isn’t much better anyway.” - “So? Where did you gain so many pills?” I questioned her. We finished such a dungeon at such a low stage, yet she is here with seventy-three percent of her energy converted. Although we too had seventy-three percent of our energies converted, thanks to our hard work through the last month, but it was still different for her.

“The truth is that the director came back. I’m sure that you know about that. So, I had the luck to meet him in person and he is also a divine beast and a phoenix type at that! He was born as a two-star phoenix, so he is really powerful. Upon meeting, we talked for a bit and since he was expecting good results from me, he gave me a lot of Energy Converting pills. He was able to sense that I’m a Three-star Moon Tiger with a simple look! He is really powerful.” Pat said excitedly her tale and we listened to it.

“So you want to tell me that you have gained about as many pills as us - from completing a whole dungeon, which was at a much higher level - because he fucking expected great results from you in this championship!? Just how screwed up is that? Don’t you ever dare to say that we are the lucky ones!” I said to her. I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry on what she said. We had to fight in that dungeon for such a long time, we had to beat a dreadful boss at the end, yet she simply left, met a powerful person, and received tons of pills, for her two nice red eyes… I’d call this a plot hole if this were to be a novel!?!

“Y- Yes, but you don’t have to be so enraged. But at least now I won’t have to fear, running into you in the arena!” She said as she turned around and left us as she was happily humming. Her little teammate isn’t going to be happy. We can’t let such a good show go by without us seeing it!! We quickly followed after her and listened in on their conversations.

“Sorry, but things have changed. I’m going to participate in three versus three battles so you two will have to leave.” She didn’t hide the truth, which was a good point in my eyes, but not in theirs. Their faces became red, and they were enraged. It’s no wonder…

“What!? And why us!? There are” - before he could finish, Pat interrupted him - “Because you two are the weakest in our team. If you can beat them one on one, then you can stay.” Hearing her say that, he gritted his teeth and left with his friend angrily. They didn’t notice us, but I’m quite sure that he would have found fault in us. Maybe we should have shown ourselves to him!? Pat and her new team left for the receptionist building section to modify their data.

We went into the 203rd waiting room to wait because we were slowly nearing the time of the forthcoming battles. We found a cozy armchair in the big room in a corner and sat down on it. I sat on Hiro’s lap as he embraced me from behind. I coiled my tail around his arm and leaned back on his chest. He was caressing my face and my hair, and I felt really peaceful in his embrace. The time for the opening ceremony soon has come. A guy at the ninth stage who looked to be about thirty came into the waiting room.

“I welcome every partitioner on this championship. For now, go through this door and stand in a circle inside the arena. After the opening ceremony finishes, you will know about everything that’s necessary.” Said the guy in a not too loud voice, but everyone was able to hear it. After hearing his explanation, we started moving towards the thick metal door and entered the arena.

The sunlight was shining on our faces, but even like that, we were able to see those millions of spectators, who came to watch some good battles. [I don’t like such crowds… It feels weird when everyone is looking at us!] Hiro clearly didn’t like this place that much, and I was no different either. But it’s not going to stop us from playing a good one~ At this time a good beautiful woman flew into the arena, followed by two guys in tow. We weren’t able to sense any of their strengths, which meant that they were the directors of the three school, who descended!

One of the males was an elf, while the other one was a ‘beastmen’, but thanks to Pat, we knew that he is a two-star Phoenix. Probably he is the strongest here. The woman was the one to start talking, though she was a human.

“I welcome everyone! This moment has come once again when we can see the most powerful talents among our races. Losing even a single one of those who is so powerful would be a real waste, but this isn’t a place for the weak. Use whatever method you have to win, everything is allowed!”

“I know that most of you know about the rules, but I still have to tell it to those who are new, so you are going to be divided into nine stages, just like your cultivation. You can fight with someone at the higher level if you want to, but you can’t challenge cultivators who are at lower stages than you. But before the challenging part begins, we have to find the top three at every stage! Now please stand in nine lines and join the line at which stage you are!”

As she said that, nine people have appeared with tables in their hands. All of us quickly got into lines and waited for her to continue. “Okay, now that you are done, I can divide you into groups for the preliminaries.” She said, then she quickly counted the people at each stage and declared the number of the groups.

There were six thousand of the cultivators at the seventh stage, but only three thousand of the cultivators at the ninth stage. She divided us into six groups, meaning six hundred people in each group. (AN: Stage > Group) After being done with that, she continued.

“Alright, that’s going to be your groups, I’m sure that all of you know the number of your groups. When the referee declares the number of your group, please come to the stages.” She said as a ten meters tall stone stage came out of the ground, with the help of Earth magic. - “If you fall off the stage, then you have lost, and you will have to leave the stage. This is to clear out the most of you, who aren’t worthy to be here.” - She explained everything. There were one hundred groups, and we were in the group, which had the number of seventy-eights.

This meant that we would participate in the seventy-eighth qualifier round, though such numbers were only for the one on one fighters because those who were battling in teams don't have to participate in these qualifiers. Even if you were to fail in the qualifying rounds, you can still participate in the team battles. Naturally, this didn't bother us because we aren't going to be eliminated by people who can't even hurt as. They are at the same stage as us, so they have absolutely no chance, and we can also use our battle forms, which is only going to make it all the better.

She then piqued the participants’ interests by mentioning the rewards. “We have prepared with a lot of treasures this time as well, so strive on to become the first, because it’s going to come with great benefits. When we are done with the preliminary rounds, we can throw aways these stupid stages, and you can fight with each other to the death if you wish so, to reach the first place. But if the other person surrenders by shouting it, or raising his or her hands, then you have to stop or you are going to be disqualified. There are no more rules. Now let the championship begin!”

As she finished her sentence, the crowd went into an uproar, with a lot of hope to see some good, and bloody battles. When we were about to turn around, we noticed someone familiar from the corners of our eyes. It was Rose, sitting there among the spectators. She was looking at us as she was waving her hands happily. We waved back to her and then left the arena. Among the participants, we have also seen Radcliff and Wilhelm too.

Fu Xiao was also here, and upon seeing us, we saw a lot of enmity appearing in his eyes. He still wasn’t able to take his revenge for us, killing his brother and sister, which probably irritated him even more. Adelina Harcourt was also here. She was the person we saved on Fochorix planet. Radcliff was also looking at an unknown guy wit a lot enmity, so much so that he hasn’t even noticed us. Is he the one who killed his brother for a treasure? Well, thanks to our help, I’m sure that he can take care of him.

We went back to the corner of the arena to look at the forthcoming battles in the qualifiers. We have seen many powerful cultivators and there were also many who simply thought too highly of themselves, and shamed themselves by coming here. After about a few hours of boring waiting, it was finally our round… to play~