"Gao! Gao! Gao!" Garadia yelled at the top of her lungs, though she wasn't intimidating in the slightest.

She opened her mouth widely and then closed her eyes as she stood atop of Infa's head. The next moment a beam of jade-green energy escaped her throat and bore down onto the mountain her fellow dragon had summoned.

The torrent of pure Radiance pierced Infa's mountain with ease then slammed harshly against the wall of the stadium and it actually threatened to shatter Vice-headmaster Milos' spatial enchantments that were busy protecting the audience.

While holding Kyuubi, the old man's eyes shot open. He moved one of his hands in a strange manner as runes all up the sleeves of his robe appeared and began shining brilliantly. "Repair!"

He exhaled in relief when he saw the damage on his magical barrier receding. "That was a surprise."

The archon turned to Lone and asked, "Is that dragon really an H-ranker? I've never heard of a dragon having so much raw power within them. That wasn't even a skill but an innate ability!"

Lone wore a proud smirk on his face. "She's my daughter, after all."

"Well, Young Mageling, if she can't control the power of that breath of hers then I fear she may kill a good portion of the attackers. Even with all of my experience, I doubt I can save dozens and dozens of people with my space magic all at once," Vice-headmaster Milos admitted.

Lone shrugged. "Garadia's a smart girl. She won't kill anyone, besides, she looks tired. I doubt she can fire off another one of those beams without resting first."

"I hope that's true, Young Mageling," the archon said as he returned his attention to the dragon duo.

"Woah! That was freakin' amazing!" what would appear to be a Red Dragonkin said in awe at Garadia's Radiance beam.

This dragonkin was actually the Red Dragon, Divine Eruption's more excitable daughter. Her name was Ash'freeda. She was named by her mother who was known for her fascination with elves. It had always annoyed her that she had a weak elven name instead of a powerful draconic one.

Apparently the 'Ash' part was added on at the insistence of her father, but she personally hated her name. She preferred to go by Cinder whenever she wasn't in the presence of her family. It was a simple name but it was full of her destructive intent.

'I bet even Dad couldn't take that kind of attack unphased! She's only an H-ranker! That's so cool!' One of the many things that got Cinder worked up was raw displays of power. It really got her blood boiling.

Unconsciously she cancelled the skill that had taken her hundreds of years to master, Descendant Form. Within seconds fiery-red scales had covered her entire body and she grew to be the size of a small building.

Screams of shock and terror consumed the challengers and crowd alike at the appearance of a third dragon, thankfully, however, Muradon was there to step in and explain things.

"My, my, what a situation we have here! It would appear that Ash'freeda, daughter of Divine Eruption, has also entered the challenge against the two infant dragons!" Muradon proclaimed. "I have just received a message from Divine Eruption himself who has confirmed that Ash'freeda is still only an S-ranker, so she meets the requirements to participate!"

Many anxious warriors and mages were getting ready to stealthily attack the Red Dragon since she seemed to be focusing on the hole that had pierced the mountain which separated her from Infa and Garadia, but upon hearing the all-mage's words they immediately gave up.

No one wanted to enrage a Divine, let alone a Divine dragon.

"All of you, scram!" Cinder said harshly. "I want to fight them on my own, you'll all only get in my way!"

Most challengers seemed to accept the dragon's rude demand. They weren't her match nor her father's match, so what was the point of fighting her over this? All they could do was hope that she win so they'd still earn a king's ransom.

A particular group of challengers, however, were not so accepting of Cinder's words. As the other people were leaving the arena, a group of men and woman adorned in robes from the Church of The Primals stepped forwards.

"We refuse," their leader said. "That monster is an unholy creature born of evil and it must be purged from this world of ours."

"Oh? You're going against my words?" While a more understanding dragon than most, she was still a dragon. Arrogance was in Cinder's blood. "The Wanderers are restricted from killing you, I'm not. Fuck off before I make snacks out of you."

"Do not think yourself to be the only one with a Divine backer here, Monster," the group's leader snorted. "We are being kind to you right now. Leave and let us kill that Radiance abomination, otherwise, do not blame us for leaning on the power that we represent."

Cinder turned her nose up at the man's words. "As if your puny mortal could stand up to my dad. Get lost before I burn you all to a crisp. I won't tell you a third time."

Up in her father's booth, the Divine snorted with pride. "That is mine daughter! I am glad she knows it is not cowardly to rely on one's personal background, but is, in fact, something to taketh pride in!"

"She still doesn't talk like a dragon. Sure, not using the watered-down old speak like you old fogies is fine, but can't she, I dunno, act with a little bit of dignity in public?" her sister noted.

The Red Dragon and the group of religious folks were at each other's throats but not a moment later a handful of words stopped them in their tracks.

The tall mountain that Infa had created receded back into the earth only to reveal Lone who was standing on the Rock Dragon's back while cuddling an exhausted Garadia.

"Sorry about this, everyone. Garadia's never used that power of hers before, so she got a bit tired, and Infa here doesn't have any attack-based skills. I've already given the money for two defeated wanderers to those responsible for handing it out. These little guys forfeit. Thanks for participating though," Lone said as he smiled charmingly and ran his fingers through Garadia's feathers, making her purr like a kitten.

"What? No! I demand a fight! You won't stand in my way, puny mortal!" Cindy shouted as she let her innate Red Dragon blood get to her head.

She immediately snapped her jaw open and began firing off a Fire Breath.

At the same time, the leader of the members of the Church of the Primals couldn't let this stand either. He began chanting a powerful spell mentally as he yelled, "I shan't allow that abomination to continue breathing the same air as me!"

Lone frowned deeply. "Ascending Aura."

All of the members of the church broke out into a violent sweat as they felt the world weighing down on them until they were forced to submit and smash their knees into the ground making them bow towards Lone.

As for Cinder, well, Lone had centred most of the aura directed at her onto that big dragon head of hers, resulting in it snapping shut and slamming into the dirt below as if it had been hit by a powerful gravity magic spell.

Cinder was so surprised that she forgot to cancel her breath. As a result, an explosion went off in her mouth. "By twunge..." she mumbled through shattered teeth.

"I have forfeited on my child and my friend's behalf. I would appreciate it if you could respect that. I am more than willing to pay for two losses from The Wanderers, so do me a favour, yeah? You, curb your speciesism," Lone coldly ordered as he stared at the prostrating leader of the church's people, "and you, curb your fuckin' enthusiasm. They're just babies but you expect them to fight an S-ranked dragon like yourself? I would have thought that being the child of a Divine would have taught you some common sense."

Lone looked up to the largest Divine booth and said, "Master Erion, I trust there aren't any issues with me giving up on Garadia and Infa's behalf, correct?"

"Indeed," the soft voice of Erion's floated through the arena, reaching all ears, "it's within the rules. You will have to pay over 5,000 ruby-gold coins to the participants, though I doubt that phases you, now does it, Disciple Lone?"

"Not even slightly," Lone replied with a wide grin. "Like I said, I've already paid it."

Inside Divine Oracle's suite which appeared to be an actual church, a woman more beautiful than words could aptly describe sat upon a golden throne as she watched what was going on inside the arena.

"I see," she whispered. "An Ascending, is it? This is most troubling... I must let both that fool Sigmund and her holy majesty, Archpope Mariel know of this. This... This complicates things regarding the Primals he has robbed the church of..."

"How intriguing. Nevereth did I assume that I would liveth to see the next Ascending's arrival," Divine Eruption said as he snorted. "To thinketh that he hath hurt mine daughter... I must repay this insult in kind, Ascending or not."

"You're dumb," his other daughter said from the booth's floor. "He was protecting his kid. You and you're stupid pride..."

"Did you see that, Middle Brother?" the youngest of the three, Divine Weeping, asked.

Nodding, the man turned to the tallest of them and questioned, "Eldest Brother, you met an Ascending once, did you not? I wonder how this one compares."

Divine Rend stroked his jawline. "... How did she split her soul so perfectly? Splitting it is one thing, but doing so while not immediately exploding in a violent storm of energy is beyond belief... Ah, my apologies. Did you ask me something, Middle Brother?"

"You're still interested in that girl? It doesn't matter anymore. I'll soon find out during the next match how powerful he is," Divine Spirit - the middle brother - replied.

"That skill..." Vice-headmaster Merkel wore a frown. "What kind of skill was that? I felt no Mana Points, no Stamina Points, no Divine Energy or any World Force being used to activate it but it was clearly an active skill, not a passive skill... Perhaps it was a special kind of unique skill?"

Headmaster Erion donned an amused smile. "I'm far more interested in little Garadia than I am in my disciple. Can you really not tell what kind of skill it was that he used to force that Red Dragon and those zealots into submission?"

"Zealots?" Vice-headmaster Merkel's eyes turned sharp. "It would be wise of you to not besmirch members of the church in front of a former archbishop, Erion."

"I will do so until they stop acting like zealots, Vice-headmaster Merkel," Erion said in a teasing tone. Clearly, he held very little respect for the Church of the Primals.

"How interesting," Divine Thread mumbled as it looked down at Lone who was now preparing for his match.

"I knew he was special just from being a 9-traited beastkin, but this is beyond even my expectations. I wonder why the threads of destiny didn't reveal the birth of an Ascending to me? How peculiar... This is the first time I've failed to predict the uprising of an Ascending... I wonder, Lone, how will you leave your mark on Altros?" the Timbus thought out loud.

In the stands a man wearing a long black hooded robe which covered his face grumbled under his breath, startling the people sitting next to him. 'An Ascending? This could complicate things greatly... Why do I feel like there's more to him than just him being an Ascending, though? Fuck. Those idiots back at the foundation never mentioned this... Why'd they send me anyway? Sure, my Divinity is good for infiltration, but it's kind of pointless here...'

He grunted loudly and called over a serving girl. He handed her 5 copper coins and began munching on the smoked sausage he'd purchased from her. 'Still, the food here's better than it is in Leytograndia, that's for sure.'

"Hahaha serves those religious cocksuckers right!" Sarah laughed as she slapped her chair's armrest over and over again.

Gilbert furrowed his brows. "I don't recall Lone ever having such a peculiar aura-like skill before. 'Ascending Aura', did he say?"

"Ya don't know about Ascendings, Gil?" Sarah asked after wiping away the tears she'd shed from laughing too hard.

"No? The term doesn't ring a bell. Should I know about them? Considering Lone is involved I feel like I might be better off not knowing..." Gilbert groaned. "... But tell me anyway, please, Grand Guildmaster."

"Hahaha, you really treat the arrogant little shit like a son, huh?" Sarah teased. "Basically, they're world-changers. Y'know the system that puts our power into numbers and helps us manifest abilities through skills? Yeah, that fuck'r was created by an Ascending. The world trees? Planted by an Ascending. Monsters? Spawned by an Ascending. The ability to summon heroes from other worlds? Granted to us by an Ascending, though that one's a bit muddy now what with every country having its own version of the ritual."

Gilbert held his forehead in his hand and sighed. "Lovely. That's another thing for me to worry about regarding him..."

Sarah shrugged. "Ya asked, I answered. Anyhoo, his fight's about to start. I've been lookin' forward to this all fuckin' week!"