"...♪ and while we wait for the rest to gather in the Arena let me say a few more words about our other contenders. Zubalis is one of a few beastmen that visited our empire all the way from Asari..."

As the fox beaskin at the podium continued her speech, I tried to comfort a depressed dwarf, "Don't you worry, I will go easy on you."

"Ha! Like you did with that formida?" snorted Larnok, "Girl, I was there when you crushed an army. If by going easy you mean that I don't need to worry about you turning into a giant..."

"Hey, you there!" a loud voice suddenly interrupted our conversation.

So far only four of us were in the Arena. Me, Larnok one human and... a minotaur. The other three were still on the way. The minotaur was clad in heavy armor and was... very huge. All minotaurs are huge and Elmor is a perfect example of this fact... but this minotaur was a head taller even than him. The fox earlier introduced him as Oda and with each step, he created small tremors. A large battleaxe on his shoulder probably alone weighed half a ton.

He stopped right in front of me and his gaze shifted to the balcony, where Tristan and the others were barely visible, "I don't care if you are from that party with a dragon..." he looked back at me, "but this isn't a place for kids."

Despite mean words of greeting, I was very happy. It seems that my plan to shift all the attention to Tristan was a huge success.

"Actually, she is..." I quickly covered mouth of the dwarf and Larnok was unable to finish. I was getting good at this. With the tendency of rumors about me getting out of hand, it was very important to remain vigilant.

"You know..." but there was still that human who now also decided to join the conversation, "...not so long ago it was her that people called a dragon."

"Hmpf," the minotaur snorted at his words and then pointed at the VIP area I came from, "See that thing over there? Now that IS a dragon. She?" he looked back at me, "Just a child with too much confidence."

Ok, I take back what I said earlier. He starts to get on my nerves...

I am not a child!

This body is fifteen years old, adult by this world standards, and if we also take into account the age from all my previous lives... Ekk!

I am fifteen years old!!

"Don't let her appearance fool you," Larnok removed my hand from his mouth and joined as well, "if we want to have even the slightest chance to pass through the preliminaries... we should all team up against her..."

"Was about to suggest that!" the human quickly agreed.

"How could you!" I looked at the dwarf while playing hurt, but a wide grin never left my face.

"A bunch of cowards," the minotaur spat on the ground and turned around.

As he did so, his face twisted with disgust and when I followed his gaze, saw a beastman approaching us. It was the first time I saw one in person, until now, I knew how they look only from the books.

It would be more appropriate to call him a werebeast, or rather... a werelion. Unlike any race of beast kin, he had almost nothing in common with the humans.

His entire body was covered in a short, sand color fur, and even the 'face' was not an exception. Which, despite his lion-like mane looked more like that of a tiger. A pelt reaching up to the knees at the waist was the only clothes he had and it only strengthened his wild beast image.

"Filthy animal," the minotaur growled and then dropped his massive axe on the ground and leaned on the handle with his body.

The beastman looked at him for a moment and a wide predatory grin appeared on his face, he then shifted his gaze to the rest of our group and stopped on me.

"So it's you..." his voice was deep and with a barely noticeable accent.

"You know me?" I asked surprised, but he only grinned in return.

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't remember ever dealing with a beasman, or someone related to them. Just in case I even looked at his soul, but couldn't recognize him all the same. Must be the rumors.

"I heard people of your race can tell the power of your opponents with a single glance," the human slowly approached him and looked in my direction.

"Yes... she is dangerous," the beastman slowly spoke while looking at me with excitement, "Only Zokai ever gave me the same feeling of danger."

"Zokai?" the human asked, but received no further explanation.

Zokai... I don't know his language, but a similar word was mention in quite a few books... an equivalent of royal guardians from the lands of Asari... even S rank adventurers are said to be not necessary their match.

"Anyway, how about joining our temporary alliance?" the human continued, "You said it yourself that she is dangerous, if we want to beat her..."

"Saho di Mel'ho!" the beastman growled and then grabbed human with his claws by the throat and lifted a few feet above the ground.

The sand around him raised in the air, slightly obscuring the view. Just like every dryad had an inborn ability to use nature magic regardless of their class, it was the same for the beastmen. Only it wasn't a nature magic they were born with.

"The spirits themselves have granted me a worthy opponent and you suggest me to spit them in the face and act like a coward?!" the beastman raised his voice even further.

Sands started to gather and the arm holding the human was slowly replaced by a huge hand made of sand. With more and more sand gathering from all around him, it grew even bigger and the human soon found himself ten meters above the ground. The arm now looked more like a giant snake.

The spirit at the podium glowed slightly and the sand suddenly dissipated into the air.

With nothing holding him, the human fell to the ground but his D rank wasn't just for show and he nimbly landed on his feet. He touched his neck and when saw blood, glared at the beastman with hatred, but did nothing to retaliate.

Inherited abilities or not, that was... a lot of mana for a beastman. I activated my analyze and...

> Name: Zubalis Level: 59 Race: Beastman Gender: Male Age: 52 Class: Shaman Subclass: Skinner, Cook, Alchemist Health: 1930/1930 Mana: 2937/3025 Stamina: 1612/1630

...was sure that his D rank was a joke. Level 59... he already dealt with the second barrier and from the looks of it was aiming for the third. And while he was still no match to me, only ten levels separated him from the guild master at Endorod City, an elf that was half millennium old.

"♪ And it seems that our participants can't wait for the start just as much as we do," the fox at the podium commented in a cheerful voice, "♪ luckily the last participants are already here and we can start shortly..."

With her words, a female elf and another human entered Arena through the entrance. With them, that made seven of us.

*

A barely noticeable smile flashed on the metal when a large axe passed just a few centimeters from my head. As it hit the ground, a long fissure emerged and flames burst from within, but I paid it no mind. The power might be impressive, but the attack was very easy to avoid, and needless to say, it wasn't the only thing that I did.

Dragon Claws reached level 6.

The blood sprayed from the shoulder of my opponent and four claw marks now decorated his armor. The minotaur swayed a bit but quickly recovered and pulled his oversized axe from the ground with his left. While the wound on his shoulder wasn't too deep, he was no longer able to control his right arm.

Still, with a smile on my face, I looked back at him and licked the blood on my fingers... Inherited skills - nothing useful, muscle composition - ineffective... just as I thought, there was nothing to be gained from his DNA.

From his face, I could see that the minotaur still couldn't understand how I could tear through his armor with my 'bare hands'. But just like the rest of bones, the claws on my hands were... very sturdy. Now that I used them in combination with the long-neglected skill 'dragon claws', even metal armor could be cut like a paper.

Phantom beast, metal manipulation, lightning armor... magic. There were many ways I could deal with him, but this wasn't the time. I wanted to beat him using as few skills as possible. I wanted to...

"Aaaahhh!" a scream drew my attention to the side.

A shadow flashed within the sands and the scream suddenly stopped. It was a human, that was supposed attacking me together with a certain dwarf, but a beam of light that quickly followed left no doubt for his fate. For a moment my eyes locked at two red dots in the sandstorm, even with the sand in the way I could see a wide grin on the 'face' of a beast.

He then turned his head left and right, and when saw that everyone else was busy just shrugged and sat on the ground with an obvious intent on watching my battle with the minotaur.

That rascal... not that I am the one to talk. I looked at the minotaur and smiled. While he had no intentions to fight me at the start, it was hard to do so when another party was... persistent.

I faked a yawn, trying to provoke him and it worked like a charm.

"Ooorrraah!" with a warcry from the top of his lungs, the minotaur charged at me once again.

With a horizontal swing of his axe, a wave of destructive energy was released, but I quickly crouched to the ground and it passed harmlessly over my body. The same couldn't be said about another human fighting a distance away from us.

Most of his attention was on the elf in front of him and unlike her, was unable to completely evade the attack. A sandstorm created by a certain beastman wasn't helping at all and soon another scream echoed through the Arena.

A slightly dimmer wave of red energy still continued further and dissipated only when hit the barrier at the edge of Arena.

The human has survived, but the shoulder and most of his left arm were now charred beyond recognition. He wasn't doing that great against the elf even before this, now... now his fate was kind of sealed.

Almost at the same time as our neighbor was hurt by an attack meant for me, my claws reached the leg of minotaur and the blood sprayed once again. With the leg now practically disabled, he was unable to stop the spin of his body and was wide open for the next attack.

Sparks flashed on his pauldron from the contact with my claws and a huge axe suddenly slipped into a distance. I grabbed the minotaur by the neck and lifted him nearly one foot above the ground, both of his arms now dangling uselessly at the sides.

Or at least that was the plan.

"Uhh," I frowned slightly when even on the tip of my toes, was unable to reach his neck.

Phantom claws suddenly materialized and the minotaur found himself in the air. I quickly looked around and turned red when saw a certain beastman trying to suppress his laughter. Shouldn't have tried to mimic him... or rather, should have used phantom claws from the start.

"Aww, you poor little thing," I quickly hid the irritation from my face and with what I thought was my most charming smile, slightly squeezed phantom claws while looking at my prey, "beaten by a 'child', must be... humiliating."

The minotaur grit his teeth and his arms slightly trembled, but was unable to move them more than this.

"I... I surrender." the moment his words left the mouth, he vanished from the sight and I could see him reaper outside the Arena.

A few priests nearby started removing his armor to tend the wounds. Without their assistance, or a strong regeneration he can forget about using his arms for a while.

It would have been faster if I just aimed for a kill, but there was hardly any reason to do that. If anything, thanks to the 'Fireball'... err, I mean thanks to that spirit of knowledge resurrecting people left and right, this tournament was a perfect opportunity to practice my 'going easy' skills.

When the said spirit suddenly fired a beam behind me I quickly leaned to the side and a slightly curved sword passed through space I was just a moment ago.

The speed of the elf was impressive, but what really caught my attention was her ability to shift the direction of an attack even in the middle of a swing. Just as I leaned to the side, her sword was already heading for my neck.

"Aww, so close, yet so far," I smiled while looking at the blade in my fingers.

For someone missing an arm, her previous opponent did admirably by lasting this long, but in the end, lost his life just as I predicted... Not that it matters. Even in this sandstorm, I could see the particles of his body drifting outside the Arena.

I have to say, this 'beam of resurrection' looked more like a finishing move.

The elf gritted her teeth and her body started to convulse when a strong current of electricity reached her through the blade.

Oops.

There goes my plan to win this only with my bare hands... but it couldn't be helped, I simply couldn't resist the temptation. Just look at her, that face... her hair now looked even more hilarious than Phoenix when I learned lightning armor for the first time... I then looked to the side and knew what should be my next move.

"Dammit, girl," grunted Larnok who was now trying to rise on his feet and barely managed to avoid the elf I sent flying in his direction with a kick, "you just don't know how to go easy, do you?"

"This is a completely baseless accusation," I pouted while looking at the dwarf, "to go easy more than this... I would have to simply stand still!"

With the countless cuts on his armor, Larnok wasn't looking too good. His earlier plan flew out of the window when his ally was attacked by a beastman. When I attacked the minotaur, he saw this as a chance... only to find that a few moments of my undivided attention was all he could take.

None of his injuries were too serious though and he was actually in a much better state than that elf. Speaking of which...

"You are... strong..." after rolling a bit on the ground she was now also slowly rising on her feet.

I barely managed to suppress the chuckle when looked at her new hairstyle. The only name I could think for it was... 'an explosion'.

"I was saying this from the start!" the dwarf snorted at her words.

I turned my head to the beastman, but he was still sitting on the ground and showed no signs of acting. I just shrugged and then waited for a dwarf and elf to recover. I could end it here and now, but... where would be the fun in that?! Besides, the elf was hiding something and I was very eager to find out what... why else would that beastman look at her with such interest?

Once she was up, a new sword suddenly appeared in her arm. It was a completely different from the one she left in my care. My gaze immediately shifted to a large gauntlet on her left arm. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly a gauntlet... but I flatly refuse to call that thing a shield. Anyway, I was now certain that somewhere on that arm she was wearing a spatial storage.

The posture of the elf suddenly changed and I could feel a strong fluctuation of mana radiating from her body. She pointed her blade in my direction and...

"Hundred sword style, Are-Boh!"

...nearly thirty swords suddenly appeared in the air and floated slightly behind her. During the match, she has never used anything like this, so it was safe to assume this was her triumph card.

*whistle*

I could tell that almost half of them were made from mithril and it's not that easy to obtain this precious metal. The price is just a minor factor. Quite often you would find that even meager amount you find at the stores is already reserved for some noble.

The skill she used was also quite rare. For one, it was restricted to the blade dancer class, but even among them, only one out of hundred was lucky enough to attain it.

Unlike my metal manipulation, the skill was limited only to the swords, but...

"What the..." the dwarf cursed when suddenly both of his swords slipped from his hands and beheaded him in one swift move.

...even without a touch, the skill allowed to control any sword in the vicinity... even if it was in the hands of an enemy.

Yet another beam fired from the spirit, and Larnok turned into a cloud of glowing powder, which then slowly drifted outside the Arena. Both 'deceased' humans from before were already alive and kicking... well, alive at least. That gloomy expression on their face wasn't exactly joyful.

Will have to ask later how it feels like to be resurrected... hmm, maybe not, at least not the dwarf. To face me on his first match, his luck was really terrible... and now to end like this. Then again, maybe luck had nothing to do with it. Crusader, spellblade, shaman, blade dancer... he was the only one with a 'normal' class.

I looked at the elf and activated my analyze.

> Name: Lucy Mad'hor Escorial Level: 49 Race: Elf Gender: Female Age: 66 Class: Blade Dancer Subclass: Blacksmith, Enchanter Health: 734/1006 Mana: 1468/2151 Stamina: 1315/1422

A noble? While stats wise she was weaker than Zubalis, it was still above what an average D rank adventurer should have.

I quickly glanced at the VIP lounge opposite from the one assigned for our party. A group of people was watching me with a serious expression and among them, I even noticed a man wearing the same armor as the soldiers tending the griffons outside the guild.

I had a feeling that they had something to do with the composition of this match. How they even learned I knew the dwarf? We have never met outside that time in the dungeon. Was this some sort of message? A threat?

The whole match was anything but normal, safe for my dwarf friend most of the opponents were strong enough to compete for the first spot. The usual practice should be to let them fight against some weaklings and allow to meet only at the finals. Definitely not to eliminate the most promising candidates at the preliminaries just like now. Most of the nobles don't even bother to watch these... oh. Was that the reason?

I shifted my gaze to the sword trembling in my hand. The elf was still trying to take control over it, but my stats alone were enough to render that futile. Though I have to admit, without metal manipulation it would be hard to stay on the ground...

I then activated my Catbit 2.0 on the wrist and the blade vanished.

While I still don't have the access to my pocket dimension, that doesn't mean I can't use spatial storage tools like the others.

It would be very rude of me to reject such a fine gift, after all, it was made from mithril.

When I looked at the elf, her expression grew dark and all of sudden I realized that 'angry rabbit' was very fitting name for her party.

The beastman started to rise on his feet as well. A few swords were now struggling in the wall of sand just one meter behind his back, a testament of a failed sneak attack by the elf. Using the weapons her previous opponent dropped was a nice try, but Zubalis had a lot of battle experience under his belt.

I quickly leaned to the left and a few swords missed me just by hairs breath, a shift to the right and I evaded a few more. But when a dozen more attacked me from multiple directions all at once...

*DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING*

...I was forced to block them with my claws.

Normally, even if you fight against hundreds of opponents, at best it could be considered as a fight against four or five. There is simply no way for all to attack all at once, and those that do, only get in the way of one another. But...

*DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* a cloud of sparks surrounded my body as I turned into a whirlwind.

Dragon Claws reached level 7.

...but it's very different when those that attack are small in size and have no need to worry about friendly fire. I wasn't the only one she attacked, but Zubalis haven't even bothered to lift a finger, most of the blades aimed at him were stuck in the sand barrier just like two before.

Though Acceleration.

The world around me suddenly slowed down to a crawl...

*DIINNG*

Yet another sword changed its course from my body and flew to the side... just a moment later it split into six parts never to rise again. Without any change in speed, the claws of my right hand were already heading for a blade that followed...

*DIINNNG*

and just like the one before broke into many pieces.

From the outside perspective, it looked as if I cut them with my claws, but no matter how sharp, dragon claws were not enough to cut through the mithril...

*DIINNG*

Phantom Shift reached level 2.

But with a well timed phantom shift, I could 'erase' the parts of a sword 'inside' my claws.

*DING* *DING* *DING* *DING*

Four more blades were completely destroyed before the elf even realized what's happening. With only a few of them left, I launched forward to attack.

Even more weapons suddenly appeared by her side, but this time most of them were made from steel. The elf then leaped into the air and a slightly bigger sword materialized under her feet. Without a single moment to waste, she soared high into the sky.

I once again turned into a whirlwind and countless pieces of blade started to fly in every direction, this time even without the help of phantom shift. At first, I wanted to pursue her with my wind manipulation but then changed my mind.

Glowing tattoo started to spread over my body and shortly the ground under my feet cracked with a bright glow of lava. A flaming serpent then burst from within and with me on top of its head started to chase after the elf.

More and more swords were sent at me by the elf, but almost all of them missed seemingly without any reason. Just a glimpse of what martial arts taught by the devil can do.

"Ado Sedaa'h!" the beastman we left on the ground suddenly shouted and a large cyclone appeared in our path.

I quickly detonated the serpent and the explosion sent me flying in opposite direction. The explosion was a bit more powerful than I expected and the barrier I summoned to block it was shattered from the impact. But the barrier wasn't the only protection I had. Reinforced with orichalcum particles held in place with metal manipulation, my clothes could rival any armor.

Without a single scratch on my body, I summoned another flaming serpent and stopped at the safe distance away.

Void Cyclone... this was the same spell Aurora used against Phoenix during that fight. Without teleportation, it's practically impossible to avoid it. At least not while still in the air.

I followed the elf with my eyes as she fell while screaming to the ground leaving a trail of blood behind. Her legs were a complete mess, countless cuts and tears answered the question of what would happen if part of your body was exposed to a vacuum.

Not long after, a large cloud of sand rose into the air from the impact, but the lack of action by a certain spirit hinted that she was still alive.

"Hedar'mok!"

An unknown spell started to form a few meters to my left, but with a quick sweep of my phantom tail, I absorbed its mana before it could finish.

The serpent under my feet burst into action and started to descend in a spiral movement.

Just before I reached the beastman, a large dome of sand formed around him...

*BOOOM*

...but the explosion that followed was even more powerful than before. The beastman was sent flying, as for me, even if I was on top of the said serpent when it exploded, a quick use of phantom shift ensured that I am not affected by the blast.

I burst from within the flames and just in a moment was right in front of him. A wall of sand materialized in front of me to block but a large ghostly fist of phantom claws froze it in an instant and countless chunks of ice scattered in every direction from the impact.

*DING* *DING* *DING*

A few swords suddenly attacked me from the side and I looked to the location where the elf was supposed to be. It seems that as long as one is still alive, there is no such thing as 'unable to fight'.

Once again the world around me slowed down to a crawl and my hand reached for the last sword heading my way...

Limit Break!

"Guhh!" the beastman spat blood from his mouth and looked with wide eyes at the hole in his stomach.

A similar hole could be seen on his newly created sand barrier just in front of him.

He dropped on the knee and his gaze shifted to the edge of Arena. A small deformed ball of metal was all that was left from the sword I sent at him with a flip. Then again, considering that it did so at the speed of sound, not that surprising.

I looked at my finger and could feel that the severed tendons were already back in place.

Now that's what I call a flip of death!

Still on the knee, Zubalis touched the ground with both of his hands and green flames ignited over his body, huge magic circles covered the Arena almost in an instant and...

"Sorhaad!" the flames burst from the ground all over the Arena and all I could see was - red.

A loud scream echoed from afar but vanished just in a moment. While I was unable to see anything further than a hands length, I was sure that a certain elf was now dead. There wasn't a single spot in the whole Arena not touched by the flames.

"Impressive," I said in admiration.

This was wildfire, quite a familiar spell... and at the same so different. I wasn't aware it could reach such power, even more surprising was that it could be cast just in one second.

The tongues of flames around me started to move in circles and I swallowed them with my body. Even the ground that was glowing red from the heat, quickly turned to the ice and a hissing sound was followed by a fog like steam.

More and more flames were absorbed by my clothes and body, and shortly, large part of Arena was revealed. The ice continued to spread even further with my every new step. When I saw Zubalis, I turned red almost immediately. Judging from the light burns on his body his heat resistance was very high... his 'clothes' on another hand were definitely at zero.

Huge... er, I mean, that shameless beast!

That didn't stop my gaze from lingering on his body for a bit longer.

"Saho di Mel'ho." Zublais cursed when saw that I was completely unharmed and then fainted from the lack of mana.

His body vanished and then appeared outside the Arena where priests started to tend to his wounds.

"So, umm... did I win or what?" I looked at the fox at the podium, who just stood there frozen with her mouth wide open.

"♪ Wh... what a wonderful battle!" with my words the fox immediately recovered, "The winner is Melissa from Red Beast! Just as expected from one rumored to be a dragon..."

Dammit.

*

"So," Phoenix greeted me when I returned, "was he to your standards?"

"Hmm, not bad... but I saw better," I answered with a grin.

"I am sure you did..." his smiled crumbled a little.

"Oh, cmon, it wasn't me who stripped him. Should I have asked if that Harbinger was to your standards?"

"Forget I asked."

"I am sorry for interrupting, but..." Michael approached me from the side, "how the hell was that 'going easy'?!"

"Hey, you were asking for impossible," was all I said.