Day of the Competition

“How shameful!” exclaimed Sunaji. She was pacing back and forth before Tatsuya as he was nursing his eye with an ice pack.

After what had happened in the courtyard, Aika had brought Tatsuya to Ingrid to heal his injury, despite his protests. When they came back out, they’ve received word that the other Dragonborns had already left. Tatsuya and Aika then met up with everyone else in the main hall when they suddenly overwhelmed him with questions after noticing his injury. Aika explained everything and everyone was appalled by what they heard.

“Who do they think they are?” snarled Manami. “They really think that they can take on Tatsu-chin? Are they for real? Perhaps they’ve forgotten that Tatsu-chin was the one to take down Aris, the Yellow Terror!” He was fuming and foaming at the mouth, his anger at Tatsuya’s mistreatment by the other Dragonborns clear for all to see.

“Ta-kun, what are you planning to do?” asked Daiki in a calm voice.

“I already gave him my word,” answered Tatsuya. “I won’t let him have the satisfaction of calling me a coward and a dog. And he’ll pay for making fun of my promise too.”

“You can do it!” urged Manami. He pumped his fist into the air and announced for everyone to hear, “You beat the Yellow Terror and saved the human realm from total destruction. Beat those bastards and show them who’s boss!”

Everyone except for Sunaji and Aika cheered and gave their own affirmations. Aika had her eyes settled on Tatsuya the entire time and hadn’t said a single word. She didn’t know what to do in this situation and was torn on whether or not she should support her Darling in this venture too.

By now, Sunaji had stopped pacing and turned to Tatsuya with her hands on her hips. “First of all,” she said, silencing the room, “this wouldn’t have happened in the first place if you’ve just kept your mouth shut!” Her scathing words stung Tatsuya a bit, causing his body to shiver. However, within each and every word was also the feeling of concern. Sunaji was very worried and afraid for Tatsuya’s sake, but the only way she could express this to him was through her anger.

Everyone now turned to Sunaji, astonished with her rebuke of Tatsuya’s behavior. Sunaji didn’t care about the attention and continued with her own thoughts. “The one responsible for this mess is you!” she said, pointing a finger at him. “If you hadn’t said anything in the first place, then he wouldn’t have called you a coward and a dog and this entire mess wouldn’t have needed to happen!”

“Sunaji,” came Shurai, tugging at the Python princess’ arm, “what’s done is done. He can’t back out now. The only thing we can do is support him.”

Sunaji tore her arm away and ignored the Druk princess’ words. “What wrong with being the Dragonborn anyway?” she asked harshly. “Even if you don’t want to do it, you didn’t have to pull out like that! It was because of you showing weakness that he called you a coward!”

“You think I don’t know that?!” yelled back Tatsuya furiously. Tears began to collect in the corner of his eyes. “I was just too excited to hold it in,” he explained in a softer tone. His voice lost the intense anger of the first statement, but still carried a lot of weight. “I saw an out and I took it. What’s wrong with that?”

Sunaji couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Owatatsumi Tatsuya, the Dragonborn, the one who she had been living with for a while now and the man she had fallen in love with—was this who he really was? She couldn’t care less about his desire to not be the Dragonborn, but choosing the easy way out? The Tatsuya she knew would keep on fighting no matter how hard it gets. He is a man who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, and he won’t stop until he gets it. He is a man of strength and courage. But now, he was like a stranger to her. Is it really possible that he will take an out whenever it is presented to him? What happened to the man who won’t give up no matter how much the odds are stacked against him? It’s one thing to be cunning and wise, but it's an entirely different thing to be a fool and a quitter. And right now, Tatsuya was being the fool; he was quitting before exhausting all of his options. ‘Is this really Owatatsumi Tatsuya?’ she asked herself.

“What’s so wrong with choosing what I want to do?” came Tatsuya. “I didn’t want to be this in the first place. I was only forced into this role after all. But the idea of letting fate decide for me is bullshit. I’d rather take control of my own destiny.”

Those words felt like a very nasty shock to Sunaji. Her hands were clenched into fists and trembled at her sides. “How can you talk about taking control of your own destiny when you’ve already given up?” she asked him in a frustrated voice. And then she quickly ran out of the main hall.

Tatsuya felt like he had been punched in the stomach. The impact those words had on him was too great for him to ignore. But was it all true? Had he really given up without trying? His mind became a jumbled mess and he let out a frustrated roar that echoed through the hall.

Standing close to the wall with her back now to him, Arashi wore a very glum expression. It wasn’t because she was feeling down about the whole thing or anything like that, but because she empathized with Tatsuya’s feelings and understood them. The feeling of wanting to be free, to have the power to decide for yourself, Arashi understood that feeling very well. She knew exactly what he was going through and his thought process. In fact, she believed that she would’ve done the same thing if she was in his shoes. But Sunaji’s words also struck a chord in her. Despite wanting to run away and believing that you have truly freed yourself, you realize that you’re not really free and was just running away this entire time. Those words stayed with her and she couldn’t help but question her own ambitions through this new perspective. But this was a problem for another time.

Tatsuya stood up with his face facing the ground and began to solemnly walk in the direction of his room. As he did, he passed by Arashi. Arashi had wanted to reach out to him and comfort him, believing that perhaps the words of a childhood friend could help console him and her experiences could offer for some good advice, but kept her hand from going any further. She watched him walk further and further away as her hand hovered in the air in front of her.

Once he disappeared from view, Arashi pulled her hands to her side and her body trembled. A wave of fury washed over her and she immediately took off for where Sunaji was. Her sudden action took the others by surprise and they exchanged worried glances before deciding to go after her.

Sunaji was sitting atop a low dry-stone wall and stewing. Her mind was locked in a struggle over whether or not she did the right thing. It pained her and she felt like screaming. But, being the stubborn person she is as a Python, she couldn’t easily disown her words and stood by them no matter how painful the internal struggle had become. As she was consoling herself with self-affirming words in thought, a giant gust of wind knocked her off the wall and almost blew her away. She looked up from where she fell and found Arashi looking at her with tearful eyes full of anger.

“What do you want?” asked Sunaji rudely.

“You have no right to judge him,” said Arashi in a dark tone. “You don’t understand the pain of wanting freedom. You don’t know how constricting it is to live by a standard and be expected to fill that role without a choice. So don’t talk like you know what you’re talking about!”

“Freedom? Hah! What brabble are you going on about now?” said Sunaji dismissively. “His words were none other than those of a coxcomb! Freedom is the least of his worries! If he wants freedom from his fate so bad, then why don’t he do it? He’s not doing a single thing! He’s given up and running away!”

“He’s not!” argued Arashi passionately. “He’s trying his best to prove that he’s not someone’s puppet!”

“All he’s doing is proving that he’s a coward! It doesn’t matter if he still wins, he will remain a coward for retreating without a fight!” shot back Sunaji.

By now, everyone else had arrived in the courtyard and was watching the whole thing. They couldn’t bring themselves to protest on either of their behalf and remained silent.

Arashi’s face darkened and she summoned a giant swirling ball of wind to her fist. It encased her fist and continued to grow until it reached the size of a basketball and she flung it straight at the Python princess. Sunaji stomped her foot and the ground in front of her rose up into the air like an obelisk and shielded her from the blast. The resulting impact forced everyone to shield themselves with their arms as gusts of wind and dust flew through the air.

The two princesses engaged in combat and were ready to exchange the next blow when Aika suddenly appeared between them and summoned a huge swirling tornado of fire around herself, forcing Arashi and Sunaji back to avoid danger. She then dispersed it and looked at each of them with furious eyes. She had had enough of this quarrel and she didn’t like it that it was escalating and on the verge of getting out of hand either. Moreover, the idea of having a fight like this in her own home was something she couldn’t stand to have.

“You idiots!” she yelled at the both of them. “Before thinking about killing each other, you should first think about where you are! This behavior is unacceptable!” Both Arashi and Sunaji looked away with expressions consistent with little children being scolded by their mother. “But more importantly, this entire argument is stupid! Instead of fighting to see who’s wrong and who’s right, we should be supporting Darling instead. This is his fight, not yours!”

Sunaji got up and brushed her hands free of dust. “You’re right,” she simply agreed. She then looked at Arashi and, with a stubborn frown, said, “But that doesn’t mean that I’m rescinding my words. What he’s fighting for is not freedom. He’s just running away.”

Arashi heard those words and her body shook. “I know,” she admitted quietly to herself.

Tatsuya sat on the bed in his room. He was busy lost in thought and trying to sort his feelings when Sunaji’s words echoed in his mind: “How can you talk about taking control of your own destiny when you’ve already given up?” It made him question himself and he hated the feeling of anxiety that came with it. He let out a frustrated groan and scratched his head.

“I’ve never been in a room this large in a long time,” said a voice following a whistle.

Tatsuya immediately looked up and was at first taken aback by the sudden appearance of a young boy clad in lederhosen. But he quickly realized who the person was and calmed down. “What are you doing here?’ he asked Yong.

Yong turned to him with a big smile and said, “Happy to see me?”

“Listen, I don’t really have time to play around,” said Tatsuya.

“You have to get ready for that big fight, right?” said Yong.

Tatsuya was surprised that the Celestial Dragon knew about that. “How did you know?” he asked.

“There’s nothing that I don’t know,” answered Yong. He then turned his face back a bit and added in a quiet voice, “Or read.”

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing,” dismissed the Celestial Dragon with a laugh. “Anyway, the fight is one thing, but I’m here for another. Tell me, have you figured it out yet?”

“If you’re asking about the song, I haven’t,” answered Tatsuya honestly. “Like I said, I don’t really have time for this.”

Yong pouted his lips and threw his hands behind his head like a rejected kid. “Man, what’s eating you? You’re turning out to be no fun.”

Tatsuya was now beginning to feel a little frustrated after hearing those words. “Like I said,” he repeated, this time emphasizing each and every one of his words.

“Okay then, story time!” announced Yong cheerfully.

“Hey, didn’t you hear a single thing I said?!” yelled Tatsuya in frustration.

“First, let’s begin with a question,” continued the Celestial Dragon. “Is giving up the same thing as surrendering yourself to fate?”

“What are you talking about now?” asked Tatsuya with a raised eyebrow.

“Answer the question, boy!” announced Yong dramatically, jumping up into the air and landing a hard smack on Tatsuya’s head.

“M-Maybe?” answered Tatsuya quickly. He rubbed his head and asked, “Geez, what the hell was that smack for?”

“I’ve seen it done before in anime and I wanted to try it out myself,” said Yong with a shameless smile. “Now, you answered with ‘maybe’. Would you please elaborate?”

“I mean, giving up is basically surrendering yourself without even trying,” said Tatsuya. “So in a sense, you’re resigning yourself to your fate.”

“And what if that fate is unclear? Could it still be counted as surrendering to fate if the concept of fate, whatever that may be, is not defined?” asked Yong.

“Well, isn’t fate a concept in of itself?” asked Tatsuya.

“Say that you’re right,” began Yong, pacing back and forth in front of Tatsuya, “then what’s the difference between a good fate and a bad fate?”

“A good fate is something when the outcome is good and a bad fate is the opposite,” answered Tatsuya.

“So the difference in that lies in the experience of the outcome,” concluded Yong. “However, both are outcomes nonetheless, despite being either good or bad. Which means that fate is simply the outcome. We can agree, then, in the broadest sense that fate, whether good or bad, is the same thing. Therefore, calling a fate good or bad is not inherent of the concept of fate itself, but rather in the experience of the outcome. You can also say that one’s good fate can be viewed by another as a bad fate and vice versa. It is a subjective experience.”

Tatsuya wasn’t at all prepared to have his mind even more confused and jumbled by this conversation with the Celestial Dragon. It reminded very much of the first time they met. The Celestial Dragon was just as confusing then as he was now. “What are you trying to get at?” he grumbled in frustration.

Yong turned to him and stared with piercing eyes. His expression was serious and devoid of his usual playfulness. “Why are you running away?” he asked darkly.

Tatsuya was taken aback by the Celestial Dragon’s sudden change in disposition. The darkness with which he spoke scared him. “I-I-I…,” was all Tatsuya could stutter in answer.

“Once upon a time, there once lived a man named Wu Gang,” said Yong, changing the topic and beginning his story. His tone was a bit more fuller and brighter than before but still shrouded in darkness. “Wu Gang had only one goal in life—to become an immortal. And so, he began his quest and was initially very diligent in his training. However, he was a man who possessed no conviction. And so, he gradually began to lose interest in his trainings and ultimately abandoned them altogether. His goal of attaining immortality was well within his grasp had he continued his training, but he quickly gave in to negligence and unashamedly threw his dream away. The big guy up in heaven, the Jade Emperor, who was at first impressed at Wu Gang’s determination and had rooted for his success, quickly became furious with the man’s now slothful nature and his lack of conviction to begin with. The King of Heaven was appalled that such a man existed, who had disgraced the very meaning of becoming an immortal and the pathways to achieving it. And so, to punish the man for his transgressions, the Jade Emperor appeared before Wu Gang with a deal. He took Wu Gang to the moon and said that if the man could chop down a cherry tree, the King of Heaven would gift the human man with immortality. Wu Gang accepted the condition and chopped at the tree. This way was better than meditation and learning alchemy anyway, at least that was what Wu Gang thought. But as he hacked away at the tree, he found that the tree would heal itself after each strike. Wu Gang’s punishment was to eternally chop away at the self-healing tree in a futile attempt to gain immortality easily.”

Out of all the myths and legends that Tatsuya had heard as bedtime stories from his father, he had never once heard of this particular story at all. However, he understood the story well and it made him tremble as he listened to the god’s words. A feeling worse than remorse gnawed at him throughout the entire story.

“W-What does this have to do with me?” asked Tatsuya.

“If there is one fate worse than death,” began the Celestial Dragon with a stone-face, “it is despair. Death is quick and once you close your eyes and enter the void, you cease to exist and your feelings and everything else vanish to nothingness. It is peaceful and without pain…most of the time. But despair, you can never hope to escape it while alive. It feeds on your emotions and turn you into a monster. No other extreme emotion, whether anger or sadness, can match it. Death may be the end of your life, but despair will be the end of your soul.” He turned to Tatsuya and his face softened. “And the path to despair, there is only one: running away.”

“I told you that I’m not running away! I’ve never wanted to be this in the first place so why does it count as running away?!” yelled Tatsuya.

“Whether or not you wanted to become the hero is insignificant,” came Yong harshly. “The fact of the matter lies in whether or not you choose to become it. Want and choose are two completely different things.” He then began to circle around Tatsuya like a little child. His hands were clasped behind his back and his eyes were on his feet as he lifted his feet in a march-like manner. “You gave the realm your promise. I am not here to discuss you wanting to become this or become that. I am here to tell you that you’re not choosing for yourself. You are not fighting against fate as you think you are. You are running away. And I couldn’t care less if you decided to run away from yourself or your enemies, but you’re running away from the promise. And I’ll tell you the truth, I hate a guy who can’t uphold his end of the deal. You see, the reason why I told you that story wasn’t about fate or anything like that, but about the importance of keeping a promise. Promises are the sources of the bonds between people. If that bond is severed, your life will become a living hell until you find a way to mend it back. But if you choose to give in to that despair and fail to mend it, then your life is forever gone.”

“This is my stance against fate,” protested Tatsuya in a quiet voice.

“You’re resigning yourself to fate,” replied Yong loudly. “We have established before that fate is nothing but an outcome. And from our first discussion, we talked about fate and whether or not it is set in stone. You told me that you wanted to take control of your fate. At first, I thought you were a complete fool but I was intrigued by your boldness and decided to gamble on your fight against fate. But now, you’re not taking control of fate. If you really did take control of it, then you find some other way to circumvent this particular outcome from happening using any means necessary. But now that you’ve run away, you’re basically saying that you’re surrendering. You’re telling the entire universe that you’ve given up in fighting against it. Running away is simply fate’s way in tempting you to surrender.”

“But running away is still a choice. And it’s my choice,” argued Tatsuya.

“You’re right,” said Yong, walking up in front of him. He sighed and said, “You can choose however you want to face this. But before I go, mind if I let you in on a secret?”

“What?” asked Tatsuya.

“A fool dies by his own hand. But a wise man dies by the hands of fate,” sang the Celestial Dragon. And then he vanished into nothingness.

Tatsuya stood very still. The words the Celestial Dragon had spoken a few seconds rang in his ears like an unforgettable song. It confused him and refuses to be understood, yet it also intrigued him and somehow made him feel more confident. But he didn’t understand the reason behind this feeling at all. Was he supposed to feel like this? He went over the words again and again and the confidence quickly turned to frustration. ‘Is he saying that I’m a fool for defying fate?’ he asked himself with furrowed brows. ‘Then what’s the whole point of the story?’ he wondered. All of these questions were beginning to hurt his head and he let out a stressful roar that reverberated within his room.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I just have to beat that guy and make him pay for calling me a coward and a dog.”

The day arrived. Tatsuya only had one day to train, but that was enough. He was more or less ready to take on Shen head on. In fact, he was very confident in his abilities that the only thing he worked on was perfecting the final technique that Senshi had taught him two days ago. Now, he was able to quickly execute the move in a few short seconds and unleash an improved and powerful energy blast from his hands that can raze down an area five feet in diameter.

As for the setting of the battle, a messenger had arrived yesterday on Shen’s behalf to tell them that the battle will be held in the very same venue as the tournament during the last day of the Three Lords Festival: the Tatzelwurm Arena. Firstly, the arena is located in Jaculus City, which is a neutral area, the perfect spot for a fair and objective battle to take place. Secondly, the arena is currently the only venue big enough to handle a fight of their magnitude. Though there were a few other capable locations, even some among the wild landscape of the dragon realm, only the Tatzelwurm Arena was closest to their current location. And so, that morning, Tatsuya and his group left the Pyroignis Empire for the dragon realm metropolis.

News of the fight quickly spread among the upper class of the Pyroignis Empire and eventually that of the entire dragon realm. They scrambled to reserve seats to witness the spectacle and many schemes were employed to do it: bribery, arranged-marriages, office resignations, promotions. This was history in the making and everyone wanted to see it with their own eyes.

Tatsuya arrived at the metropolis and he was dropped off at the street corner just a block away from the arena. His heart began to flutter a bit once he realized that the battleground was only around the corner. It was the same feeling one gets when standing in line to ride the latest rollercoaster that had just been opened at the amusement park. He felt anxious and his breathing became a little more rapid than usual, but he didn’t dislike this feeling at all. In fact, it only pumped him up even more.

“It’s almost time,” said Mr. Urushihara. He was standing right next to Tatsuya with a hand on his back for moral support.

Tatsuya simply nodded in reply. That’s when a very familiar feeling churned in his stomach. He quickly grabbed his stomach and bended forward. Right then and there, he let out a quick spat of this morning’s breakfast onto the ground.

“Whoa there! Are you alright?” asked Mr. Urushihara, rubbing Tatsuya’s back.

“I’m…fine…,” he groaned in reply. “I just need…a few minutes…to catch my breath.” Yup, this was exactly the same feeling as waiting to get on the latest rollercoaster at the amusement park. Tatsuya righted himself and began to walk off. He came to a corner and turned. He walked into an alleyway and stood with his back against the wall. ‘The fight must be a good one if I’m already spilling my guts before the actual event,’ he said to himself with a disdainful laugh. He closed his eyes and took in a few deep, controlled breaths. Once he felt like he was back to normal, he stepped out of the alleyway.

Suddenly, a small figure crashed into him and he fell down on his butt. The fall hurt but luckily nothing was broken. He rubbed his head and opened his eyes. The figure that had crashed into him was a young dragon-boy dressed in brown rags. He had messy brown hair, dirty talon-like fingernails, and a long brown tail. Bone-like spikes protruded from the boy’s elbows like blades. Tatsuya felt like he had met the boy before but couldn’t remember.

“Are you alright?” he asked the boy.

The boy rubbed his own head and opened his eyes. Tatsuya was a little taken aback by his slit pupils, a feature he had not noticed before during their initial encounter. But it was natural for dragons to possess this feature. The only reason why the dragons that he knew didn’t have slit pupils were because they transformed themselves to appear as such. But upon coming to the dragon realm and seeing how a majority of the dragon population prefer to appear in their mortal form, he had gotten mostly used to the differences between humans and dragons, though he still couldn’t contain his surprise at seeing these features closely with his own eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” cried the boy, jumping off of Tatsuya and lowering his head in apology.

“It’s fine,” reassured Tatsuya. “How about you?”

“I’m fine,” said the boy. “I apologize for not paying attention to my surroundings.”

“At least nobody was hurt,” replied Tatsuya with a kind smile.

The boy looked up at Tatsuya and his face brightened. “It’s you!” he said.

“Huh? Have we met before?” Tatsuya had a feeling that this was true but he couldn’t remember.

“You helped me that day when I was chased by those two merchants!” recounted the boy. “Remember, Big Bro?”

The boy’s words quickly brought to mind that little scuffle on the day he had arrived in the dragon realm. And then he remembered. “I remember now!” cried Tatsuya. “How’ve you been?” he asked the boy.

“I’ve been well,” said the boy with a nod. “How about Big Bro?”

“Same here,” replied Tatsuya with a smile. “What were you doing?” he asked the boy.

“I had just come back from work,” replied the boy. He held out his hands and showed Tatsuya a small stack of gold coins.

“Good for you,” said Tatsuya with a nod of his head. Just then, Mr. Urushihara came around the corner and called out to him. “Oh, I gotta go,” Tatsuya told the boy. As he was beginning to leave, he realized that he hadn’t asked the boy for his name. “Say, I didn’t catch your name,” he called to the boy.

“It’s Daro!” the boy replied back.

Tatsuya waved to Daro as he followed Mr. Urushihara back around the corner. “I feel like I’ve seen that boy before,” said the teacher as they rounded the corner.

Tatsuya suddenly recalled the events of that day and remembered Mr. Urushihara’s warning. He quickly alleviated the teacher’s curiosity by saying, “I don’t think so. I’ve only met him today when we crashed into each other.”

“Is that so,” muttered the teacher.

They arrived at the arena and Tatsuya walked in. Once on the main field, he stopped and watched as his opponent arrived from the tunnel opposite him. Meanwhile, the seats in the audience were quickly filled with spectators. The allies of both combatants were also seated among the audience—they commandeered the entire front row.

“Looks like you were able to honor your word,” sneered Shen.

“Enough with the words, I’m ready to fight,” spat Tatsuya.

“Before we fight, how about we lay down some rules?” suggested Shen.

“You’re right. We haven’t discussed that yet,” agreed Tatsuya.

“There will be no restriction on the fighting style or method used by either combatant,” began Shen. “All forms of combat are accepted. Weapons, magic, special powers, and the like will be allowed. A victor will only be declared under one of two conditions: the opponent either surrenders, or they suffer an injury that renders them unable to continue. However, neither side can deal a fatal blow nor any blow with intent to kill. How does that sound?”

Tatsuya nodded along to each of the Dragonborn’s words and saw no problems with the rules. “Sounds good,” he agreed.

“Then let’s begin,” announced Shen.

Both combatants turned to walk back a few paces to give some distance between them. Once they were sure that the distance between them was acceptable, they turned back to face their opponent and got into position. And then, the fight commenced.

Quicker than a flash of lightning, Shen dashed forward and released a powerful punch straight at Tatsuya’s stomach. Tatsuya gagged and his back arched from the impact. Shen then quickly threw a spin kick to Tatsuya’s face in a magnificent combo. Tatsuya was sent flying to his right.

As he was flying through the air, Tatsuya steadied his breathing and willed his body to twist sideways. His left feet touched the ground and he realigned his body to balance himself. His breathing now returned back to normal. With a single glance, he saw Shen quickly making another mad dash at him. But this time, Tatsuya was prepared. He dodged Shen’s assault and then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt from behind. With a yell, he threw Shen backwards into the air.

Shen outstretched his hands behind him and used them as leverage once he was within distance of the ground below and sprung back up in a backflip. However, this maneuver made it impossible for him to guard against Tatsuya’s follow-up, which was a very strong kick to his ribs. The attack happened so fast that Shen wasn’t able to comprehend what had happened until he found himself on his back on the ground and a little dazed. He shook it off and jumped back to his feet. ‘He’s a pretty good fighter,’ said Shen,’ though I should already know that from our first encounter.’

Tatsuya rushed forward and immediately got into position to unleash Technique 24: Dragon’s Bite. Shen could tell what was coming based on Tatsuya’s stance and defended himself with Technique 25: Stubborn Dragon Stance, focusing all of the energy in his abdomen. They clashed and a huge cloud of dust spread throughout the entire arena from the impact. They both proceeded to exchange blows, each one answering with an attack followed by a defense and then a counter-attack.

“I hope Tatsu-kun is alright,” prayed Percy from the sidelines.

“This is a serious fight,” said Micky. “Both of them aren’t holding anything back. Just as well.”

“But Shen is very dangerous,” pointed out Percy. “Out of the three of us, he’s the most accomplished fighter. And he’s a natural when it comes to harnessing the powers of the elements.”

“We’ve never once been able to beat him,” added Micky.

“Exactly! That’s why I’m worried about Tatsu-kun.”

“We can’t judge the abilities of others that we don’t know,” reasoned Micky. “Before getting worried for him, let’s first see how he is. How can we truly feel worried for someone whose ability we are not even familiar with?”

“You’re right,” said Percy with a sigh.

Up amongst the very top row, three very special spectators were intensely watching the battle before them with sharp eyes full of intrigue. They traced the battle with their faces and didn’t miss a single move. While the people below watched the spectacle as if it was just another fight, getting caught up in the excitement and for the sake of entertainment, these three spectators were deeply invested in the fight and understood it as not a fight but as an exchange between two powerful entities. The combatants were like a blur and exchanged beautiful blow for beautiful blow. The people below couldn’t really follow each and every move, but they didn’t care. On the other hand, the three spectators followed each and every single move with godlike speed.

“What do you think?” asked Yong with a smile.

“He’s really something else,” admitted Alita.

“This is my first time seeing him fight,” said Shori. “And to see him fight against Shen, I believe this will be quite enjoyable and insightful.”

With a sly smile like a fox, Yong turned to his two companions and asked, “How about we make a bet?”

“Are you seriously asking me to make a bet with you?” scoffed Shori.

“Come on, when have you ever lost?” goaded Yong.

“I have a policy against making bets with tricksters,” said Shori, turning his attention back to the action.

“How about whoever wins get to take one treasure of their opponent’s?” suggested Yong. He knew that sooner or later, Shori would take the bait. And now that he was offering to bet his own treasure, the Celestial Dragon of victory’s decision was sealed.

Shori quickly turned back to Yong at the mention of his treasure and immediately accepted the bet. “If you win, I’ll give you one of my most prized weapons,” said Shori.

“And if you win, I’ll give you my pearl,” said Yong.

Alita sighed at their foolishness. “Can you two be anymore foolish as to bet your own treasures over a fight like this?” she asked in an exasperated tone.

“Why? Do you think that the bet is pointless? Can you already see a winner?” asked Yong.

“Yes, the entire bet is pointless,” said Alita. “I don’t mean to be biased or judgmental, but I have a hard time believing that the Dragonborn of the human realm can defeat a Dragonborn bred here in the dragon realm. Though I don’t think that it’s absolutely impossible for him to do it, I believe that he only has a small chance of winning.”

“Really,” muttered Yong to himself with a knowing smile. He glanced over at Shori and asked, “Still, do you want to continue with the bet?”

“Really?” came Shori in surprise. “Are you willing to risk your treasure even after Alita gave her own appraisal of the situation?”

“Not everything is set in stone,” reasoned Yong.

“I cannot tell the future,” clarified Alita, “I can only speak the truth.”

“Well, not even the truth is set in stone,” said Yong. And so, both Shori and Yong went through with their bet. But Yong remained confident in his choice. In fact, his confidence slowly made Shori and Alita doubt their own belief.