Orotta Stadium, the largest stadium on the island of Moluart. Located in Orotta, the largest city east of Mount Moluart, the stadium could easily fit fifty thousand human spectators. The number had been drastically reduced thanks to the large size of the dragons, but it clearly didn’t reduce the hype for the matches that day.

“...”

Raphael sat in the changing room, Koski next to him. He looked at the schedule, his hands shivering.

“I’m first…”

“... Yes…”

The order itself wasn’t the main issue. Sure, it made Raphael a bit uncomfortable, but it wasn’t something game-changing. No, the main issue was the name next to him.

Lisyetincalieyiuncail Luksairmtyen, or Lisye Luksa, the dragon that won the previous year's tournament. She had placed second in the two years before that, finally defeating the champion last year, and this year, she faced him in the first round.

“But… Sir, I’m sure you can win!”

“I’m not even thinking about that, I’m thinking about how to not embarrass myself!” Raphael hadn’t had the chance to watch her fight before, but he knew that as the victor, she could be said to be the queen of the dragons. The most powerful dragon in the area. It would be a miracle if he didn’t lose in the first round. He had been so busy training himself that he didn’t spend any time analyzing his potential opponents. That was an oversight on his part.

“Do you know anything about her?”

“I don’t even know her face!”

Raphael took to the internet, looking for her. After carefully typing her name, he managed to find a video of her receiving the medal for the previous year's victory.

"I met her two days ago, actually.”

“Really!? What did she say!?”

“She said good luck.”

“Thanks? I guess?” It didn't help him in the slightest.

Guess the only way is to find out manually.

He thought about searching for videos of her fights, but before he even had the chance to type her name in the search bar, a dragon appeared from behind the door. Dragons had always lived on Moluart Island, so the stadium was built under the expectation that dragons would be around, thus the interior was larger than usual. It was still quite small for a dragon, though.

“Raphael Kaski, time to go.”

“I’ll be there,” Raphael replied, standing up. He looked toward Koski.

“Wish me luck, Koski.”

“Yes, Great Mage Sir.”

Raphael turned toward the exit, following the dragon toward his starting spot. He stood above a white tile, in front of him was the entrance to the arena. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to fight his foe.

The first round, yet all eyes were on him. The expectation of thousands of people, those who came here to watch him, to fight him, or to just even have a look at him. He didn’t want to betray them. Even if he had no responsibility to do that, even if he had no reason to honor them, he wanted to do that nonetheless.

I can do this!

The microphone screeched, followed by a voice introducing the two contestants. A dragon came over to him, applying five layers of magic shields on him. His body glowed in white before being overlapped by a gold color. Shatter his rival’s gold shield and he would win, that was all he needed to do.

“Good luck out there,” the dragon said.

“Thank you.”

“AND WELCOME, RAPHAEL KASKI!” The microphone roared, followed by loud applause from the audience. He stepped toward the stadium. The stadium floor was two hundred twenty pebs in length, and one hundred and thirty in width, a massive field. He stopped above a white marker painted on the grass, looking at the other side.

From the other side of the stadium appeared his rival, Lisye the pink dragon. Her large figure, massive wings, heavy arms, all looked imposing. He gulped, preparing his thoughts. He concentrated, waiting for the countdown to begin. He focused on his rival, forgetting the fact that she was a champion. It didn’t matter now. All that mattered was getting the first hit, shattering her shield. An attack powerful enough that it would tear her shield to shreds.

An attack so strong that-

“Begin!” The sudden scream shattered his line of thoughts, and the next thing he saw was her plummeting straight toward him, flying at full speed.

“Cannon!” he didn’t need to yell the spell, but in his panic, he did. Light blue lines in the shape of a battleship cannon, yes, a battleship cannon, formed in front of him. It quickly materialized, Its three four-hundred-sixty milipebs barrel tracked the incoming dragon. The cannon roared, sending three massive stun rounds weighing three-thousand two-hundred rockweights each straight at the dragon.

But the dragon was faster, causing all three shells to miss its target and strike the shield dome surrounding the arena. Luckily, they weren’t powerful enough to destroy the shield.

“ARE THOSE EVEN MAGIC!?” Lisye asked in shock. She didn’t slow down, however. She brought her claw down on Raphael. Using everything he had learned, he leaped out of the way, barely dodging the strike. The ground shook as Lisye’s arm slammed down to the dirt.

“They’re technically magic.”

“Impressive!”

Despite complimenting him, Lisye showed no signs of stopping. Raphael dodged to the rear, jumping and landing on the wall above the arena entrance. Lisye swooped toward him, intending to end this. He pushed all his energy to his foot, jumping out of the way. Using wind magic, he skipped, going straight to the center, dashing as fast as he could.

Lisye turned around, chasing him down. An agile dragon, he needed something that could take her out quickly.

That!

He formed its image in his mind, something that could also be found on ships. He purposely slowed down, redirecting his concentration to its shape. Its barrel, the dome above it, the way it tracked its enemy.

Lisye continued approaching. It seemed that his luck would soon run out. At least the battleship cannon was impressive…

But!

A rapid-fire cannon appeared behind him. It tracked Lisye. Lisye flapped her wing, attempting to fly up, but the cannon tracked her. Its barrel rotated and it spewed out stun rounds, hitting Lisye’s body. It disappeared a second later, but it gave Raphael enough time to counterattack. He spawned a purple sword shaped like lightning in his hand. Lisye’s movement had been slowed thanks to the stun rounds. Grabbing the sword like a spear, he threw the sword straight toward the dragon. She dodged out of the way, flying away, giving Raphael time.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Raphael formed his true weapon, his true chance. Lisye was now flying far from him, giving him a chance. He brought out a submachine gun in his right hand and pulled the trigger. Stun rounds pierced the sky, crashing into the dragon’s shield. Lisye changed direction, her movement now slow and sluggish. The submachine gun disappeared, replaced by one last weapon. A miniature railgun, the size of a small rifle, but as damaging as large explosives. Lisye attempted to dodge. Raphael aimed carefully, tracking the dragon while dashing away. He brought her into his crosshairs, and he pulled the trigger.

A single stun projectile streaked through the air, slamming into the dragon’s shield. It shattered immediately. The stun round took effect, and Lisye floated to the ground, landing on the dirt.

“Urk!”

She pulled to a stop.

“You… got me…”

“And the winner is, RAPHAEL KASKI!” The crowd cheered after witnessing his victory.

“Must admit, that’s a good one.”

“Thank you.” Using his magic, he healed Lisye of the stun. She stood up and shook hands with Raphael, before heading back backstage.

“I won’t let you win next time!”

“Not promising I’ll be fighting again!”

And with that, Raphael’s first round ended in a victory.

* ••

Despite being far from Raphael, the news of his victory reached Carol’s ears.

“As expected of him,” she muttered as she read the message sent by Raphael’s parents. She stuffed her phone into her pocket. It would be her turn to fight soon. If she wanted to meet him in the finals, she would need to do her absolute best.

Just you wait.

“Feeling nervous?” Lerus asked, sitting next to her. Carol nodded.

“Reminds me of when I fought here.”

“How far did you go?” Carol asked. Lerus tilted her head.

“Umm… Second round of preliminaries.”

“I see…”

“Disappointed?”

“Nothing of the sort!” Carol shook her head.

“Well, you’re my successor, so I trust you’ll do better than me.”

“I’ll… try my best.” It was all Carol could say. After witnessing the battles before her, she started having doubts about her ability. Would she truly be able to meet Raphael in the finals?

She felt a hand on her shoulder.

“You’ll be fine.”

“Thank you.”

A sudden knock came from the door.

“Excuse me!” came the muffled voice.

“Yes?”

The door opened, revealing a girl covered with a dark brown coat. The coat covered her from her foot all the way to her head, only her rounded face and blood-red eyes visible. She glared at Carol.

“... Who are you?”

“I’m Tania Sunadi! Raphael’s junior!” she declared, fluttering her own coat, revealing her clothing underneath. Her hand gripped the short sword on her waist. It was probably the thing she wanted to direct Carol’s attention to, but…

“Is that your underwear?”

“Hmm?”

She looked down at what she wore. She pulled her coat open, the top sliding off her head and revealing her short purple hair.

“Oh, this?”

“What are you even wearing?”

The Rangers’ uniform consisted of leather armor combined with long-sleeved clothing colored in dark green. It was used to help cover as much of the body as possible, protecting the user from insects and attacks, especially when they went on missions deep in the jungle or other lush sceneries.

Tania, meanwhile, wore practically the opposite of that. She wore a red crop top that showed her shoulders and a short skirt that revealed her thighs.

Carol wasn’t the type to comment on what others wore, but she couldn’t help but feel curious about the reasons behind her choices. This wasn’t a fashion show, after all. In general, as long as the weapon brought wasn’t categorized as a firearm, then the tournament allowed participants to choose their equipment freely, armor included. There must be a reason for her to choose that specific set.

Seeing Carol’s curious eyes, Tania smiled.

“These clothes are ones with strong magic properties. Since you’re a girl, I think it’s fine to show you one of its tricks.”

“Since I’m a girl…?”

Tania flicked her fingers, and all of a sudden, a second layer of clothing appeared underneath her underwear-like clothing, above her skin, covering her from top to bottom.

“... You’re joking, right?”

Distracting the opponent wasn’t illegal, but…

“That’s so unfair!” Carol stood up and screamed toward her, Lerus trying to calm Carol down.

“That’s inappropriate! Besides, you’re Raphael’s junior, right? Aren’t you supposed to be in university?”

“Calm down Carol.”

“I got special permission. Don’t worry. I know about your relationship. I won’t use that trick on Raphael. Besides, it's not like it will work anyway.”

“I won’t even let you see him!”

“That’s harsh!”

“If you dare to lay your hands on my husband, I’ll kill you!”

“Carol! Slow do- wait, you’re married!?”

“I’ll do anything to keep any woman off him.”

“I swear I’m not here to take him! I’m not even romantically interested in him! Besides, I have my own boyfriend!” Tania tried to calm down Carol as well, feeling her existence in danger.

“... Really?”

“Yeah, really. Practically everyone in the university knew that he had a girlfriend. None of us are interested in him romantically. We’re only curious about his strength, that’s all!”

…

Carol continued staring at her.

“Still, won’t mean I’ll go easy on you, Miss Kaski.” With that tease, Tania stuck out her tongue and left the room.

The fact that Tania was here meant she was in one group with her. She would defeat her at all costs.

Carol clenched her fist.

“Carol, slow down.”

“... Sorry.”

She sat back down.

A dragon then peeked his head through the opened door. Unlike the one in Orotta Stadium, the changing room on Mount Moluart had been built specifically for dragons, thus it felt massive to someone the size of Carol. Carol stood up and took one last look at her teacher. Her teacher grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

“I’m off.”

She followed the dragon toward a white tile. Standing there, she waited for her time. She clenched her fist, gathering all her determination.

I WILL WIN!

After the staff applied her shield, the announcer called her name, and she stepped forward. There was no turning back.

She stepped onto the flat, rocky grounds that formed the arena. The arena had been adjusted for preliminaries, having a far smaller size compared to the area that would be used later during the finals. It was still a massive arena, making her opponent at the end of the field look small. The announcer began with the introductions. Carol ignored the voice, taking a breather, and calming herself down. She had trained for this. She came prepared. All she needed to do was give it her all.

“Begin!” the voice shouted. Immediately, the dragon pulled back his head, lifting it up.

“!”

Fire spewed from inside the dragon’s mouth, traveling a straight line straight for Carol. It burned the ground, lighting up the stones in flames. Carol kicked back, moving back toward the wall, before dodging to the left. The dragon spotted her, correcting his heading.

Realizing this, Carol pulled her sword, positioning it diagonally in front of her chest. The sword lit up, its silver blade glowing. A second line of fire traveled to her. She stepped aside, dodging it, running beside the first line of flames that burnt through the dry ground, a testament to the dragon’s strength. She planted her feet on the ground and pushed with all her might, using the assistance of the wind to push her forward, running straight toward the dragon.

The dragon aligned its snout toward Carol, and spewed out a third line of flames, the first two hadn’t even been extinguished yet. They continued scorching the ground, damaging the shield that protected Carol. Carol wiped a drop of sweat off her forehead, her eyes staying on the incoming flames.

She slowed down and stopped. In less than a second, the third line of flames would hit her. It would engulf her, consume her, devour her.

In that split of a second, she pushed her foot down, cracking the earth, and flew upward. Like an arrow, she cut through the air, using the force of her jump before switching to wind magic. The sudden flight caught the attention of everyone present, including the dragon. She twisted her body midair, changing her course. She aimed toward her opponent, making a mad dash straight toward him. The opponent flapped his wings, his feet airborne, but he wasn’t quick enough. Carol’s sword stabbed into him, shattering three shield layers with one, single strike.

Both crashed to the ground, kicking up dirt into the air. The two slid a few pebs before coming to a stop. As the air cleared out, one girl stood up next to the dragon, holding her silver sword up.

“The winner is, CAROL PRIYA!”