Zephyr squinted, feigning a smile, then quietly replied, “Thank you My lord, for the reminder!” His tone was respectful, as if he was not insulted at all. However, Frederick could not help but shake in place for a moment. For some reason, though Zephyr’s gaze looked to be normal, he felt as though he had seen right through him.

“There’s so many people! This thing is huge!” Zephyr gasped as he entered the brig. He had never expected it to look so glorious from within, it looked much like a small palace, with many, many rooms. “What are you staring at? Get moving, your room’s over there!” Frederick ordered, displeased with being shocked by Zephyr’s stone cold gaze. Following Frederick, the two Starlight representatives arrived at a room.

The room was large and well decorated. Moreover, it was filled with an amount of primordial energy, this allowed the resident fighters to train and restore themselves. After Frederick left, a voice came as a middle-aged man walked past Zephyr and Bruce, “Starlight? Even a small city like yours gets to sit aboard the Dragon Boat?”

The man emanated an ability of an Agility from the amount of energy he had. Beside him, was a roughly seventeen year old teen, carrying the same prideful look. He seemed lax when he spoke to someone like Zephyr and Bruce’s status. With a huff, Bruce brought Zephyr into the room. One of the rules aboard the Dragon Boat was that none may fight within it, hence Bruce found it unnecessary to bother arguing.

As Fredereick left, he pondered over his earlier interaction, and slightly shuddered at the memory, “What’s wrong with that boy? Why the f*ck was he so scary?”

…

“Zephyr, the upcoming battle will be tough. It will be different. Even that brat earlier was a Strength of level nine, and not a normal one at that! Among these fighters, he is currently one of the best! You mustn't underestimate your opponents!” Bruce reminded him. “Don’t worry, I got it. Relax Bruce, I’ll definitely give it my all!” Zephyr replied. Bruce nodded in satisfaction, “Good. However, if your opponent is too strong for you, it’s better to surrender! Although winning is imperative, one mustn't forget that living is important too!” Bruce’s face was stern, Zephyr only nodded as a reply.

After a while, Zephyr asked, “Bruce, no one will know what tomorrow holds! If anything were to happen to me, please promise me you’ll watch over the Khan!” Although Zephyr was confident in his abilities, he still had to be wary of the other combatants. After all, he was still considered a novice amongst other things. “You got it!” Bruce sighed. After some idle chatter, the two of them sat cross-legged on their mat, ready to train.

After an amount of time, the Dragon Boat suddenly shook, followed by its descent once more. Feeling this sudden shift, Zephyr opened his eyes. “Are we here?”

As they got off the Dragon Boat, Zephyr and Bruce took a look around their surroundings — they were in a massive stadium. It was the biggest stadium Zephyr had ever seen. Based on what he saw alone, the stadium could take at least two hundred thousand people, though it would be much. The Ahi Dynasty spanned a large swathe of the world, having many cities under it. Apart from the Ahi themselves, one would be hard-pressed to keep track of their holdings.

Zephyr took it all in, seeing that there were at least a hundred thousand people present. Apart from the city mayors and their escort, the rest were mostly made up of each city’s representative. These fighters all looked to be on the younger side, no older than twenty, with the youngest being about twelve. Regardless, the aura each of them exuded was spectacularly powerful.

“The weakest here is a Strength of level seven! This is something else!” Zephyr nodded. He wondered about his current strength, thinking that maybe even two Agiles were no match for him. Regardless, Zephyr was still wary. After all, these seasoned fighters would no doubt have special, signature tricks up their sleeves. He kept his guard up as always, knowing that quite a number of fighters had already reached the Agile state. He wondered if he really could take the higher tiered ones on. Nonetheless, Zephyr remained calm and unwavered from the sight.

He chuckled, “Perhaps things won’t be so easy this time!” He continued to scan the arena, he found it amusing that there were so many girls around with attractive features. So much so that the boys have gone up to each of them and tried chatting them up. Zephyr shook his head, “If this goes on, one would wonder if this was a Tournament or a dating site.”

Suddenly, a rough voice rang out. A big, burly man with a bearded face came over with an envoy, hobbling his massive size over. “Bruce Starr, why, I’d never thought I’d see you here!” The man called. “Boxer? You’re here too?” Bruce replied, pleasantly surprised. He walked over to meet the man, and gave him a tight hug. They looked to not only know each other, but to be close friends too.

“I knew you’d be here, I knew! I’ve waited for you for two days, I knew you wouldn’t disappoint!” Boxer laughed. ‘Boxer… this name… sounds really familiar,’ Zephyr thought. “Come! Let me introduce you to my ward Yang!” He gestured towards the young man beside him, with a prideful attitude.