35 Arena

As soon as the two guards outside heard that shout, wide smiles appeared on their faces as they looked at each other and then rushed inside with glee.

Aaron wondered what was going on, as the atmosphere was akin to a group of Foxes who were excited because their mother had just brought a huge, juicy piece of meat for them to feast on.

This was pretty odd, and with the intention to get to the bottom of it, Aaron patted Woof and the two of them made their way forward.

Only, before they got very far, a flood of people wearing the same attire as the ones he had seen outside the door rushed out and headed in a particular direction into the forest.

They shot odd looks at him and the bowl strung around his neck, but they were too busy chatting eagerly among themselves to spare him any more attention.

There were just too many sounds, so Aaron couldn't clearly make out what they were saying.

However, the excitement in the atmosphere was definitely palpable.

Finally, after the flood stopped, Edmond appeared from the door, but there was a man beside him whose hand was laid on his shoulder.

Edmond had a very unpleasant expression on his face, as if he wasn't happy in what he was undergoing, at all. Meanwhile, the man, who had a bulging potbelly and a long beard that reached his stomach was chuckling to himself merrily.

It was then that Aaron noticed that there was a monkey with red fur sitting on his shoulder.

It was small, at around the size of Aaron's head, but it had a very mischievous expression on its face as it looked around intently.

The word 'monkey' had appeared in his head as he saw it, and now, as he looked closer, he realized that it looked very similar to the Four-Armed Gorilla, albeit being a lot smaller and thinner.

It didn't look very powerful, but Aaron decided to ask AA anyway.

AA was basically like a toy that he wanted to use whenever he got the opportunity, and now, he finally received a satisfactory answer.

"Scanning. One Tera found in host's vision. Scanning TeraTome. Entry found.

Name: Flaming Monkey

Description:

-A monkey with vivid, red fur, and a mischievous temperament.

Type: Elemental+Agility

Abilities:

-Capable of extreme feats of agility in its level

-The fur on its body is set aflame when it gets enraged

Potential: Rare

Default Combat Role & Rating: Offense(C), Ranged(D)"

What? That shiny, red-colored fur could be set on fire?

Aaron had to say that he was pretty impressed. Looking at the Tera, he would never have become aware of this very crucial detail which would really come in handy if he ever had to face up against it. With the information in mind, he could change his tactics and deal with it easily. Not just that, even though it was quite apparent that the monkey must be quite agile due to its lithe body, finding out that its agility was something which was worthy of being called 'extreme' by AA meant that he should definitely keep it in his mind, too.

Once again marveling at this incredible piece of technology that had been made possible by the World Government, Aaron followed behind the man and Edmond who walked in the same direction where all those soldiers had headed before.

Edmund had nodded when he saw him, which meant that he still had things under control. They had already talked between themselves that they would have a signal which would indicate that Aaron needed to jump in, as the deal was, after all, that he would help both in the acquisition of the Tera and the freeing of his father.

Aaron decided to stay alert, as they were in a new place. So, even though he wanted to ask AA what 'type' and 'combat ability' was, he decided to do so later so that he could react quickly if needed.

After a 10 minute walk, they approached a clearing where all that flood of people from before were all gathered around a pit, of sorts.

It was a round arena at around a depth of 10 feet in the ground, and all of the people were looking at a figure which was already inside the arena.

When Edmond and that man approached, they respectfully made way, but they did no such thing for Aaron.

So, shrugging, Aaron easily vaulted up a tree nearby along with Woof, which gave him the clearest vision of the pit.

There were around 30 people surrounding the arena which had a radius of 15 feet. The clearing only extended to a few feet beyond the pit which also had a wooden fence around it, which was why Aaron had such a good vantage point right now.

In the pit, the figure was an odd Tera which looked…deformed.

It was a four-legged dog with dark fur, and these were the only details that looked normal.

The first thing that would stand out to anyone looking at it was its teeth, which were oversized and jutted out of its mouth. It looked as if this put the beast in constant pain, as its eyes were red with fury while it ran around the arena in search of something.

It's front two legs were shorter than it's back ones, which also made it so that it stumbled a lot.

All in all, it looked wretched, and Aaron almost felt pity as he could tell that all the signs being exhibited by it were what Teras which were gravely injured and close to death would usually show.

Yet, it looked like it had been born with these features. How was that possible?

Aaron decided to ask AA.

"Scanning. One Tera found in host's vision. No entry found in Teratome. No entry found in Prehistoric Animal Life Database. Extrapolating to closest entry.

Closest animal: Great Dane.

It is possible that the Tera in host's vision is a product of illegal cross-breeding of Teras. This is a punishable offense by the World Government. Please head to the nearest World Government Hub to report this crime, and receive a reward. AA will automatically report the crime in when a connection is established with the World Government in the proximity of a World Government Hub. Searching actively for Hubs. Hub found. Uploading data."

Er…what?

Aaron had no idea what AA had just said, and he was just about to ask it for more details when he saw the man who had a hand on Edmond's shoulder raise his other hand to bring silence to the area.

As he did so, a figure wearing a cloak which hid all his features approached the arena from the opposite direction.

Aaron went on guard as soon as he saw the man, as he could detect danger from him.

The man beside Edmond spoke.

"Jangir, I've brought a Tera for you to feed on. Which of your creations will be giving us a show, today?"

The cloaked man spoke in a muffled voice.

"Good. Let's make it quick. With that damn AA, the World Government is making it difficult for us to go about our work calmly. Today, we have the output of a failed experiment, where the goal was to give the tremendous biting ability of a specific species of Piranha to a species of dogs. The result is in front of you. Like always, when it's done, I'll take away both Teras."

"You won't have that opportunity! I'll win this time, and take my father away!"

As Edmond shouted this out with determination, bursts of laughter were heard from all those present except the cloaked man.

He only humphed, and said, "Enough. Let's get this over with quickly."