Great Spirit Arena (Part 2)

"She… she couldn't have heard, right?" – one of them whispered.

"Stay calm. Just don't panic, dude. The best way to cover it up is to pretend that nothing happened." – said another while standing up and retreating farther.

Na'er swiftly came to Aiden's side and directly sat on his lap, as if declaring ownership. A collective sigh of relief sounded from surroundings, but later some jealous whispers followed which the two in question didn't bother to listen.

He sighed and shifted her to a nearby seat. Apparently spirit beasts differ from humans in many ways, social world view included. It can be said to be both barbaric and true to oneself in its outgoing manner. Na'er never even thought about the embarrassment of public affection or their age as a detriment, she just did what her heart told her to.

Actually, Aiden liked that part of her and even brutal manner of brushing of boys was cute in his eyes, after all, who asked them to hit on Na'er? But still, there is a time and place for everything and Aiden started to think of teaching Na'er not only how to fight, but other things, including part of his modern knowledge like mathematics and perhaps philosophy.

Sometimes he forgot that she never had gone through proper education, thus this sudden thought was akin to a wake-up call. He looked at her mask imagining adorable pouting face beneath it and smiled tenderly, although no one could perceive it.

"And now we have a very unexpected rookie you all would find fascinating. Registered today, he already created an uproar with his demands for combat partner, directly applying for a cross-realm battle!" – when Aiden heard the announcement, a stuff worker came up to him to invite inside the arena. He gave a pat on the head of a little fox, who was all fidgety with the excitement of seeing her ge smash things, and left accompanied with whispers of suspicion all around.

"Hey… if he is with that girl… and they have similar masks…" - one guy around said in deep thought. – "Damn! Quick, this young master is going to the betting pools! Make way for this lord this instant!"

"Betting is already closed, idiot." – another one who was a frequent guest on the betting floor snorted. – "And even if not, do you expect some snotty greenhorn to defeat Bear Xiao?"

Silence descended around the speaker.

"What did you call my ge just now?" – all males around shivered under the cute voice. He wanted to retort, but before he could even turn around sharp pain assaulted the back of his head and the last thing, he remembered is been implanted face down on the floor. – "You all are fans of my ge, right? Boys?"

"Y-Yeah… of course… your ge is the best…"

"Ha-ha, what Bear Xiao? He will die in one move, no half a move facing your ge!"

Na'er was quite satisfied with her negotiation skills and nodded in contentment, remembering a phrase said by Aiden some time ago. "You will achieve more with a fist and a good word, then just with a fist". Well, although Aiden said that, but if he knew how this little crafty fox interpreted it, he would find it hard to choose between crying and laughing.

Meanwhile, this episode was just a minor brawl and quickly forgotten. Such things happen now and then, but the arena fight was different.

"In our left corner – Bear Xiao, rank 43 spirit ancestor, martial spirit Blue Polar Bear. Known for his strength and ferocity. Welcome him, everyone."

A gargantuan man in his thirties stepped out. He was bare-chested and has enormous muscles to show as he waved his hands right and left. Apparently, it was a show on their part. Aiden was a bit displeased as he made a guess that they deliberately sent a prepaid man who will prolong the fight and not take him seriously.

'Well, we will see how it goes.'

"In the right corner Dragon Sword Asura, rank 39 spirit elder." – he made a pause. – "Aaaaand his martial spirit is a Variant never seen before! Two Horned Platinum Dragon!" – here spectators burst in cheers, not expecting to find a wielder of the strongest beast spirit, a dragon, although a variant.

Aiden stood still, paying full attention to his opponent instead.

When the countdown ended, Bear Xiao moved in his direction unhurriedly.

'So, it's like this. Are they taking me for an idiot?'

"Hey, old man." – Aiden opened his mouth to say a couple of things. Right as he continued to bring some actual weight to his words, he exploded with Dragon Sword Aura that was merged with pure killing intent harnessed through years of constant survival in the North Pole. – "If you don't take it seriously, you might die."

Bear Xiao suddenly stopped and previously laid-back expression of his vanished. He even felt shivers run down his spine.

'That kid is not like they said, he is the real deal!'

The next moment he unleashed his spirit and rings, one white, two yellow, and one purple. He shouted and the white ring light up, growing nail on his hand and coating them in the ferocious aura. Next yellow ring light as he stomped on the ground and made a leap birthing an energy silhouette of a primal bear.

'This… this is ridiculous. It's an innate ability to leap through distance belonging to Shadow Mane Panther. They are stealthy predators and usually use this skill in close proximity for a lightning-fast sneak attack to perform a one-hit assassination technique. Who will even utilize it in a head-on battle from so far away? Is he expecting his opponent to be an unmovable donkey?'

Aiden didn't move, the audience thought he was scared silly, but in reality, it was a pure disappointment. That guy might be a brawler, but his understanding of combat is essentially null. So Aiden didn't unleash his spirit or rings, using only strength of a body and Storm Reaper Divine Art, he shifted leaving only a slight disturbance of air on his way. His left arm reaching for the wrist while right gave a quick jab to the shoulder disrupting the flow of energy in attacking arm.

Bear Xiao only felt like the boy's figure blurred and shifted in his vision, then a dull pain and feeling of weakness came from his right arm and he missed the target.

'His stance is non-existent, his center of mass in disarray and spirit energy all over the place. He has no systematic training in any martial arts. What's going on? I knew beforehand that spirit masters of Douluo Dalu pay close attention to spirit skills, but are lacking in terms of actual martial arts and close combat techniques, but there should be a limit to their ignorance!'

He seized the opponent's wrist and stepped forward. Bear Xiao wanted to back away but found his body inertia lunging forward on its own. Then came sharp pain from his wrist accompanied with tremendous twisting force, running wild through his entire body. There was no way to stabilize his posture anymore, and he tried to lower the body to gain some advantage through sheer mass and size. Well, he wasn't wrong in that move actually, that was if he really fought someone with the weaker body and less combat mastery. Sadly, even here his calculations were off on both sides. The right leg he wanted to put aside met unexpected obstacles.

All Bear Xiao could do is to take a quick look down and see a leg blocking his. It was as if his opponent knew all in advance.

His body went flying in the air while twisting and crushed down outside the arena.

It all happened too fast!

No martial spirit used. No spirit abilities involved. To the surrounding people it almost looked like a theater performance, so after a moment of silence audience started booing and some hot-headed members of upper society that lost money on betting even screamed for a refund due to cheating.

Suddenly an authoritative voice sealed their mouths for good.

"There was no cheating involved. Look at the close replay." – it was a man in his fifties with ocean blue hair and deep blue eyes. He looked down from one of the VIP balcony seats with a little girl at the age of eight to ten, as she was a spirit master it is hard to say, she might be even younger than Aiden in reality.

Judging by similarity in looks she might be his granddaughter.

Old man stroked his beard and looked at the youth on the stage with significant interest.

"Grandpa, what happened? How did he win?" – asked a girl, while taking glances at the residing figure of a youth, who sparked her interest.

She didn't notice, shifting attention back to grandpa, that Aiden looked back at her with a perturbed expression. He felt some unprecedented connection to her, like a soul partner. She was not inferior to Na'er in terms of beauty and aura, but different. Her whole being radiated kindness, innocence, and compassion.

'What is wrong with me? What is this feeling?'

He disliked it and thus tried to suppress the feeling. The feeling of being controlled by something from above made his rebellious spirit rise in indignation and rage.

"He must be a descendant of an ancient clan or sect, who trained in martial arts. He is very good at close combat. Actually, I never saw someone with this level of attainment in this field of practice, even among seasoned spirit masters. Furthermore, looking at how he met this whatever bears leap, he also has extensive knowledge about spirit beasts and their abilities. He is very experienced. For someone of his age to be that way…" - suddenly he sighed. Little girl knowing very well the mild character of her grandpa was stunned noting his look. – "To evaluate such a monster of a genius, one must not look at the results, but figure out the price he paid for them." – he stroked silver hairs with a tinge of ocean blue on her head lovingly. - "Bing Er, you need to remember. Such people might be dazzling to look at from afar, but in close proximity, they had a very tough life that little to no people will get involved in, let alone living through it."

"I feel bad about it." – she said honestly, looking at the passage now devoid of that figure with sad and compassionate eyes.

"My Bing Er is a smart and kind child." – he smiled at her. – "It is good to feel that way. However, you need to beware of such people. Few of them can grow out of the shadow of their own past. Surviving is one matter, but preserving a benevolent and righteous heart is another. Most of the people with a hard fate broke down without even reaching this young man's level. That alone makes him exceptional, but that doesn't warrant for us to extend a helping hand, because what matters is how he will use the power he gained. Many with his fate entered the path of revenge or hurt others the way life hurt them. That means they were defeated by fate and broken by circumstances."

Bing Er looked pensively in front of her, thinking hard whether to say one thing that really made her heart leap to the throat or not, but eventually decided against it. That feeling was too vague. She needs to verify it by all means.

"Grandpa, then there is no harm to get to know him?"

"As long as you stay within boundaries and remain guarded until you know him well, it is fine."