Underground Fighting

Despite the events that had caused great concern throughout the city, everyone was still in high spirits, with the capital overflowing with dragons. It was surely because it was the day of the long-awaited tournament to determine which dragon was the strongest. It was an event that everybody wanted to watch, with spectacular fights and long-awaited bouts. It was truly an event that everyone had looked forward to. Despite the incident that happened two days ago, most people hadn't even seen what had happened, and those who did didn't frequently talk about it. No one wanted to be the person ruining the good mood that had been enhanced by the friendly atmosphere, but everyone that was there, that witnessed that day, still constantly wondered where the mysterious guy had gone, some even speculating that he might come back during the tournament hours.

Somewhere in the capital, a group of dragons was walking around with white uniforms and weapons to the sides or the back of their bodies. The knight order, despite many even being in the tournament, had been cast a special mission so that nothing would go wrong. "Man, what a drag..." One of the dragons threw his hands behind his head as he continued walking. "Just because the king was injured doesn't mean that you get to slack off on your job. Didn't you hear what happened right here in the capital only two days ago?" The dragons kept on speaking to each other casually while further swaying away from the topic of what happened until another joined their conversation. "What was it that happened in the capital? I heard from some other people that it was an assassination attempt from another faction." The two dragons turned around at hearing the question. "No, no, no. I don't think it was an assassination attempt. I overheard from one of the captains that it was an unknown." The others turned around to answer him. "Wasn't Sami in the capital when it happened? I heard he was close to where it happened." The dragons kept talking until they were completely oblivious to what was going on around them.

"Guys, be quiet! What do you think the masses will think of us if half of us are strolling around doing absolutely nothing? Cut it out. It's time to switch watch anyway; just go back to the arena." Among them was a man with a single armband around his arm which seemed to have some control over the normal knights. They were spread out all over the capital, reporting if anything unusual was going on. Even so, the tournament was going to continue as usual to have everything under control. The actual reception for the tournament applications was a huge building to the east of the Royal Palace. It was much bigger than the library Velios had been to, and that was gigantic. It seemed like they really valued and treasured this long-standing tradition, which was the yearly tournament. It was big for multiple reasons, but the most important was a change they had implemented earlier this year. The decision to allow other factions to participate had been finalized, which was yet another reason for the tight security. Even so, with all of the added participation, it would be even easier for Velios to sneak in.

"Come on, Vadh. You don't have to be shy; they're just dragons." Velios was trying to encourage Vadh to walk the streets together with Velios. "You idiot! Can't you see the clear difference between me and them?! My hair is literally white!" Vadh knew that it wasn't a point to struggle if Velios had actually set his mind to it. "Come on, I'd say that it's more of a silver or grey color." In the end, Vadh got to wear another cloak which Velios had made during the last two days. "Here's the plan. You, me, Ragaja, and Ajagar are all going to participate. For obvious reasons, I'm going to have Shiva stay out of this tournament, but just so you know, you will get to fight him later if you perform well!" Vadh turned around to face Velios in a heartbeat. "Don't lump me in with the likes of you! You make it sound like fighting a strong person is rewarding, you demon!" Velios continued to point his finger to Velios with a slightly angry look as he continued to shout out multiple reasons for him to not enter the tournament. "I see that you two are as lively as ever, sir Velios." Velios turned around, ignoring Vadh after recognizing the voice. "Oh, Ajagar! It's you! Long time no see."

All Velios got in return was a punch on the head before Ajagar started pouting. "Hey, it's not so nice to hit another person. I may be stronger than you, but it's not like I can't feel your punches, Ajagar." Ajagar ran into Velios, hugging him. "Idiot master! Why couldn't you call me back? I missed you." Ajagar was genuinely happy to see him while Vadh was standing quietly behind the two of them, watching the two of them. He realized that if he attempted to do anything remotely close, his head would get ripped off. "Anyways, where is Ragaja? Wouldn't the two of you normally be together? It's almost time for registration, isn't it?" Ajagar stepped back for a moment. "He said he wanted to do something before coming here. But, he did promise to come here before applications close, I promise." Velios gave her a pat on her head before proceeding forwards. "Shall we get to applying?" Velios had a smile on his face because of genuine happiness. Ajagar smiled as a response to seeing her master happy, and Vadh was weirded out by how happy and carefree someone could be that was as brutal and battle-hungry as Velios.

"Next! ...Wow, a whole group of people, how rare. Are you all here to participate in the tournament? It's not for the faint of heart, and risks are you will get extremely hurt or possibly even die if you enter. With this in mind, do you still want to continue?" The lady at the desk was a young dragon with a green uniform on her. "I'm more worried about the people who will have to face him..." Vadh was caught mumbling to himself in the back. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir, but you will have to remove your hood so we can see your face. Security is pretty tight, so you will probably not be able to go around wearing that. Mind taking it off for me?" Vadh was pretty reluctant and didn't think that it was a good idea. But just as he was about to say anything, Velios completely pulled Vadh's hood off. "Oh! How interesting! It's not every day you see white hair here. Are you perhaps from another faction?" Vadh just nodded in surprise that everything went well. "Then let's get all of you fully registered." She said with a smile on her face.

Velios had only found the actual registration house to the tournament. Despite the time he had, he had not been able to find where the actual tournament was being held. To get past the first gate, in the back of the registration building, you would need the pass provided after registration to go down the stairs into the actual place. This also applies to people only coming to watch. The reason Velios had not found it was because it was hidden deep underground. It did only take a few minutes of walking for the group to get to the next gate when further inspection followed. It wasn't until that was completed you could finally enter the massive cavern where the tournament was being held. The actual place was a massive cave system with massive supports scattered across the whole place. It was basically another capital underground. It was almost as lively as the one above ground and marketing was even more intense here. Velios could even see that there were 'betting booths' for people wanting to bet their money on certain matches. There were multiple arenas scattered across the whole city with the biggest one being in the center.

"Where are you guys' arena? We each got a number." Vadh seemed to be well-organized, but he wasn't nearly as excited as Velios to actually begin fighting. Vadh and Ajagar had to stop him from running away as he tried to run away to the wrong arena multiple times. Velios was forced to look at the number written on his participation card. "Where is arena five?" Velios mainly asked Vadh for direction. "It's over there-" Vadh was barely able to point in the right direction before Velios was gone completely. "He puts too much trust in me. Where did it start? He left me behind during the first part of his little 'trip' to the dragon city. He knows how weak I was, and that is why he said those things back then. I can't let him down now, can I?" Vadh was only talking to himself, but Ajagar perfectly heard him. "Did you also have arena 4?" Ajagar didn't know how much she should say in that sort of situation, but it was enough. "Yes, I have. Let's go..." Now everyone was on their way to their respective arenas except for Ragaja. But, what is the band of criminals doing right now?