The arena was more crowded that Bloed expected. It was not completely full, but there were at least two thousand or so people in there.

"Is it like this every day?" Bloed asked.

"It will become fuller soon," Illina replied with a smile. "I asked around and apparently there is an event one hour or so later. Beastmen are a very combative race, so the number of people that comes to watch these events in the arena is always pretty big."

Bloed nodded while looking around. As Illina said, the beastmen were looking at the arena in excitement, shouting and cheering the two combatants currently in the arena.

To be honest, they were not very strong, just two C-Rank pract.i.tioners. But their fight was pretty intense. Both combatants clashed against each other repeatedly, using their bare hands to hit their enemy.

Liu Ying smiled in excitement. "That looks fun."

Bloed smiled wryly. "Do you want to partic.i.p.ate?"

Liu Ying did not reply. But the look in her eyes was enough for Bloed to know her answer.

"If Miss Liu Ying wants to partic.i.p.ate, what do you think about partic.i.p.ating in the event of later?" Javelin asked.

"Mm? What is it?"

"A battle royale." Said Illina. "It will be divided by ranks, and the winner of each rank will receive a generous reward.

Liu Ying's lips curved up. She seemed pretty eager to try.

"What about you, Bloed?" Javelin asked, this time looking at Bloed.

Bloed shook his head. "I'm alright, I prefer just to watch. By the way, is it not dangerous?" Bloed asked. No matter how he saw it, such duels could easily lead to death.

To his surprise, though, Javelin shook his head.

"Although beastmen are a very battle-oriented race, we in fact dislike senseless killing. Therefore, despite there being tens of combats every day in the arena, we seldom have deaths. In fact, every fight is supervised by one or several people of a higher rank, and there are several members of Moonlight Glow outside the arena waiting to treat the injured."

"That is rather unexpected." Bloed nodded in understanding. He had the image of this kind of place being wild and uncultured.

In the end, Liu Ying was the only one of the group that signed up to partic.i.p.ate. Bloed, Illina, and Javelin were not interested in partic.i.p.ating. And although Prince Calisto seemed eager to partic.i.p.ate, his status as prince stopped him from signing up.

As for Regina, well, she did not partic.i.p.ate for obvious reasons.

Later, Bloed heard that the slots for the battle royale were already filled, but Prince Calisto and Javelin made use of their influence to arrange a place for Liu Ying.

Half an hour later, the battle royales started.

The first group to partic.i.p.ate was the D-Rank, and twenty D-Rank pract.i.tioners went to the arena.

This battle was pretty underwhelming, at least to Bloed's group. However, the beastmen's audience was very excited. Bloed could see several beastmen cheering loudly for their favorite combatant.

In the end, the winner was a lizardkin spearman by the name of Ho. He got the victory after showing very neat spearsmanship and deft movements.

The second group was the C-Rank contestants. Same with the D-Ranks, twenty of them partic.i.p.ated.

This time, the battle was much more intense. Bloed saw several outstanding warriors, including a birdkin archer, a catkin dagger wielder, and a wolfkin using a greatsword.

This time, the winner was the catkin. He made use of his agility to move through the battlefield and slowly kite his enemies. By the end of the battle, the other warriors were already tired but he still conserved most of his battle ability.

"That catkin is pretty good." Javelin could not help but comment. "However, I still think he is weaker than you, Bloed."

Bloed did not deny it. After seeing the battle, he was pretty confident in getting the victory even without Leto's help.

This battle, however, was an eye-opener to Bloed.

"So it's [Beast Senses], huh." Bloed said in admiration. "I now understood why beastmen are considered the race most suitable to be warriors."

"Unfortunately, few beastmen tribes have the talent to wield magic as consequence," Illina said with a bitter smile.

Bloed did not comment. Instead, he repa.s.sed the last battle through his mind while a.n.a.lyzing the various beastmen's fighting styles.

To Bloed, that was valuable information.

[Beast Senses] was a trait unique to the beastmen, just like the demons' [Aspects]. It could be considered as the beastmen's racial talent.

Although not as noticeable as the demons' [Aspects], [Beast Senses]'s advantage in battle was not much inferior.

It was different from beastmen to beastmen, but it basically consisted of the ability to use certain features from the race they belonged to. Catkins, for example, inherited outstanding eyes, ears, sense of equilibrium, and abilities to hide in the darkness. That was the reason most of them opted for a.s.sa.s.sin-like combat styles.

Wolfkins, on the other hand, had above-average strength, great ears, and monstrous fighting instinct. When in battle, it made them very fearsome opponents.

Unfortunately, as Illina said, [Beast Senses] were more suited to close combat and inhibited the beastmen's ability to use magic. Only a few tribes like the foxkin tribe were the exception, but even these tribes had a high percentage of warriors.

By the way, the humans' racial talent was called [Versatile Body]. This talent was of not much use in direct combat, but it was pretty good when it came to training. It was the reason humans' combat styles were the most diverse across the continent.

At that moment, a beastmen came to tell Liu Ying it was time for her battle.

Liu Ying nodded and stood up excitedly.

"Guys, wish me luck."

"Don't overdo it," Regina said with a serious expression. "Also, make sure to control your strength."

"… I still don't understand why you are so interested in this kind of fight." Bloed sighed.

Liu Ying shrugged. "Well, I need suitable opponents to test my recent training. Fighting against you is very frustrating, Bloed. And sparring with Regina is the same as asking for a beating."

"... Anyway, good luck." Bloed shook his head with a smile. "Show them what you are made of."

"Thanks, I will!"

A few minutes later, Liu Ying plus other nineteen combatants were standing in the arena.

But at that moment, a group of people approached to Bloed's group.

They were a group of beastmen led by a lionkin with similar features to Prince Calisto.

"Little brother, you are here." The lionkin said with a smile.

Calisto froze instantly.

Only after several seconds, he managed to reply with a tense expression.

"... Big brother."

"I could not help but notice that one of your men is partic.i.p.ating in the arena," The newcomer lionkin said. "Who is her?"

"She is not one of my men. She is a friend."

"A friend? So now you are friends with demons." The lionkin smirked. "What a coincidence, one of my friends is partic.i.p.ating in this round too. I wonder how he will do."

The lionkin then looked in direction of a tall and strong beastman standing close to Liu Ying.

He was a horned beastman with a cow tail and wielding a hammer.

A peak B-Rank opponent.

...

P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels