Chapter 332: A Champion’s Worth.

Chapter 332: A Champion’s Worth.

Fight me as if you mean to slay.

N-No, thank you?

Understood. I will return to my post.

He gave up so easily?!

Out of nowhere, Themrayn, the naga Champion of the God of Tridents and Divers, Zennithra, appeared before us after I was done with the second phase of my [Battle Frenzy] training. Able to control [Battle Frenzy], even if just at the minor stage, for the first time in my life wasnt just exhilarating from the fact I succeeded, but also from the pure energy coursing into every cell of my being.

It felt like drinking coffee, an energy drink, and then pouring sugar right down through your throat. It was that sorta hyper-focus, and with it, came also some twitching which was a normal battle junkie behavior whenever I had [Battle Frenzy (Minor)] active before today.

Usually, I would be pretty aggressive and more assertive while I had it on, evidently, from all the times I rushed into battle when it activated from a lack of fighting or through pure survival instincts. However, right now, I didnt feel like it.

Hold on! Seeing Tehmrayn slithering away after I rejected his request, I dashed right in front of him to stop him. Why did you ask that out of nowhere?

As I mentioned before, it was to help you discern your new abilities, Tehmrayn asserted the fact he was doing it for my sake. As a warrior, I am curious about your newfound strength. However, evidently, you arent. As such, I shall take my leave.

No idea why, but that kinda was annoying to hear.

Mhmm, but you went about it wrong. As Tehmrayn was about to leave again. Mother chimed in while approaching us. Requesting a fight out of nowhere and saying she should fight as if to kill you will unnerve anybody. Misunderstanding, dear Naga.

Tehmrayn bowed slightly to Mothers presence, showing his respect to a far stronger being like when they first met. A Champion should always be ready for opposition. Whether in the light or shadows. A chance to better oneself should not be declined.

Mhmm, he has a point

I do agree, but in this case it would have been better if you explained your intentions more clearly, instead of surprising her with a sudden fight, Mother argued. Hestia can fight well enough and has the experience to adapt to sudden situations, from what I could see. As an elder scale, your responsibility with your years of life is to be patient with young scales.

Must I announce my intentions all the time? I am offering a fight between two blessed to your daughter. It would be an invaluable experience. There is no need to consider anything more. Themrayn then turned back to me. I couldnt see his facial expression through his marine blue helmet. Curious. You are far less aggressive than I thought a Kargryxmor should be.

I smiled wryly at his statement. If I were to guess why, my race was probably the reason. Before my evolution, the [Young Sunfang Dragon] was described to be a calm dragon. It would be less prone to aggressive tendencies outside of protecting what is owned, and was one of the reasons for why I took this evolution. It would help me control my temper better while I was in a city.

Thats, literally, the entire point, naga. Letting out a deep sigh, Neill came over with Tasianna and the twins. The idea of the [Battle Frenzy] training is to help a Kargryxmor control their blood thirst. Youre able to use the full potential of your bloodline, without going completely mad. That was how Kramps became the strongest.

She then turned over to me. Warning: the longer you stay in that state, the easier you will transition to the next stage. Thats bad. Even if you can control yourself now, you wont be able to do it for moderate at all. You will go berserk, no matter how high your mental protection skills are.

I furrowed my brows at that fact. The thought of going berserk right now really sounded weird. I looked back at my hair, remembering how my parallel minds told me my hair had completely turned white when I entered [Battle Frenzy (Major)] in the capital. Or whenever I visited a gods domain.

In any case, it meant I still had a way to improve. I wasnt anywhere close enough to mastering this ability of mine. It was still a threat to everybody around me, if I couldnt control myself.

Why not try yourself against him, Sis? Neill suggested. Might as well, no? I would love to see it!

Ooooooh, SAME! Rita sprinted over the moment she heard that come from Neills mouth, breathing heavily with her eyes widened like a goldfish. Two blessed fighting against each other! One from the light Pantheon and the other from the water one. Such a rarity! Please, please, Hestia!

Arguments were piling onto me. Today was my day of training, after all, and although I did fight with Mother before, a bit more wouldnt hurt. Due to my busy schedule, I didnt have much time to spar really, so a short tussle sounded pretty nice now that I thought about it.

But would it be smart to go all out when I had a match tomorrow? Well, I had enough dragorades to heal up my exhaustion, so it shouldnt be a problem. I should be less apprehensive, this was a good time to test this new form out.

Hmm, alright, sure. Ill accept your generosity, Champion Themrayn. In the end, I agreed. However, I think my sister is right, Im starting to feel a bit antsy in this form. Getting into a proper fight where my instinct gets riled might send me berserk.

In the end, I had to think about my mental strength. As mentioned before, being in this state did give me that annoying feeling in my chest. My wish to fight was intensifying.

Mhmm. He nodded. Then we shall test something else. A contest of power to push you to show your abilities. What is your highest leveled aura skill?

[Draconic Aura] and [Royal Presence]; both level four.

[Tyrants Aura]. Level six How old are you again? They are absurdly high for somebody who is still called whelpling by her own Mother. I could hear a hint of being impressed in his voice, but also surprise, for obvious reasons. Skills, especially advanced versions, were supposed to level up slowly.

S-Same! What the hell! Both of mine are still only level one. Neill expressed her shock, flinching back a bit. Wait, hold on, doesnt that mean In Fathers name

I laughed wryly at how Neill frowned at me. Mother did just explain how the strength of a Territory is determined by your strongest aura skill and your maximum Mana pool. In a sense, with those advantages, I probably could beat Neill in a contest of Territories, although, it probably wouldnt be a landslide.

Regardless, that was the main goal for my following spar with Tehmrayn, despite rejecting it at first. I just got all of this new power, why not test them out? After making some room at the beach, with everybody not participating moving closer to the grassy area of the island.

As I was trying to unsuccessfully calm down my pumping heart, Tehmrayn began swirling his trident in his hand. Since he was a naga, he didnt have any legs and was standing on his tail, like a snake. A lot of people already were taller than me, so Tehmrayn standing on his tail was just another addition to that list. He was taller than Mother, but was shorter than the carnosilians, Grazlahta and Krim-Slak.

Ready, Champion Hestia?

Ready! Champion Tehmrayn!

Good Begin! Hmm!

The moment this spar began, I felt Tehmrayns [Tyrants Aura] assault me, pushing away all the battle junkie excitement I had. My body entered into fighting mode, focusing on how water was forming around him before it exploded like bombs, expanding itself around Tehmrayn like a bubble.

It pushed the sand underneath us away with almost translucent water, making room for the liquid ball to grow ever larger to the point it encapsulated me. Strangely enough, I could breathe perfectly within his Territory, but instead, I felt my body weighted down, as if I was wearing the heaviest armor in the world.

I almost fell onto my knees, if it werent for my body suddenly receiving a second wind, finding the strength to stand up in defiance of all this power. As I struggled to keep myself up, the domain Tehmrayn erected quickly created a school of different types of sea food ranging from normal fish, sharks, crabs, squids, and so on.

Urgh! Ears! I could feel air pressure in my ears, similar to diving too deep into a swimming pool. Holding my nose closed, I blew into it to release the pain.

[Impressive.] Tehmrayns voice entered my mind, swimming above me while I was stuck on the ground from the sheer weight of everything. [My Territory emulates the vast sea life of the ocean, which also includes the physical limitations of it. Most land-dwellers cannot even think of moving deep to the ocean floor, to where our tribes are. Suffice to say, fire shouldnt be able to exist whilst my mana is overflowing.]

One simple explanation.

Hellblade Dragon

An advanced skill of a Hellblade Dragon, the evolved version of a Spark Inferno Dragon. Focusing on polishing and sharpening their body into a natural weapon, this skill improves scale-dust concentration around claws, fangs, and tail blade compared to its previous version. Mutation skills: [Instant Heat Ignition] [Infernal Coating]

Inferno Coating

Increase the intensity of fire enveloping your body. Once ignited, flames covering the user cannot be extinguished without their consent. The flames special property cannot be nullified while increasing their effects even further

Whether it was Mothers snow or the oceans current, nothing could kill my flames while I was still alive. They were ever-burning. The triple flames surrounding my body right now from [Battle Frenzy] had no problems wrapping me around them, protecting me from the heaviness of this place.

If this Territory of Tehmrayn actually emulated the strenuous physics of being underwater, then the reason why I was having so much trouble moving was due to air pressure. [Air Shield] probably would work here, maybe.

Lets try it. Air Shield!

And, as I expected, the shield did hold on around me, negating most of the weight around my body by separating air pressures by creating a barrier around me, only for the shield to shatter seconds later.

[Quick thinking. Unfortunately, a Territory would be a terribly useless technique if it were to allow itself to be bested by mere tricks. Strength and overwhelming mana! Now, unless you wish to be bound to a bed by tomorrow, defend yourself! Release your mana!] Twirling his trident with so much force it caused this water ball to start forming currents, Tehmrayn threw his weapon with the speed of an arrow.

Dang! Wi- No, dont try it, blast out!

Instant Heat Ignition

Activate the heat inside you, igniting the scale-dust inside your scales to explode without grinding them. Even in a situation where grinding or igniting the scale-dust is impossible, the user can use their body to do it

With what happened to the [Air Shield], I didnt even try using a wind spell, and instead ignited the scale-dust in my left wing to blow me away from the polearms trajectory. However, the weight inside this bubble was making every movement I took too hard. I dodged the attack from hitting me, but the shockwave it caused smashing against the ground blew me away.

And like a perfect playground for Tehmrayn, the current immediately smacked me right onto my back, sending me floating away without being able to do anything about it. Unable to control my body from this natural force, the school of sea life followed right along, beginning their assault on me while Tehmrayns levitating trident kept attacking me while its master threw water harpoons as support.

Urgh, this is insane! It only started, and I was already feeling like this was more than I could handle! If a single water attack or fish hits me, it will hurt!

Kramps voice entered my mind in my time of need.

Right! If I cant resist against this Territory's movement limitations, then I have to use unconventional means to move! First, though Warp Point! Entry! Exit!

Conjuring a teleportation portal right in front of me and one back on the ground, I switched places in a moments notice and closed the portal before all the attacks hit me. However, I couldnt rest for more than a few seconds, as I noticed the water around me starting to swirl like a whirlpool.

Without hesitating for even a moment, I heated up my body temperature, releasing my [Sparkflame Veil] to send my surroundings into fire from all the sparks! My mind was clear with [Battle Frenzy], and I quickly formed a plan to get close to Tehmrayn to contest his Territory. However, not here, it would only lead us into a Territory dispute which will just drain our mana.

With [Pyrokinesis], I wrapped the flames I just produced around my mouth and unleashed a full-powered [Hellflame Breath]! However, Tehmrayn didnt flinch, simply floating there with his trident back in his arm.

[Face the Depth Goddesss blessed!] A magic circle appeared on his trident which probably had a catalyst somewhere embedded to it, not that I thought about it. [Forces of destruction, face the wrath of the ocean! Hydro Pump!]

Like two beams clashing against each other, Tehmrayns blast of water rammed right into my dragon breath. His custom spell was pretty powerful, considering how it wasnt completely overwhelmed by my breath attack the very moment they touched, Nevertheless, I didnt care how strong his spell was, it just couldnt be stronger than my fire breath!

Grk! Tehmrayn canceled his spell as he noticed I was pushing him back, deciding to dodge out of the way. Roaring forth without any opposition, my dragon breath shot right forward, blasting itself out of his Territory.

Now! Shiterno, give me your power! Flashfire!

The moment I activated that skill, I could suddenly feel the sound of my heart pounding my heart, only for my eyes to focus on the flames I just spewed out. Feeling a surge of power, my vision suddenly became muddy, only for me to suddenly appear right in front of Tehmrayn, holding his trident up to strike me.

Shit, too slow!

Activating my rocket boosters, I enabled myself to parry his weapon with my aflamed tail. The loud bang, resounded through the water bubble, echoing right into our ears.

[Flashfire], the ability I temporarily gained through [The Divine Inferno] was a high-speed movement ability which allowed me to dash towards any flames I could see. It looked like a teleportation to the naked eye, but it was just my body moving very fast. I wanted to land right behind Tehmrayn to attack him, but movements were probably slow enough for him to anticipate me.

Tsk, cant go full power.

[Interesting.] Tehmrayn praised the surprise factor, only for my [Danger Perception] to notice the horde of sealife on their way to completely gank me!

Now or never! Dreadflare Aura! Release!

Like a bomb, an extremely hot aura exploded from me, blasting Tehmrayn away and causing the water around me to steam up. With the heat around me established, I released my mana once again, guided by my aura skills and activated [Volcanic Blaze].

I dont know who you are speaking about, but I seek not to harm you, Princess of Kargryx. My request resolves around myself alone, and the continued problems Yeos has caused the seas close to them, Chahayat replied, sounding actually genuine about this. Although I didnt drop my guard completely, I opened my ears to consider what he said.

Seeing me act less tense, he continued in his gruff voice, I have nothing against how God Yeostar needs to announce a Champion for the Pantheon of Lights continued battle with the demonkins, but the way Yeos handles it is ruining the seas close to them. Every time this tournament is announced, ships sail to Elyonda to watch this new event. But with seafaring visitors, so come the pirates.

Pirates? Well, that is expected, no? Merchants have to deal with bandits all the time. Arent you a pirate hunter or something? I remembered one of the main reasons why he was so famous.

Yes, so you know I speak the truth. As my role as a Tide Watcher, I have been protecting this portion of the sea from pirates, specifically, nagas, merfolk, or levianewts who have fallen from the Depths Goddesss doctrines. Those who seek to destroy order for greed. Destroying land loving pirates is a byproduct, Chahayat explained. However, this tournament always attracts them like blood-seeking sharks. Ruining the seas with all the debris that comes with ships and lost lives. Not to mention, what will happen once this Champion becomes combat-ready.

So, the reason why he joined this tournament is not only to protect the environment, but also to potential cull the amount of pirates operating in the seas outside Elyonda?

So you want me to give up and lose?

Never! he yelled back at my accusation. I am a warrior. Do not dishonor me with that accusation!

Urgh, seems like I triggered something

All I wish is for you to aid me. Whether you or I win. I know how much of a farce this tournament is. Sacrilegious to its core, corrupting a divine event in honor of a god for wealth and reputation. Look how they present this Tournament of the Stars, and how many people are betting on it. Blasphemous.

Okay, this guy is starting to sound more and more like a religious nut.

W-Wait, even you, God Yeostar?! I was surprised to hear even a god agreeing to what he had to say.

I know how all of this is just for show. The prince and his nobles pick a Champion inside their roundtables. He perfectly described what Jethro told me. As such, I ask if you aid me to stop this. A new Champion may be chosen by trial of combat, we merfolk do it, too, but this is absurd. More merchant and transport ships mean more pirates. More pirates mean more bounty hunters. And that means more blood in the sea, attracting more merfiend from further away like a migration. Not only are there islands further away from Yeoss coast where people live, but also merfolk and nagas wish to settle in the depths close by. With all those merfiends around, without support from the ones responsible for this problem, life will be toppled.

Oh, jeez, there are problems like these, too? Why couldnt this guy come at me like the poison dude? It would make it so much easier!

First out, please, accept my apology for misunderstanding. I lowered my tail and put it in between my legs, a sign of submission and apology between scalekins. However, I have a duty to fulfill. A divine Quest. I sympathize with what you have to go through, but at the end of the day, the gods have asked me to safeguard the blood and make sure another Champion is appointed. At best, I can only pass this message of yours along.

And thats why it needs reforms. Like what Renee said or how Goddess Aurenas church needs to change from the bottom up. The rot must be removed. Argh, Yeos has so many problems, I really should have read the fine print about this annoying place

Chahayat nodded. Then, please allow me a warriors battle, Princess. Let the strong make their goals come true.

I nodded, walking away to make some distance while twirling my glaive around, ready to fight with it at a moment's notice. Standing there, we stared at each other, realizing we were once again only two competitors seeking victory.

Weeeeeell, blood enjoyers. They certainly took their time to speak, but a little bit of battle banter always makes people more invested. Even if I couldnt hear a single thing. In any case, we waited for long anouehg. Now BEGIN!

And the second he did it, Chahayat, pressed something on the water tank on his back, releasing its content on the ground. Deja vu, moment though, as I noticed the water started to move by itself and pushed the sand underneath us away. I flew right out of it before the water caught me, only for me to see what all of that water would make.

A ball. A ball of water, just like what Tehmrayn did. And just like his, it was growing from the water around this arena.

Krrrrrrrrreeeee! Chahayat roared as he swam in this ball.

Thanks, Tehmrayn.

A note from AbyssRaven

Clash of Territories and their effects.

If you guys want to support me, Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 20 advance chapters + any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr!

For two dollars, for the cost of a coffee, you can read up to four chapters for the whole month! You will have my eternal gratitude for any support you can give me! Please.

Thank you for reading this chapter.

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Wednesday, August 31, 2022 11:57:31 PM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

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