A Dragon's Curiosity

“Wow, how amazing! Third rank aura, that’s even more unusual!”

Seeing the extraordinary results, the receptionist forgot her manners on the spot.

On average, youths in the Leandar kingdom were considered talented if they managed to reach the late stage of the first rank in either aura or mana before they became adults.

Anyone who broke through the early second rank had the right to call themselves a great talent and any noble family or rich merchant house would welcome them with open arms.

Contrary to general standards, the elf overshot expectations and cultivated all the way to the third rank, which made her a rank higher compared to the most outstanding young scions gathered in the capital.

Genius was no longer sufficient to describe the young elf.

Thankfully, the equipment used by the arena was less sophisticated than the one used by the [Adventurers Guild], otherwise the shock brought about by Nisha would be far greater.

Instead of the early rank, she was at the pinnacle of the third aura and mana rank, at the precipice of traversing the first great divide in cultivation and reaching the same height as powerful knights and respectful court mages.

Since the arena intended to find out the rough combat potential of their guests, the measuring device only gauged the total cultivation level, ignoring the subranks within a level.

The arena paid more attention to skills, proficiency with a weapon and unique characteristics to determine their fighting strength and fix the betting rates correctly.

Naturally, many young hotheaded teens flocked to the arena and wished to prove their excellence over their peers, satisfying their own ego.

As part of the reception office, the attendant had seen many outstanding talents and their subsequent performance, but it was almost unheard of to see such a young third rank warrior.

However proud and self satisfied these noble sons and rich heirs acted when they signed up for the Arena League and showed off their prowess, they all would have to bow their heads before a fighter an entire rank stronger than them.

Of course, the arena also profited greatly from their enthusiasm.

Outside of the arena pit, the common workers and residents would never have the chance to see the heirs of the rich and powerful contend against each other in their lifetimes.

Through the arena fights, they had a chance to witness these confrontations and partake in the disputes of those high above their own societal standing.

By betting on their chosen champion and cheering them on, they had a short opportunity to stand at the same height as the combatants in the pit and feel a rush of joy when their side won and share their indignation when they lost.

As the host of the betting pool, the arena made a handsome yield either way and hence they actively promoted young heroes and talented cultivators to attract even more spectators.

Having Nisha, a third rank warrior, fight against the scions of the capital and wipe the floor with them would certainly draw a crowd.

After that, a young and promising talent competing against the veterans of the third ranks would also invite a big number of spectators, just shy of the peak events when warriors and magicians above the fourth rank appeared in the pit.

“You praise me too much. It’s thanks to a lucky encounter and the guidance of my teacher at the [Royal Academy] that I managed to rank up.

I still have a long way ahead of me before I can truly call myself a warrior.”

The dragon did not want to proclaim herself as a peerless genius and attract too much attention.

No one paid attention to ordinary cultivators or even those that followed the expectations for a common youth.

Only the most outstanding outliers and freaks garnered attention from the truly powerful and invited their close observation.

Normally, such thorough scrutiny allowed the outstanding youths to obtain some opportunities reserved for the most talented geniuses.

Nisha, on the other hand, had other considerations to take into account - if human powerhouses found out that a transformed beast hid in the capital of the kingdom, they would certainly rush to be the first to capture her.

Therefore, Nisha had to act with some moderation and downplay her own achievements, despite enjoying the protection of being a prospective heir to the Dharnas Duke title.

Fortunately, the elf had the perfect excuse for having an advanced cultivation level right next to her.

Tyne Pinewood visibly straightened his back under the praises of his student.

When he had accepted the task to teach a class at the [Royal Academy] instead of the usual member from [Silverveil], the man attempted to weed out as many possible applicants as possible and keep the effort needed to finish the assignment as little as possible.

Nevertheless, he had miscalculated and ended up enjoying the respect and attention from his students, hence he increasingly poured effort into his four pupils, the [Eternal Warrior] had his own pride to hold up.

Before he took over, the [Beastmaster] had always succeeded in turning his entire class into accomplished knights and wizards upon graduation.

Due to their increasingly high cultivation level, the party had to take longer breaks for their members to break through or obtain new equipment with the spoils of their last expedition into the Dungeon.

Whereas some members of the group accepted tasks to hunt down specific beasts that troubled the locals, others agreed to pass down skills or manufacture equipment that could be exchanged for resources or equipment from other esteemed crafters at the same level.

As part of the frontline, the [Eternal Warrior] had usually accepted monster suppression tasks that took the least amount of work.

Currently, he was still unaccustomed to the role of being a teacher and did not doubt that his influence already showed results.

The resources he gave the students included pills like the [Body Tempering Pill] and [Fasting Pills] as well as recovery potions for stamina and health, as well as [Bone Quenching Potions].

Each and every of the supplements were suitable for cultivators from the first to third rank, although the effect decreased as the consuments rank increased.

[Body Tempering Pills] helped with training the body, although it did not grant instant benefits, yet they improved the gains of regular training.

[Fasting Pills] had no direct connection to improving a warrior’s cultivation at all, it was refined from a great amount of monster flesh and blood and supplemented the energy intake needed for intensive training.

[Bone Quenching Potions] were the most expensive of all the resources that Tyne Pinewood provided to his students.

Whereas pills focused on long term effects and generally required fewer materials, potions usually yielded their effects right after consumption.

This particular mixture helped with distributing the aura of a martial artist inside their body to all the distant corners and hidden crevices, shortening the time needed until they had the opportunity to attack the next highest rank.

Several rare herbs were needed to produce the potion, which all contributed to its high price.

Be that as it may, it was too soon for the pills to take effect yet, even if the students consumed them as soon as possible and trained all day long.

Similarly, the potion only helped with shortening the distance to the next rank, but it was unable to stack infinitely, making it useful for those at the verge of a breakthrough instead of increasing the existing aura of a warrior.

It was only Tyne Pinewood’s inexperience in raising students that allowed Nisha to tide through the registration safely without raising suspicion from the experienced warrior.

Lucky chances arised every so often, whether it was a high level herb discovered by low leveled cultivators, or beast cores left behind after two powerful beasts fought until mutual destruction.

Some heritages left behind by renowned figures similarly stored potions made from high level materials specifically targeted at raising the rank of a successor.

Ordinary people sometimes stumbled on these opportunities and managed to break through the first great divide or improved their foundation for even higher ranks.

It was not unthinkable to assume that Nisha had such an encounter before and the resources from the [Eternal Warrior] helped her to materialize the gains from the lucky chance into actual strength.

“Miss, you’re too modest. Believe me, I have been doing this job for a while and taken care of a lot of registrations. It's very rare to see a third rank warrior as young as you are.

Normally I’m not allowed to disclose this, but your talent is even better than talented human geniuses, they are generally between two or three turns older when they attain the third rank.

And considering your elven features, I dare say that it is near unprecedented to have such high cultivation for anyone with half or full elven heritage.”

The arena hosted more fights than any other location within a day’s travel of the capital, which meant that their sentiment held considerable weight.

On top of that, the receptionist lady did not exaggerate the facts either, third rank warriors and magicians made up the high end fighting scene during the day - those that stepped into the fourth rank and above only appeared in featured matches, whereas the bulk of the other fights happened between those at rank three and below.

“It’s not my achievement alone, I know that all too well. Without great luck and further opportunities, I can only perservere and cultivate diligently in the future.

Otherwise it will be difficult for me to take another step forward.

Do you need anything else for the registration?”

Relying on the manners taught to her by Galan and the etiquette teachers, Nisha politely took charge of the direction of the conversation and deflected the attention.

Standing next to her, Aaren had long since turned into a convinced follower of his fellow student.

To get into the [Royal Academy], the late first rank was the absolute minimum, whereas the talented students had to attain the second rank to call themselves a genius.

He had known that the elf eclipsed that by a long shot when she had beat down Kian Ravenstone and Grace Silverwood with ease.

Nevertheless, the young man estimated her strength around the middle to late second rank, which would still make sense.

Among the warrior and magician classes, there were bound to be a couple of students that stood head and shoulders above the rest, who potentially could end up being the leaders of their generation in the future.

Not all of them would turn their current advantage into a long lasting lead, but they stood out for now.

Nevertheless, not a single first turn student had possibly achieved the third rank besides the elf that attended the special class with him.

The [Royal Academy] expected their students to achieve that cultivation prowess the earliest in their third turn, and at the latest the fourth.

Despite the good environment, plentiful resources and distinguished instructors, it was not unusual that students fell short of the goal and graduated without breaking through the first great wall, unable to turn into respected knights or esteemed sorcerers.

Given that Nisha already reached the rank of many graduates, it was all but guaranteed that the girl would manage to break through the first great divide in the future.

“The registration is finished with this, Mister Aaren, this is your provisional arena membership pass, you can hand it in when you register with the [Adventurers Guild] in the future, while Miss Nisha, your guild card got updated with a section for the fighting statistics.

To evaluate your position among the fighters in the Arena League, we keep track of your cultivation level as well as the number of wins and losses as you enter into more fights.

Through that ranking, we can accurately determine your fighting prowess and arrange suitable opponents.”

After working on the documents for a short while, the receptionist returned the guild card and handed the young man a parchment with his personal information.

“When you want to attend a match, you can either head to the pit entrance and wait for an opening in the open fight according to your cultivation level or ask any of the reception areas to arrange a slot for you.

Both methods require you to take a short test to confirm your cultivation level, but it’s mostly a formality to guarantee that no one is fixing matches and taking advantage of the betting pool.

Thank you for registering with the arena, we await your patronage in the future.”

Performing a professional bow and beaming at the prospect of taking a step forward in her career thanks to a genius at the third rank being recruited under her name, the receptionist completed the procedure and gave the two youths her best wishes.