Taneva was given only two hours to rest and revitalize, which would be like pretty harsh after all the fights he just went to today. But I guess that’s why this place was called the Arena of Perseverance, ‘cause that’s fucked up. But I guess that’s just that for me.

If anyone wants to know, the marquis was still pretty behaved, I gave him no opening after all. So everything’s should be safe for now.

Given that Taneva has some time to rest, I have nothing else to do but sit around, I’m not really in the mood to eat. I did not have the luxury to enjoy. Well at least Estevan was trying to talk to me, it was mainly about the matches though, all that I could give was some ‘oh yes’, ‘that’s impressive’, ‘fascinating’, and so on.

He’s the sweetest.

Then, the time came, Taneva entered the Arena, waving casually at the cheering crowd. Dude, hard to tell whether the crowd just wants to see humanity win or they’re just a bunch of bloodthirsty folks that just want someone to die. I mean, it’s a monster — ugh whatever, I’m not getting paid enough to think deeply about this. He dies, he dies. No loss for me. Besides, no way our people are that kind of people, and I mean that in the most serious way possible.

The presenter entered and said some introductory stuff and then came the time to bring the beast!

A giant gate opened up, and several knights emerged from the darkness, rope over their shoulders as they all pulled something into the Arena. Judging from how they struggle it should be quite heavy, meaning it was massive.

Oh oh oh, I’m so excited!

Then a cage slowly came out of the gate, slowly revealing what was imprisoned inside. I leaned forward with wide eyes.

Woah.

It was a massive beast indeed! It was like five or six times the size of an adult lion. The beast was being tied by chains even from the inside of the sizeable cage, keeping it pinned to the floor.

Its fur mainly had the color brown and a little black. Its teeth were coming out of its mouth, so sharp and I could already tell the strength of its bite, one that could bite me in half without breaking a sweat. Its four legs feature talon-like razor-sharp claws. It had a tail that was tied down, but I can tell it was long, the point of it had some sort of shell, a sharp one, that reminded me of a scorpion’s. Then the freakiest of all, it had four sharp bloodshot eyes glaring all around.

Fuck, this was so bizarre but thrilling. Amazing! So that’s what a monster looks like?! Yeah, I’ll keep away from it, fuck that. To be honest, I was a little disappointed, I mean, it’s just like an oversized lion. Hmm, maybe that’s why they also refer to it as a beast. But, this should be one of the many so-called “monsters”, there must be truly horrifying ones. I imagined monsters as you know, repulsive or horrifying ones.

But hey, this was a good start, should help when I see one in the future, I won’t be more shaken or dumbfounded. Maybe the uglier the more dangerous it is.

The monster called the Steelreaver rattled the chains as it writhed, longing for release.

The presenter cleared himself out of the arena and Taneva got into position. The gates were closed and were made sure that they were sealed properly. The knights waited for the signal as they positioned themselves right next to a group of chains connected to the cage itself.

They lifted up the chains, and when the horn sounded, they pulled, unlocking the cage. At the same time, they rushed out of the arena and leaped up to the audience stand where then that part was covered by a barrier.

The metal bars fell to the ground and the chains pinning the beast loosened, on which the beast slowly stood up and slid off the chains. It glared around frighteningly and then its eyes saw Taneva.

It seemed to growl, aaaw it’s just a like a cat — kidding! Yeah, that ain’t no cat.

Don’t like cats anyway, puppies are better and cuter.

The beast crouched while glaring at its prey, then it lunged. Taneva swiftly dodged out of the way and stabbed the beast in the side. Huh, he didn’t try receiving its attack. Hm, I guess he would die if he did.

The beast leaped away the moment it was stabbed by the spear. It really is agile despite its size. It roared and suddenly its body began bulging and squirming. Then suddenly from underneath its fur, heads suddenly grew out.

Ugh! Oooh, what the fuck is that?! Egh! Yuck!

Ew! What came out was covered in blood, and not just one, there were four! They had heads like a lizard, and then a body like a snake, they were all rooted in the monster’s body.

I didn’t expect that at all! Now that’s a monster! Holy shit! Keep that away from me!

It’s looking less like a giant lion and more like a mix of different oversized animals stitched together. And the way the snake shits slither ugh, I hate reptiles fuuuck.

The snakes snapped at Taneva, he dodge but he failed against another. It bit his arm. It wouldn’t let go due to its firm jaws, so he thrust his spear into its throat, piercing it through the other side.

The snake apparently felt the pain seeing that it recoiled and released him, surprising it was still alive. Wait, I imagined that its skin would be hard, if so, how strong was Taneva? He definitely used physical enhancement.

Taneva then smirked, he waved his hand and a fireball suddenly emerged shooting towards the beast. But the snakes blocked the ball. Either way, he fired a couple more fireballs while running towards it.

He dodged and stabbed a snake head coming at him directly into its forehead, it staggered and writhed before falling limp. The other heads seemed to be in shock, and he took this chance to fire two fireballs at the main body, hitting it and setting it ablaze.

The beast ran away to keep its distance from the incoming Taneva. It shook its body to get rid of the flames, but a little remained.

That was surprising, that thing seemed to be smarter than I thought, it kept its distance and used the snakes to attack at a certain range. Come oooon, a smart monster, you gotta be kidding me. Can’t we just have a stupid thing that just charges? But I guess even normal animals have a level of intelligence. I’m just saying stupid enemies are much easier to deal with.

Lightning crackled and scattered from Taneva’s hand, striking all of the remaining snakes. The snakes were electrified so hard that they were smoking a little. Using this chance while they were neutralized, Taneva rushed to the beast.

The beast tried to run away, but then Taneva threw his spear at it so strong that left white streaks as it went. The spear struck the soft neck of the beast, and it cried loudly. Then Taneva fired another lightning strike again, directly at the spear. Damn, the metal tip of the spear really be getting all that electricity.

The beast grew numb, but before it could react, Taneva was already right next to it and pulled the spear out only to stab it into its eye. Taneva pushed the spear further into its eye. The beast was about to push him away but Taneva electrified it again before pushing the spear even more intensely. Then eventually, the spear got through its head, and the beast froze and instantly collapsed to the ground, the snakes completely stopped writhing as well.

Seeing that the monster has been slain, the people in the arena erupted into cheers way louder and more powerful than any before.

Taneva stepped away from the monster and waved at the crowd with a wide smile. The audience was full of energy having to witness a single human take down a monster where a normal human would die upon facing it. I mean, I also can’t tell if I can take one down myself, but I’m not willing to try. Besides, my enemies were not monsters, but technically like humans — humanoids? While some others can transform into a beast — ah crap…

My father congratulated Taneva after the crowd’s cheers dwindled. Made a declaration of victory and some speech for him. Then some finishing touches like fireworks — like one from the start of the festival.

Then after that, the tournament was over. But Taneva was invited to a private room where his reward would be waiting and where royalty will be speaking with him. I will be included. Besides, I’m curious what he’s like up close.

We left our booth and made our way to the private room, all of us that were in the booth, including the knights and the Marquis. The private room was adequately spacious and grandly designed, befitting of royals, like me!

We sat down on our special chairs and waited for the champion to arrive. Several seconds later, a knocking came from the door and one of the knights took a peek and announced to us that it was the one we were waiting for. My father gave permission to let him in.

The door opened and a knight first entered followed by Taneva. He kneeled in front of us.

“Greetings, your majesties.”

“Mr. Taneva, I am pleased to finally see you this close.” my father said. “Your matches were sublime. Where did you train, if I may ask?”

Taneva smiled. “Anywhere, your majesty.”

That was quite a vague statement, even father was for a moment dazed.

“I see. I have not become aware of your existence before, where do you hail from?”

“I have no residence anywhere. I am just wandering eternally until my life ends.”

“Ah, you might have encountered a lot of opponents in your travels then, that may explain the level of skills you showed.”

“Yes. I decided to try out your tournament. Although, it was disappointing.”

The knights around gloomed. It took some nerve to say to a king that his tournament was disappointing.

“Although I have expected it to be as such,” he added.

“I see. What do you find disappointing?”

“I did not find what I was searching for, none of the challengers was able to give it to me.”

“Are you perhaps searching for a challenge?”

That may be it, he was strong after all. Perhaps he was bored to death that no one can match up to him and give him a good fight.

“No, that’s not it at all. In any case, your majesty, may I receive my reward?”

“... Of course.”

My father signaled a servant and the latter brought a bag of coins to Taneva, two of them in fact. One for the human fight, and the other for winning against the monster.

Taneva received them.

“Is there anything else you wish for? Perhaps we can give it to you.” my father said. All of us turned to look at him, a little surprised.

“Hm.” he seemed to ponder, and then his eyes shifted towards me.

It only took a moment before he remove his gaze from me.

“No, I have no wish to make.”

He stood up. “I will take my leave.”

Without waiting for anyone’s say, he left the room with a smirk on his face.

***

We returned to the palace, and after retiring to my room for a while, I gathered my servants to the room we always used during lessons. I stood by the window and gazed outside, it was now dark as the sun had just set. I was thinking about the earlier events, my servants seemed to have realized my mood as they remained quiet.

“Lock the door.”

I said, and Mera quickly locked the door with an audible click.

“Your highness, what is this about?” Vernon daringly asked.

I stared at him for a moment with a blank expression. “Say, tell me about Marquis Vekenas.”

“Lord Lucious’s uncle? What do you want to know?”

“Let’s see… tell me how close he is with my father.”

Vernon placed his hand on his chin. “I can say they are friends, a bit close, but not very very close. He and his family have been serving loyally to the crown ever since the Marquis went into power.”

“I see…”

Indeed, better I take care of this on my own to speed things up and safer for the intel.

“Princess, may I ask what this sudden interest with the Marquis is for?” Vernon inquired.

“Nothing. He caught my eye.”

Rogan stepped forward. “This has something to do with what happened earlier in the booth?”

“What happened?” Vernon asked.

“... Her highness suddenly approached him, and stuff happened, nothing of note. But it was weird—”

“Rogan…”

Rogan paused and turned to look at me, he understood what I was trying to say, and he sealed his mouth.

“Why the secrecy, your highness?” Vernon narrowed his eyes.

“You have nothing to be concerned about. Think nothing and only answer my questions.”

“... Very well.” he hesitantly agreed.

“Now then, tell me about his family.”

“Well, he has two children, still around ten years old, I think. Wife is well, and active in the social circle.”

“Can the Marquis fight?”

“Fight…?”

“His magical abilities, physical skills, et cetera.”

“... To my knowledge, he has not honed his overall fighting capabilities. He has a good amount of mana as a noble, but he didn’t train it much. His wife is more skilled in magic than him. He focuses most on office work.”

He’s like Eleden then, and Lucious. Nobles that were not trained for combat. But his wife? Huh, noble ladies have some secrets. But that was good. I am already aware of where the Marquis’s manor was and the routes available, learned that stuff in my lessons, and I already have the map memorized.

I inhaled sharply.

“Is there anything else I should know about him?”

“Your highness, I don’t know what it is you truly want to know about him, so I couldn’t tell.”

I turned and faced him. “What makes him dangerous?”

“Dangerous…? I don’t know. He’s not very noteworthy in anything that involves danger.”

A weak man, then? If that’s the case, then it could mean he was not only physically weak but emotionally as well. Even so, that was just a hypothesis, so I could be wrong.

Not that it matters much.

“Good.”

I sat down on the nearby chair.

“Are you suspecting him with something, princess? If so, I suggest telling your father.”

“No need. This is only a little doubt, no need to be so concerned.”

My servants looked at each other, puzzled.

“We are done here. Swear to me that you will not tell anyone about what happened in this room, not what we talked about, not anything. This meeting didn’t happen.”

One by one they swore.

***

The night has deepened, it was late, a little more than an hour before midnight. The moon was covered by the night clouds. I took a breath of tranquility before closing the curtains.

“Alright.”

I turned to look at the daggers and straps placed on the bed. Then I went over to the case where my clothes were and then brought out the special outfit I had the tailor specially made. I caressed the wardrobe and smiled.

I removed my dress, exposing my beautiful skin and body. I slipped into the torso and the fine shorts, then locked in the belts of those two before wearing the boots that almost reached my knees and tied the laces tightly.

I straightened my sleeves and stretched my body, the outfit stretched with me, magnificent. I then picked up the leather straps from the bed and tied them on my thighs, one on each. I placed the small and medium daggers into their tight sheathes. Then I tied the belt on my waist, placing medium size on my sides.

Then lastly, I pulled out the special dagger from its box. There was gold along its hilt and some silver. Then on its guard, there were fine carvings of flower petals. At the center of the blade were lines of gold and shapes of flower petals and vines highlighted by a golden hue. A beautiful dagger.

I caressed the blade, savoring it, before sheathing it behind my waist.

I stood in front of the mirror, admiring my cool and stylish outfit of black. One that will allow me to move with more flexibility and mobility, and allow me to blend in with the darkness. It was so beautiful and amazing to the eye.

I rounded up my hair on the back of my head, like a bun, while leaving some hanging, then used hair sticks to hold them.

I finally brought out the detachable black hood that was included in the outfit and wore it around my neck, and then drew it in to cover my head before pulling my hair outward.

I nodded in satisfaction and walked over to the window, set aside the curtains, and opened the glass window before stepping onto the windowsill.

Time to hunt.