Chapter 308: Chapter 308 - The Water Dragon King(Part 1)

"Was there really no other way to do this without involving me? I’m pretty busy, you know," I sighed, the wind whooshing around my head.

"Well, after I told her about how you convinced me to join Arcadia, she decided that she wants to do the same thing. She wants to spar against you, and if you impress her, she’ll agree to join Arcadia too," Replied Frielektra, as we flew through the air at a rapid speed.

Today’s the 27th of Martius, 2021. I’d finished finalizing the tournament brackets sometime yesterday afternoon, when Frielektra showed up and informed me that she’d found the Water Dragon King, Liquaqua.

And while she was open to the prospect of coming over to our side in Arcadia, it was only under the condition that I duel her...and if she isn’t impressed by what she sees, she’ll refuse to join us.

I mean, I do get it...if I were in her position and I was offered a place in a new nation, I’d want to know that there are people in the nation powerful enough so that I wouldn’t have to carry their fighting forces in the event of a battle.

Still though, this is a pain...even though I’ve finished finalizing the tournament match ups, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, even taking one day off will mean that my workload will pile up.

I had Rhyle and Prysm take over for me and handle some of my duties, but they’ve got their own work in running our city too, while Lumena is busy with creating copies of various valuables and goods.

Anyway, we were currently on our way to the Water Dragon King’s hiding spot, Frielektra had taken her full Dragon form and was flying us there, I was sitting on her back.

It’s kinda uncomfortable though, her scales are really hard and kinda sharp around the edges, they dig into my skin if I shift around too much. But I suppose I can’t complain since I get to conserve my stamina this way...

"When I sparred against you, you yielded pretty quickly after a few exchanges of blows, do you think Liquaqua will do the same?" I asked her, as the coastline came into sight.

"Hm, I really couldn’t say. I’ve never seen her in battle, so I don’t know. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever even seen her in her Dragonoid form, she has always been in her Dragon form whenever I’ve encountered her."

The smaller, humanoid form that the Dragon Kings can take are called Dragonoid forms...and the offspring they produce while in that form are the Dragonoids.

And while Dragonoids, appearance wise, have similar faces to Dragons, just smaller, Frielektra has a human-like face in her Dragonoid form, she even has hair when she shrinks down to that form.

Dragonoids and Dragons are more or less at the same power level, they’re both ranked at Catastrophic Grade Threat Levels too. The main difference between those two different types of Dragon King offspring are the fact that Dragons prefer more to live in more open areas, which varies based on the specific species...Wind and Lightning Dragons like to live in high places like mountains, Water Dragons prefer to live in or near large bodies of water, Frost Dragons are partial to cold places, Fire Dragons like hot regions, and so on.

Dragonoids, on the other hand, prefer to live in the Labyrinths, they instinctively seek out the Labyrinths shortly after they’re born and then head down to the deep depths, it’s pretty rare to encounter a Dragonoid outside of a Labyrinth.

Another distinct detail is that the Dragon Kings can only produce Dragonoids while in their Dragonoid forms, but in their Dragon forms, they can produce both Dragons and Wyverns.

While Wyverns are smaller, weaker versions of Dragons, there’s no such weaker version of Dragonoids. Dragonoids are also generally more aggressive and violent than Dragons and Wyverns, it’s generally assumed that’s the case because they live in Labyrinths, which are much more dangerous than the habitats in which Dragons and Wyverns tend to live in.

From what I know about animals in my previous world, how treacherous their habitats are have a significant impact on how aggressive the animal is.

For instance, zebras are closely related to donkeys, but unlike donkeys, they haven’t been domesticated...and that’s because they’re too aggressive and unpredictable to be domesticated, thanks to the instinctive, generational trauma of living in the same areas as dangers predators like lions, crocodiles, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas and so on.

Rhinos are similar, they live in the same areas as the predators I mentioned and they have poor eyesight, so they tend to charge at anything that moves and are strong enough to flip vehicles with a single hit. But unlike zebras, rhinos that grow up in captivity tend to be more docile and easygoing.

Okay, went a bit way off topic there, let’s get back on track...we’re just about a couple hundred meters away from the coast now, and I think I see the entrance to the cave that Frielektra mentioned, which Liquaqua is currently using as a hiding place.

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as Frielektra shifted her trajectory downwards, gliding down towards the cave entrance, the smell of salt permeating my nostrils as the pleasant sound of the waves crashing echoed out.

A wet thud rang out as Frielektra landed on the sand at the edge of the coast, a few meters ahead of the cave entrance, before I hopped off her back, my feet hitting the sand as she shrunk down to her Dragonoid form.

"Ah, you’re back, Frielektra. And this must be the human you spoke of," A voice suddenly echoed out of the cave, before heavy footsteps rang out as a figure approached us, coming into sight as they reached the entrance of the cave.

A large Dragon with aquamarine blue scales, she has webbed feet and a large, foldable dorsal fin across the middle of her back, with wings folded on either side of her upper back, and a foldable, fan-like fin at the end of her tail.

Her jaws were more slender and narrow than Frielektra’s were, and her scales looked smoother too, and her ears looked like foldable fins too. She was watching me pretty suspiciously, her eyes slightly narrowed as she fixed her gaze onto me.

"Yes, that’s right...this is Larrk Stryker, he is one of the leaders of the nation I spoke of, Arcadia. He has agreed to spar with you, per your request," Replied Frielektra.

"Uh, hi...nice to meet you," I spoke up.

"Hm...I was quite skeptical, but now that he’s in front of me, I can sense it. This is no ordinary human, is it? The amount of Mana flowing from him is on par with ours, and I’m detecting Demonic energy from him. Ah, it must be a Contract-...no, wait, I’m sensing another, different Monstrous energy as well. Unless I’m mistaken, I believe you possess two Contracts, is that right, human?"

"Yeah, that’s right. I possess Contracts with the Demon General Azazel and the Slime King Plasmuk," I answered in response.

"Ah, yes, I have heard of the Slime King...I have never actually encountered that being, but I am aware of its existence. How fascinating...yes, engaging in battle against you should prove to be quite entertaining," She remarked with a gleam in her eyes, as she began to shrink down.

Her limbs changed shape as she grew smaller, her body taking on a humanoid form, her jaws shrinking in as her head took on a more human-like appearance.

Huh...she’s pretty cute.

Her face in her Dragonoid form gives off an innocent impression with cutesy features, and she had long, flowing light blue hair that framed her face, with a snaggletooth poking out the right side of her mouth.

Looks like I have no choice but to fight her if I want her to join Arcadia. Alright, then, let’s do this...

I unleashed my Contracts, my skin turning blue as horns extended out on either side of my head, wings growing out of my upper back as a tail extended out of my lower back, whipping against the sandy ground as my power surged immensely.

"Right, then, I’ve got a lot of work to do, so what do you say we skip the pleasantries and get right to it?" I suggested with a smile, as I manifested my Soul Weapon and swung it across, a loud smack ringing out as it struck the ground.

"You’re quite confident, aren’t you? I don’t think you’ve fully grasped your current situation, human...I am the Water Dragon King, Liquaqua, and we are surrounded by water in this place!" She exclaimed with a smirk, my eyes widening slightly as a massive wave began to rise from the sea, as she raised her arms up high...

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