Tournament of Champions: Part 4
Dragon vs Man
A battle between two figures of insane power that rocked not just the arena to host the Tournament of Champions but also throughout the Retail Market World.
All sorts of people watching the fight had paid extra to gain a permanent recording of the event, completely aware that it would be fought over by every man and woman connected to the Retail Market System.
Some desired the body of the Dragon and its various beastly parts, but right now, they couldn't do anything but watch the fight with their eyes glued to the screens.
But while the world watched the battle, the two individuals remaining on the map of the Arena was nearing its end.
Esmond didn't dare to hold back anymore and started focusing to destroy every scale across the body of the Dragon, but not enough to make it completely fall away.
The Dragon was getting angrier with each passing second, as it continued to deal heavier attacks on Esmond.
Most landed, but they never cause enough damage to make Esmond bleed.
Annoyed by the situation, the Dragon decided to let its anger go uncontrolled and blew flames in Esmond's direction, thinking its mixture of light and darkness would destroy the human or at least cause some damage.
Unfortunately for the Dragon and everyone watching, Esmond stood silently in the middle of the Dragon flames as the fire failed to attack his body.
Looking deeply at the burning white and darkness flame around his body position, Esmond decided to speak up, not only for the Dragon to hear but also everyone that was watching.
Maverick already sent plenty of information to Carter that would relay how the people of the Retail Market World saw him.
Currently, he was close to a legend in the making, as nobody had the strength to fight a Dragon stronger than oneself at a max Stat Attribute figure of 200.
Some people wondered if Esmond had cheated but no one dared to bring up their personal thoughts to the Retail Market Mainframe System out of fear for their life.
"*Sigh*…
Tournament of Champions, huh… feels more a game between toddlers."
Instantly, every single competitor of the tournament wanted to burst out with anger, but nothing left their mouth.
Because the person that made the comment had fought with a Dragon for around an hour at this point.
But that still didn't stop the crowd from jeering and shouting, even if their voices wouldn't be heard by Esmond.
They were angry Esmond dared to call the other competitors out like that, even when he hadn't fought against one until now.
However, everyone understood that if Esmond did face a participant of the tournament, they would lose to his sheer strength and power.
.
Esmond continued, "Until now, I've rarely gotten the option to go all out, but for you Black Dragon… I'll make sure your death is worthy…"
The Dragon didn't know how to respond, because at the same time, Esmond contacted him directly to its mind.
'Time to free you from this place, Dragon buddy.
Just make sure to put on a show for the viewers…'
Esmond's message made the Dragon wonder why the human was daring to help it, as it would mean going against the Retail Market Mainframe System.
Yet it didn't bother to stop the human, because it would do anything to leave this world.
As it watched the human, he closed his eyes with a smile creeping up the face.
'Unleash yourselves…
Rampage!' Esmond said to his Xrian Cells, who all started to scream in delight as they utilised the restricted level of power available to them and pushed on to go through metamorphosis.
The Dragon and viewers all watched closely as Esmond's transformation caused the Retail Market Mainframe System to strength the bindings of the Arena.
It was done to stop any harm from befalling those in the Arena and anyone outside the safety of its walls.
Everything happened in a couple seconds, but it needed to be reenforced again and again as Esmond's strength grew more violent.
Then a burst of energy erupted out of Esmond's body, both to settle the strength increase because of metamorphosis and the sudden transformation of the body.
Esmond's muscular figure and imposing aura seeped out to the crowd, as the pressure started to build, causing most people to struggle as they tried to free themselves from their seat.
.
"… Is this your true strength…?"
For the first time during the entire fight, the Dragon decided to address Esmond, with its voice reaching everyone watching the battle and on.
Anyone watching the battle could hear the throaty and raw voice of the Dragon, much to their shock but also because the Dragon didn't believe Esmond had shown his complete strength.
Looking back deeply at the Black Dragon, whose body was greatly harmed, Esmond chose to speak the truth, as he was taught to always respect the majestic figure of a godly creature, such as a mighty dragon.
"No… just a fraction."
Cold chills went down the spine of every person who had dark thoughts to make Esmond their own.
They didn't wish to believe it, but to the Dragon, it seemed like the human had spoken the truth.
"Come then… with whatever strength you can currently exhaust!!"
"Very well, Honourable Black Dragon."
Esmond chose to address the Dragon as his father taught him in another life.
His father was a Dragon Emperor which many different Dragons serving their family.
It was one of rare instances where nothing dramatic happened to his life beside simple wars.
During those days, Esmond learned that a Dragon who could speak aloud instead through telepathic methods were to be addressed as 'Honourable', because they possessed hidden mental strength.
It actually caused the Black dragon to be stumped for a second because it sounded like something he heard a very long time ago.
'Honourable?
What a unique title...'
Just as it finished the thought, Esmond charged at the Dragon, instantly appearing before its skull.
Not holding back, Esmond landed a punch on the Dragon, both sending it straight into the Spatial Ark Star World, while red bloody mist sprayed itself across the destroyed mountain valley.
Every single person watching the fight couldn't help but feel shocked by the whole situation.
There wasn't a single piece of the Dragon left, as its whole being turned into bloody mist.
This caused many groups and organisations to cry foul as they wanted to get their hands on the corpse but now it seemed impossible.
.
As Esmond disappeared from the Arena Map, the announcer finally regained his senses and finally spoke about the ranking of the tournament's first round.
All the while, people started to scramble and find out everything about the businesses associated with Esmond and his own profile.
Everyone wanted to gain the man that killed a dragon by turning into misty bloody rain.
But the man in question had already left the Retail Market World and returned back to the Space Ark.
Not to find the Black Dragon, because the healing process would take some time, but more so because he knew his actions were enough to cause people to stop bothering Maverick and their business operations.
However, before leaving the Retail Market, Esmond went out to gather gifts for this family members.
It cost him a decent sum of money, but it wasn't enough to cause any strain on his wallet.
Best of all though, everything was bought from Davi and his Gramps, in the underground world of the Retail Market World.
Their shop still remained, which Esmond loved to see as he noticed the underground world was rather empty of indigenous people.
Turns out, Maverick was quite proficient in recruit people.
He couldn't convince Davi's grandfather, but the old man accepted funding.
In the end, Maverick sorted out a business cooperation between the two, as he knew about the place's importance to Esmond.
Davi was also being educated and trained full-time instead of working as a casual for the Retail Market World Mainframe System.
Maverick decided to set up a small gate to one of the educational Pocket Spaces connected to the Retail Market World Mainframe System.
The Old Gramps didn't mind but he asked to see Esmond the next time he came by.
Fortunately, Esmond had just enough time to spare after the fight before the whole Retail Market World delved into chaos.
.
"Gramps, it's been a while."
"Indeed, it has, Kid.
I even got to see your antics at the Arena."
The Old Man Esmond met on his first visit to the Retail Market World hadn't changed much in appearance, other than being healthier and somewhat stronger.
He figured the Old Man was eating the Fresh Produce they grew and sold, either from the Pocket Spaces or from the Spatial Ark Star World.
The Old Man decided to walk past Esmond and close up the shop for the evening.
He gave Esmond a quick hug before leading him to the back of the building, where he'd created a storage room and living quarters for himself and Davi.
However, when Esmond arrived in the back of the store, the whole place had expanded several times over and was organised.
There even appeared to be several droids working, either managing the items in the back or cleaning up.
Esmond was a little surprised by their appearance because they seemed like items made within the Space Ark.
"Your younger brother sold me a couple of them.
They're quite helpful.
I usually have them cleaning up and managing the stock, but they also help with the cooking every so often." The Old Man said before passing Esmond a drink from the refrigerator.
Esmond couldn't help but smile when he saw the drink also was produced in the Spatial Ark Star World.
"You know… I have a feeling you're quite the repeated customer of Mavericks…"
"What can I say Kid, you produce some amazing goods that I cannot let pass by."
Smirking, the Old Man took a seat opposite Esmond as he had some matters to discuss right away.