This was a completely new take on things.
With a ranking list consisting of only one hundred people, Ri's ranking of 27 was nearly unprecedented. And what was even more surprising? Everyone here could tell that she wasn't even 19 years of age yet. It really put things into perspective. Even if her husband was weaker than Ri, or so they thought, he was also just as young, being only a few months older than Ri. So, logically speaking, for him to be her husband, it was likely that his talent surpassed much of theirs as well.
At least, that was what the intelligent warriors immediately picked up on. As for the more block-headed large man, all he saw was Ri's ranking and how he should have chosen his words better than he had.
The truth was that although he wasn't within the top 100, he was still within the top 30 his planet had to offer. It was just that he barely missed out. So, when he saw a teenage boy like Dyon looking down on him and completely ignoring his provocation, a rage built up in his heart.
However, Dyon seemed completely oblivious to his aura even as he passed by and led Ri to an open table where he intimately laid his arm out for Ri to rest her head on.
It was at this moment that many noticed Ri's level of beauty. Because of the receptionist's questioning, Ri had been partially hidden, and thus no one got a good look at her until Dyon led her past.
A sudden look of realization crossed the faces of the four beauties, 'No wonder…' They thought. But, that just lit a competitive spirit within them. They had no real interest in Dyon despite how attractive he was. To them, a young man not able to be in the top 100 rankings wasn't worth their time. But, for a beauty that rivaled them to appear like she had, and yet be ranked so highly despite being younger than them, that was definitely something to take note of.
Seeing that Dyon had taken hold of his job from him, the receptionist shook his head and began to speak, "Now that we have a representative for each Planet, we can begin."
The truth was that the receptionist had been told that no one from Earth had planned to come. He had only waited this long to give the semblance that this hadn't been a planned absence. But, with someone so highly ranked having come, this saved Earth from a lot of embarrassment. Ri wasn't the most highly ranked they had, but she also wasn't too lowly ranked either. It was perfect.
The truth was that there was no way the other injured Earth rankers could heal as quickly as Ri. After all, Ri's husband was one of the most skilled array alchemists on the planet, and even in the universe. With his constant care, it was no wonder Ri recovered so much faster.
"The premise of today's battles is simple. The crowd below is currently watching miscellaneous fights between people you all likely look down upon. However, we of the Chaos Arena are in business of entertainment.
Keep in mind that there is no obligation to battle today. In fact, we have plenty of fights lined up that you will find of interest regardless of what you feel about the current happenings.
Treat today as a friendly way to get a pulse on your competition. If you don't want to fight. Don't." The receptionist turned to walk out of the doorway, but, before he closed it, he smirked. "That said, I think you're all a lot more competitive than that."
With that, the door locked and the room shifted. Everything began to tilt and slope downward, continuing until the arena and noises below suddenly came into full effect.
The loud blaring of the masses, the sound of the cries of agony and breaking bones and flesh – even the smell of blood suddenly invaded all of their senses.
They were only 5 stories up, which made Dyon think what the rest of the building's height was used for. He definitely remembered it being much taller than the inn he and Ri had stayed in, and the inn was ten stories.
Shaking his head, Dyon looked down at the table in front of him, suddenly remembering he hadn't eaten in weeks. He had spent all of his team constantly healing Ri, and because of his new energy cultivation, he hadn't particularly felt it. But, he was missing the human aspect of savouring food.
"Hungry?" Dyon smiled down at Ri who seemed lost for a instant, looking down at all the chaos going on in the arena below.
Ri giggled, resting her small hand on Dyon's thigh, "Go ahead and eat, you glutton."
Dyon grinned when he noticed the food mechanisms were near identical to Heaven's Wine. It dawned on him that even if he didn't have Iaachus' badge, he could essentially use his array alchemy to force the table to give him whatever food he wanted for free. But, he found it much funnier to know that somewhere, Iaachus' tab was steadily growing. In fact, he wondered if he'd meet Iaachus again soon. He found it odd that someone as powerful as him wasn't at the gates. Or at least, Dyon hadn't seen him. It was quite possible that maybe Iaachus campaigned on another planet.
It didn't take long for Dyon and Ri's table to be filled with food. But, it was clear to everyone that only Dyon was eating. To the elite warriors, eating was almost something reserved for the inferior masses. If you felt hungry enough to eat, it meant you were either lazy with your cultivation, or you were weak to begin with.
However, the more intelligent noticed something different about Dyon's eating, causing their eyes to sharpen and look at him in an entirely different light. His digestion was perfect.
That only meant one thing: his foundation stage cultivation had reached a realm of perfection only allowed by a peak level technique. And yet, they felt no cultivation coming from him. They had no idea what that could mean.
Of course, Dyon had done this on purpose. He wanted to see who would notice how much finetuned control he had over his body. Those who noticed would earn the right to be on his radar.
Suddenly, the beautiful middle eastern lady dressed like an Egyptian queen thought of something, "Uta. Go and probe him." She said through essence communication.
The large young man didn't need any more prompting. He didn't know he was being used, but even if he did know, the commands of this young woman weren't commands he could ignore.
Dyon snorted playfully when he noticed who was coming over, but he didn't care too much. In fact, Dyon was still scanning the area for any Ragnor Clan slaves he could find. As of now, Dyon could see among the twenty or so arenas below, at least five of them involved slaves fighting in one way or another. Some even had two slaves fighting each other. And when they weren't fighting, they were cleaning up after the mess of completely battles.
Dyon cared much more about this than the clown puppet now looming over him and Ri.
"Fuck off." Ri wasn't happy. They hadn't bothered anyone since they'd come, and yet here was this oversized bear of a man come with clear bad intentions.
The young man hesitated at Ri's anger. He had been prepared to deal with Dyon, but Ri was someone even he didn't want to provoke. But, he knew it was too late to back down now, so he focused on Dyon, hoping his allies would help him should it come down to a fight with Ri.
"Can you even be called a man, hiding behind a woman?"
Dyon said nothing, continuing to scan the arena and eat the meat of what was definitely a heaven level beast much to his happiness.
Seeing Dyon ignoring him, the young man took this as a sign of weakness. "The weak have no place here. I'd like your seat, so it's best you fuck off."
Dyon sighed. "I usually try not to judge people by their outward appearances, but you really are a brainless brute, aren't you?"
"What did you say?!"
"Worst yet," Dyon continued, ignoring his question, "You say I'm hiding behind a woman, but you're taking orders from one right now. In fact, you're hoping to use her as a shield to protect you from my wife's anger. You're quite the manly man, aren't you?"
