After a long day watching the fights, Aoi leads them to a local hotel to book a room for the rest of the week. It's a good thing they agreed to go with her since the innkeeper initially denies having any extra rooms available, but with the good word of the Youkai, her whole attitude changes, and she finds them a small single room on the third floor.
The inn doesn't like renting to fighters, most likely because of all the drinking and violence that goes with it, and seeing the awakened stranger, that's what she thought Cain was, a fighter who got kicked out of his previous accommodations.
Nila sends word that night that she has made it safely out of the danger zone around the Southern Continent using her new Void Travel skills, and is nearly halfway back home. The Guild will be ecstatic to see her back with all that gear so soon, so Cain wishes her well and lets her get back to work while he makes a plan for the day.
Today the contestants will be fighting with their summons and trained beasts, which should be a very different experience than yesterday. These battles also aren't in the main arena, they are on an open field outside town since some of the creatures are simply too big or need too much space for their fights. A Drake in a ten-meter box is hardly a fair fight after all. It might be fun to watch the fire burn inside the box, but that's about all you would see, and neither fighter would really be able to move.
When Cain learns that one of the abilities that Awakened Beast Lords and similar classes can learn creates a red and white ball that contains a pocket dimension where tamed animals and mounts can be held in stasis he laughs himself to tears.
There is no way, not a single chance, that such an item was not created by a Transfer, no matter how many times the locals at the inn insist that they had been around since the war between the Gods.
These fights start much earlier in the day than the regular fighters since they aren't in an arena that can be well lit for the battles. But that's fine by Cain and the others, who are happily loading up their inventory with local snacks and liquors in preparation for a long day of entertainment.
Since this is the semi-finals, there won't be many fights, and they will have an intermission between each match, with entertainment and vendors selling merchandise. Aoi insists the stuffed animals are horrendously overpriced, but the chocolate-covered soft pretzels are to die for, the perfect mix of salty and sweet. With Laura the foodie Dragon along, that theory will be put to the test, but getting to watch a local music concert one short set at a time between monster fights sounds like a great way to spend a day.
The first match is a pair of Feline beasts with purple fur and white spots. Both are ferocious, and predictably evenly matched. The crowd is loving the mirror match, which ends up going to the Judge's decision in the final round.
That's the point when Laura realizes that no flying creatures are allowed, their participation prohibited in the name of fairness and her hopes of dominating the division with Dragon Breath are doused. Aoi thinks it's hilarious though. Dragons customarily treat these creatures as food, with all the benefits their species gives them at Mythic Quality. The fact that one would want to get into an actual fight with them never crossed her mind, even after seeing the diminutive pixie form that Laura takes on.
[They do look tasty, now that she has mentioned it. We should take some time to find some when we get out of town.] Laura insists silently, making the others chuckle.
After the fight, a musical group that Cain would call an Orcish Heavy Metal band takes the stage between the crowd and the fight, plugging in their instruments and sending a magical charge into the amplifiers. Supposedly they come from the Western Continent, but the mostly elven crowd isn't particular about their origins, only the quality of the music. The band ends up being more popular than any of the three fights they play their sets between today.
The next two are lopsided blowouts Cain called the moment he saw the matchups, but the final matchup of the day is a vicious-looking Bear against some sort of Cyborg. According to the announcer, it is entirely mechanical and Cain searches out both the controller and the Gnome who appears to be the creator in the crowd to record among his forms.
Cain has a lot of things among his myriad of abilities, but combat-capable Cyborgs with Mythic level enchantments would be incredible when used as the basis for his puppets. This one needs someone in charge to give it commands, though he isn't carrying a full controller, just a microphone. It is possible that he is magically controlling it through a single small device, but the robot seems to have some level of autonomy.
The gnome working the controls sounds much like a boxing coach to Cain, shouting directions, but the bear outmatches the robot in everything but durability. The shielding around the robot holds for two whole rounds, while the claws of the robot have heavily injured the bear. The third round spells the construct's demise though with a mighty crushing blow breaking the shielding spell and crushing the head of the robot, causing it to collapse into a crumpled heap on the ground.
That isn't nearly enough for the bear though, and the trainer is losing control of the beast. Cain can see it fighting the commands and refusing to return to its containment, preferring to smash the fallen robot a few more times. Even when the Beast Lord comes in to try to subdue it physically, it doesn't go peacefully, beating the Elf half to death before he can get it back into the pocket dimension.
For the crowd, that is the highlight of the day, except perhaps the final set by the band that follows the match, but Cain is much more interested in the design of the robot.
