The dragon's harem

As everyone was still trying to get back on their feet and recover from seeing the explosion caused by Arad’s sole throw, they finally noticed that he was getting ready to start flinging them like there was no tomorrow.

The arena mages raced to double the strength of the barriers protecting the watchers, and all of the archers escaped back. Only Aella remained standing behind Arad.

Arad took his shoes and shirt off, looked around, lifted his right leg, shook it for a while, and then stomped down. The ground beneath him solidified with earth magic into black bedrock, and his feet turned into dark talons with claws sharp enough to anchor him to the bedrock.

He then waved his hand, conjuring a stone into his palm, and leaned back. Hot blood rushed into his upper torso and back as he took a deep breath, and then everything turned into a blur.

One move, lean back, conjure a stone into his palm, and then throw it. All of that happened in a fraction of a second, too fast for anything to see. The spectators only realized that he started throwing half a second later when the horizon exploded into a blazing fire and radiant light. The ground cracked, the sky was painted red, and the sheer heat and ear-shattering noise were harsh enough to kill anyone not protected.

Of course, Arad was well aware that what he was doing wasn’t just a show of skill in a tournament. He wanted to make a show of his power so no stupid paladin would think it safe to attack him or his wives.

When the ten seconds ended, there was no wall, no ground, and no mountain, just a titanic pool of boiling lava, ash, and smoke the size of a city.

The magic counter declared a respectful 1678 shots fired, which was still lower than Aella’s fire rate, but that wasn’t the point Arad wanted to make. It didn’t matter if Arad or her won. What mattered was sending a message.

Arad and Aella watched as the mushroom cloud rapidly faded, and the referee barely managed to stand and approached them, terrified and shaking.

“You, you’re placing second in firing rate.” He looked at the damage, “But, I don’t know.” He couldn’t even articulate what he wanted to say. At first, he thought that Aella was powerful enough to be a weapon of mass destruction on her own, but now that he had seen Arad, she looked as weak compared to him as everyone else was weak compared to her.

“You two are definitely talents that this arena hasn’t seen in a thousand years. No, I would dare say no one of your caliber had set foot here. It’s really a miracle to see you both at the same time.” He then looked between them and smiled. “Between you two, who do you think would win in a direct fight?”

Arad and Aella looked at each other for a second, and then she chuckled, “Between us? Of course, he’d win.” She then looked back at Arad and smiled, “Have you considered that he is just throwing stones with his raw physical strength, unlike us who use bows to store energy over a long pull and then release it?”

It was then that the referee understood what the real problem was. While all the other arches used tools, Arad only used his body. Meaning that Arad two could move just as fast as those stones he was throwing. If his arm could throw them, then he could punch with the same force.

The referee nodded and then looked back at the commentator, signaling for him to announce the result. Just like before, only Arad and Aella landed an 11/10 for the sheer destructive power they showed while keeping an inhuman fire rate.

It was quite horrifying and humbling to know that monsters like them lived in the world. Two individuals, each of them carries enough power to rival an army on their own, even surpass it.

The last round started. It was the close-range fighting, putting the archers against each other in close proximity to fight. This would prove how well they can move and aim while being pressured by an active, resisting opponent.

Two archers walked in the middle of the arena. Each of them held a powerful bow in hand and looked around, counting all of the cover points, the shadows, and the position of the sun. They are now going to get locked in a small arena that isn’t bigger than a 30-meter circle.

The premise was simple: run, dodge, take cover, and shoot. Each fight won’t last any longer than one minute, and if, within that time, neither of the archers managed to land a shot, both would get disqualified.

Moreover, every two seconds, the arena gets one meter smaller and only stops growing smaller in the last ten seconds, forcing the archers to fight in a tiny, 5-meter circle.

Arad and Aella were pushed to the end like before since their performance would more suit a finale than a starting show. For now, multiple small arenas formed from the ground, and hundreds of fights were taking place.

“A close-quarter combat is an archer’s nightmare.” The referee looked at the commentator and smiled, “This tiny arena simulates an ever-shrinking battlefield where you’re enemy’s reinforcement would arrive soon while you have nothing.”

The commentator smiled, “That’s why they get disqualified if neither managed to land a shot. You don’t lose because you got hit. You lose because you didn’t get to hit your enemy.”

“That’s correct. Anything short of putting an arrow through your enemy’s chest is a defeat. Most archers already realized that and are now doing their best to land a shot. Some are even risking getting shot to score a hit.”

Currently, there are three types of archers fighting in the arenas.

The first type was those who were confident in their archery skills. They didn’t even care to move and just stood in one place, shooting arrows to attack their enemy and defect arrows with shots of their own.

One such a fight was burning between two talents. The steel arrowheads couldn’t stop kissing in the middle of the arena as they fired tens of arrows at each other.

“How much experience does it take to block an arrow with an arrow?” The commentator asked, and the referee frowned. “It doesn’t take time. It takes talent. Some can train their whole life and never manage to do it. They just weren’t born with the reaction speed and eyes good enough for such a thing.” He pointed at some of the fights.

“You can train your body, but not your eyes. Look, that one just tried to block an arrow with an arrow and ended up eating an arrow to the shoulder.”