The announcer smiled. This was the first Trial Challenger to grace his arena. He didn't want to lose this potential council member's favor. He told the men down below to pit him against a weak beast. The beastman smiled seeing the masked human realize what he did for him.
Leo shook his head. He was looking forward to testing his strength today.
"Challenger get ready...Fight!"
The large Siberian tiger leaped at Leo. Leo looked at the beautiful cat beast coming towards him. Then he started to channel mana from his core. "King's Roar!"
*ROOAARRR!*
A fierce cat like roar came from Leo and stopped the tiger mid-jump. This new attack was a combination of his new lion DNA, mana, and Mind Fire. It released a vocal attack that attacked the minds of the opponents around him.
Even people in the stand felt the urge to kneel before Leo. The Siberian tiger took the most significant portion of the attack. The beast instantly laid down and bowed it heads.
Leo walked over and scratched the cat behind the ear, and the beast let out a pleasant purr. "It is alright. You can stand." Leo sent a message directly to the creature.
The announcer was stunned. He had seen several fights the past months and not once did anyone ever tries to tame the beast. He was impressed. "Give the challenger a round of applause. Fantastic! He defeated the beast without throwing a single punch." Looking at his mask and his last move, the beastman decided to give him a moniker. "All hail the Beast King!"
"Beast King! Beast King! Beast King!"
Leo smiled behind his mask and walked toward the arena door with the tiger following directly behind him.
The beastman that let him through and said, "The boss said if you don't mind waiting, he would like to have a chat. Also here is your prize money." The beastman hand a keychain to Leo. "You may also keep the cat beast if you wish."
Leo looked down at the tiger, who was acting as a house cat towards Leo. "Keep the cat beast here till I wish to retrieve her." After communicating with the cat, Leo realized it was a she.
Leo sat there and drank a type of tea till the arena was done with its main event. Like a gust of the wind, the announcer showed up with a huge grin. If one paid attention to this variant, he would look very similar to foxes of the earth.
He reached out his hand to shake Leo's. "Nice to finally meet in person. I'm Unit 933, but those around here call me Sly."
"People call me Leo."
"I apologize earlier if you didn't like the nickname I gave you on the spot. I just said it to get the crowd going." The fox-man was very fidgety. Not something you'd expect from a mighty warrior.
Leo knew all of this was done to gain favor and he didn't want to leave any loose ends before he went, so he asked him directly. "Sly, what do you want from me?"
Leo's frankness caught him off guard. He thought for second before replying, "First, I just want to be friends with a trial challenger as yourself."
Leo shock him a look as if to cut it out.
"Mainly, I need the council's approval on a matter." The fox started to twiddle his fingers. "Since we are friends, I figured you could help me out." The beastman let out a big grin to show his sincerity.
"Fine, I will bring it up. You seem resourceful, and I need help obtaining a few things." Leo figured it would be a lot easier for Sly to get his travel preparations than himself.
"Well let me tell you what I need. I wish to humanoid vs. humanoid fighting here in the arena. The council forbids it. If you can get them to approve it, I will get anything you need."
This is indeed a big issue. Leo thought for a bit and then stood up. "I will go talk to the council. In the meantime, the things I need are the following." Leo listed off a spaceship, supplies, a blaster, and place for Leo to stay at with his new cat friend.
Sly wasted no time and wrote down each item and then asked questions on preference. If Leo could make this happen for him, then he would sell his soul to him. The one thing Sly cared about more than his cultivation was power money brought.
In Lankani City the council held power. Even though they weren't the strongest in cultivation, they were representatives for the Guardian Lankani.
This new dynamic in the city opened Sly's eyes that strength wasn't always the only power. Through the control of trade and money, Sly found his true calling. If he could, he wished to stay in this city forever and never return to the beastmen's country.
Leo bid Sly and his new tiger farewell and decided to head up to the councils building. Walking through all the tents, Leo saw the majestic palace north of him. It had the same beauty the first time he saw with Lucy.
Getting closer to the palace, Leo saw a very uninteresting clay building on the opposite side of it. This building was the council's hall. He wondered why the committee chose to build such a boring structure outside the palace.
Leo entered the building and saw two draconians and two mermanians around the table. The mermanian who welcomed him early waved him in to sit down. "Welcome to Council's hall."
The two draconians were surprised, and so was the other mermanian. They all knew Leo. The mermanian didn't know what to say after seeing the shocked looks on his counterparts.
Leo knew the two draconians. They were the same ones sent to attack him and Lucy. The draconian that was wounded stood up and bowed.
"I, Mitne, apologizes to you. I was following orders and didn't understand my true path. I hope you can forgive my past actions."
Leo didn't ever give him another thought and forgiving him was too easy. "I forgive you, Mitne." The draconian smiled with his sharp fang expressing his relief at Leo's words. The dragon-man sat down.
The mermanian who welcomed Leo earlier was the only one who didn't know him. When Leo was at the third domain, when he was there, the mermanian never left his room and only heard of the three humans passing before him.
"Let us formally introduce each other. I am Ab-dab. I was the first to pass the trails after the three humans passed." Leo perked up. He must be talking about him.
The other mermanian spoke up, "I am Ashal. I saw you and your friends pass the third domain. I also spoke with the human Aarav on several occasions on the law of water."
When Ab-dab heard that he realized one of the humans that passed the third trial was before him, he wondered why it took him so long to cross the final test.
The fourth member stood up since Mitne already introduced himself. "I am called Sargt. I also ask for your forgiveness as I was with him and didn't stop him."
"You are forgiven, Sargt." Leo was impressed with how much these four changed by going through the trials. The palace changed their perception of how they view life. "I am called Leo. Nice to formally meet you all."