Anna dropped the heavy book on the table. Dust clouds flew off from the impact. The front cover of the book still covered with some dust, so Anna had to blow them off, revealing the title. "The Dragon's Calling And Other Tales From The Eastern Heavens." Fen read out loud.
Anna flipped through the pages of the book until she found the tale she was looking for, The Titan Wrestles. Anna told Fen to retrieve some notebooks and a chalkboard. Fen returned, pushing a cart with a pile of notebooks and a long folded chalkboard. She gave Anna the pile of notebooks and took the foldable chalkboard to the wall. She unfolded and hanged it on the wall facing Anna.
"Alright, Fen, I need you to write this down," Anna handed Fen chalk, "Death is unnatural."
Fen wrote 'death is unnatural' and circled it. "Are we making some sort of thought bubbles?"
"Yes, we are." Anna responded, "Now we have three ideas or philosophies that branch out from this core idea. The first is the Sky People's thoughts on death. Write down that death is a disease we must eliminate."
"Can't I just write death is a disease?"
"Of course." Anna turned her attention 'The Dragon's Calling And Other Tales From The Eastern Heavens' book. She read the title aloud to Fen, and then she paused. Anna was hesitant. The Titan Wrestles is one controversial story in Titania's Epic. This is due to the dragons and what they represent.
Dragons are alien to their world similarly alien to it as the Sky People. One of their alien features were the number of limbs they possess. While invertebrates native to their world possess four limbs, the dragons to the east possess six. Four of their limbs are legs while the remaining two were ginormous wings, strong enough to lift a dragon's body in the air.
No one knows how dragons could achieve flight because there are no more dragons alive to investigate. Most dragons left after the war and returned to the Infinite Sea, and the Sky People imprisoned the rest before leaving. The whereabouts of these imprisoned dragons are unknown. Not even the Red Wizard could find them.
Gisele's opinion of dragons could align with many xenophobes found throughout the world. Implying that the dragon's outlook on death is more credible than her, and the world's concept of death may anger her. The only reason the Sky People is more acceptable is because of the technology they left behind. Understanding more about the Sky People presided the hate many have towards them.
Regardless, she had no other option but to include the dragon's philosophy of death. "Write down death as the creation of the devil."
"Ok," Fen wrote 'death invented by devil.'
Tina Bökh Fight was an important traditional match. The Queen of Slaves created it in order to get the dragons to her side. The dragons did not like the Sky People, but they also don't hate them. That's because the Sky People actively fought death.
Luckily, Titania convinced the dragons they are the culprit to the thousands of deaths. But this was not enough. War against the Sky People would cause millions of lives, and participating in this war would undermine their philosophical tenets. But Titania did not give up.
To show that she represented life while the Sky People represented death, she challenged the dragons to match. If she beat their greatest champion, then they must join her. This was a ridiculous idea. The only way a mortal could defeat a dragon is by killing it, and the act of killing is precisely what the dragons detest.
The dragons refused at first, but Titania called them a race of cowards, which angered the dragons enough to accept the match. The rules were simple. Titania will relinquish her life, and in return, the dragons will relinquish their army. If she wins, they must join her cause. But if they win, they can have her life. And she added one more rule. Only her life can be taken.
Titania's opponent was the 'Heavenly General' Li Jing. Li Jing entered the giant ring adorned in heavy armor. The tip of his tail was fitted with a spear called the Pagoda. Titania entered bare naked. Her nakedness shocked the dragons and her retainers. The only thing she wielded was the long sword given to her by the ocean gods.
The two fought for three nights and two days with the upper hand constantly shifting from side to side. However, on the third night, Titania struck through Li Jing's metal plate armor and stabbed his crystal heart. The match ended in her victory.
The dragons accepted the loss but did not accept Titania's claim of representing life, especially since she killed their beloved general. Not only that, she went against the rules she had made. "You have yet to see everything!" She yelled at the dragons. Titania walked to Li Jing's corpse. Coming out from her hand was mana glowing like the stars in the night sky. She touched Li Jing's body. The light blanketed the corpse. After a few seconds, Li Jing's wound healed. After a few minutes, his heart began to beat. After half an hour, Li Jing woke up alive and well.
"Witness the miracle! Despite your age and your wisdom, only I can tell you that I have beaten devil's greatest weapon!" She yelled at the masses. The dragons went into an uproar. They could not believe it. In fact, they refused to believe it. But they could not unsee what they saw before them.
The Dragons eventually settled down. They bowed to Titania and swore their allegiance to her cause. She now has the final piece she needed to fight the Sky People. She fainted and fell to the flower, exhausted from her journey.
Ever since then, Tina Bökh Fight has become the staple of duels. Two sides must relinquish their most valued possession. That can include their life.