Upon entering the gate, Miko could tell that a it was an arena, with hundreds seats aranged in a circle. A platform stood at the center, where a protective dome covered.
"What's this about?" Miko asked in curiosity.
"A tournament. It is something you can only find in the capital since the other towns and villages don't have the resources to build it and keep up safety standards." Tashi replied.
Both of them took their seats near the middle row. It offered a great view, and it was less expensive compared to the front, where cultivators sat. It was to ensure safety as cultivator bodies could withstand the impact if the dome was damaged, and it gave them a more realistic feel of the battle without injuring them.
Miko and Tashi waited for the rest of the audience to settle down. Very soon, it was time for the tournament to begin.
"Good morning, thank you precious guests for comming to today's tournament. In this new season, we are offering new beasts for show! Please place your bets now! First up, we have a bear and a tiger! I would say this is bound to be quite an interesting match!" The host announced.
Miko's eyes widened in horror when she realised this was a fight between beasts, orchastrated by humans. She turned to look at Tashi, but she could see his eyes sparkling in excitement at the upcomming match.
"The rules are as the usual. Just place your bets with the bettor comming around later if you wish to take a chance at earning some gold! With account to your stakes, you will win a certain amount! The current stakes are currently as such: bear is to tiger, three is to four. If tiger wins, you will get three times your bid. If bear wins, four times! Starting bid: ten gold! Maximum bid: a hundred gold!"
An excited murmur spread through the crowd like wildfire as the bettors began to make their way around and collect the audience's bets. Tashi handed fifteen gold coins to the bookmaker, "Bets on bear."
The bettor wrote down his bet and gestured towards Miko.
"She's with me," Tashi replied. The bettor nodded, and went down the row to collect the rest of the bets in his area.
"Very well, the results are in!" The host announced after a short while, "Sixty three percent on tiger, thirty seven percent on bear! Lets see which group will be the lucky winners today!"
The crowd erupted in applause and cheer as the gladiator gates opened on both sides of the platform as two half beasts began to climb up on it.
"Now, let's hear from the audience! Should the game be played human or beast form?!" The host questioned in an attempt to rouse the audience further.
"Beast!" The crowd collectively cheered. Almost immediately, the collars on both their necks began to spark, as both spiritual beasts began to switch back to their complete beast forms. Their skirts were torn off during their transformation, as they writhed in pain. Both of them were chained to the edge of the dome as a powder began to diffuse into the air inside. The beasts immediately became more aggressive, growling at each other as they tugged strongly against the metal chains. Miko could feel her heart rate increase, as she felt more adrenaline rush through her. However, as it was within the dome, and she was inside a human body, it had less of an effect on her. If not, she might already be going on a rampage like those beasts.
"In...Three... Two... One...," The host began...
"GO!" Both the host and the audience roared. The chains leashing those wild beasts began to dissapear, as both of them charged towards each other.
Both beasts, like wild animals, went at each other, scratching and biting, swiping their claws and clenching their jaws at the other's body. Miko couldn't bear to watch, although she forced herself to keep her eyes open and face the stage. If she were to close her eyes, or look away, those around her would clearly tell something was amiss. Who would come here but not watch the match? It was like paying for a performance and then not watching it. If they had thought a little harder, there was no doubt they could find out that she could be a spiritual beast. Closing their eyes and looking away was for the weak. And in this world, the weak will never survive long. Even if this was painful, she needed to watch if she wanted to survive.
Seeing as none of their physical attacks worked against their foe, whose body was being protected by spiritual energy, they began to infuse spiritual energy into their attacks.
"Now this is the exciting part! Don't blink now!" The host announced, which was followed by cheers in the crowd. Miko clapped along, her attention still focused on the bear, which began to show signs of scratches and light wounds on its body.
Using her current body's spiritual energy, Miko tried to assess the current state of the bear and tiger. Not much to her surprise, she could feel hundreds of cultivators doing the same thing. Both of the beasts were at the same cultivation stage, but the tiger was actually slightly stronger in terms of cultivation compared to the bear. Most of the humans actually could not see this, but Miko could as she was naturally more attuned to spirits and nature, as she was a spirit herself.
The crowd watched in awe as the battle began to get heated. The bear had more strengths than the tiger, but the tiger just had that little more cultivation, which evened the playing field.
Imbuing more spiritual energy into its claws, the tiger managed to create quicker, more powerful swipes towards the body of its opponent. The bear retreated, rising on its two hind legs and raising front paws up, before slamming them down. This force shook the entire arena, although most powerful near the stage. That was probably what those enhanced arena walls were for.
The tiger immediately leapt backwards into the air, so that it would not be affected by the tremours on the ground. When it landed, it summoned hard, brown rocks towards the bear, and surrounded the arena stage with it. The bear used its previous skill again to break the rocks in front of it, but that tiger was long gone...