Two weeks.
That's how much time he had left to raise his profile in the eyes of the public. As of right now, Zeke didn't have much of a reputation. Even though his first fight had been spectacular, the subsequent surrenders had made it impossible for him to display his skill. However, that would all change now.
Having advanced to the second circle, called the Warrior's Crucible, Zeke didn't think the contestants would be so cowardly as to avoid him anymore. After all, those were experienced fighters, many having fought for years already. They even managed to give Leo a hard time.
Zeke was eager to meet his first opponent. She was a Chimeroi named Drakar, and from what he had heard, she had personally asked for this matchup. It wasn't hard to guess her motives, as she belonged to a subspecies of wyverns, a distant relative of Dragons. As such, she likely took offense to a human calling himself Blood Dragon.
After using [Blood Manifestation], the Dragon emerged. The summoning was larger than the first time Zeke had used the spell. It now had significantly more mass and reached his waist when walking on all fours.
The reason for this change was twofold. For one, Zeke had optimized his Spellform, resulting in less waste. And the other reason was that he had learned to vary the amount of Blood and Mana he invested into the spell. This allowed him to control the size of his summoning at will.
The Dragon he had summoned today was still far from the biggest he could conjure. However, as the bottleneck was the amount of blood he could supply, Zeke didn't want to get close to his limit. Anything more than this, and he would feel the side effects of the blood loss. He had already supplied far more blood to the summoning than a normal man his size could carry.
Over the past months, Zeke had continually worked on his [Blood Compression]. He was already at three times his original volume, catching up with the likes of Mordred Bloodsword. This was an insane rate of progress, considering that Mordred had been working on his compression ever since becoming a Mage. Zeke was convinced that it was only through his Space affinity that he had progressed this far in such a short time.
The Dragon curiously inspected its body, and Zeke didn't miss the satisfaction in its eyes at the improvements. Even though it would never admit it, Zeke knew that the Dragon was thankful for all his work on this project. After all, this was more than they had originally bargained for.
"Let's go," he said, strolling out into the arena.
At its current size, the Dragon couldn't even perch itself on Zeke's shoulder anymore. Therefore, it just trailed in the air behind him like a menacing specter.
From the other side of the arena, Zeke's opponent entered at the same time. The woman was about a foot taller than Zeke and had rough-looking, leathery skin, horns, and no hair. On top of that, her head had a weird, elongated shape. Honestly, it was not an attractive look. The two bat-like wings that protruded from her back gave her appearance an even less human feel.
Zeke's eyes filled with pity. He had noticed a pattern recently, a division of sorts. Some Chimeroi were born fortunate, having seamlessly integrated their monster parts with their human half. This even enhanced their looks, giving them an exotic charm. Ash and Ripper were examples of those. Others were less fortunate and instead looked like a failed fusion between the two — neither truly monster nor human. The woman in front of him was a good example of the latter group.
"Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for a treat! This time, the infamous newcomer, Blood Dragon, has his first match in the Warrior's Crucible," the announcer yelled. "Opposite him, we have Drakar. As a descendent of wyverns, she could also be said to belong to the Dragon species. What an exciting fight, ladies and gentlemen — Dragon against Dragon!"
Zeke could hear the Dragon snort as it shot a death glare at the announcer. It clearly didn't agree with the assessment that wyverns belonged to its species. However, it wasn't the only one who was unhappy with the announcer's words. Drakar also glared at the man. However, it was most likely for the opposite reason.
Seeing her disdainful eyes, the Dragon didn't waste any more time. It immediately shot out from behind Zeke. In the Rings of Samsara, there was no countdown or anything of the sort. The moment you emerged in the open, the fight began.
Drakar flapped her wings, trying to take to the air as well. However, before her feet even left the ground, the Dragon had already reached her. It rammed into her directly, sinking its claws into her shoulders as its momentum carried them both to the floor. After tumbling a few times, the Dragon emerged on top, its maw only a hair's breadth away from her face.
Drakar was frozen in fear. Her body was as stiff as a board, and she didn't even dare to blink. Zeke suspected that this wasn't only because of her current situation. Being this close to the Dragon, she could doubtlessly feel the draconic aura from Zeke's blood. The amulet Maximilian had given him managed to suppress it, but that didn't hold true for his summons.
Even though there was only a slight trace of a draconic aura in his blood, Drakar, as a descendant of wyverns, was extremely sensitive to it. The suppression of bloodlines was a genuine force among monsters. Therefore, no reptilian could raise its head in the face of a true Dragon. She likely couldn't even move if she wanted to.
The Dragon stared into her eyes for a moment longer before returning to the air, leaving her untouched. Zeke found this curious. His summon had been absolutely ruthless last time, but it didn't seem to be out for blood anymore.
The moment the Dragon returned to his side, Zeke saw Drakar raise her hand shakily. She extended her little finger toward the sky, signaling her surrender. This one action seemed to have already taken all the strength she had left, as her arm lifelessly fell soon after.
Zeke looked from the prone woman to the Dragon and back again. Wasn't this an even faster victory than last time? He just hoped that his upcoming opponents wouldn't start to surrender again after this display of power.
Luckily, the worst didn't happen, and none of his following opponents surrendered. However, they didn't fare much better than Drakar either.
Zeke got a real taste of why the Invocatians relied on summoning Magic. Why would anybody practice spells if they could send out such a monster instead? He just stood there, arms crossed, waiting for victory. Not only was this as easy as breathing, but people even thought he looked dashing doing so. His relaxed posture made it look like the fights were a breeze.
After Drakar, he faced Ironmaw, Ravengaze, Shadowstalker, Bloodfang and Razorback. And eventually, he met Rockfist in the final round.
This was the same opponent Leo had fought the prior week. This time, his defeat was even more miserable. The Chimeroi's hardened skin posed next to no resistance against the Dragon's claws. The fight was over almost as soon as it started, as the first blow had already severed an artery, leaving Rockfist bleeding profusely.
The stone giant could genuinely be called unlucky for meeting the two brothers back to back. Both weeks, he had lost in the final round. At least, the fight against Zeke hadn't been close at all, making the defeat easier to swallow. In fact, none of the fights had been close.
The only time he had been in any danger was in the fight against Razorback. The man had an innate Magic that allowed him to grow venomous spikes. However, Zeke had miscalculated their purpose. Instead of defense, his opponent was using them as javelins. This had caught him by surprise, and Zeke was too late to dodge the projectile.
However, Akasha was not caught by surprise. In line with their summoner persona, she used an unattuned spell to create a small magic barrier in front of him, deflecting the attack. In the next moment, the Dragon reached his opponent, ending the fight in a single blow.
This event had served as somewhat of a wake-up call for Zeke. He was forced to realize a critical weakness of summoner Mages. Given their passive role, it was incredibly easy to zone out during a fight. After all the previous victories, he had started to feel bored — his usual alertness was nowhere to be seen. This negligence had led to him being caught flat-footed, and Zeke could freely admit that he might have gotten seriously hurt without Akasha's help.
If he wanted to use his [Blood Manifestation] in real fights, he would have to find a way to integrate it into his usual battle style instead of remaining passive. Otherwise, he could not guarantee that the same thing wouldn't happen again.
However, all in all, Zeke was delighted with his results. He had remained undefeated for two weeks in a row, finishing all his fights in record time.
By now, he had a certain level of notoriety in the Rings. Occasionally, he would even be recognized as he walked the streets. Many wondered if his winning streak would carry over into the third circle of the Rings of Samsara. This was an important question, as the third circle, called the Champion's Forge, was the true proving ground. It was the dividing line between a promising youngster and an actual powerhouse.
As if to prove that fact, Leo lost right away. He had been unlucky enough to meet one of the powerhouses in his very first match. His opponent had been a human Grand Mage. The middle-aged man triumphed over Leo without much problem, ending his winning spree for good.
From the third circle onward, humans were much more common in the Rings. While the Chimeroi seemed to have an advantage below the Grand Mage level, the opposite was true from thereon. Grand Mages could unleash devastating spells that were hard to counter with the body alone.
Looking at the fourth circle, the only Chimeroi who could still compete were those with extraordinary innate Magic. For example, Ashen Wolf had the Mistwalker's bloodline, allowing him to turn his body incorporeal at crucial moments. His movements were ghostly as he appeared and disappeared like an apparition.
Zeke thought long and hard about the best course of action. In the end, he decided not to compete at all during the third week. He could have debuted in the third circle, but was that really the best move? Right now, the limits of his capabilities were still a mystery, lending him the air of an enigmatic expert.
However, Zeke was unsure of his chances in the third circle. Wouldn't it be better to attend the Veergati as a mysterious dark horse than a kid who had reached his limits already? Nobody could know the true strength of his contracted spirit until he actually lost. Therefore, Zeke spent the week training at the Lion's Den. According to his contract, he was entitled to a break every other week, so this was no problem.
Immersed in his work, Zeke barely noticed the time. Only when Sunil and Leo came to get him did he even realize how much time had passed.
The two weeks were up, and the Veergati was upon them.