“Hey, hurry! Hurry! You don’t want to miss this fight. I heard it is going to be epic.”

“Who’s going up against who?”

“You’ll know when we get there. Come on!”

A large group of excited birds were flying over the balcony where Gnihzur and Kwaserah were conversing. Their destination was the floating isle nearby that had a radiant sapphire sphere in the centre surrounded by a tall colonnade. The blue orb was a smaller version of the Central Hub present atop the Grand Hall. These lesser Hubs were scattered across Crowjun Soul Academy, providing easy access to specific areas inside the main Central Hub.

“What got them all excited?”  Gnihzur couldn’t help noticing the conspicuous group of crows dashing through the air in a stream of curiosity. “I wonder where they’re going.”

“Something exciting must be happening inside the Hub.” Kwaserah suggested. “Want to go check it out, Gnihzur?”

“Sure.”

They joined the band of students heading towards the floating isle. Passing through the colonnade’s entrance, an array of vertical vortex greeted them. These translucent vortexes were the entrance portals to the Hub. Many crows flew through them and vanished instantly. When it was Gnihzur’s time to pass through, he felt moderately frightened. Kwaserah had to take his hand and lead him forward.

They arrived inside a capacious dimension around the outer borders of a battle arena. A dusty milieu desert sauna compiled the inner realms of the arena. A match was currently taking place down there between 2 powerful cultivators. Based on their haggard appearances coupled with their lethargic tendencies, it was evident that the battle was coming to a close.

At first glance, Gnihzur let his sight wander about the dimension, taking in all its created splendours. “Wow, this place is enormous. I never would have imagined that the Hub would be this big.”

Overhearing Gnihzur’s amazement, Kwaserah said to him, “This isn’t the Central Hub, only a portion of it. Where we’re at is inside one of the many battle arenas created by a Spatial Shifting Distortion technique. Only a high-level Emperor Krowqui could have manifested this dry dusty zone.”

“You speak as if you’ve been inside the Hub before, Kwaserah.”

“That’s because I have, not this one though. Once you have seen one, you’ve seen them all. The dimensions are constructed by the will of their creators. Let’s find somewhere with a good view to watch the match.”

The crowd inside the arena was tightly packed with eager and enthusiastic individuals. A wide variety of aerial seats were spread around the place. Kwaserah and Gnihzur found a spot below closest to the battle zone.  They stood by a balustrade overlooking the dusty environment below.

A white peacock bearing stylish red plumes was hovering over the arena with a microphone attached to its feathers. He was the announcer in charge of fixing the battles; his name was Admin White. The battle that was taking place earlier had already ended, now he introduced the next opponents.

“My feathery comrades, it’s finally here! The battle you’ve all been waiting for, the main event. Please clap your feathers together as the opponents make their entrance. On my right, we have the undefeated champion who has won 4 consecutive battles thus far; the wielder of uncountable daggers, the Mighty Slasher… Axel! And in the left corner give a warm welcome to the Water Tempest Queen who has won 3 battles and lost only 2 times, the beautiful Drainus!”

“Rumble!”

The crowd began to rail like crazy as 2 well-known figures graced the dusty stage. Axel was a fairly muscular beast with a long train of bronze feathers wrapped around him like a thick jacket. He had a thick armour underneath which concealed the many weapons he had stored. Unlike Axel, Drainus was of the petite persuasion. Her soft radiant blue feathers enhanced her practical beauty by leaps and bounds. But don’t be fooled by her alluring appearance, she had a battle streak of knocking out her opponents in one blow.

Admin White continued his introduction, “Axel vs Drainus! Two Amazon-Warrior Rank-7 contestants. Who do you think will emerge the victor? Will it be Axel the Slasher-Slacker with muscles that can derail a fast speeding Crowtrain, or will the Water Tempest Queen drown her opponent in defeat completely? Victory could go either way. Now without further ado, let the battle begin!”

“ROOOAR!” The audience got fired up; eager to witness their favourite fighters competing.

“So loud.” Gnihzur had to cover his eardrums from bursting under excessive sound waves. “A battle between 2 high ranking Amazon-Warriors. This fight should be interesting, don’t you think so, Kwaserah? Huh…?” Gnihzur looked around for Kwaserah but she was nowhere in sight. “Where did she go, did she ditch me?”

“Boom!”

“Huh!” Gnihzur’s focus was directed back to the battle after hearing loud explosions. Myriads of opposing feathers were classing within the sandy field arena. Axel and Drainus were moving faster than the eye could capture. As motion blurs formed, they disappeared instantly.

“Damn you Drainus! I’m going to make mincemeat out of your beautiful body but first, allow me to tenderize your meat!” Axel tossed his concealed feathers asunder. What emerged were many sharp daggers that he started tossing at Drainus using his Mental Quanta. She executed insane aerial skills to prevent herself from getting impaled.

“Let’s end this!” Drainus became furious and decided to end the battle with her next technique. After amassing enough Krowqui in her feathers, she released her signature move. “Water Vacuum! You’re finished, Axel!”

“There it is!” The peacock commentator, Admin White engaged in audible interactions upon seeing the release of Drainus’ deadly technique. “The Water Tempest Queen’s Water Vacuum! To the layman’s eyes, it might seem like a simple technique but the water pressure inside that vortex is enough to crush a volcano! How will Axel deal with this serious issue? He can’t delay for long, otherwise, the Water Vacuum will expand until it engulfs the entire arena!”

“Do your best Axel!” The crowd cheered him on.

“Tsk, that is nothing before my mighty daggers.”  Axel didn’t feel threatened one bit by the expanding Water Vacuum. Instead of firing his daggers in random directions, he clamped them together to form a mighty dagger sword with a blazing radiance at the tip. “Go, Blazing Dagger Sword!”

At the moment of impact, Axel’s mighty Blazing Dagger Sword burst right through Drainus’ Water Vacuum. He had successfully destabilized her technique, however, the separated water fragments smashed into Axel and sent him crashing into the moist sand below.

Drainus didn’t wait until Axel found his footing. Quickly arousing flat cylindrical blue Krowqui at her finder tips, she drew a sigil into the sand that later caused a gigantic water dragon to burst forth. “This is the end of you, Axel!”

“ROAR!” The malignant water dragon slammed Axel further into the ground. The pressure of the water prevented him from flapping his ejected wings to escape. He had to wait until the water dragon disappeared. But soon after it vanished, Drainus appeared before him tossing out many heavy blows. Axel’s facial muscles were getting smashed!

“You bitch! How dare you abuse my muscles! WAAAH!” Axel’s body produced an explosive burst of Krowqui which blasted Drainus a few metres away. “You’re dead meat!” Axel sank his hands into the ground and shouted, “Domain Expansion, Almighty Daggers Uprising!”

“Boom!”

All of a sudden, Drainus found herself amid an apocalyptic field where infinite amounts of long slender daggers were shooting upwards out of the sand. She was protecting herself inside a flexible bubble, but by how the situation was looking she wouldn’t hold out for long.