The arena lights washed across the fractured stone where Nikko and the monkey man had clashed moments earlier.
Their duel had drawn every wandering eye back to the center of the stage. Even the ongoing fights seemed to dim in presence beside the pressure those two released.
Pandora was a world where every race held something singular.
Dragons carried their ancient tongue and their fearsome transformations.
Elves lived with senses so sharp they bordered on precognition.
Humans, despite their fragile bodies, were the wellspring from which every art had been born.
And beast men carried primal energy, the raw instinctive force that let them strike harder, move faster, and heal through sheer ferocity.
Which was why the monkey man's stare cut through the arena.
He rested casually on his staff, tail flicking behind him as if he had all the time in the world.
"So," he said, voice steady, "how did you do it? How did you gain primal energy?"
