Casselian Arenas

"GO KATARINA! SHOW THAT MINOTAUR WHO'S BOSS!" Saya screamed as loud as she could, waving her arm in the air and cheering with the rest of the crowd.

Her attention was focused on the center of the ring where a sharply dressed woman, Katarina, had a thin sword drawn, standing before a much larger bull-like humanoid. The Minotaur grunted and lifted a large club, slamming it into the ground several times, but Katarina didn't flinch. The woman then removed her hat and threw it up in the air, triggering the creature, who charged at her. Katarina deftly dodged out of the way and with a swing of her sword, took off one of the creature's horns.

Saya went wild with the crowd. She threw both her hands in the air and screamed in excitement at the fight before her. Sitting next to her were her three friends: Chryssa, Myles, and Raini. They were enjoying the show as well, but not quite as much as Saya was.

Chryssa was actually a little concerned with how the normally moody and closed-off girl completely changed when they learned a bullfight festival was happening in town. Saya begged them to go with her and they finally agreed on the last day of the show. It's been a long time since she's seen Saya smile, so Chryssa was glad she decided to come along.

In the center of the ring, Katarina dodged several of the minotaur's attacks, but then took the full force of the creature's club to her chest, and was sent flying. The crowd went silent and the only sounds that could be heard was from a group of minotaurs on the far side of the arena, cheering on their mate.

The life mages started charging their spells, ready to tend to Katarina's wounds, but she waved them off. It took a few more moments but Katarina got back up. She was quite bloodied, but was still smiling! She picked up her sword and dared the creature to come at her again.

The minotaur stomped on the ground several times and charged at the woman, lowering his head as low to the ground as he could, aiming to catch the woman and throw her across the arena. Katarina dodged to the side of the minotaur, who attempted to catch her in his horns, but he forgot Katarina cut that one off moments earlier. Katarina jumped into the air and quickly sliced off the creature's other horn.

The minotaur knew he had more than enough power to tear the woman apart if the match continued for just a few more minutes, but instead he kneeled down and acknowledged the woman's skill with a blade. He accepted defeat. Katarina sheathed her sword and stood up. The entire arena was shaking with cheering from the crowd.

"TORNESOL!!! TORNESOL!!! TORNESOL!!!" Saya screamed and chanted, along with the rest of the crowd, for Katarina the Sunflower had once again bested a Minotaur in melee combat!

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Arenas are a common structure built across Vreathe. They are large, circular, open air buildings that can seat between 10,000 people on the smaller side, to upwards of 100,000 people on the larger side. They are universally used for knightly tournaments, where knights and mercenaries from across the land are invited to partake in a contest of melee and magical prowess.

After that, different countries will use Arenas for other purposes. The Elven Kingdoms of the north such as Ordland will use them as outdoor venues for music festivals. The Alluthian Kingdoms use them for plays as well as secondary religious sites to worship the moon goddess. The kingdoms of Irrelith, Rinea, and especially Cassel use them for bullfights, continuing a tradition that has been around since before Iron Humans even appeared on the world of Vreathe.