"Ya bet I'm bloody glad I bought the ticket for today's matches. Ain't every day ya get to see such a spectacle, or feast on some champs of the arena at that! Best money spent this decade!" - A spectator of the Aquatic Arena on a certain day, mid autumn of the year 678 FP.

Much later that day, in the night - the matches had taken place around noon local time - Cal and the rest of her group returned to the arena, but not for the building itself. Rather, they went to a large open venue next to it, where a large crowd had already gathered.

The venue was for celebrations of victories in the arena, where the winners are exalted and the losing beasts that perished were prepared for dinner. In the case where the beast escaped with its life, the organizers splurged on high-quality foods of the same kind to represent them.

Though that was unnecessary in the case of Willa's opponent, since the severed tentacles it left behind was plenty for the crowd to feast on anyway, what with each limb measuring longer than a person was tall, each as thick as a man's waist or more.

By the time they reached the venue, a massive crowd - must be thousands at least - had already gathered. Some spotted Cal's students and raised a cheer, which was soon echoed by others drawn to the noise, until it turned into an uproarious clamor.

Some dwarves dressed like officials helped usher her party through the press of the excited crowd, and brought them towards the further end of the venue, where a small stage was set. Cal saw the half-mermaid from earlier already there.

Come to think of it, a lot of merfolk and aquatic therians were in attendance. They were probably the ones who watched the fights from the underwater seats that day, since everyone who had bought a ticket was traditionally invited to the victory feasts.

Cal's three students were brought onstage, where they were celebrated by the spectators, along with the mermaid hybrid. It was a simple celebration, mostly praises and cheers and well wishes from the jubilant crowd.

"You know… I don't think any of my kind could ever do what those kids did," mentioned Kyara from besides Cal. The therian matriarch had seemed rather contemplative during the matches, while her granddaughter had thoroughly enjoyed herself. "Nothing to do with the affinity, mind you. My kind is peculiarly… bad… with water."

"Oh," Cal said with a nod. She had thought that Kyara and Ashani had a strong resemblance to the cats some people kept as pets. Those tend to hate water as well. "Your kind don't get water-based affinities often then, I assume?"

"Very rarely. Sometimes we do have one or two that took to water like a fish, but that's like, one every couple of generations at best," replied the therian matron. "Most of us just stayed away from water if we could, though I had made sure everyone knew how to swim well enough to not drown, at least."

"Have to admit I can't think what that feels like," said Cal. Her own upbringing, born next to a lake and living in an archipelago for most of her life, had made her take to the water quite often, and she always enjoyed swimming. "Always been around water since I was born."

Their chat went to small talk after that, while the crowd celebrated and officials from the arena gave the winners their rewards. Other than the static, listed rewards, they were also given a share of the gambling proceeds, which proved to be a rather stately sum for each of them.

Then more staff from the arena pushed large carts on which the prepared food was laid out. Made from either monster flesh or other high quality ingredients, their fragrant scent alone made many salivate as the lids were opened and the thousands of spectators lined up to get some of the food.

Slabs of meat from the massive eel the mermaid had defeated were grilled like slabs of steak, served with a creamy sauce that was rich and sour at the same time, with the pungency of onions and spices to help balance its flavors.

Several cloves of smaller onions, pickled in what tasted like sweet wine vinegar, were also placed on each plate, their strong flavor an excellent way to cleanse the palate after having some of the fatty, tender, flavorful meat, enriched with the sauce.

A thick soup - more halfway between a soup and a stew, really - of turtles and various sorts of other seafoods were served in deep trenchers. The sweet fats of the turtles gave the stew a rich, sweet flavor with hints of brine, which the various prawns and molluscs and seaweeds intensified.

Massive chunks of meat the size of a person each were roasted on spits, from the beast Giselle beat. Chefs skillfully carved pieces of the meat from the spit as it cooked and paired it with a salad of sorts made from various kinds of seaweed, as well as a strong, fishy sauce that was savory, sour, and spicy all at once.

They then wrapped the whole thing up in sheets of flatbread for the guests to munch on. The select bits of meat from the fins were first served to the celebrants and their entourages of course.

A dish of what looked like noodles was served next, but after a bite Cal realized that it was not noodles at all. The dish turned out to be slivers of the massive squid, cut until they resembled noodles and parboiled in salt water, served with a rich, savory sauce flavored with fish roes and milt.

Supposedly the beast would grow its tentacles back over time, which helped explain how it had survived several losses while it remained in good shape. For now, however, Cal just thanked it for its contribution to her dinner plate.

The festive feast lasted all the way to midnight, and then some, as barrels of fine ales and meads were opened and poured freely. Many of the guests even feel down drunk and slept on the floor that night.