Chapter 19

**The Night Pit: Round 1**

Jason left the lounge slightly perplexed by Wilhelm’s parting words. He got the feeling that he was just a piece in Wilhelm’s game. I’ll hopefully get membership into the guild out of this and who knows what kind of benefits that will give me. It was also a nice wakeup call that I’ve been lucky with my opportunities and someone else might try to take them from me, Jason thought reassuring himself that he wasn’t being used by Wilhelm. Still, it made Jason think that Wilhelm had a pragmatic rather than an altruistic interest in Jason. He also wondered what the man’s charisma level was, every word had dripped like honey from Wilhelm’s mouth and his face always radiated warmth and trust. Jason put all thoughts of Wilhelm aside and began to focus on how he was going to get his new class.

To get the trader class he would need ten points of charisma, his barter skill above Beginner X, and a trade agreement. His charisma was already at twelve so he had that covered and he would hopefully be discussing an agreement with the villagers of Finchead soon. So there was only one bottleneck to get his new class.

Well I’ve got to get my bartering skill up so why not start now, Jason decided then headed towards the shopping district. He was in need of paper and a writing utensil and eventually found a stationary store. The sun had not fully set yet, but many of the shopkeepers in this part of town were beginning to light lamps outside of their doorways. Jason found the proprietor of the stationary store in this manner.

“Hello there,” the middle aged woman said from atop a ladder. She held a tall stick candle and had just closed the casing around her glowing outdoor lamp.

“Hi, do you have blank booklets for sale?” Jason asked.

“Of course I do,” the woman said with a smile then climbed down from her ladder and led Jason inside. “What size are you looking for?”

“Maybe fifty pages or so,” Jason said, he looked around the shop and saw bookshelves full of various sized books. Some of the shelves were locked, but many were open. On a few shelves there were feather pens in open cases. Ink jars lined another shelf coming in sizes as small as a golf ball to as large as quarter barrels.

The shopkeeper headed towards one of the book shelves and pulled out a thin leather bound booklet. “Here,” she said handing Jason the booklet, the soft leather kissed the skin of his palm; it was like touching the seat in a new car. “It’s 26 sheets, so 52 sides of paper, wrapped in calf’s skin. The paper is durable enough to not easily rip and the leather is treated to be water proof.” Jason liked the little book but he had an inkling that he wouldn’t like its price.

“How much is it?” He asked.

“1 and a half silvers,” the woman replied.

Jason wanted to throw the book back at the shopkeeper, but managed to control himself. “Do you have anything cheaper, maybe not in leather?”

The woman gingerly grabbed the booklet and returned it to the shelf. She pulled out another and handed it to Jason. “Here, this is clothbound, cheaper paper but 60 sides instead of 52, one silver,” she was obviously discontented that she wasn’t going to sell the more expensive booklet, but she still wanted to get Jason to buy something.

Jason flipped through the book happy with its quality, but the peddler in him itched to bring down the price, “it’s nice, but I’ll only do it for 18 coppers.”

The woman laughed as if he was joking. “You’re not going to find paper cheaper anywhere else in the city,” she said.

The woman didn’t seem like she was lying, he hadn’t seen any other stationary stores and the general stores were sure to charge more for paper than a specialty store. He figured it was time to bluff, “true but it’s a good thing I travel around, I can easily find a book for 18 coppers in the next town I’m in.”

“I made this myself and I know its worth,” the shopkeeper reassured Jason, “I can go 19, but that’s it.”

“18 and a half and I’ll start looking at your pens and ink,” Jason said.

“I’ll go put this on the counter for you then,” the woman said agreeing to his price. The shopkeeper continued to talk Jason into buying a quill set for six and a half coppers. He handed over the silver and five coppers and left the store with his purchases. Jason checked his notifications and saw his barter skill had risen to Beginner VI. He had noticed since leveling up the skill he was having an easier time negotiating prices.

Jason realized that without Skippy to carry his things it was difficult to shop. He decided he didn’t need anything else so Jason headed towards the inn.

The inn was starting to fill with sailors, their shouts and banters filled the room with a loud buzz. Jason looked around the room for Vanna but couldn’t find her so he went to the bar. “Have you seen my friend?” Jason yelled to the innkeeper across the bar top. The innkeeper was steadily filling wooden tankards from a barrel and slinging them to a serving girl to pass out.

“Night Pit,” the man said as if Jason would understand.

“What?” Jason asked again.

“She left,” the innkeeper said again red faced.

Jason figured he would get nothing else out of the man and left the bar room for the stables. The stableboy greeted him by the barn door, inside Jason could see Skippy along with a few other donkeys and mules. Skippy neighed happily upon seeing him. The stableboy greeted Jason with a nod.

“Do you know what happened to my friend?” Jason asked.

The boy moved as if to say something but he started to fidget nervously.

“Someone said she’s at the Night Pit, do you know what that is.”

“It’s a dangerous place,” the boy whispered.

“What? Why would she be going someplace dangerous?” Jason asked, confusion and fear mixed in his voice.

The boy fidgeted some more but saw Jason was awaiting an answer so continued. “One of the sailors, he, he,” the boy blushed, “he touched her wrong and a fight broke out. Your friend won, don’t worry,” the boy said wide eyed when he saw Jason’s face go white. “But,” he drawled, “some of the sailors liked the fight too much and told her she should go to the Night Pit.”

“What and the hell is the Night Pit,” Jason asked starting to lose his patience.

“I’ve never been inside, but it’s a fighting pit,” the boy said sheepishly. “A lot of sailors place bets there, the city guard don’t like it but you’ll see a lot of off duty guards there.”

Jason blew hot air through his nose, angry that Vanna would be so brash. “Can you take me there?”

A flicker of fear shone in the boy’s eye and he began to shake his head. Jason pulled out a copper coin as an offering. The boy quickly snatched the coin and said, “ fine, come on, it’s not far. I can’t leave the animals for long though.” He shut and locked the barn door before they left then broke out in a slow jog.

The inn was along a street that hugged the city wall. They jogged down the street and then the boy cut down an alley towards the pier. They were no longer in the orderly area that encompassed the markets. The boy led Jason to the other side of the alley and they came out into another long street full of old warehouses.

Drunken squads of sailors patrolled the streets with flagons clutched in their hands like batons. Children wrapped in rags clustered around trash piles, sunken eyes searching hungerly for a scrap of food. Scantily dressed women and young boys called out to anyone, occasionally one would lead a sailor or finely robed merchant into a dark alleyway or boarded up building. A heavy and earthy smoke lingered in the air like a morning cloud of fog reeking of ripeness. This was a world Jason had never seen before and it was only a few hundred yards away from where he was staying.

“Over there,” the boy hissed pointing to a large windowless warehouse directly on the pier. “Go through the door around back, hand the guard a silver and he’ll let you in. If you don’t he’ll think you’re a fighter or he’ll kick you out.”

“Thanks,” Jason mumbled. The street was rich with noises, but he could tell that there was an uproar in the warehouse. He looked over to where the boy was, but the youth had vanished. That old bat is going to get me killed, Jason thought to himself then headed towards the warehouse.

The boards of the pier creaked as Jason walked towards a small metal door. Rats scurried along the side of the building, jumping from shadow to shadow. A tall young woman with bleached white hair cackled at him as he past her crouched form against the warehouse, “come see me if you get lucky honey.”

Jason walked by quickly, silent and eyes forward. He pushed on the door, but it was barred. A slit big enough to see through slid to the side and eyes peered out at Jason. The owner of the eyes grunted sharply then went silent. Jason pulled a silver coin from out of his pouch so the man could see. The eyes blinked in confirmation and a moment later Jason could hear the bar behind the door being lifted. The door swung inward revealing a tall man decked from head to toe in mismatched armor; black leather boots, fur pants, chainmail pauldrons over a scale breastplate, a kettle helmet. The man looked Jason up and down then took his coin, he grunted and Jason quickly entered. The guard didn’t give any instruction but none were needed as the only obvious path was a worn staircase leading up.

Jason headed up the stairs. Up until then his fear had been suppressed by his confusion and anger, but each step up slowly brought back worried of what kind of state he would find Vanna in behind that door. Jason put his hand on the handle and could feel the sound vibrations from the other side. He pushed open the door and went into sensory overload.

The sights of the street outside were nothing compared to those within the building. The large high ceiling room was full of mostly sailors of every type. Jason had gotten accustomed to the black hair and ashen grey complexion of most Braccians sprinkled with the curly dark hair and tan skin of the Hessians. There were sailors with long blond hair and seven feet tall, others with short black hair and skin darker than those of a Hessian, and a dozen other ethnicities. But none of that is what shocked Jason, he was from a diverse world.

Where the sound was strongest a thick crowd had gathered. Jason pushed himself through the tightly packed sailors. Their bodies reeked of sweat, salt, and adrenaline. When Jason found what they were watching so intently his mouth drop. Set in the floor was an octagon pit, inside Vanna was fighting in hand to hand combat.

Vanna wore a tight fitted tunic that Jason guessed used to be white, but was now painted dark red with blood. All of her leather armor seemed to be gone, Jason guessed this was to help her mobility. Jason’s fears subsided slightly when he noticed most of the blood wasn’t Vanna’s. Across the pit, trying to suck in air like a fish out of water, a short hair man wabbled as if he was moments from collapsing.

The other fighter wasn’t done yet though. Vanna stepped forward for a finisher, but the man deftly dodged her loaded punch. Jason wondered in amazement what the man’s agility skill was. Even in his heavily wounded state the man was still faster than Vanna, but eventually she got him into a corner and finished the fight with a beautiful combination of punches. The man slunk to the sandy pit floor and red spittle drooled from his mouth.

A waterfall of cheers exploded from the crowd. A man dressed like a pirate captain jumped into the octagon and raised one of Vanna’s arms and the crowd cheered even load. “For her third win of the night, Vanna the Valkyrie.” Vanna heaved heavily in exhaustion, but a smiled was brimming across her face.

“Vanna,” Jason called out, “Vanna.” His companion turned her head in Jason’s direction and spotted him. She smiled a bloody grin then headed towards him. “What in the hell are you doing here Vanna,” Jason asked incredulously with a hint of anger.

“I’ll tell you later,” she panted, “I have another fight in two rounds, I need to go see the healer.”

Jason looked at her with a face hinting at a million question, “what? You’re fighting again, and a healer, what….”

Vanna sighed with a smile, “come on, I’ll tell you while I’m being healed.” She pulled him out of the crowd towards the healer.

As they were leaving Jason heard the announcers boom, “and next we have our first blood match.” What kind of hell did I walk into, Jason thought.