“How long before we get there? I don’t think it’s safe to go for this long...” Derrick asked, straining to see more than ten feet in front of him. Frederick spat at the question. “You’d think I know? This path will get us there in an hour or two, that’s the only thing I know. You’re welcome to take the reins if you don’t want to go to sleep.” Derrick laughed at the response, “Fine, fine. Just don’t mess up, it’d be annoying if we miss an entire village because of the dark.” He sat back in the carriage and closed his eyes, leaving Frederick alone with his thoughts.

The young man sighed and leaned back onto his seat. He could see a bit thanks to one of the black knight’s rituals, a small blue flame that shone brighter than the average torch. He was surprised to hear that he could use the flame attribute, one would usually use that in a melee fight over other attributes like wind and darkness. His brother was an obvious outlier, using a flighty type of style frowned upon by some swordsmen. He sighed, as much as he disliked that cowardly way of fighting he couldn’t help but find it effective. He’d lost against him many more times than he’d won. Though in a fight against many he knew he’d be able to hold his own better.

He looked at the sleeping black knight, remembering how he fought. Would he be able to fight like that if he put his mind to it? He shook his head clear from those thoughts, his sword wasn’t big enough for that, and if someone told him to take up a different weapon he’d spit in their face, learning a new weapon wasn’t that easy. He sighed, no point thinking about that now, he wasn’t one to feel envious. Besides, that style seemed awfully selfish. It wasn’t fit to fight in a group. Ironic for a summoner, he thought. It wasn’t until they passed a small hill before he saw the lights from the beautiful and busy city of Ooraville.

“Wake up! We’re here!” Frederick yelled at the three sleeping figures. Jenny rose from the wooden floor with terrible bed hair, yawning while looking as if she could use another ten hours. Derrick just opened his eyes, sleep had not yet taken him. Derb woke up in a cold sweat, he felt weak all over and his mana was still exhausted. He felt he hadn’t slept enough but he knew he had to at least meditate before he felt like he was back to normal. He stood up, at least his legs didn’t feel weak anymore. Derrick was ordering the other two to ready their things, Jenny too tired to do it herself. He smirked at the fact she was such a bad morning person.

He jumped off the moving carriage, landing on top of his horse. Mist snorted at the rough treatment, he hadn’t even used the rabbit spell to lighten himself so he was pretty heavy. “Sorry, girl… just let me take out a few things and I'll be set.” He took out a small badge, indicating his residence in the Barrel village. His teacher had given it to him so he’d be able to pass through without trouble, though he wasn’t sure what it was really for. He looked at the city in front of them, it was still about a mile away and it was dark so he couldn’t make out much of the details. It was massive, for one, maybe 15 times bigger than the little village he was in before? He couldn’t tell through the walls, they made the whole city look like one big castle, ready to defend against any oncoming threat.

It was surprising he could see this much. The lights around the city illuminating it made it look almost holy as if to call in the people with its aura. He sat back on his horse and waited to get there, it wouldn’t be long before he’d have an actual place to rest, his body was killing him. They had made it through the gate easily enough, though the guard chastised Derb for using a demonic mount instead of a normal one. He’d been lucky Connor hadn’t been out of his soul or it’d have probably made him angrier. Once they made it into the city their carriage was taken care of and Derb put his summon back into his soul, carrying the packs on his own.

“Do you three know where I can find a hotel? I’ve been meaning to sleep on something not made of wood for once...” The three looked at each other awkwardly, “Do you mean an inn? We’re going to one right now if you want.” Derb just awkwardly laughed, accepting the proposal. He cursed his incompetence, of course there wasn’t anything as fancy as hotels here… damn it, what was being wealthy even good for!? He looked at the pouch full of coins, he’d been taught the worth of them long ago. A copper coin was about a dollar while a silver coin was about 10.

The gold was worth a whopping 15 silver coins, why the weird number he had no idea. He had 2 gold coins, 40 silver coins, and 20 coppers. The bag was quite hefty but it felt nice in his hands. Money was money, after all. He caressed the pouch lovingly in his arms, if he lost this he was sure he’d be dead in a week. Jenny and the two brothers just kept looking forward, no need to acknowledge the knight’s greed. They’d finally made it to the inn, a chime ringing through it as they opened the door.

A nice mature lady soon came to the counter, smiling warmly but clearly tired. “How may I help you four?” She asked, opening up a large checkbook. Jenny came up to the counter. “Three rooms, two single rooms and one double.” Her eyes widened when she realized she was taking control of the situation. “Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn’t try to take charge of you like that.” Derb raised his hands apologetically, “It’s fine, it’s what I was going to say anyway, how much for the room, ma’am?” The lady giggled at the scene, she’d seen many like this in the past few weeks, unlikely people meeting through the tournament happening soon.

“Are you sure you two don’t want just two rooms, I'm sure you wouldn’t mind the price, especially with such a strapping young man such as yourself?” She asked, obviously meaning more than she put on. Jenny gasped in shock while Derb blushed at the compliment. Jenny was about to retort but Derb was a beat quicker. “Aww, you don’t have to praise me like that, ma’am, not when you look as nice as you do.” He said, leaning closer to the counter.

He’d been missing out on womanly interaction these past few months so he wanted some action. The lady on the counter looked beautiful even though she seemed about 40, with wide hips and a delicate frame. Now that he thought about it, there weren’t many people he’d consider ugly in this world… He looked at Jenny who was looking at him with dead fish eyes, yep, she was good-looking as well. Wait, did he do something wrong?

The lady blushed at the sudden attention, she obviously wasn’t the type to get this type of treatment. “I… I'm sorry, I have a husband.” Derb’s heart shattered with the words, and he crumpled on the counter. “Of course someone so pretty was already taken… Damn.” The lady blushed once more. It wasn’t until Jenny and the two brothers’s coughed to get her attention that she finally pulled herself back together. “Sorry about that… that’ll be a silver a day per room, a silver and 5 copper for the room for two.”

Derb was still bummed but put a gold coin on the counter. “15 days please...” She nodded while looking at the coin in awe, was it rare or something? “Show off...” Derrick said as he pulled out 25 silver coins in a pouch. “Ten days for each room, sorry about the trouble this one caused.” She shook her head warmly, back to how she was before the whole ordeal. The rooms are up ahead.” She handed them three keys, each with a number on them. The trio walked off to go to their rooms while he stayed behind.

The lady felt unsafe with the man until he gave her an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry for acting like that, such a pretty woman complimenting me like that… I had to go for it.” He gave her five silver coins, flashing her his best smile. “Buy something nice with that, an apology present from me.” He walked off to room 7, happy he unraveled the situation well enough. The lady just stood there, confused and flustered at the kind gesture.

Derb looked at the long hallway, he probably should have asked where the three were staying. Whatever, he’d see them sooner or later. They were part of the competition, after all. He went into the empty room and dropped his bags. The room was pretty nice for a wooden place. A small light came from a lantern in the middle and a window that showed the outside. He didn’t pay too much attention as he removed his armor. He kept the cloak on while doing so, the armor seeping out through the shadowy cloak.

He jumped into the bed, lightly thumping onto it thanks to the rabbit spell. He’d been using it while sleeping lately and it was nice to feel so weightless. The time he’d spent in the armor felt nice and safe but there was nothing more freeing than his skin meeting the chill air. The bed wasn’t much to write home about but compared to the time he’d spent traveling it could have been made out of hay and he’d still have slept like a baby.

He took off his shirt while he summoned Connor. The suit cleaned his clothing but he felt gross wearing the same clothes after all this time. “Connor, get me a yellow shirt, get some green pants too.” The incubus who just came out nodded, not minding his master’s unorthodox style. Derb grinned, he’d been wearing boring clothes at the village due to his teacher’s orders but he had free reign to dress how he wanted. He put the clothes on and checked himself out.

“Now we’re talking.” The clothes were bright and imposing, he thought. He laughed and went back to bed, sleeping in the comfy clothing. He felt the safety of walls for the first time and knew he’d have the best night of sleep in his life. The comfort of sleep washed over him as he saw Connor pick at the pack with food. He fell asleep hoping the food would be gone tomorrow. It'd give him an excuse to buy some hot food.

The day came as soon as it went and soon Derb woke up to the light hitting his face through the window. He groaned in annoyance, why were all the windows placed so inconveniently? He looked over groggily to his stuff and found it all untouched. He groaned, the food was still there, guess he won't be eating much else for a few days. He remembered the five silver he gave to the woman on the counter and felt some regret, how much meat could that buy?.

He stood up and brushed off the thought. It was his fault for being so rambunctious last night. No mana and a tired mind had him a bit unruly so he felt he could blame that. He hopped out of bed and headed outside, seeing a big and jolly man at the side of the counter. “Haha! You must be one of the late visitors my wife let in.” He grabbed his large beard in contemplation, “I was wondering why there were only three to come out this morning, I thought I missed you! Chose to sleep in a bit, eh?” Derb’s head spiked in pain at the thought of this early in the morning being considered sleeping in.

“No, uh… never mind. Do you know where I can go so I can sign up for the competition? I admit I thought I could ride on those three for a bit longer.” The jolly man laughed, “I hear you, just head right once you leave this inn and you won’t miss it, it’s extremely busy right now, after all.” Derb nodded and headed back to his room, equipping the suit of armor he’d grown fond of lately. He put on the helmet first, lately he’d been going without it and he felt a bit vulnerable because of it. With a flip of his hood, he headed out, ready to meet the competition.

He noted that the jolly man was no longer so receptive when he saw him, only putting on a forced smile when he saw him. He almost wanted to remove the helmet to joke with him but he had better things to do. He headed out to find the sign-up area. Now that he could see outside he realized how amazing the place looked. There wasn’t a bit of field, everything was paved in stone except for small areas where trees were grown. It gave everything a modern feel that he thought he wouldn’t be able to see anymore.

He noticed a bakery and almost walked in before he remembered his attire. It was in the wrong direction too so he chose to ignore it. There was a meat shop next to the inn, thankfully. Derb felt like he’d be hungry after the competition. After a bit more walking he came across the giant colosseum. People of all sizes were crowding a small desk in front, a small lady desperately trying to keep up. He smiled at the scene, even in a world of magic you can still be understaffed, huh?

He waited for the crowd to settle, looking around for the trio. He was disappointed to find none of them there. They must have already done this earlier in the morning, those lucky bastards. He looked back at the crowd and sighed, this would take a while. Eventually, a spot opened up long enough for him to walk through. The poor lady at the counter looked roughed up, her hair was a mess and her glasses were crooked. “W-would you like to sign up… for the tournament?” She asked, her head not leaving the desk.

“Um, yes. It’s been busy today, huh?” She nodded, no energy left to converse. “Name, identification, and fighting style, please.” He handed her the badge his teacher had given him. “Derbemiah, I'm a summoner who uses the sword.” She gave him a weird look before scoffing, “A summoner with a sword… how contradictory.” He smiled at the comment, were all summoners such cowards? “The tournament will start 2 days from now at noon, come as early as possible. I suggest you prepare for the fight.” she handed him the badge and a pass, certification for joining.

Derb nodded, taking his leave. He had two days to prepare and he knew just what he needed to do, he was a summoner after all.