Chapter 20

The Baron woke up to a knock at his door. He pulled himself out of bed and cursed at whoever would bother him at such an ungodly hour. He wished for nothing more than an energy drink at this very moment, or preferably coffee. He would sell his soul for a can of monster. He took the next best thing, something that would surely shock him out of his sleepy state. He took a swig of the Garum he placed on the nightstand and winced.

Oh god so much salt! So much fish! Perhaps just one more sip...

The knocks came again and the Baron jumped out of bed, awake but annoyed. He swung open the door and tried to not let the annoyance show on his face.

“Yes? What do you want?”

That came out more violently than he wanted. The person who came to wake him was obviously just some slave from the Assai’id confederation. It was a black man with an impressive afro that stood before him, wincing as he felt the venom in the Baron’s voice. The Baron felt slightly bad at snapping at him.

“Flavius has sent me to inform you that breakfast is being prepared, as well as escorting you to the dining room.”

His voice was deep and he had a very slight African accent. The Baron wasn’t familiar enough with Africa to identify exactly what the accent was, but it was there. He felt his face soften. This man was likely very far from home, it was unbecoming of him to be rude to one such as he.

“Of course, thank you for coming to get me. Allow me to get dressed and then we will be off.”

The Baron turned to head back inside but hesitated.

“Quick question, if you don’t mind me asking. What is your name and where are you from?”

The man smiled a little bit and bowed slightly.

“I am Nzinga and I hail from Dhul Kalluun of the Assai’id confederation.”

“Thank you for indulging me, Nzinga. I will be out shortly.”

The Baron went back in to change out of his night clothes, putting on the poofy shirt and pants that made up the traditional garb of the Empire. Wearing this instead of one of the newer three piece suits with frock coats and breeches would generally have labeled him a conservative within the Empire, however, he was just old and preferred the fashion of his youth. He debated wearing his cuirass and the rest of his armor, and decided to just wear the chausses. He doubted he would be attacked, but he still wanted some form of safety. Wearing his full armor would make him seem paranoid, but wearing the leg armor would at least allow him to knee people if the need arose, and he was pretty good at kneeing people. He wasn’t sure where he picked it up, but the Baron was a master of Muay Thai, or whatever it was called in this world.

Why have I mastered so many different styles of combat? Where did I even find the time?

Nzinga escorted the Baron to the dining hall, making small talk about their homelands the entire time. The Baron welcomed it, it wasn’t all that often he could talk normally with someone besides his lieutenants. The dining hall felt like the mess hall from when the Baron was in basic, a large room with tables placed periodically throughout the room. He headed over to the table where his lieutenants sat with their host for today, which was Flavius again. Fergus was sitting quietly staring at nothing in particular, his leg bouncing up and down frantically. Udo was sitting ramrod straight in his chair, arms crossed, dead asleep.

“Baronis! I hope you found your accommodations agreeable?”

“Yes of course, your hospitality was of the utmost quality, as was your wine.”

“Gratias Amicus, I am glad…”

Flavius paused and sniffed the air, then looked to the Baron and frowned.

“Did you...drink the Garum?”

The Baron gave a pained half smile and sat down at the table.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because you smell like salt and fish.”

“Seems awfully rude to accuse your guests of smelling bad.”

“Not bad, just salty and fishy.”

“Most men think of fish as a putrid smell.”

“I am not most men, nor am I human.”

“A compelling argument, to be sure.”

Fergus stopped bouncing his leg and leaned forward on his elbows.

“Baron, canyae stop chewin' tha fat with our host? I wanna ken what ‘e ‘as in store for us today.”

The Baron smiled apologetically to Fergus and stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“Apologies, Flavius, Please, tell us what our itinerary is for today.”

Fergus’s stomach audibly growled, which reminded the Baron how hungry he was as well. Flavius smiled at Fergus and addressed the whole table.

“First today we are going to eat, our breakfast is Subcinericius topped with dates and honey paired with the juice of oranges, as well as cured pork cut into thin strips. We will make however much you require, simply ask a servant to inform the chef you want more and it will be done. Ah, here they come now.”

A procession of servants brought out plates piled high with pancakes and ham, jugs of juice and honey, as well as baskets of nuts and fruits. Flavius continued speaking as the servants placed everything around the table.

“After our breakfast we will be giving you a more in depth tour of our Regio, which is what you will be doing throughout the week in between meeting with our senate and participating in games. In fact, today we have Iudi Circenses, Chariot racing, which you may participate in if you happen to know how to drive one.”

The Baron looked to Fergus and Udo, Fergus shook his head and Udo seemed to not be paying attention, his eyes very obviously drawn to the beautiful servant girls pouring him and the others wine.

“Udo.”

“Don’t worry Baron, I’m listening. None of us have ridden in a chariot before, sorry.”

Flavius frowned slightly.

“A shame, really. Perhaps you would like to try? Not in the race of course, but afterwards I am sure the athletes would not mind giving you a ride, most of them are human after all, some may even be from the Empire.”

“Famulorum?”

“Possibly former Famulorum, but most athletes have come here willingly. And, might I add, many former Famulorum choose to stay in Caprae Loco of their own volition, some have settled down and created families here after becoming cives. Some have been here for generations. I understand that you take issue with out system, however-"

The Baron cut Flavius off.

“I am not interested in hearing your defense of slavery.”

“Suit yourself, I believe our arguments are quite compelling. Oh, there is an unarmed combat tournament at the end of the week if you would like to attend.”

That caused all three men to perk up. Even Udo, who had his attention mostly on the servant girl he was flirting with. Truly, a master of multitasking.

“Yes of course, we would love to. I may be a Baron, but I also run my own mercenary company. All three of us are quite fond of fighting on the front lines.”

“Ah yes, the famous Klarwasser Mercenary Company. If you don’t mind me asking, is it true that you have almost died twice in the past year?”

I actually did die that first time… Thought the Baron as he suppressed a grimace.

“Yes, first I was shot through the skull, through the eye actually.”

The Baron felt his eyepatch, embarrassed.

“Then I dueled against a Berzerkeri about twice my size, he was quite the tough nut to crack, let me tell you. Even after being beheaded he managed one last attack which knocked me flat on my ass. The scar on my nose is the gift he gave me during that fight. Cut it right through the middle, down to the bone, never felt pain quite like it before.” Flavius tiled his head to the side in confusion.

“But you were shot through the head, no?”

“Well I didn’t really feel that one, too busy dying.”

“Ah, I see! Of course, that does make sense! You cannot feel much if you are dead! Or, well, dying. Well, let us drink to your continued surwiwal!”

Everyone raised their wine glass and smashed them together.

“Prost!” “Salud!” “Skál!”

After their breakfast feast and their tour of Caprae Loco’s Industrial District, the Baron met with the senate of the Brayherds, but he found that he didn’t need to be there for the first couple of meetings. He didn’t want to broach the subject of supporting his rebellion on the first meeting, and what was being discussed were subjects that he had long since left to his bureaucrats and his son Wolfgang, who many referred to as the true Baron of Bickenstadt, an assessment the Baron agreed with whole heartedly. And so, for most of the trip the Baron was mostly uninvolved with political matters, making the whole thing more of a vacation for him and his retinue.

At the end of the week, The gang was very excited for the tournament. They were all looking forward to facing off against a Brayherd. They had seen quite a few of them in the past week and they were massive, easily towering over all three of them. The soldiers that had followed them around as a security detail looked extremely strong, even larger than most of the normal brayherds they had interacted with and looked to be about twice as strong. One of their security detail had even been one of the 10ft tall Bisonmen he had read about, whom the Baron found he actually had very little desire to fight in single combat.

The group entered the colosseum which the Brayherds used for all sorts of games and festivities.

“In the past, the colosseum hosted gladiatorial matches, where two would fight to the death, though of course now such matches are outlawed.” Their guide for the day, Flavius (No relation to the Flavius that guided them at the beginning of the week) said as the group marveled at the massive structure.

“Truly a marvel of engineering, absolutely beautiful. It would seem you Brayherds prefer both form and function in your architecture.”

“Many thanks, Baronis, many of my fellow Brayherds believe these gaudy displays are the reason diplomatic missions like yours are so rare, I beg to differ. Right this way, I will guide you to the waiting room where you can sign up for the fights.”

“We appreciate your kindness, Flavius.”

The group filled out their information and soon after brackets were drawn. There were 64 competitors in total, and all of them looked like strong fighters. All of the competitors gathered in the middle of the colosseum and split off into their different matches. Eight fights could happen at a time, and none of the Baron’s men were in the first couple of cycles, and even when the Baron and his men were up, the fights were over relatively quickly.

As soon as the referee swung their arm Udo was launching himself at his opponent. His opponent, a fit looking man with tan skin and a shaved head, was almost immediately overwhelmed. After blocking just a couple of strikes Udo managed to slip through his opponent’s guard, grabbing onto his tunic with both hands and jumping, slamming his foot into the man's shin, knocking him to the ground and immediately following up with a knee to the chin, knocking him out cold.

Udo stood up and soaked in the crowd's attention, raising his arms in victory and roaring as the crowd’s yells became louder. He sauntered over to his waiting area covered in a cloud of smugness. After another two cycles both Fergus and the Baron were up.

The referee swung his arm and just like Udo, Fergus launched himself at his opponent, a towering shirtless man with very light skin and a wavy moustache that was all the rage in the Empire. He put his shoulder forward and slammed into moustache’s stomach. Moustache didn’t collapse to the ground, but he bent over and fully relied on Fergus to keep him up, the air knocked out of his lungs and a noticeable bruise already spreading over his stomach. Fergus pushed him up and reeled back, unleashing a devastating punch into the man’s unprotected jaw, sending him flying backwards and bouncing hard as he landed. Fergus didn’t celebrate nearly as much as Udo did, but he still visibly enjoyed the crowd cheering for him.

The Baron was sizing his opponent up as he waited for him to make a move. His opponent was about as tall as the Baron and had a very similar build, though his skin was much darker and he was obviously at least three decades younger, if all else was equal, his opponent would have the advantage. Unfortunately for the young man, all was not equal. As soon as his opponent began to move the Baron could feel what his first move would be, step forward and straight punch to his solar plexus, trying to test his guard. The opponent lifted his front leg and the Baron hopped forward and stomped at the front of his ankle. As the young man fell forward the Baron swung his elbow up as hard as he could, catching the man in the nose. His opponent slammed into the ground splayed out on his back, out cold. The Baron pretended he wasn’t drowning in the attention of the crowd, but he just couldn’t hide the massive smile on his face as he headed back to the waiting area.

After the rest of the cycles were done, the semifinalists paired up for fights. There were eight contestants left, five Brayherds and three humans. Four fights would be held at once, and in the first cycle Fergus was fighting a Brayherd. And unfortunately, Fergus lost his fight. He was far better at fighting with weapons than barehanded, and the Brayherd was almost as fast as him and about twice his size. Fergus hit like a truck, but the Brayherd could take his blows while they grappled with him. Fergus gave a good fight, his match lasted for about three minutes, but in the end the Brayherd had better unarmed fighting technique.

The next cycle the Baron was paired up against Udo. The fight was over in a flash, as soon as the referee swung his arm down Udo launched himself at the Baron, but unlike his previous fights, as soon as Udo came into range he found the Baron’s heel flying at his head faster than he could react. Udo was moving too fast to dodge, and the strength of the Baron’s kick combined with Udo’s momentum meant that as soon as the heel connected with Udo’s chin, he was face down in the dirt, knocked out cold.

“We've sparred enough for me to know how you fight. You never stood a chance.”

All that was left was the second round of the semifinals, four opponents left, one fight happening at a time. The Baron’s fight was first. His opponent was a Brayherd who was much larger than the rest of them, at least a full nine feet tall and massive extremely well defined muscles. As the two fighters stood across from each other, The Brayherd spoke to the Baron in decent Reikers. His voice was deep and the rumble before he spoke was almost inaudible for how low it was.

“My name is Gaius Bestia Caprae, any man who has reached this far has earned my respect. What is your name?”

“I am Johan Bleichroder Bickenstadt, Baron von Bickenstadt. Most simply refer to me as Baron.”

“Hm, Baronis, huh? Oh you’re the guest we have in the senate! My father is on the senate, Hetobius Bestia Caprae!”

I haven’t really met with the senate properly yet, it’s all bureaucratic nonsense I have no interest in at the moment…

“Fantastic! I will have the pleasure of telling him I beat his son in a fight!” The Baron responded with a smile.

“And I will have the pleasure of telling him I beat our guest in a fight!” Gaius declared happily with whatever the Brayherd’s considered a smile.

After waiting for a moment to see if the two contestants would continue talking, the referee began the match with a swipe of his arm.

The Baron rushed at Gaius. Sensing Gaius would just wait for the Baron to attack, he decided to oblige. The Baron leveled a devastating punch at Gaius’s head, letting it fly with as much power as he could. Gaius simply leaned his head forward and allowed the punch to connect with the top of his skull. The impact could be seen rippling through his entire body, if any human took that blow their head would crack open like a watermelon. But, luckily for Gaius, he was not human. The Baron was barely able to dodge Gaius’s grab, dropping backward and rolling away from him just as Gaius’s massive arms were about to close around him. The Baron took a moment and studied him carefully.

“Why do you look no worse for wear after that? I hit you pretty hard.”

Gaius smiled and beckoned the Baron forward.

“Come and find out.”

The Baron growled and launched himself forward, raising his leg and landing a devastating axe kick directly on Gaius’s head. Again, Gaius smiled and just tried to grab the Baron’s leg, which the Baron responded to by jumping and kicking him in the side of the head with his other leg, wrenching his body in the direction of the Baron’s kick but still doing no noticeable damage. Gaius moved to grab at the Baron again and the Baron hit him in the chest with a flying knee, which Gaius showed no reaction to but left a noticeable bruise. The Baron backed up and stared at Gaius, completely bewildered.

“You feel any of that?”

Gaius let loose a hearty laugh and slapped his chest.

“Of course I did! I just know how to absorb it.” Gaius responded with a smile.

“Great.” The Baron muttered under his breath and rushed at Gaius again.

The Baron hit Gaius with a flurry of blows, elbowing his head and punching his chest as quick and hard as he could manage, parrying his half hearted grapple attempts with ease. The Baron ducked under one of Gaius’s massive punches and clambered on top of him, standing on his thighs and elbowing the top of his head over and over.

“Come on big guy! Pass out! You know you want to!”

The Baron stretched as far as his arm would go and elbowed as hard as he physically could, again causing no noticeable damage but eliciting a grunt from Gaius. The Baron smiled and reveled in that small noise for a bit too long, because before he knew it Gaius had grabbed him and threw him to the ground, making him skip along the dirt like a stone thrown perfectly across a lake. The Baron hit the ground hard, knocking the breath out of him and making him scramble to recover as he finally came to a stop. Unfortunately for the Baron, Gaius finally started to actually attack him, stomping and punching at the Baron on the ground, which the Baron just barely managed to dodge each time. The Baron got to his feet after rolling like a madman to dodge Gaius’s attacks and rushed at Gaius, extremely tired from his frantic attacking and dodging. The Baron threw a punch at Gaius’s chest, which he caught in his hand and smiled. The Baron threw his other arm at Gaius, which he also caught with ease. Gaius lifted and tilted his head back, obviously getting ready for a headbutt. The Baron’s eyes widened in surprise and he spoke out loud.

“Oh! It's because you’re a goatman! Your head got some padding or something?!”

Gaius smiled brightly and brought his head down on the Baron’s with a deafening Crack!

The Baron’s eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped backwards, Gaius letting him fall to the ground with a smug look on his face. As Gaius raised his arms in victory the Baron started screaming and writhing on the ground, clutching his head and kicking up dust as he convulsed. Gaius’s smile dropped and he moved to see what was wrong when the Baron’s eyes began to glow and his body formed an arch as he grasped at his head and screamed. Gaius tried to turn and call for a medic but found he couldn’t move, he and everyone else in the arena was rooted in place, some strong force crushing all of them as they desperately tried to move from their place.

“SABIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!” The Baron yelled as his eyes began to glow brighter. All around him spikes made of earth burst from the ground and burst into flames.

“NO! DON'T TOUCH HER! NO! SABINE!” The Baron wailed as more flaming spikes burst out of the earth around the people in the colosseum, some erupting dangerously close to the contestants, close enough to burn Gaius who was stuck closest to him.

“RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” With one final yell the Baron collapsed into a bloody sweaty heap, releasing everyone around him with one final violent push of gravity, wrenching everyone violently to the ground and exploding the earth spikes into a million pieces of shrapnel, somehow not managing to seriously injure a single person.

Everyone stared at the Baron, unable to speak after what they had witnessed. What were they supposed to say after such a spectacle? Gaius looked to Udo as medics finally remembered they needed to help.

“What just happened?”