“Huh-huh-huh-huh!”

Breathing heavily, I grip the prototype tightly, sweat erupting from the pores in my hand as I pull back an arrow.

(Ok, I can do this)

“This is going to be easy,” a heavy-set man standing across me, laughs cracking his knuckles.

(From-his-gestures-I-have-to-assume-he’s-an-internal-user-maybe-a-variant-of-ground-or rock?-Or-maybe-this-is-a-subversion-he-could-be-a-physically-strong-external-user-maybe-even-summoner-If-so-my-best-bet-is-to-outspeed-him-using-a-water-arrow-followed-by-lightning-but-if-he-is-uing-a-variant-of-ground-maybe-I-should-use-a-water-ice-combo?)

“Stop standing there quietly, are you getting cold feet?” the man growls,

“Or are we going to do this!?”

“Huh~” I take one final breath,

“I’m ready.”

****

“You’re a winner! You’ve chosen to eat at right place!” a smiley waitress says coming to take our orders,

“This is not what I imagined,” Pinoki comments, picking an order from the menu, he then subsequently passes it around the table for the rest of us to choose,

“I’ve never seen a place so busy,” Lyra looks out a window,

“It seems like visitors like us are commonplace here,” Karina observes,

“I feel like a winner, these prices are so cheap,” Apollo immersed in the menu of foods,

It’s been a couple hours since we encountered the two peculiar people, on the path here, the rest of the journey, to our relief was uneventful,

Unlike the kingdom of Soterra, who’s main city was surrounded by walls with guards monitoring the only entrance, Furlheim, an octagonally shaped city, seamlessly transitions from the lush backwoods into the city, no walls, no guards to restrict our entry, it felt as though the city itself was welcoming us in,

The atmosphere though cold and grey was not without liveliness as the litter-covered streets hosted a diverse number of individuals all in groups, some carelessly going about their business, others shouting loudly trying to attract customers,

We had not been here for even a minute before people started trying to sell us things, dozens of vendor stalls line up almost every street, offering clearly fake magic stones, and other miscellaneous items for suspiciously cheap, amounts of prices,

It wasn’t even the vendors alone like this, dozens of inns, dinners, weapon shops, you name it, were all scattered about almost every corner of the city, each coupled with their own distinct logo to prove their individuality from each other.

Walking into Furlheim felt akin to entering a casino and being bombarded with different ways to lose your money,

After observing as much as we could for a few hours, we finally gave in and decided to try one of the many diners.

……..

“About time,” Apollo grumbles hungrily as the waitress finally brings our food,

Lyra looks at my plate scornfully, I ordered simply salad and beans, but she says nothing,

“Not bad,” Pinoki chows down,

“I was skeptical of it being good given the prices as well the other diners nearby, quantity usually means less quality,”

“I wonder what’s the reason for the all the similar stores,” Karina inputs looking out a window,

“More-so, what do you reckon those oval-shaped buildings are about,”

She points out to a dome-like structure in the near distance, similar to most of the commercial establishments in this city there seems to be an abundance of them as well, within walking distance of every area,

“Maybe it’s for storage or meetings,” Pinoki guesses lazily,

….

“So, what exactly do we do here?” Lyra speaks up,

…..

(Is it just me or does something feel…)

“Kage?

Kage!?”

Shove!

“Huh? What?”

“You’ve been quiet since we got here,” Lyra states tartly

“I was thinking about something, what were we talking about?”

“Don’t tell me you were having one of those ‘dreams you told us about,” she probes

“No, and that’s not how it works,

I think,”

“I find it unsettling that you can snoop around my memories,” Apollo opines,

“That’s not how it works,” I repeat

“The things I saw with you, were through the eyes of Omari, his memories, though it felt like it was me, like I was physically there living it,”

“Ehh, let’s not bring those matters that up,” Apollo says uncomfortably,

“I’m haunted by Darius already I don’t need to be reminded of Omari,”

“Haunted?” I ask curiously,

“I mean this,” …….

He taps the sword strapped to his back,

“Darius’s sword, it still hasn’t disappeared yet,

Magic is meant to disappear, no matter what type, however there is a rare exception, it happens to only those with true conviction or deep regret, it could be something as simple as summoning all the magic you will ever have to blow yourself up, or leaving back a part of your magic, that will not go away till the purpose intended is fulfilled,

I thought killing Murdoc would make it disappear, clearly it didn’t,

I can only guess what Darius wants me to with this,

His Requiem.”

“Maybe its to find your father,” Pinoki brings up, “your mother must have met him when she lived here right?”

“Nah, not interested in finding him,” Apollo drones, “the fact that she did not tell anyone who he was, means he’s either dead already, a crook or something worse,

I’ve read enough novels to assume that much,”

“Awful assumption to make,” Lyra teases “he could be a model human being you don’t know,”

“Hmm, maybe your right,” he replies sarcastically “maybe he’s just an angel, so much so that my mother forgot to mention him.”

“Speaking of lost family members,” Karina looking directly at Lyra,

“Maybe we should find your brother, and kill him,”

“And you look at me like that, because?” Lyra scowls,

“I obviously don’t know where he is,”

“I never said you did”

“Then why the look?”

“I wanted to see your reaction,”

“Why, you think I would care?

I hate him just as much as you,”

“I sincerely doubt that Lyra,

He killed my family for fun, not even because of Murdoc made him,”

“He killed my family too,”

“He is your family Lyra,”

“I hate him, just as much as he hates me,”

“He still spared you though hating you?”

“……

Go back to being quiet Karina, I don’t have the energy to go back and forth with you right now,”

“You seem pretty full to me,”

“You sound pretty annoying to me, so shut up,”

“Or what? We both know who’s stronger between us,”

“Well-”

“-And I’m also faster than you”

“Don’t cut me off!”

“I didn’t finish speak so technically you cut me of first,”

“Probably because what you were saying was garbage,”

“Like your brother.”

“Ok? You think I’m going to defend him because you said that?”

“No, I was just checking your reaction again, to be sure you really don’t care,”

“Have I met your oh-so marvelous expectations?”

“A little, maybe if you toned down the bitchy-ness, I might buy it a bit more,”

“How about I turn up the cold?”

…….

Pinoki raises his eyebrows giving me a look,

(Don’t give me that look, I’m not going to stop them)

I turn my gaze to Apollo giving him a nudge under the table,

“This is a good meal,” he mumbles ignoring me, wanting nothing to do with the conflict,

****

“It was three copper, right?” Pinoki says handing the owner of the diner the money for the meal,

“I can tell you are new here,” she beams, something about her smile makes me feel uneasy,

“What if I demanded three gold instead?”

“That’s funny,” Pinoki says dryly, “We’ll be lea-”

“-I’m serious traveler sir, I want more money,”

“Don’t we all.” Pinoki gesturing for us to leave,

“Since you are new here, allow me to explain to you how things are run here in Sweepstake City,”

Taking out a ring with a spiral insignia the woman places it on her finger,

“Huh? I thought this was Furlheim city?”

“It hasn’t been called that in a long time,” the big-boned woman cackles,

“You see, ever since our new mayor was elected, he removed all laws, taxes and mandates, giving us just one rule:

Anything that you desire be it money, respect or status can and only can be won via battle,

"Her ring begins glowing, the light spiraling around all of us, it feels similar to travelling to the unholy city,

My body getting lighter as the light whisks us away………...

……………

……………

“Where is this! Lyra yells,” looking around the structure,

The walls encrusted with presumably magic gems, giant crystals hang from each corner of a circular curved roof, they emit bright lights, illuminating the arena-like area below,

(Are we in the dome structure we saw earlier?)

“I’m sure you must have noticed these, all around the city,” the woman now appearing with four other waitresses from her diner, they all smile happily like starved dogs who’s just been given their first meal in months,

“This is one of our many challenge domes,” the woman continues,

“We settle all our disputes here, it only takes one win to become the richest person in the city,

I apologize kind travelers, I bear no grudge against you, this is all business,

However, since you are unfamiliar with our culture,

We promise to go easy on you.”