Everic’s eyes narrowed once he’d heard my request.

“Even if I could, it would require a significantly larger… contribution, on your part.

This time, it was my turn to grow suspicious. He had appeared at exactly the right time to take advantage of our situation, which he was most likely somehow responsible for. I was willing to let an offense like that slide, especially if I could get something out of it in return, but if he intended to play hardball he had another thing coming.

I close my eyes, before suddenly slamming my hands on the table and making Everic jump, while his guard went for his sword. Undeterred, I continued.

“Listen, pig. I know you’re the reason we lost our rooms. Either give me what I want, or I’ll make your current situation a whole lot worse.”

Everic gulped, before recollecting himself and attempting to retake control of the conversation.

“I see. So, a map and accommodations in exchange for a duel and an ‘understanding’, if you will. Does this trade seem acceptable to you?” he asked, barely able to keep the fear out of his voice.

To his credit, he caught on to his situation rather quickly once I’d laid it out for him. I had expected him to maintain his arrogant attitude, but turns out he knew when to cut his losses.

I nodded in response to his summary, knowing that a map of an ‘official’ unexplored area would be more than worth the trouble Everic had put us both through.

“We accept, though I want to see a contract to validate the worth of the map.” I added, to which I received a subtle nod in response. Everic fetched a piece of paper from a storage ring, wrote down his terms and conditions while I wrote down mine and then signed it.

No further words were exchanged between us as the contract took effect, though Everic spared us one final smug smile as he left the room.

“Keep the room, I don’t need it. I hope you maintain that confidence of yours in tomorrow’s match. Considering my brother’s proxy is at the edge of tier 3, you will need it.” He warned, before squeezing through the door.

Once he had left, Emeri turned to me with a shocked expression on her face.

“Was he really the one responsible for us not getting a room?”

“Clearly.” I responded monotonously.

“How did you know for certain, though?”

“I didn’t. His reaction confirmed it, though. He should’ve called my bluff.”

“Wouldn’t you just have gotten even more angry, then?” she hypothesized.

I smiled deviously. “You’re getting to know me quite quickly, aren’t you?”

-Scene transition-

The next morning, Emeri and I woke up well-rested in our separate rooms. I had squeezed Revan into the tight living room of the inn, where he had kept guard in case anything suspicious happened, but it seemed like Everic hadn’t found any loopholes in our contract, which also involved a temporary non-aggression clause. After a diverse yet filling breakfast, Emeri and I made our way out of the inn, where we came across a pair of guards under Emeric’s employ. Apparently, the pair had been waiting for us out here for a few hours now.

They escorted us to a reasonably large mansion, that proved the apparent affluence of its occupants. Everic’s family, like so many other aristocrats, treated their residence more like a status symbol than a home, which I felt made the place seem a little… dead. What was the point of a house that wasn’t a home?

That being said, the property was well-maintained and the neatly trimmed hedges made for an impressive sight. Our arrival on foot felt a little out of place for an estate of this size, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Soon enough, we were led inside, though we weren’t welcomed by the house’s owner. Any aristocrat that ruled over a city as large as Ruita would have the rank of viscount, at least. I suppose little old me was beneath their notice…

I chuckled. Either we were purposefully being disregarded, or Everic intended for our arrival to be a surprise.

The two guards led us down a few interconnecting hallways, until we eventually made our way to a sandy pit, that was covered by a large glass dome. About a hundred people could have fit inside if they squeezed together a little.

Instantly, I recognized this area as a training ground of some sort, though why someone would put a glass roof over a training ground was beyond me. That was just a waste of money, since that glass was bound to shatter at the slightest touch of a rogue skill or spell.

There were no spectators around the small arena, though a few figures were visible within the sandy pit itself. A warrior clad in shining armor, accompanied by not one, not two, but three rather large men.

As we approached, I was able to start making out their finer features. To start with, I noticed Everic was present. His stocky build was the same as the other two, but his smug smile and creased brow was visible even from this distance.

The two others looked like his family members. One had a beard whereas Everic didn’t, while another had white hair and wrinkled skin, whereas Everic still looked young. Supposedly, these were his older brother and his father, respectively. As we got closer, I started to hear them talking. No, it actually sounded like the two brothers were bickering, while the father raised his hands in appeasement and tried to de-escalate the argument with a timid voice.

Eventually, they noticed our arrival as well.

“Who are these people?” Everic supposed brother asked to no one in particular.

Everic jumped at the chance to introduce us and get one over his sibling.

“These, my dear uninformed brother, are the victor and runner-up of the most recent royal tournament! You, in your ever base understanding of the world, might recall their local nicknames, the Holy maiden and the Death Knight?” he bragged.

After a momentary shock, his brother burst out laughing.

“Brother mine, while it’s certainly impressive that you managed to recruit these two prodigies, did you forget how to count? We challenged each other to use tier 3 champions! These two are what, two months into the tier? Against Agard here, they might as well be throwing stones at a steel plate!” he laughed.

“Now, now.” The father intervened with an awkward, yet welcoming smile. “These two are the future of our kingdom, I’m sure they’ll be able to challenge Agard. Regardless, why do you two even feel the need to fight? You know your mother…” he began, before Everic’s face turned sour and his brother interrupted.

“Mother’s dead. Who knows what she would have thought? Let’s just get this farce over with once and for all.” He finished, before marching off to a viewing platform.

While this situation evolved, Emeri and I were just stuck there, in the middle of it. The moment family drama became involved, neither of us wanted to intervene, for obvious reasons.

After this argument, Everic, too, didn’t feel like talking anymore and left in a similar huff to his brother, while their father was left to pick up the pieces.

“I shouldn’t have gone that far…” the older man sadly muttered to himself. He turned around to face us, putting on a brave front.

“Excuse us. You shouldn’t have had to watch our family fights. After their mother’s death, my two boys just forgot how to get along. I try to give them all I can, but sometimes that isn’t enough.”

Unsure of how to respond, I just shrugged and left it at that.

“Now then,” he continued. “Who amongst you two will be facing Agard in battle? I warn you, he’s experienced and powerful.

I hummed in contemplation, while Emeri looked at me, wondering what I wanted to do. From the look in her eyes, she seemed eager to test her skill, so I just nodded toward her. A happy smile lit up on her face, so I felt I had made the right decision. Not to mention that I had been wondering how her battling style had evolved after her tier evolution. Mine, for example, had undergone drastic changes.

Having made our decision, we were directed to Everic’s side of the arena, where I joined the larger man on the raised dais, while Emeri stayed on the grounds.

On the other side of the pit, Agard stood to meet her charge.