Marketplace

The whole castle was in a flurry. Guards began to return to their stations and maids were cleaning up the mess the demon made. Murmurs and gossip could be heard amongst the people working at the castle. The King went back to his quarters and brought Kiren along, leaving Derek alone in the mess.

I promise I'll find you! That's what the princess said as the King dragged her away. She told him to meet her at a famous tavern within the next couple of days. It seemed like he would be on his own. He overheard Kiren pleading to her father to let Derek stay in the castle, but after the incident, the King wouldn't trust anyone. Derek was on his own, so it was time to do some exploring.

The structure of the kingdom was in a circular fashion with multiple layers, similar to an onion.

On the outer edges bordering the kingdom walls were most of the residences, family-owned shops, and some low star inns. It also was home to tons of overgrown forestry and the occasional pond or river for the average fisherman.

At the middle section was where all the action occurred. Places of gathering, blacksmiths, alchemy breweries, weapons and magic shops, other miscellaneous markets, and the most famous part of the kingdom: the trading district. The trading district was known to not use coin; rather, it was famous for going back to traditional roots and to trade item for item. It was also home to the most diverse of races; if you wanted something, it was probably there.

Finally, the innards of the kingdom contained royalty. High-end beast bounty shops with rare ingredients priced at monopoly prices, a wizard's tower, the esteemed library, and of course, the king's castle. The Geros Kingdom had pretty much everything anybody could want.

Derek didn't know where to start. He checked his balance. 150 Aers. It still didn't mean much to him. After arriving at the kingdom, it was pretty much midday, so he had a lot of time to kill. And so Derek made an agenda for himself.

For today, he would explore around the middle section, mostly the marketplace. He wanted to get what he could get himself and make sure he wasn't being ripped off. He jingled the odd bronze coins in his hand. Worst case scenario, he would have to go to the outskirts and find a suitable inn. Derek's brain hurt at the thought of that.

Visiting the marketplace should take up the afternoon, and so the next course of action would be the check out the designated meeting place. More specifically, the "craziest tavern of ALL of Geros Kingdom" as Kiren put it. He could probably get pointers at the marketplace, and who knows, somebody might recommend him a great place to settle down and eat some food. He was exhausted and famished after a day's walk to the kingdom. The only thing he's had since he woke up into this world was a bowl of water and small rations they picked up at the outpost. Derek didn't know how many days he passed out, but he felt like he could eat a horse. After that, he could honestly get a good night's rest. He wanted to check out either the library or the trading district, but that could wait till the next morning.

It was settled then. Derek made a mental note of his day and went on his way. He went over to ask a guard for directions and recommendations. The guard was a stout dwarf with a big blazing red beard paired with a mustache of the same size.

"Dis yer first time inna kingdom ehh? Welcome! I'm Hoggar, and I'll be bloody happy to give you some pointers!" The dwarven guard pulled out a map and pointed at some directions in the city.

"Look for the Scallywag. The Scallywag is a place run by us dwarves. If you do go dere, tell de owner Khaz that the Drunken 'Ogar sent ya there. That's me! He might run ye a few rounds free if hes in the mood. If you fancy tons of game and booze, this is the place to go. The "occasional" brawl breaks out, but it is what it is, innit?" The guard bellowed in laughter.

"If you're looking for something on more the quiet side, I'd check out the Highton. It is run by a pair of elven twins. It offers rare delicacies and some say the owners traffic the goods from the black market. There's even a saying for the exquisite place: It's illegally good." The guard broke down into a serious whisper.

"But of course one can only frequent these places with the right amount of coin. Given your condition, you seem on the brink of starvation. I'd recommend the Scallywag for a fellow like you." The guard ended with a hearty laugh.

"If you have any more questions, you know where to find me!" Hogar waved goodbye as Derek thanked the guard and went on his way.

First stop, the marketplace. The guard said it was impossible not to find. Just follow the noise and music. Sounds easy enough.

Sure enough, sounds of trumpets and people yelling prices could be heard as walked out of the inner city. Derek followed the noise and casually ended up walking into a crowd of people It seemed like they were gathered around a competition that was about to occur. Around the circle, shops bustling with activity, people were haggling and bargaining, children with balloons and toys running around chasing each other. If it weren't for the fact that an enormous orc was chasing a young dwarf in tag, this would've felt like home.

"I'll give you a tenner!"

"You're shittin' me, clerk? How long have a been buying from ya!?"

"You've gotta let me play with something here!"

The market district was brimming with activity, but Derek was going to check it out later. For now, he was interested in what laid in front of the audience.

"Step right up, step right up! Test your mettle against the undefeated arm wrestling champion! Some call him the Undertaker; others call him the Bronze Boned Orc, hailing from a small tribe of orc warriors in the far east, he has never seen defeat against any challenger! Step right up, step right up!"

Derek didn't think twice to figure out that this was a scam.

* Scanning... *

* Name: Rilug, Class Rank: Tier 3 Runeknight Sentinel. *

"You there, strongman! You look like you're up for a challenge!"

The host pointed at a determined human around their mid-twenties, like Derek. The man had dark features and was extremely built and tall. Derek deduced that this man was probably not from around here. Extremely confident, and extremely full of himself. The stranger smiled and took off his shirt and began flexing at the crowd and a bunch of girls cheered. He seemed to be semi-famous.

"Only 50 Aers to challenge the champion! If you win, you take all the winnings that the champion has won before!" The host gestured at a pile of gold bags behind the orc. It was a tempting offer for anybody.

"Young man, what is your name?"

"Kun."

* Analyzing... *

* Name: Kun the Tiger, Class Rank: Tier 9 Paragon Sentinel. *

"You know the rules, newcomer. Magic is not allowed, all fair play and strength alone will deem the winner. No negotiations on coin. Disputes are in favor of the champion and call-outs for cheating must be met with sufficient proof. Any questions?" Kun nodded in agreement.

"Without further ado, let the arm wrestling begin!" The host ushered the newcomer up towards the platform as he sat across the champion.

Rilug, the champion, was five tiers lower than Kun, although they were in the same rank. Despite this, it didn't really matter as magic was forbidden. This contest was a test of strength. But was it?

"Ready..." The two contestants clasped hands at the middle of the table with astounding force. The crowd was tense and the atmosphere was heavy. There was a moment of silence.

"Begin!"

BOOM! A massive shockwave of air emanated from the fighters at the ground underneath cracked, letting out a massive gust of air.

It was on. The first moments were a stalemated struggle. Both contestants were strong in their own right and each held to their own, and Derek could see veins protruding from their whole body. The challenger Kun's face begin to relax as he started to gain momentum and begin to edge the champion's hand a little bit towards the left. Getting the initial struggle of balanced forces in his favor was a key point in gaining the advantage in the game. By boosting one's morale early on, it posed as a huge factor in the outcome of the overall contest. However, the orc did not falter at all and remained poised and calm.

Kun's boost in morale causes a surge of strength and adrenaline to flow through him and he grips the table harder and begins to swing the orc's hand slightly back and forth using his own strength. This technique was extremely dangerous as it was a high-risk high-reward way of winning. It was a technique that brought out each party's strongest and weakest sides on each swing. The goal was to capitalize when the sway was in your favor and push the opponent's hand while the sway was against them. It was similar to riding the wind and attacking while the opponent was fighting against it. The champion did not anticipate this and his unwavering gaze turned into a slight hint of disarray. But it was too late.

Before the orc could figure out the challenger's technique, Kun was able to capitalize on the advantage on the third sway.

FWOOM! A gush of wind erupted from the table from the sheer force and intensity that occurred, and the crowd roared.

It seemed so sudden, but the challenger's hand was completely on top of the orc's, inches away from victory. Sweat could be seen trickling both contestants, one with a look of confidence, and one with a look of worry and fear. The champion held on for dear life to what seemed like an eternity and seemed to pray for the inevitable.

But Derek knew what was going to happen next.