The morning was a harsh one for the mercenary, awakening with a headache still and a little sore from the other day. He would be damned if they needed to leave early that morning… He yawned loudly as he stretched his arm out. He sat up and rubbed his eyes for a moment, noticing that everyone seemed to be getting awake and to their things, for the most. Serna didn’t seem to have woken up at all, which could either be bad or good. He wouldn’t be able to tell anyway. But what truck him after that was the Aavikkanian near the waterside… Training? Really? After everything that happened the other night, he was still in that morning routine? It was simply fascinating how unfazed he seemed to be.
Practicing as the other days, Elrithos was actually deep in thought about the events of the other night. Not the orcs and goblins, but the wolves and what the big one was talking about. What was happening to Aaerynn? In seemed quite important, yet didn’t seem to be too bothered by it. Was it normal? It was to say that something was going on somewhere. As he kept this thought up, he eventually got interrupted by the wood elf. Elrithos stopped spinning his blades around himself, coming to a graceful step back. He was curious about what she wanted.
She approached him and presented the canteen. He was confused onto why he would get that from her, but she then explained it came as a thanks from the Wood Elves of Furus. He took the container and looked at it for a moment. The smell was overwhelming as a smile grew on his lips… Sweet juice. More precisely, sweet wild berry juice. Lissandra… She knew exactly what kind of drink would make his day. It was surely a parting gift for him and his journey. He was about to thank Aaerynn for it, but Rudolf seemed to have started a conversation in which he would not interrupt. Instead, he simply walked away towards one of the rocks and sat down, opening the canteen… I promise I will come back Lissandra…
Vordan was adjusting his gear and making sure he had everything in his bag. He would need to purchase new ingredients for the next night so that he had new and better bandages or maybe even paste for the wounds. The troll blood would do wonders with what he had in mind. He secured everything and left t in one of the carts. He would be walking again, as he needed to get the soreness off by moving a little… And, to his surprise, Aaerynn was back. He didn’t notice her joining them… How odd. He must have been distracted enough to completely ignore it. He was in his books again and his jars, vials, flasks. He seemed to have a lot going on in that bag. He was sure a lot would be curious and he WOULD give them plausible answers, but nothing more.
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Vordan smiled at the mention of Cromerth. He had forgotten that this was the town they were stopping in. It was a beautiful place, especially for ingredients. This place attracted all kinds of merchandise that Vordan would take opportunity in gathering. It would mean a few flasks and vials here and there would have to be emptied, but that was fine. He reached in the cart that had his bag and threw it over his shoulders and came to the front. Tirian had already extracted himself from the group and went to do his own thing. He looked at him move on and basically did the same, wave at everyone.
‘’I’m off to the market for a few moments; I’ll join you back at the Inn after or at one of the tournament fights. Elrithos, with your skill, you could probably win today’s tournament easily. I would suggest you join. Pretty sure you’d make a few jaws drop with those blades. ’’
With that, he departed to do his own thing. Elrithos looked confused as he did not have any notion of what these tournaments were. Skills? Combat skills? What did he mean? Elrithos looked back towards Rudolf, who would probably have an idea of what he is talking about. ‘’Rudolf. What did Vordan speak of?’’
The dwarf smiled and gave a hearty laugh. "Cromerth has become well known for its tournaments. It's where many warriors come to display their skills. No one necessarily wins anything except a boost in pride and ego. But many employers watch the tournaments and are eager to pay its winners for services or place bets on who will win what fight. It's a good show of bravery, skill and camaraderie between warriors."
Elrithos listened closely to the words, very interested in what he was talking about. It would be quite entertaining to practice versus good opponents. He wouldn't be in for the pride, ego or anything of such. It would be to test his own skill versus those around and maybe even find flaws within his own methods of combat. Elrithos smiled gently as he then looked forward. "This sounds like an interesting event. I would imagine it is mostly friendly matches? No fights to the death? I am curious to see how good I am against different types of fighting styles. Where can I show my interest in participating?"
"No fights to the death!" The dwarf grinned. "The match ends when one of the opponents is disarmed or when the judges deem that a strike would have been a death strike. You must always pause before making a killing move! This is a sport, not a death match."
The dwarf looked around to see if Tirian was still in sight, but seeing that he wasn't, the dwarf pointed towards where he had last seen him. "The tournament itself is held in a coliseum of sorts. You should be able to see it quite easily if you head straight up that road. Then you merely sign up at the door, and they will set up a match for you. I wish you luck my friend, if you participate."
‘’Thank you Rudolf. I will be seeing you later then.’’ With that, he waved at the group and left to follow the road he had pointed towards, hoping he would be able to join up on this event. This would be an interesting day.
Hitting the market, he went to work almost instantly. He was looking for those rare ingredients that would make him some pretty intense and powerful. He went from stall to stall, asking questions upon questions, asking the origin of any produce they had that seemed interesting. It was sometimes incredible seeing him go on on what he needed. It was to say, he was really good with bargains and getting down on the lies and hidden facts these merchants had.
There was on particular stand with an older merchant, selling what seemed to be various kinds of spices and powders that picked Vordan’s interest. The old man was talking to a few people, so he approached and looked at what was set down. Most of these were just to enhance the taste of food, a few were powders for multiple applications. But one was particular. It was this red grounded powder, very small quantity and in a glass vial. The other thing was a vial of turquoise thick liquid. He looked them over, for a moment before hearing an old, gruff voice.
‘’Can I help you?’’ Vordan lifted his head with a small smile, tapping his fingers on the stand. ‘’Yes, these vials. What are they?.’’ He pointed at the both of them. The man seemed a little surprised that the mercenary had shown interest for those two. ‘’ Well, one of them is powdered fire stone. They say it sells to smiths who need to make small blade sturdy and rust resistant. Very popular with the elves from the desert to use. And the other one is a particular acid that sticks to steel and iron, meaning it eats away whatever steel it touches until completely consumed. Why do you ask?’’
‘’How much?’’ The old man, still surprised, over him a good price that was fair. Vordan took the deal without a second of hesitation and also but some pepper and grounded rose pedals. He set them in his backpack and went back on his way to get things.
Elrithos was simply looking around as he rode his horse towards the coliseum. He had the odd stares here and there from the people, since he wore his actual desert clothes and not his heavier wet ones from the other day. The Aavikkanian did not mind it at all. He was used to these in the human cities. He was someone from a region most of these people did not know of. He wondered right up to the coliseum, which was on impressive building… He whistled and odd tune and the horse seemed to walk away as he dismounted quickly off the saddle. He felt a little small in the gathering of warriors and he pushed forth through the people. It was a tight squeeze and eventually, he got through to someone who was taking names.
‘’This is where we go to participate in the tournament?’’ Elrithos spoke in his odd Aavikkanian accent. The man turned towards him and was a little disappointed it seemed. He nodded briefly and looked down upon him. ‘’Ya, why?’’
‘’I wish to participate. My name is Elrithos.’’ The man was suspicious that this might be a joke. Maybe it was the attire or the fact that he was not that big or something. All in all, the man sighed and wrote his name down. ‘Alright. Wait until your name is called and go into the arena. I’ll explain the rules.’’ The man took the time to explain to him everything he needed to know, as he was clearly new to the place. Elrithos made sure he understood the concept and thanked the man for the opportunity. When asked to wait in the waiting area, he did so and sat down on the ground to meditate. Elrithos was quite excited actually, to test his skills…
When he heard his name, he got to his feet and presented himself to the arena. It was quite fast actually and many people watching. It was quite an incredible sight. He looked all around him, then towards the other man that showed. He seemed like your average mercenary, with sword and shield. Elrithos bowed in respect.
‘’Begin!’’
When it started, both seemed to analyze each other before the man charged forth. Elrithos, with his special double bladed weapon, seemed quite relax… The first thrust from the mercenary was deflected with ease from the desert warrior. Elrithos, as his team would know, stayed defensive, just evading, deflecting, parrying. Some people seemed impressed with the Aavikkanian doing this well… Then, the single strike from the elf. The man had stepped forward and give strong slash down-up. Elrithos just pushed the blade up and hlped the swing before stepping in and place the blade underneath the man’s neck.
Declared the winner of the match, the mercenary backed off, a little angry and Elrithos simply smiled as he went back to the waiting room and waited.