by John Nest
+ Intimacy with Souer Settlers has risen to 85
+ Intimacy with Souer Settler Leaders has risen to 90
At once, all of the other OrkElves knelt down in front of the three of them, and yelled out in unison. "We swear fealty to you both, Colere and Esper."
The two OrkElves were shocked by the sudden development.
"Alright, why don't you tell everyone to start naming this place Souer Settlement from now on," said Smoke to the two of them.
As the two new settlement leaders were about to spread the word, Smoke called them back. "Oh, and please distribute the supplies that we brought from the city. Those are for all of you here to share."
"Thank you so much, Faux, thank you!" cried out Esper and hurriedly began unpacking Colere's cart.
Smoke then looked up to the sky and saw that the afternoon sun was about to set.
'I feel like I just cooked lunch and now it's already time to make dinner,' he thought to himself, amused.
However, before he began preparing the food, he went outside the doughnut-like structure, and called someone.
"Hello, Sierra? You're not going to believe what I found in Sawtorn," began Smoke as he told her of the OrkElves and his initial findings of Zectas' Southern Continent.
* * * * * *
The cold water spring at the heart of Souer Settlement gave out a red glow as the dawn's sun rays made contact with it.
Smoke had just logged back in Zectas after leaving it for only eight hours. He needed this precious hours to get in his scheduled power nap in the real world.
Regaining his senses, he saw that most of the OrkElves were still asleep. They were tired from last night's celebration of their new settlement. Only a few were awake, busy looking into the items Smoke had bought for them.
Amidst the gathered OrkElves, Smoke spotted Colere and Esper. They quickly came to where he was as soon as they saw him.
"Welcome back, Faux," greeted a smiling Esper. "So, where do you want us to guide you, next?"
Smoke rose a large rectangular table from the ground, and took out a map of the Sawtorn Continent from his bag. He laid it out for the two of them to see.
"I want you to point out the other OrkElf Settlements you were telling me earlier," began Smoke. "I plan to pay them a visit."
As expected, Smoke saw their faces light up at his news.
"Thank you so much for doing this," said Esper. "Who knew there were Sonstwelters such as yourself."
"Exactly!" happily added Colere. "Most of the OrkElves who venture in the city were only offered Jobs as hired Mercenaries by the Sonstwelters."
"Really?" asked a surprise Smoke. "I didn't see any other OrkElves when we were purchasing our supplies."
"That's probably because we stayed in the market district," replied Colere. "Only Merchant Sonstwelters commonly stay there, and they're usually too cheap to even hire an OrkElf."
"Yeah, I think so too," added Esper. "Most of the hired OrkElves stay with their Sonstwelter bosses in the entertainment district or near the arena. I think there is going to be a special event being held in the stadium soon."
Smoke made sure to make a mental note of this newly acquired information.
"That sounds really interesting, but let's get back to marking those OrkElf Settlements in the map for now," said Smoke.
After Colere and Espere updated his map, a series of Map Location windows popped up. He closed all of them, as he would not be using any of them yet.
"Thanks for this," said Smoke. "I'll be heading out, now."
"Huh? But don't you want us to guide you anywhere else?" asked Esper.
Smoke shook his head. He then took out two jewels from his bag and gave one to both of them. "I know we said three-hundred zecs a day, but I hope you won't mind if I paid you both in jewels."
Then, a notification window popped up.
+ Verbal Contract Completed
> You have paid Colere Ecarte for his services as a guide
> You have paid Esper Ecarte for her services as a guide
+ 10 Fame
+ 200 Experience
Smoke smirked after he read the notification window.
"Well, I guess this it. I'll see the two of you around," said Smoke and left for Vona City. Restricted not to show his gliding ability, he had to walk out of the pomegranates.
As soon as he was out of the OrkElves' sight, Smoke leapt up and glided away swiftly. He headed straight back to Vona in order to investigate the other parts of the city.
It took him less than an hour to spot the gateway city. Since he needed to keep up with appearances, Smoke decided to land and walk the remaining distance of one kilometer.
He landed deep in the forest of pomegranate trees, and thought that this was a perfect opportunity to hunt the spittle squirrels.
"Looks like we'll have squirrels on the grill, Igniz," said Smoke as he let out his symbiote from his hidden metallic chamber.
Smoke only needed one of his arrows to kill one, while Igniz would often require two shots with his fireballs if it was not a critical strike.
Together, the two of them hunted down three hundred spittle squirrels before reaching the city gates. He thought about cooking the squirrels before entering the city, but he feared that he might be spotted by passersby.
He had Igniz hide inside his orb-like chamber, and headed towards the city gates. As soon as he left the pomegranate forest, he felt the deadly Breathtaking Ballistae temporarily aim at him. The defensive sentry weapons reverted back to a neutral position as soon as they recognized him as a DarkElf, and not an Ork.
Back in the city, he immediately headed straight for Vona's arena. There, he saw groups of three to six OrkElves obediently following a single Sonstwelter with a Job of a Mage, or of a similar variant.
"Do they look happy to you, Igniz?" Smoke whispered to his hidden symbiote. He didn't need to see his dark ember sprite bobbing its head to know that he would have said yes.
'At least they look healthy,' observed Smoke while watching them follow their contracted masters.
"Tickets! Tickets! Get your tickets, here!" suddenly cried a lioness Lioumerean.
"What are those tickets for?" asked Smoke.
"Why, for the finals in the battle arena, of course," replied the Lioumerean skeptically. "This will decide who will be Vona's representative for Vitzytl Kingdom's Magi Gagnant Tournament in the capital city of Votl. Don't you know that?"
"Of course, I know about the tournament," quickly replied Smoke. "I just wanted to make sure what kind of ticket I'm buying. I don't want to end up suddenly watching some spittle squirrel competition, now, would I?"
The lioness Lioumerean's gaze on him did not change. In fact, it became even more suspicious than before.
"So, how much?" asked Smoke as he fished for zecs inside his bag.
The scalper eyed him from head to foot. She hesitatingly signaled him two fingers. "Two thousand zecs, but I don't think you can afford it."
Due to his low Beggar ranking, his Earth Elementalist disguise appeared more tattered than he had hoped.
'I guess looking like a beggar isn't acceptable even in Vitzytl Kingdom,' angrily thought Smoke to himself.
Aside from getting mad, he also felt like being robbed as the ticket was relatively expensive, considering that he could pay two guides at the price of three-hundred zecs a day.
"Here," said a perturbed Smoke, handing her the exact amount. "Just because I look like this doesn't mean I can't pay."
Having experienced the elitist discrimination on a daily basis, he had mostly gotten used to the stares, but today, he reached his limit with her.
'I really need to get a rank up on my Beggar Job soon,' he reminded himself strongly as he entered the arena.
* * * * * *
Walking into the large elliptical stadium, he estimated that it was slightly smaller than the one in Centzo, where he participated in the Swordsman to Knight Tournament. He saw a metallic plaque on the side of the wall.
Volution Arena
Seating Capacity: 80,000
Dimensions: 200 meters long, 180 meters wide, 60 meters tall
Then, he was called by one of the arena attendants, a beautiful brunette WoodElf. "Your ticket please, Sir."
Smoke handed her the scalper's ticket.
"Oh, you're in section eighty-two. That would be ten doors to your left," she pleasantly explained and returned the ticket to him.
He remembered how a stadium of this size required several entrances to avoid the crowd from, well from crowding in its pathways.
The arena had been almost filled, as only a few seats were free. When he spotted his chair, he found that he was in the high-end section of the arena. He could tell, from their clothes. Their robes alone must have cost fifty-thousand zecs.
Most of the people seating there were either Sonstwelters with the Jobs of Mage variations or Zectians belonging to aristocrats.
"Excuse me, excuse me," said Smoke humbly, as he passed through them.
"Hey, hey, hey, general seating is way up there," said a haughty Zectian nobleman. He pointed to the seats way up the top section of the stadium.
"But my seat is over there," replied Smoke, showing him his ticket and pointing to the remaining seat available.
The nobleman guffed and exaggeratedly gave room for Smoke to pass, not allowing any part of their clothing to touch.
'Maybe it isn't so bad having a low Beggar Job. At least, I get to see such stupid reactions like this,' thought Smoke to himself as he laughed inwardly.
Once seated, he glanced over to the people sitting next to him. To his left was an old Zectian HighElf, he appeared to be a High Wizard. To his right was a young Zectian WoodElf. Smoke surmised him to be a nobleman, he looked barely in his twenties.
The two of them kept on looking at each other and at Smoke. So, he thought he should just confront them. "Yes? Can I help you with something?" he asked, annoyed.
The old High Wizard smiled. "Well, I accidentally bought tickets that weren't seated next to each other, and I was hoping if I could trade seats with you so I could sit next to my Lord."
Smoke looked at the High Wizard and back to the young Lord. Both of them were looking at him with hopeful smiles.
"Oh, sure, sure. I thought it was something else," replied Smoke sheepishly.
The High Wizard and Smoke changed places.
"Thank you so much for allowing me to correct my mistake, my name is Mouche," said the High Wizard and offered his hand to Smoke.
"Faux," replied Smoke and shook hands with the old man.
"And allow me to present, Lord Avilo Dawkins, potential heir to Vitzytl Kingdom," said Mouche pointing to the young aristocrat.
"A pleasure to meet you, Faux. But please don't pay any mind to the title. About half of the noblemen here are all potential heirs to the throne," explained Avilo, and shook hands with Smoke as well.
"A pleasure, Lord Avilo," replied a surprised Smoke. His answers were short as he still felt guilty for thinking that they were elitists, out to give him a hard time.
"Lord Avilo here is a great fan of Vona's Prime Wizard, Ouragan," said Mouche suddenly.
Smoke nodded politely, not knowing anything about Vona's Prime Wizard.
Avilo interjected excitedly. "But we must not discredit Tsunamae as well. She was the only Sonstwelter to defeat everyone in the preliminaries, including Prime Wizard Ouragan's first disciple, Brise."
"Yeah, Brise was very powerful as well. They say he is only three levels below the Prime Wizard. So, this fight should be something to see," added Avilo eagerly.
"And the winner of this will get to go to Votl?" asked Smoke, trying to appear knowledgeable about the tournament.
"Yes. It will be better watching the championships back at home," replied Avilo.
"Lord Avilo is the ninth in line to rule over Vitzytl Kingdom," added Mouche. "Of course there are also other Lords here attending. They're here to scout on who to bet on for the championships."
Smoke remembered the time when the other nobles in Chayotl Kingdom were said to have placed bets on himself during the Mounted Race event back in Coatl City.
"Of course, Lord Avilo does not participate in such an abhor practice," added Mouche.
Avilo nodded energetically. "I just think it would dishonor such talented and powerful individuals to place bets on them."
"That's very noble of you," commended Smoke.
Avilo smiled but kept staring at Smoke, until he finally spoke his mind. "Excuse me, Faux, but why do you have a mask?"
"My Lord, it is rude to ask such things," interjected Mouche. "Please forgive Lord Avilo, he still lacks proper manners at times."
Smoke smiled at the two of them. They treated them with such high regard that he felt like royalty himself.
"Oh, come now, Mouche. I was just wondering if it is a powerful artifact or if Faux has a scar on his face."
"I have been cursed, and the mask helps me with it," lied Smoke, partially.
"Oh, then you should head for Votl City too," offered Avilo. "We have the best Purifiers in the Kingdom, and if that still doesn't work you can try Thanotl Kingdom. They do have better Priests than us, and their—"
Avilo was suddenly cut off by an announcer's voice booming throughout the arena.
"Duke Fiable, Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen of Vona City, I welcome you to the nine-hundred-ninety-ninth Magi Gagnant Tournament!" yelled the announcer. "Please direct your attention to our four giant screens on the opposite sides of your seats."
Then, four large jumbo screens came out from the ground, and displayed a zoomed in vision of the large circular ring at the center of the arena.
The announcer's voice boomed once more. "No more need to use lenses, binoculars or telescopes. All thanks to our sponsors of jumbo screens, the Light Wizards of Gauge. Things appear right in front of you with the guaranteed Gauge Vision. This message is approved by the Royal Wizard Council of Vitzytl Kingdom."
A loud audible groan overcame the crowd as the announcer kept on with the commercials.
"Our finalists are known to have quick and direct spars, but in an event of a long drawn out battle, you might want to have something to snack on. Our mobile vendors of Dearest Deer are selling their tasty venison sandwiches. Please feel free to grab a bite," added the announcer as he continued with the tournament sponsors.
"Get on with it already!" roared a lion Lioumerean in the general seating section above Smoke.
Disguised as Faux, it was difficult to turn around and looked up with his mask on, but Smoke could see that the crowd above had caused a rumpus.
"What savages, why are they even allowed to watch these prestigious events," said the haughty aristocrat who asked for Smoke's ticket.
"All of us have magic in us, Lord Hautain," said Avilo. "Is it not only fair to those who have magic to be able to watch it?"
"Lord Avilo, your words do make sense. However, it does not quite follow the ways of Tlaltezinism. I do, however, thank you for educating me. In future, I will act more properly to that accord," replied Hautain unwillingly, forcibly giving a bow to the younger aristocrat.
"And I do pray for your proper education as well, Lord Hautain," countered Avilo with a smile.
Smoke then whispered to Mouche. "Let me guess, that Hautain is lower ranked than Lord Avilo, huh?"
The old High Wizard tried hard to suppress chuckling. "Yes. Lord Hautain is eightieth in line for the throne."
Suddenly, the announcer's voice got Smoke's attention once more. "And now let us hear a few words from Vona's Mayor. Please give a warm Vona welcome to his grace, Duke Fiable."
The jumbovision screen zoomed in a young Elf seated in the most important Duke's throne of Vona. His pale skin and white hair, much whiter than Smoke's, gave him an angelic visage.
'He must be a LightElf,' surmised Smoke as he had only read about them in the forums, and belonged to the unplayable races like the Orks, Centaurs, and other restricted r
aces.
"Citizens of Vona, I welcome you to our city's finals for the representative of the 999th Magi Gagnant Tournament," bellowed the youthful Duke. "We offer this battle to our god, Tlaltezin. We know that only the strong shall have the right and dominion of the weak."
Fiable suddenly disappeared from his throne, and instantly reappeared in the ring. He suddenly took a knife out from his pocket and cut his left palm open with it. He then let out a few droplets of blood on the ring. "God, Tlaltezin, accept this sacrifice in your name."