R-a - Volume 3 - Chapter 25

R-a - Chapter 183 (In editing-v1)

“Barkeep! Another round for the lads!” A slurred, but cheerful voice echoed in the crowded air of a large, well-decorated bar.

The speaker was a brute of a Byren, standing 2.5 meters tall and covered in stained furs. He had two enormous sabers on his back and gave off a feeling of strength. He was currently sitting at a large, engraved stone table with 8 other warriors, all of them nursing drinks and talking excitedly.

All of these Byrens were wearing worn, leather garments with a purple triangle sewn in, the official symbol of the Lord of Tansol City, marking them as guards of the city. Given that they were drinking here, and their rather grizzled appearances, they were likely experienced and powerful guards.

Micheal studied this group of warriors for a few seconds before turning away. He was currently sitting at a table near the back of this bar, right next to a large gambling area.

“4’s and 5’s… come on now, 4’s and 5’s!”

“Oooh! Dragons and Imps tops Queens! This pot is mine!”

“Damn it!”

A series of groans, cheers, and eager yells sounded out as Micheal glanced off to his right.

A dozen gambling tables were set up in a circular pattern, each one surrounded by seven or eight Byrens talking loudly. A majority of the gambling Byrens were male, but there were several rather attractive female Byrens talking merrily with the men.

A series of dice and card games were set up on these tables, dotted with blue and yellow chips that were used to represent different denominations of Spirit Crystals. The area was lit by a series of fancy stained-glass windows installed into the roof, giving it a rather mystical appearance.

This was none other than the esteemed High Dragon House Establishment, a mix of a gambling hall, a bar, and an inn wrapped all in one.

Despite the din, this was a fairly expensive hall, one of the more renowned ones in the city. Micheal had only bought three drinks and had already spent more than it would cost to stay the night in a nice Inn.

Micheal looked back down at his drink as he continued to sip from it, raising his right hand to adjust the bandage he had wrapped around his forehead.

He couldn’t wear a hood everywhere, and for the moment, it was more convenient to pretend to be a Byren than a human. However, considering that he wasn’t actually a Byren, he didn’t have their customary gem inset in his forehead. As a result, he opted to instead wrap his forehead and pretend to be injured.

A Byren without his Spiritual Gem, as humanity called the green gems Byrens were born with, was a Byren that was crippled, a Gemless. Not only would their ability to sense concepts like Sword Mastery be greatly weakened, even their ability to manipulate Ki would suffer.

In a society where power and potential meant everything, those without a Spiritual Gem would be scorned or ignored at best.

As for going about as a human: it would draw far too much attention. Humanity were actually a pretty popular race down here thanks to the Shop. The farther away he got from the territory of the Divine Might Sect, the more and more attention he would draw as people tried to make use of one of the foreign, magical humans.

A hint of impatience entered Micheal’s heart as he scanned the bar once more, something he quashed after a few seconds, reminding himself that patience was a virtue.

It had taken Micheal more than an hour to find this establishment, not because he didn’t know where it was, but because he didn’t know where to go at first.

Tansol City saw a huge amount of traffic, partly due to its unique features, built next to the Dragon Mountains and the Tansol Pass, and because it stood on the border between two Great Sects. There was no shortage of traveling warriors that came here on the daily.

And with that traffic came many eager Byrens that were willing to roll the dice of lady luck in the hopes of winning it big.

After he arrived and took the time to disguise himself, Micheal had begun to travel from gambling hall to gambling hall. Every time he arrived, he would order a drink and ask a few casual questions from any Byrens that weren’t opposed to talking.

Nothing came free in this world, but the questions Micheal asked weren’t exactly ones anyone would charge him for.

He simply asked if each establishment he was in was known for its peace and quiet.

An odd question, to be sure. Most of the time, places like gambling halls would have strict security on the Second Layer. After all, any place where wealth commonly exchanged hands would need a heavy guard to prevent anything untoward from taking place.

And, unsurprisingly, almost every time he asked, he was told what one might expect:

“Yes, the Masor Hall has always been a rather quiet hall! The Divine Might Sect personally runs it!!”

“Yawp, nothing dangerous ever really happens here. The Warrior’s Council wouldn’t stand for that.”

“Tis been a dozen years since anything more than a scuffle broke out here at Ole’s Tavern!”

Each place Micheal had visited was known to be safe and sound. No one would make any noise in a place run by the Divine Might Sect within their own territory, even on the border. The Warriors Council was a group of elite Second Rate Warriors that served the Tansol City Lord and had exceptional authority to rule on any troublemakers.

He wasn’t sure about the last place, but figured they also had to have some type of unknown backing.

It was only here, at the High Dragon House Establishment, that he had finally found the answer he had been looking for.

“Well… things can get pretty rowdy here some nights, with the… you know…” Micheal had directed the question at an aged Byren that was covered in scars, sitting upon a plush stool next to a long wooden bar. The weathered expert was missing his right arm, but gave off the air of someone that wasn’t to be messed with as he waved his sole remaining hand and continued,

“But as long as ye focus on yer own business, ye’ll be fine.” The elderly Byren gave Micheal a sympathetic look as he glanced up at the bandages wrapped around Micheal’s head.

Micheal couldn’t help but hide a smile as he saw the Byren showing him pity. Empathy like that was a rare sight indeed in this day and age. He made a mental note to avoid letting this Byren get caught up in his business here.

Once Micheal heard the man’s words, he finally knew he had found the right place.

And thus, here he was now, several hours later, forcing down his irritation as he spilled enough alcohol on himself to smell drunk, while sipping on enough of it to make him look the part. The drinks here on the Second Layer were far stronger than Earth’s drinks, designed to help super-strong warriors relax and get buzzed, so he had to be extra careful in that regard.

‘If I knew you were just going to waste your potential drinking your life away in random bars, I wouldn’t have given you a second glance.’ Yvvtal had made his displeasure with Micheal’s actions very clear over the past few hours.

Thankfully, Micheal had found that he could almost completely tune out the Toren Spirit if he so wished with a little effort, turning the warrior’s voice down to an intermittent buzz at worst. Given the Oath they had signed, there was nothing Yvvtal could do here but watch and fume.

Micheal didn’t bother explaining himself and simply waited.

Time crawled forward.

‘Will I need to come back tomorrow? This should be the right place...’ Micheal sighed as he considered the thought, his irritation threatening to break free once more. He was operating with a limited amount of time, in a timeline that might not even be the same now and-

Before he could finish that thought, Micheal’s eyes flickered as he sensed the presence of several powerful warriors reaching the entrance of the High Dragon House Establishment.

A heartbeat later…

“Young Master Sion has arrived!”

A grand yell sounded out as a young Byren waltzed into the gambling hall, announced by a stern-looking warrior that had walked in just in front of him, likely for the sole purpose of making that announcement.

The young Byren looked to be what Micheal would consider, in human terms, a young adult of around 18 years old. He had a youthful-looking face, with a curved nose and a shallow chin. He was dressed in luxurious looking silken pants and a loose, finely crafted leather vest. A short sword hung at his waist, glimmering in a silver sheath.

As soon as Micheal saw him, Micheal's eyes lit up.

All of the warriors that accompanied ‘Master Sion’ were dressed in leather armor with the same purple triangle stenciled into it as the guards that were sitting around the long table in the center of the drinking area. The leather armor of these newcomers, however, was clearly extremely well made without a scratch upon it, covered in ornate, gold inscriptions.

Oddly enough, a few looks of disgust appeared and then quickly vanished on the faces of the guards sitting at the center table as they glanced up from their drinks. The hint of emotion had disappeared so quickly Micheal doubted anyone else but him had noticed, and only because he was studying everything and everyone as intently as possible, relying on his perfect memory to help him sort out the details.

One and all, those sitting guards raised up their mugs in apparent appreciation as they all yelled out loud,

“Greetings to the Young Master!” A smattering of applause lit up the room for a few seconds before fading as several of the regulars greeted the young Byren.

More than half the patrons in the bar and gambling area, however, stared at the newly arrived group with looks of confusion. From that, Micheal was instantly able to spot them all as new Byrens that had just arrived in the city, not really an unusual sight.

Micheal, however, easily recognized this young figure. Not because he had met him before, in this life or his previous one… but because of a little bit of history and gossip from his previous life.

Baron Sansa was the only one of the Four Barons that ever made any real journeys into the Dragon Mountains. Whenever she did embark on those journeys, she would always depart from Tansol City.

In his past life, Micheal remembered hearing about a small-scale battle that had broken out between the Divine Might Sect and the Human Alliance because of something that happened here.

Baron Sansa had murdered the City Lord’s son after he allegedly accosted her while she was out gambling.

When Micheal had first heard the reasons for the series of battles that had broken out, he had discounted it as unbelievable.

Why would an awe-inspiringly powerful Vampire Adapted Human have literally any reason to be at a gambling hall in this city?

It was only later, when he learned that Baron Sansa considered herself mortal rivals with one of the other Four Barons, Baron Lux, that it all came together.

Baron Lux was a rather effeminate man that had an incredibly unique power.

He was lucky…very, very lucky.

This was an Ability he had somehow gained on his own, something that could not be bought in the Shop. Micheal had never learned any of the specific details on this, but knew that it was a very real, and very powerful, Ability that manipulated fate itself.

Sansa’s sheer determination to defeat Lux in something led to her practicing and learning all kinds of weird skills, including learning how to play various card-based games of chance. It was almost adorable in a way, if you ignored the fact that she put this childish rivalry over the safety and security of the human race’s continued existence.

Micheal shook his head silently. Perhaps he was a bit too harsh. He tossed the stray thoughts to the side as he looked back at the entrance.

Master Sion. Sion Tansol. The son of a powerful First Rate Warrior, a City Lord that could easily kill Micheal a dozen times over.

Sion was his target.

Two of the things Micheal knew about the City Lord’s son was that he liked to gamble and get into fights. This was mentioned in a sidenote on the incident in which he was killed.

The City Lord’s son was not poor, so Micheal had judged it unlikely he would be found anywhere but in the top gambling halls in the city. Given that he often got into fights, he would also have to restrict his activities to halls where he could get away with something like that.

The one-armed Byren hadn’t been sure, but Micheal was vaguely able to gather that the High Dragon House Establishment had some type of ties to the City Lord and the guards of Tansol City, making this place a perfect haunt for Sion.

Once he learned all of that, and found out that this place was known to be rowdier than the others, everything had come together rather perfectly.

“A round on me tonight, gentleman!” Sion’s voice wasn’t very deep as he spoke, but it was deep enough to show that he was almost an adult Byren, full of complete confidence. The City Lord’s son was greeted with a round of cheers at his announcement, especially so from the group of guards at the center of the room.

Micheal kept a close eye on the Byrens as they filed in, keeping track of Sion’s location at all times.

Over the past hour, Micheal had been sent scrambling all over the city, asking questions in a very roundabout manner largely because of Sion’s father.

When people talked about ‘Master Sion’ they spoke in hushed whispers to only those they trusted and knew well.

No one would dare to spread rumors, or even talk about the Sion’s activities, not to a stranger like Micheal, for a very simple reason.

The Tansol City Lord had personally executed a group of warriors that had besmirched his son, spreading rumors that Sion had beaten and killed a group of innocent civilians. He then put out a stern warning that anyone spreading rumors about him would be forced to excavate Magic Herbs from the Dragon Mountains for a full year, effectively a death sentence.

It was harsh, but Lord Tansol had both the power and the authority to enforce such a command.

Micheal had no idea if those warriors had been spreading the truth, but it didn’t really matter.

Power might be everything here on the Second Layer, but honor and reputation came second place to that, just a few close steps behind. Impugning the honor of the City Lord’s son was essentially the same thing as attacking the City Lord. He would not allow anything of the sort, not within his own domain.

Sion and his entourage moved over to the bar. They remained there for several minutes, ordering drinks and talking merrily. The City Lord’s son looked to be explaining his recent exploits to a couple of guards that looked to be around his age.

After that, their group moved over to the gambling section of the establishment and began to go at it.

Micheal watched the young warrior try his hand at half a dozen different games, all the while talking with the foreign Byrens. His guards followed him everywhere, but he only ever talked to the two younger ones. He appeared to have some type of friendship with them, perhaps they trained together.

The mood in the gambling hall rapidly returned to its casual cheer, everything seemingly going back to normal.

Micheal sat patiently as the evening marched onward. The gambling hall began to fill up as more and more people came. Gorgeous women dressed in silken dresses, rugged warriors wearing loose vests, elderly Byrens suited up in formal, grey shirts. A veritable menagerie of people showed up, raising the lively air of the place.

According to the one-armed Byren that Micheal had spoken to, this establishment was one of the most successful ones in the city. The Byren had danced around why, but had said that it was a popular site for big spenders.

And as Micheal watched, he could see Sion and others lose a huge amount of money, in the form of Spirit Crystals and Meric, without even breaking a sweat. A few looks of irritation flitted across Sion's face at his unfortunate luck, his mood gradually worsening.

‘He’s getting annoyed... Plan A probably won’t work, but Plan B is now up for grabs.’ Micheal thought, his eyes narrowing slightly. He had prepared 3 different plans for tonight, depending on how things went.

As the evening went on, Sion had his ups and downs when it came to his gambles. In general, he was having a losing night, and a black mood had spread around him as a result.

At the same time, he drank more and more, his eyes taking on a slightly faded look. He wasn’t blind drunk, but he was definitely inebriated to some degree.

Finally, the moment Micheal was hoping for took place.

“Watch where you’re walking, rat.” Sion’s voice echoed out loud in anger as he pushed another Byren rudely away from him. Sion’s finely crafted leather vest had a freshly added red stain on it, marring its appearance.

The Byren he’d pushed was an average looking male with short black hair and a plain face. He was wearing a set of grey robes, ones that had now gained a much larger red stain that would certainly ruin them. In his hands was an empty goblet, dripping red liquid.

“What was that for? You ran into me!” The average looking Byren stepped up angrily, his voice full of righteous indignation. Micheal could sense a certain level of strength from this Byren, more than a simple Third Rate Warrior would hold.

Micheal had been watching everything and knew what the average looking Byren said was accurate. The poor man was simply an innocent bystander that Sion wanted to take his anger out on.

Several of the regulars at the bar or in the gambling area began to back up, looking at the scene before them expectantly. A few of them shook their heads in disdain, but made no effort to intercede. Those that were new to the city backed up as well, wanting no part in any type of duel.

Meanwhile, the various guards affiliated with the City Lord, those behind Sion as well as those sitting at other places in the bar, all began to tense up, hands casually resting on the hilts of weapons.

‘I didn’t even have to cause it.’ A hint of pleasure flashed through Micheal's mind.

Micheal had expected that he’d need to instigate Sion to get things started, but the Young Master of Tansol had saved him the effort. It seemed history hadn’t been wrong about his penchant for getting in fights.

Without hesitating for even a second, Micheal abruptly stood up from his table. His gait was slightly unsteady as he stalked forward, mimicking the appearance of someone that was drunk.

“How dare you pick on the innocent!” Micheal’s voice roared out loud, imbued with a sensation of strength that could only arise due to how high his Soul stat was. Instantly, every eye in the room turned to stare at him, dozens of shocked expressions appearing.

“Young Master Sion is a saint!”

Micheal then began to skillfully beat up the innocent bystander.

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