Once the group managed to snag a discount for their stay at the inn, they made their way back toward the center of town. They stopped on a small balcony-like outcropping of rock that overlooked the heart of the city. Tressa's jaw dropped immediately, and she gripped tightly at the balcony. "It seems like the crowds have doubled out here since we went inside!" she cried out in shock.

Olberic nodded. "It's been a long time since I've seen such crowds," he agreed. "I can only imagine most of them are here to see what the tournament has to offer."

At the center of the crowd, a single man stood. He pointed at one of the passerby, making her turn to face him. "Ho there, traveler! I trust ye know of our arena?" the man asked, a gleam bright in his eye.

She nodded. "Course I do. Townsfolk here don't ever shut up about it," she replied. Despite her sarcastic words, she was good-natured in her tone. "It's why I've come. To see it and the grandest tourney of the year."

The barker nodded with a smile. "Right ye are, my friend, right ye are. Ain't no better time to visit!" he declared. "We got warriors from every corner of the world, willin' to risk life and limb for the ultimate honor."

"Do people really put their lives on the line for this tournament thing?" Alfyn asked as he looked to the rest of the group. "I doubt anyone would have a long career as a warrior if they'd be willin' to stake so much on a fight without the need for a battle to the death."

"People like him always play up the dramatics to try and draw people in," Therion replied, his scarf shifting in the wind around him. "The more people he can get in those stands, the more money he's going to get paid. It doesn't matter much to us anyway."

The man continued to speak even as the travelers whispered amongst themselves, his excitement only growing as he got deeper into his story. "Only eight champions remain. The preliminary battles have been fought already. Of them, I say there's four ye'll be wantin' to keep an eye on!" the man went on. "The reigning champion is Archibold! The Crusher, we call 'im, and four times in a row, 'e's claimed the prize. Joshua hails from the icy wastes o' the north! They say 'is heart's as cold as 'is blade. Then there's Wallace Wildsword! The man who reached the final last year only to fall to Archibold... And there's one more you should know!"

"Gustav... The man they call the Black Knight!" one of the townsfolk exclaimed before the barker had the chance to continue.

"Gustav?" Olberic echoed, his eyes widening.

"I guess it's a good thing we decided to pass up on visiting the nearby shrine then," Primrose murmured. "This tournament isn't just a chance for us to relax after everything that happened in Quarrycrest. It's going to give us the answers we're looking for with Gustav."

"That's right!" the barker cried out. "A newcomer, 'e is-but 'e's proven 'is worth, bestin' every foe 'e's faced thus far. There's many people sayin' 'e might be the one to finally topple the Crusher. We got a reignin' king, a stranger who'd usurp 'is throne, and six more challengers, each as formidable as the last. Ye don't want to be missin' this tourney, or ye'll regret it till yer dyin' day."

As the barker continued to speak, Olberic made his way down the stairs leading to the heart of the town square. He carefully maneuvered his way through the crowd up to the barker, the rest of the group remaining up on the balcony nearby to get a good look on what was happening without risking getting lost. Once he had arrived close enough for the barker to hear him, Olberic spoke. "Tell me something."

The barker smiled to him grandly. "Ask yer question. I'm 'ere to 'elp."

"Where can I find this Gustav? There is something I must ask him," Olberic replied.

"Findin' 'im is easy. Just buy a ticket to the tourney, and 'e'll be there in all 'is glory. As for talkin'-well, that's up to 'im, ain't it?" the barker answered. He let out a hearty laugh, unaware of the circumstances and too excited for the tournament to care.

Olberic thought through the man's words for a few heavy moments before nodding. "I see. Thank you." He took a few steps away from the crowd, a frown on his face. Getting into the tournament would be easy enough since all it took was buying a ticket. Considering that the travelers had already planned on that, he had nothing to complain about there. If only speaking with Gustav was going to be that easy. Convincing the Black Knight to talk was bound to be the hard part, and Olberic had no idea how to go about it.

While Olberic thought through his options, a woman stepped away from the crowd. She wore a red dress and a matching ribbon in her hair. Her tresses were a silver lilac color and tied up in a ponytail at the peak of her head. She looked over at Olberic, a small mischievous smile starting to play at her lips. "There's a man who looks like he can swing a sword. He could be just the one I need..." she murmured.

Olberic made his way back to the rest of the group, and Cyrus stepped forward to approach him. "What do you believe we should do next?" he questioned. "We need to find a way to speak with Gustav, but I doubt we would be able to do that from the stands."

"That's the question, isn't it?" Olberic agreed with a small frown. "Trying to find him in the rest of town would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. We didn't hear what he looked like from Gaston, so we wouldn't even know what to look for."

"I guess we can start off by figuring out where we can find tickets for the tourney," Tressa suggested. "I feel like it would be pretty easy for us to get our hands on something like that. I mean, they want as many people up in those stands as they can get."

"Let's go and ask around then," Ophilia agreed. She immediately turned to approach a passerby, politely asking where the group could find tickets for the tourney.

Olberic, meanwhile, returned to the edge of the balcony and looked out at the arena. It stood tall and impressive against the horizon, easily the tallest building in the entire city. Victors Hollow had started with its arena and then later constructed a town around it for the purpose of making use of the arena. Back in his days as a knight, Olberic had considered coming here just to see what he could find in the arena, but he had never been given the chance. Now was as good a time as any to look around, he supposed.

"So that is the famous Victors Hollow arena..." Cyrus murmured as he came up beside Olberic. He rested his hands against the balcony as well and looked up with a small smile on his face.

"I should have suspected that you would have heard of it," Olberic said. "Given how much research you've conducted about the world over the years, you must have stumbled upon it at some point."

Cyrus nodded. "History says that it was first built as a penal circus where prisoners were made to fight to the death," he began. "But people eventually wearied of watching men die for sport, and the fights became more humane, less deadly. Forced duels were banned, and only free men and volunteers could fight."

"Victors Hollow began as an arena and its matching prison, and now, it stands as the greatest city in the Woodlands," Olberic murmured. "Now the arena is where men come to test their mettle and win glory for themselves. Much has changed since those days."

"It was certainly a turn for the moral, a step above what it once was," Cyrus agreed. "And now, the arena is a source of joy for people the world over."

"Along with a source of information for us," Olberic said firmly. He glanced over to the rest of the group and saw them continuing to speak with locals about where they could find tickets. "I pray that we can find a solution to speak with Gustav soon. Entering the event may not be enough to get us the answers we seek."

Ophilia came back to Olberic and Cyrus a few moments later, a small smile on her face. "The townsfolk say that we can find tickets in a small stand to the south. They're cheaper if you go to the other side of town than buying them at the door," she explained. "We should head in that direction to get the best price, especially since we're going to be buying for eight."

Cyrus nodded and started off toward the southern half of the town. Olberic was quick to follow along with the rest of the group, though the warrior didn't pay much attention to what was happening on the way there. Instead, he simply stared down at the ground below. Right now, the question was how he was going to find a way to speak with Gustav at all, but once that was resolved, he was going to go right back to fearing what he was going to hear from the Black Knight. Olberic couldn't tell which of the two options he preferred, especially since both made his stomach churn with nerves.

"Oi, knight."

Olberic stopped, somehow knowing the words were aimed at him. He turned to see a tan man with red hair standing nearby, leaning against the base of a flagpole. He had a blade at his hip, and even though the man didn't reach for it, Olberic could see the darkness in his eyes that said he was ready for a fight. His mind flashed briefly to the spy the group had confirmed in Quarrycrest, and he wondered if perhaps this encounter had something to do with that. The mere idea made his stomach churn.

"State your business. If it's violence you seek, know that you shall have it," Olberic told the man. The rest of the travelers realized that he had stopped and turned to face the warrior, eyes shifting over to the strange redheaded man along the way. Each of them sized him up carefully, seeing the wariness written on Olberic's face and responding accordingly.

The man pushed himself away from the flagpole and took a few steps toward Olberic, muttering under his breath along the way. "Looks of him, he knows how to use that blade. Reckon he'd be more than a match for me, even if I were at full strength..." the man said softly.

"Thought you'd agree. My eye's never steered me wrong yet."

Another figure appeared a moment later, and the girl in the red dress smiled brightly at Olberic. A competitive gleam swept through her eyes as she took a few steps toward him. The warrior watched her in wary confusion as she spoke. "My apologies for the dramatics, but I wanted Ned here to take the measure of you," the girl explained. "He'd be fighting in the tourney if it weren't for his wounds."

Olberic glanced back and forth between the woman and this Ned character before crossing his arms. "If you have business with me, then state it plain."

The girl nodded brightly. "Cecily, at your service. I'm what you would call a promoter of sorts," she explained.

"And what is it you promote?" Olberic questioned, his eyes never leaving the peculiar pair.

"Arena battles, mostly, and the men who fight 'em. 'Cept Cecily here's done neither yet. Still lookin' for her big break, she is," Ned told him.

"Stay your tongue, Ned! I do the talking, remember?" Cecily hissed to him. Ned simply shrugged and took a step back, giving Cecily the chance to take another step closer to Olberic. "You want to meet the one they call Gustav, yes?"

The gears in Olberic's head began to turn as his confusion shifted to understanding. "You were there when I spoke to the barker," he concluded. Cecily and Ned had nothing to do with the spy currently hounding Olberic and the rest of his party. They were here for their own reasons, and at the moment, they wanted something from Olberic, not that he could figure out what yet.

Cecily nodded. "That's right. And I'll tell you something he didn't-tourney fighters don't make a habit of fraternizing with the hoi polloi. If you and he were old friends, that would be one thing, but something tells me he's not expecting your visit," she went on, her voice lilted with casual bravado.

Olberic just narrowed his eyes. "Do you have a point?"

"I have advice," Cecily corrected. "If you want to talk to Gustav, your best play would be to fight in the tourney yourself."

"But how? The preliminary rounds are already over, or so I heard," Olberic frowned. He had to admit that Cecily's suggestion of speaking with Gustav this way was promising, but he couldn't help fearing that perhaps it was all going to end up being for nothing, especially if the opening rounds had ended long ago.

"See? This is why you need me. I know a way to get around that," Cecily told him with a smile. She took a few steps back and started to slowly pace, her ponytail swinging behind her. "Simply prove that you're a better fighter than one of the remaining champions-and make sure everyone sees it. During the tourney, local authorities turn a blind eye to public dueling. It's still against the law, mind you, but no one gets in trouble for it since the guard are occupied with handling the tourney. Lots of men come here fancying themselves good with a blade, and they look to prove it, whether they qualify for the tourney or no."

"But surely those who have qualified are above getting involved in petty brawls," Olberic countered.

Ned shook his head. "They're here to prove themselves, same as everyone else. If the circumstances are right, they can no more shirk a challenge outside the arena than in it," he replied.

"I'm telling you, this is your ticket to the tourney. Get the attention of one of the champions and make them challenge you. Put them in a position where they've no choice but to prove they're better with a blade," Cecily told him. "If you can win that fight, you can take their spot in the tourney and speak to the Gustav man you're so interested in."

"And what do you get out of all this?" Olberic asked. If she was pushing it so hard, there had to be something in it for her. She wouldn't just give him information like this if she couldn't get something out of it.

"When you do get into the tourney, you'll fight under my colors. If you reach the final battle, I'll have fighters linin' up to put their seal on a contract with me," Cecily explained, her eyes gleaming with excitement and mischief. "Just like that, I can break into the world of promoting professional arena battles. I get to kickstart my career, and you can speak with Gustav."

"A deal where we both benefit," Olberic murmured to himself. As far as catches went in deals, this was a relatively tame one, and in fact, it was an agreeable set of terms. If it would get him to Gustav, then how could he refuse?

"Is there a better kind? I'll get my scribe to draw up the contract. What name will you use?" Cecily asked. Ned reached for a piece of paper and started to write on it, and Olberic could only assume that Ned was Cecily's assistant in just about anything at this point.

For a long time, Olberic considered his response. For years, he had gone by the name of Berg while he was living in Cobbleston. At the time, he had been afraid of someone figuring out who he was or what he had once done for a living. He had reclaimed his name since those days though, the rest of the travelers helping him to step out of his shell and back into the light after all the years he had spent hiding. He didn't think he would ever be able to go back to hiding his name again after that.

"My own. Olberic Eisenberg," Olberic eventually replied, keeping his voice even. Nearby, he was sure he saw Ophilia, Cyrus, and Tressa exchange a look, though he didn't get the chance to see what exactly they were communicating between themselves. Shock and pride was the answer, and Ophilia gave Olberic a fond smile as she pressed one hand against her chest.

Ned recognized the name, and he took a few seconds to try and pull it from his memory. His face eventually lit up in surprise as he took a step toward Olberic. "Eisenberg? The Unbending Blade of Hornburg himself?!" Ned exclaimed.

Cecily staggered back by a step in surprise. She eventually settled on smirking, crossing her arms with a gleam of excitement in her eyes. "A fine figure-and famous, too! I told you I could pick em, Ned!" she cried out. She took Olberic's hand between her own a moment later, making Olberic realize just how small her hands were in comparison to his. "Well, my lordship, I think this partnership is going to work out handsomely."

Before Olberic had the chance to respond to her, Cecily placed one hand on his back and pointed in the direction of a man nearby. "That's one of the competitors in the tournament. You should go and show him what for," Cecily told him with a smile. "That's the first step. I'm sure you're going to win though. The Unbending Blade of Hornburg will far outmatch everyone here!" Cecily went back to laughing to herself a moment later, and Olberic took a few steps toward his target. Cecily's excitement was certainly something to behold, to say the least.

Primrose came up beside Olberic, crossing her arms with a light smile on her face. "That Cecily woman is certainly a bright one, isn't she?" Primrose murmured. "She seems more passionate about the tournament than just about anyone here."

Olberic nodded. "Her excitement is contagious, I must admit... I didn't expect to run into someone like her when we first came here," he said softly. "At least she's looking forward to it."

"And now, that means you can't let her down," Primrose smiled to herself. She paused thoughtfully before placing a hand on his arm. "I would just caution you to not let her drag you around too much. I wouldn't want you to fall victim to her hardheaded stubbornness."

"I can assure you that I won't let anything of that sort happen," Olberic told Primrose with a shake of his head. "This is a mutually beneficial deal, and she seems ultimately harmless. I would not have agreed to this if I didn't think it was a fine idea." He still had his objections, of course, like having to start a fight in a public space when it was technically against the law, but Olberic supposed he had been involved with worse things. For example, he had helped with two of Therion's heists by now, and the party as a whole had gotten into much more trouble than he would have wanted to admit. Hell, just the day before, Olberic had helped to bring Omar to his grave. A public duel was hardly the worst thing he could do.

"She made you agree to it before you had the chance to push back," Primrose pointed out, and Olberic hummed loosely though she had a point. "As long as you know what you're doing though, I trust you."

"At the end of the day, her actions are fueled by an excitement for the tournament. She has purer intentions than most in this town, I can imagine," Olberic assured her. "But if you insist, I'll do what I can to be careful."

Primrose nodded. "Good," she said simply. She glanced over to the man Cecily had pointed out. "So that's the one you'll need to challenge."

"So it seems," Olberic confirmed.

"Are you going to be okay in a public duel like this?" Tressa piped in, her hands pressed behind her back. "I mean, you're a great fighter, and I have no doubt you're going to win, but... I don't know. This just seems like the kind of thing that would go against your moral code."

"Perhaps," Olberic began. "But if we want to speak with Gustav, it seems like our only option. I can only hope the city's guards don't suddenly change their minds about ignoring public duels for the duration of the tournament. I can only imagine spending the night in a cell would set back our plans significantly."

"Then let's get this over with while their backs are turned," Therion suggested. "They're too distracted over at the arena to care, and we need to strike while they're not looking our direction." He nudged at Olberic with his elbow, though it didn't move the warrior much because of how much shorter Therion was by comparison.

The man Olberic was meant to be targeting had dark brown hair that bordered on being black. He wore all black as well, and he spoke loudly as he boasted to the nearby townsfolk. Olberic had to resist the urge to wince at the sound of the man's voice. He shoved his other fears off as he approached the challenger though, and the man looked up at him as soon as he got close. It seemed he already knew Olberic wasn't there just to talk.

"What are you doin' there, hedge knight?" the man asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. The crowd looked over at Olberic, and he did his best to shove his thoughts of the onlookers out of his mind. All that mattered now was the fight. "If yer lookin' to pick a fight, then ye've come to the right place!"

Olberic nodded to himself as he drew his blade. He knew this fight was going to draw the attention of just about everyone in the immediate area. Enough people were already watching, and that would only make more noise to earn more eyes in Olberic's direction. Even if it was convenient and was bound to end well for him, Olberic couldn't help but feel bad. Fighting against a basic man with a sword given to him by a god felt like it was cheating, but it was bound to be showy enough to earn him a place in the tournament, so what choice did he have?

"How about a duel, sir?" Olberic questioned. "A fight to see who the better swordsman is."

The man grinned brightly as he reached for his weapon. "I've never fought an opponent I couldn't beat! I hope yer ready to lose!" he cried out.

The man raised his sword high before bringing it down, and Olberic barely had to put up a fight at all to block the strike. If anything, it was all too easy for him to push the man backward in a stagger. The man prepared to rush forward again, but Olberic diverted his blade downward easily enough. Olberic willed his blade to follow his instructions of earth, and rocks rose up from the ground to keep the man's sword embedded in the ground. No matter how much the man tried to pull on the weapon, he couldn't yank it free, leaving him completely open to attack from Olberic.

The warrior charged up as much energy as he could before releasing a single strike that tore apart the ground of the city for a brief moment. The earth created a streaking trail of rage and metal that knocked the man to the ground. He didn't bother with getting up as the ground put itself back together again at Olberic's command. Instead, the man just stared at the sky, and Olberic tucked his sword away easily.

The rest of the people in the area had formed a circle around Olberic and the man, whispering to one another in excitement and shock at how easily Olberic had won the duel. The man continued to watch the sky overhead in shock, unable to bring himself to do much else. "N-Never fought anyone... Stronger than me..." the man admitted softly. He couldn't hide his surprise at losing, his eyes wide as could be.

Cecily broke through the crowd with a bright smile on her face, gesturing to Olberic grandly. "Are there any others who wish to challenge him?" she questioned of the surrounding onlookers. "Surely at least one of you wishes to test your mettle against his blade!"

The people whispered to one another in anticipation of another duel, hopefully one that would be a bit closer in terms of competition this time, but no one stepped forward for a few heavy moments. The crowd parted just before Cecily could offer another jab to the onlookers, and a man appeared before Olberic. "He can't be that good a fighter," the man snorted. "If he thinks he's all that, then he can try to best me!"

Cecily smirked as Ned moved to pull Olberic's previous victim away from the center of the circle the crowd had formed. "In that case, I suppose it's time for another battle!" Cecilly announced. "Who will win of these two up and coming fighters? Which of them will bring home the glory today? Place your bets now, folks!" She glanced between Olberic and the prideful man who had stepped forward to challenge him before raising one hand above her head. "Begin!"

The newcomer to the battle jumped right in without missing a beat, his blade flashing in the sunlight overhead. His bravado was his downfall though, as Olberic easily cut his sword sideways to knock the man off course. He stumbled before Olberic stabbed forward, and when the prideful fighter tried to dodge, he couldn't get away in time. That was enough for Olberic to knock the man down and disarm him with a quick twist of his sword placed in the right spot along the edge of his opponent's blade. The weapon slid across the stones easily enough before a small outcropping of earth appeared to stop it before it could fully get away. Olberic let the earth retreat once he was sure the blade wouldn't wind up in the crowd.

The man on the ground pushed himself to his feet with impressive speed, though he wasn't able to stand on his own until Ned grabbed him by the shoulders. "G-Get me away from him!" the prideful fighter declared, all of his previous confidence melting away in the blink of an eye. Ned pushed the man back into the rest of the crowd, and he scurried away before vanishing between the onlookers.

"Come now, is that all?! Is there none among you who can best my fighter?!" Cecily announced, looking out over the crowds with an excited glint in her eyes. "His name is Olberic Eisenberg! One of the twin blades from the once-proud realm of Hornburg! Come! Don't cower in the crowds! Or have you not the courage to face the Unbending Blade?!"

That was enough to earn a response from the crowd, everyone clamoring and whispering to one another in anticipation. It seemed like every onlooker had something or another to say about Olberic, and he did his best to ignore them until someone pointed out that he was one of the two twin blades of Hornburg. The other was Erhardt, the very reason Olberic was there to begin with. Once again, Olberic felt his stomach twist with anxiety and fear.

"How long will this take? I've fought all comers," Olberic said to Cecily, desperate to rid himself of his nerves with any distraction he could get his hands on.

"You're not quitting now, are you?" Cecily asked, her eyes going wide.

Olberic shook his head. "No. But I like it not when my fate is in another's hands," he explained simply. He looked around the crowd, hoping someone would step forward to challenge him. He eyed the rest of the travelers, and they looked just as clueless as him. If they couldn't get the attention they needed, they wouldn't be able to get into the tourney to speak with Gustav, and their plan would be dead on arrival.

Another man appeared on the scene soon afterward, and someone from the back of the crowd gasped before pointing at the newcomer. "It's Victorino!" he cried out.

"The bounty hound? He who collected coin for the heads of seven ill-fated buccaneers?!" another onlooker exclaimed.

Olberic managed to get a glimpse of this newcomer-Victorino, as he was called-and the warrior allowed himself to smile. "At last, a man who wears his blade like he knows how to use it," Olberic murmured. Unlike his previous two challengers, Victorino knew what he was doing, and Olberic could see it. He wasn't just a glory seeker as the others had been. He was here to fight, and damn it, that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Give 'em space, lads! That there's a tourney champion!" shouted someone from within the crowd. With that, everyone started to back up in preparation for the confrontation to come.

Victorino walked to the center of the circle, and he and Olberic locked eyes for a long moment as the crowd clamored around them. This was what Olberic had been waiting for. This would be a fight to remember. If all went well, it would be his ticket to competing in the tourney and speaking with Gustav.

Triumph was finally in his grasp, and Olberic couldn't wait to finally make it his own.


It feels great to kick off Olberic's chapter two. Wow.

I've been looking forward to this for a while, and I like the way it's going so far. As strange as this is going to sound, Victors Hollow is a fun town to write for because of how different the atmosphere is from just about every other city in Orsterra. It's a breath of fresh air, especially after how long we were in Quarrycrest, and I'm having a ton of fun with it.

The only real change I want to discuss here is that I altered the travel banter between Cyrus and Olberic and between Primrose and Olberic so it felt a bit more seamless with the rest of the story. The general subject remained the show, but I tweaked the dialogue so it came together a bit better. That's a pretty small change though, and I feel like it's just par for the course at this point. It happens, and it's probably going to continue happening well into the future.

Anyway, I'm going to leave things off here. We're getting closer to the start of the arena battles, and that's going to be a lot of great fight sequences. We'll press right on with Olberic's chapter two next week. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital