AN: English is not my native language and this is my first fanfiction. Please do not to harsh
"I love cookies" → thoughts
"I love cookies" → speech
"I love cookies" → spell, Martial art
Chapter 9
→ Near Re-Estice / blue roses and Litzelot ←
It took two and a half weeks for the trip from E-Rantel to Re-Estice. The trip was quite likable for Litzelot, since he learned, had fun and saw a lot of the kingdom of Re-Estice. He is now able to cast his new spells and is finetuning them a bit more. Evileye is now able to cast "Foggy Presence", while Tia and Tina are still finetuning the spell a bit. Lakyus meanwhile is able to use "Ad Profundis" with an arm instead of a shield. The used mana was still slightly visible, henceforth she is still finetuning the martial art.
The group had decided to move the last two miles in the night instead of sleeping outside, since nearly all of them missed a comfy bed. At the gates they had to pay a fee and then went to "the golden pavilion" was an extremely exquisite inn. They had a marble front and inside used a lot of formidable furniture. The rooms were extremely clean and even had flowing water. The furniture had some golden engravings and was in the style of baroque. It was something that would cost you a fortune as a normal citizen. But luckily Litzelot had a lot of money in handy. This inn was more or less the basis of operations for blue roses. Litzelot managed to get a bedroom that would not cost too much and was still close enough to the blue roses room.
He managed to get a single stable for his bicorn and fed it well enough, so that it would not try to hurt someone. After that he met with Evileye.
"The rest is asleep. Didn't even clean themselves." Evileye smiled.
"It was a long trip today, what do you expect of them?" Litzelot smiled back.
"We could relax at the restaurant part of the inn. It is also used by visitors to relax. We could play chess" spoke Evileye "and maybe I can finally beat you in it" shot through her head.
"Sounds good. I also have a few questions." Litzelot spoke, getting his board out of his inventory.
"Then ask away," Evileye said, eating some snacks.
"Ok. First, the tournament is in two days. Is there a registration for participation and where?" Litzelot asked.
"Yes. We will go to the guild in the city, where they organize the tournament. The crown finances the tournament and the nobles take the credit for the tournament by the way." Evileye spoke.
"Sounds fair. What about your next quest?" Litzelot was asking.
"We will meet the client the day after the tournament is over. Lakyus had arranged for a meeting shortly before we departed. We will rest tomorrow and register you for the tournament." Evileye laid out.
"After that, it seems, we will have our hands full. Let's see what happens next. Anyone I should be wary of within the city?" Litzelot inquired.
"By your standards? Probably not. But there is Gazef Stronoff, the warrior captain. He is tough and has a sharp eye. Then there is climb, who is the bodyguard of our client. Then there will be some nobles, who are not strong but wield political power. By the way, Gagaran also wants to participate." Evileye answered.
"Uh does she. That could be funny. Check." Litzelot said.
"Argh, how? Ah. Ahem. What will you do after the job with the client is over?" Evileye asked, while moving the king into cover.
"I will see then. It depends on how I will be treated after the job is done, I guess. Checkmate." Litzelot spoke
"Argh. Why can't I beat you?" Evileye spoke while feeling depressed.
"Don't be sad. I simply have more experience in chess." Litzelot answered in a smile.
They continued to play through the night.
→ "the golden pavilion"-inn in Re-Estice / blue roses and Litzelot ←
After a good night's rest blue roses woke up. They had slept deep and long. It was already noon when the last, Lakyus, woke up. They then decided on how to spend the day. Lakyus would go with Litzelot and Gagaran to register them for the tournament. Gagaran was overjoyed at the prospect of a rematch. For Litzelot the tournament simply gave a means to test himself against others and gauge his strength. While Gagaran and Litzelot would afterwards go to the rest of the group, Lakyus would visit their future client and her close friend princes Renner
The rest in the meantime decided to go to a local bar and play a little bit. Chess had quickly grown to be their favorite game, except for Gagaran who never cared. The bar was close to the adventurers guild and this made it possible to hear both gossip and news. So they heard about the departure of Gazef Stronoff in four days, to the villages near the forest of tob. They also met their acquaintance Climb, who gave them information about the palace.
"And what happened to you? I didn't see you for nearly two months." Climb asked
"We were on a job near E-Rantel. Then we met evil companion." Tia answered while Evileye glared at her.
"He is extremely strong and will participate at the royal tournament. He even taught me a new spell" Evileye gleamed with pride and happiness.
"How strong could he be? He couldn't beat you right?" Climb asked, stepping right into a sour spot for blue roses, which deadpanned.
"Eh right?" Climb asked again, now realizing his slight mistake.
"He wiped the floor with us at a spar" Evileye spoke.
"How is that possible? You're adamantite adventurers right?" Climb was now dumbfounded.
"We are. But it doesn't make us invincible. Keep that in your head. There is always somebody that is stronger than you." Evileye teached Climb.
"But how is training going?" She inquired.
"With the departure of Gazef it will be more physical training than spars. But still. Training everyday is the least I can do." Climb grinned at the end.
"That is a good mentality. Keep it." Evileye grinned under her mask.
They continued smalltalk, when Climb felt a strong presence behind him. Evileye, Tia and Tina were chuckling. Climb turned around to see a man around 6´2 feet standing behind him. He wore dark plate armor. Small scratches embedded in it, showing its battle-hardened usage. The Visor off the helm closed, while visible breath seethed through it. A triangular shield with a slightly longer sword was visible. Both on the back of the man.
"Buuuh!" Litzelot spoke calmly, after which climb jumped like a scared cat and hid behind Tia.
"Hehehe" Litzelot grinned while blue roses chuckled.
"Why did you do that stranger?" Climb spoke, grabbing for his sword. Gagaran holding his arm still, so he couldnt do something stupid.
"I wouldn't do that virgin. He is able to beat me in a fight, something you're not able to do." Gagaran warned Climb.
"So this is who you were talking about?" Climb asked Evileye and Tia, while both nodded.
"How did the registration go?" Evileye asked.
"It did go well. We walked in and were directed to the right tables and were led through the right papers." Litzelot spoke, shrugging to indicate that there was no problem.
"As he said," Gagaran spoke, signing the barkeep to get her a beer.
"What is that for a strange shield and sword, if I may ask?" Climb asked, getting interested into the equipment of the new arrival, "I never have seen a triangular shield or a sword like this. It is too long for single handed use and too short for the use with two hands".
"The shield is a kiteshield and the sword is a bastardsword. And they work extremely well may I add. So let me tell you something, If you don't know the equipment of someone: don't judge it until you know why he has it" Litzelot spoke, trying to sound wise with varying results.
"Sorry. I am only curious. I just want to know how your equipment works usually, since I never saw them" Climb said, waving his hand to show that he is no threat.
"Just make a short explanation, otherwise he will annoy you until you give in." Gagaran spoke, taking a sip. Climb meanwhile had small stars in his eyes.
"Ok, Ok. This is a kiteshield. If I position myself like this.." Litzelot begann, while crouching behind his kiteshield, " I have a lot of cover. I can even attack an enemy with the small spike at the bottom."
"Ahh, so you have a middle ground between protection and not too much weight?" Climb asked
"Yes. The bastardsword is a combination of thoughts. It can be wielded in one hand, but if I want to use it with both hands I use the pommel as an extension of the hilt. That's why the pommel is smaller than some swords I saw the guards use." Litzelot explained.
"Ok. Now it makes sense. I thought you would just equip it to look strong" Climb said.
"That's sadly closer than I thought anyone would come to the truth. I just like the look of the equipment" shrieked the inner troll of Litzelot in astonishment.
"What weapons do you use?" Litzelot asked.
"I train with a longsword." Climb answered.
"Oho. A longsword. What parts of it do you use in combat?" Litzelot asked, confusing Climb.
"The blade, as anyone would do?" Climb answered.
"You can use longswords in many ways. You could grab them at the blade and use the guard as a warhammer, punching through enemies armor. You could also grab at the middle of the blade and use only the tip, if the combat gets too close for long weapons" Litzelot explained, going full nerd mode, since he had a vast interest in medieval and classical weapons.
"But isn't it dirty and dishonorable?" Climb asked.
"Yes, yes it is. But what is your goal? In my opinion your goal on the battlefield should be to increase your chances of survival. Fighting dirty and dishonorable is a way to increase that odds in your favor." Litzelot explained. Climb feeling slightly wet on his back. Climb had now food for thought, while the rest of blue roses jocked around and played chess.
→ Re-Estice Palace / Lakyus ←
Lakyus was on her way to Renner. She would usually meet her friend quite often, since Renner rarely had any contact with others and Renner wanted her team for her goal. The two months her group was away were most likely quite lonely for the third princess. Getting into the palace was easy for Lakyus, since the guards would ask the princess and then walk Lakyus to her location. Once in front of the doors to princess Renners room, Lakyus knocked three times at the door. After permission was given by Renner, Lakyus entered.
The Room was big and radiated sunlight, which came through the windows. A Maid stood in a corner. The furniture was exquisite, while having white and golden coloring. There was a big bed on the side with thick curtains. A makeup table was placed opposite of the bed. Renner sat at a prepared table in the middle. The table was wide and gave enough space to be occupied by multiple people. But since there was only Renner and Lakyus, only a corner was prepared with porcelain and golden tableware and a smoking tea.
"Good afternoon. How are you my friend?" Renner asked smoothly, happiness seemingly flowing from her in strong waves.
"I am fine. How are you doing?" Lakyus spoke, smiling.
"I am fine, being here and here" answered Renner, signaling for the maid to leave them alone. Something that was a signal for Lakyus, that they now could speak freely.
"So. What happened near E-Rantel?" Renner asked.
"We were called to dispose of a dullahan," Lakyus answered, shocking Renner.
"You mean those headless riders, which some believe to be a personification of death? The dullahans, which were to be believed as nothing but a myth around E-Rantels territory?" Renner ranted in her shock.
"Yes that dullahans" Lakyus answered with a grin.
"Boah, that must have been scary." Renner said with her angelic aura.
"We got lucky with that, since Evileye managed to make a deal with him." Lakyus continued.
"What kind of deal?" Renner now asked.
"We gain his help for the hunt of Eight Fingers and give him all the supplies he needs and safe travel. After the job we will look." Lakyus explained.
"Isn't it dangerous to let an undead run around?" Renner asked.
"Since we couldn't defeat the dullahan, believe me when I tell you that in a spar he defeated us soundly, we thought that the deal would give our cause a good boost in strength." Lakyus told Renner, who immediately smiled and inwardly thought about ways to keep such a valuable asset.
"And how will you contact him? Or is he somewhere close?" Renner asked.
"He will participate in the royal tournament. After that we will start with Eight Fingers. You will probably meet him when blue roses will officially meet you." Lakyus explained. After that the maid came back in and placed the tray with snacks between Renner and Lakyus.
"Where is Climb, if I might ask?" Lakyus inquired innocently.
"I heard he has a day off and is at the bar near the guildhouse. He heard that your team was back." Renner answered.
"Ah, so he could have met Litzelot." Lakyus stated.
"Your new acquaintance?" Renner wanted to be sure.
"Yes. He even teached Tia, Tina, Evileye and me quite useful techniques. Even though we had to teach him a bit of our arsenal. But I think it was worth the trade." Lakyus thought out loud. The maid meanwhile collected the bit of information she could collect for her true master
The Afternoon took quite a while. Lakyus told stories of her adventures while Renner exchanged gossip from the court and her opinion of them. This was normal for these two and worked perfectly, since both knew more than the usual people in their respective fields.
After a long while spent with smalltalk they decided to call it a day and thus Lakyus left.
→Near Re-Estice / Ainzach, Muller and Rakeshir ←
Ainzach and his co conspirators arrived shortly before the tournament. They decided to gauge the strength of the dullahan. Afterwards they would prepare a plan according to the strength. Muller and Ainzach were completely invested into the destruction of the undead, while Rakeshir developed slight doubts. Sadly for Rakeshir, it was already too much invested to stop now and therefore he had to stick with the other two.
They decided to take quarters in a cheap inn and then prepared their leave the next day.
.