It's been 3 days since I got out of that damn forest and I can finally see the walls of the city from a hill I was standing on. I have to say, the capital is not called the capital for nothing.

From the place I was currently standing at I could see the entire top of the city. I could see the palace which was obvious looking by its fancy big look, but there was another building which looked just as big, like a cathedral of some sort.

This was truly a beautiful sight to see from a far.

The skies were dark and there were no people at the gate aside from the guards. The 2 guards were wearing full metal armor holding a spear. They were both standing unmoving at the sides of the giant metal gate which were 4x6 meters in size.

As if I walked on some sort of a trap as soon as I reached a certain distance of few meters from the gate the guards "came to life".

Guard 1- " hold, state your business of entering the city."

Leo- "I am looking to join the annual tournament.

Guard 1- "you have to pay a fee of 1 silver"

Shit, I knew I had to pay a fee but the thing got out of my mind… should i use the crown? No, I might look like a spy or something...

Let's try something else.

"Axii"

I moved my hand in a way of "now you can't see me" magic and used Axii. It seemed that my Axii worked as the guards didn’t respond to my weird action.

Leo- "you will open the gate right?"

Guard 2- "yes, OPEN THE GATE"

He turned and pushed some mechanical click, I could hear the sounds of gears as the gate started to open.

Axii is my favorite sign. It will work to charm on weak minded people and even animals. I can tell them to do whatever I want until a few minutes of time pass or a big shock waking them up.

Leo- "thank you"

I walked a distance inside and could hear the guards mumbling something about why did they open the gate. It was bit far but my hearing was far from ordinary people. It was funny to think about what their faces looked like.

The city was quiet with little people going around, they were mostly a sleep. I walked around for a bit until I found a place which had light from its windows. I could even hear some music coming from the inside.

Finally, found the inn.

Inns were a places which all travelers treasured. For a sum of money you could eat sleep and even bath. At most inns there would be a bar open all day and night for people to drink at and a second floor of bedrooms to sleep.

Getting in I was welcomed by a strong fragnence of perfume and loud music. A lot of people were sitting telling stories while drinking something that looked like beer.

Some things never change no matter in which world.

I made my way to the bar looking to rent a room as I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.

Some things truly never change.

???- " hi there kid, those 2 swords look heavy, let me take them from you."

Talking about things that never change.

This guy holding my shoulder looked overly muscular, he was bald and had some scars rolling on over his face.

???1- "Poor kid, looks like boss found a new play thing for the night…"

???2- "Yeh, kids shouldn’t be walking at night to places like those… although I have never seen such an armor... he sure looks weird"

They didn’t even try to say it low….

Boss?-"come, let me take those swords from you."

He was trying to unsheathe my silver sword from my back. I only moved my hand aiming backwards at his chest.

"Aard"

Without anyone even knowing what happened the man suddenly flew backward. To them it probably looked like I pushed him with a touch of my hand.

???- "protect the boss!"

A man deeper inside the inn called and half of the people went up from their sits, they were all ready to fight.

A gang.

Leo- "if your boss can't do much to me you think you can?"

I took unsheathed my steel sword and was ready to fight, just at then another voice was heard out over the inn.

???- "you drunks fools you can't beat him he is at the eight rank of the warrior stage. Other than that, you are fucking annoying."

I didn’t know who the guy was but it seemed they all looked at me with fear after the man talked. He then stood up and walked to me.

???- "hi, you can call my Bao Leng, what is your name friend?"

Leo- "my name is Leo. Tell me, how did you know my cultivation level?"

He looked at me for a second and laughed. I'm pretty sure he is a bit drank too…

Bao Leng- "so I was right. I at the seventh rank of the warrior stage and since I could not feel your level you had to be a rank above me.  You don’t look like you're from around, did you too came to participate in the tournament?"

Leo- "yes, I would like to rent a room for the time being."

Bao leng-" oh I'm sorry for stopping you then. If you need anything then I will be here in the morning, I can show you around the city.

He moved away and by the time we stopped talking the people in the inn didn’t even dare look at us anymore.

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Leo- "I would like to rent a room for 2 months, how much will it cost?"

The innkeeper was a midget man.

Innkeeper- "60 silver, 90 for meals included."

I couldn’t use Axii since there were too many people around.

I took out one of my gold crowns and placed it in the innkeeper hands. I then whispered quietly:

Leo- "Its gold you can be sure of that. I am out of money but found that on my way to the city. I am pretty sure this is worth more than 90 silver coins."

He thought for a bit and gave me a key

Innkeeper- "your room is the third one from the right on the second floor, you can call up to 2 meals at a day either in the morning or evening."

Leo- "thank you" I smiled and went to my room

After renting the room I went up to it. the room had a bed, a cloest combined with a commode and a table surrounded by 2 chairs.

Classy.

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I woke up from my meditation hearing a knock outside the door.

???- "meal is ready, should I send it to your room or you are eating outside?"

The voice was not of the innkeeper from yesterday but of a woman. Probably his wife.

Leo-" yes, I will eat in my room"

???- "fine, you will have to wait 10 minutes"

I did a quick check of my items waiting for the meal to come.

Right now I had:

One devil puffball bomb, 3 northern wind bombs, and one dragons dream bomb. My potions consisted of one blizzard, 2 swallow which one was 85% full and one normal thunderbolt.

90 gold crowns my viper school armor and 2 swords.

???- "open the door, the meal is ready."

I opened the door and saw a midget aged woman around holding a plate. On the plate was a bowl of soup and some bread.

 Leo- "thank you"

???- "if you want another meal now you will have to pay more. Another regular meal will be served at the evening."

She said that and got out.

Business must be hard?

Finishing my meal I started to think on how my day will be. First, I need to get to sleep giant auction house exchange my coins if it is possible. If I can't exchange my coins I will probably have to sell my silver sword since I didn’t see any monsters and even if there are some I wouldn’t know if they hold a weakness to silver. Since the silver sword is enchanted, I believe I can get a lot for it.

Going down I saw a familiar person sitting on one of the tables eating his meal.

Bao leng- "oi Leo, come sit with me I will invite you for a meal in case you didn’t eat one"

His table was filled with empty dishes pilling up on each other. Damn, how much can this guy eat?

I went and sat down in the opposite chair to him.

Bao leng- "so, did you eat anything?"

Leo- "yeh, I got my meal in my room. I am looking to go for the sleeping giant auction house, do you know where it is?"

Bao leng- "are you looking to participate in the auction?"

Leo-" no, I am actually looking to sell some things directly to them. This is possible right?"

He finished his last dish and left some copper coins then stood up.

Bao leng- "ok then, I will show you the way to the auction house but first let me show you the city a whole."

We then walked out of the inn as I followed Bao through the city.

Walking with Bao I found out he is a 20 years old at the seventh rank of the warrior stage. He told me that he comes from a small village controlled by his family far from the capita, he was the only one able to join the tournament. It seems that most people without a cultivation or noble families will not have a second name.

Along the way I asked him some questions and he answered all of them. He told me about the city and about the big cathedral looking building which was actually the auction house. He told me the people who tried to attack me were a small gang with low cultivation level. He said that he could feel others cultivation level by using something called a divine sense and was surprised that I didn’t know how to use it.

Afterwards I started to ask questions about the tournament and the people who usually participate in them. Basically, what is "strong"?

He said that in his family he is quite the genius but from the rumors about the young generations of the big clans they will be able to reach the Halfling realm by the age of 17 and for the real geniuses they might even reach the 5rd rank of the Halfling realm by that age with the help of exiles and pills.

The sun was in the highest point in the sky and it meant it was noon, I think.

Bao leng- "and finally the auction house you were so looking for."