Chapter 47: Mirth City
After almost 3 months of training, Teo and Windle’s physique had drastically changed. Muscles started forming all throughout their body. Their bodies were not massive and bulky but rather slightly athletic and lean.
By looking at their bodies over their clothes, one would not find much difference from their previous silhouettes, but underneath, the change in physical appearance was noticeable.
The three arrived at the gate of the headquarters. Rowen, Gina and surprisingly Tordin was there waiting for them.
“Good, they are all here. Let’s go”, Tordin said in a loud voice
“Big sister, what is going on?”, Teo asked
“We’re going for a field trip”, Rowen responded.
“A field trip?”, Lia wondered
“We are heading to Mirth city’s dueling arenas”, Gina smiled as she clarified
Rowen was wearing her light armor for this trip, her weapon was equipped as well as the small bag on her waist. She also had a bag she carried on her back.
Gina carried her two daggers on her back and wore the leather armor she used during the tournament.
Only Tordin was wearing plain clothes with only a sword on his back.
The group headed for the south east gate. This gate was where Teo and the others first entered the academy. It was also the gate closest to Mirth city.
Without using a carriage, the group walked towards the city.
As the group got closer, the 3 younger students became more and more excited. It was their first time visiting the city nearby. Normally they weren’t allowed to leave the academy grounds until they were third years but by being escorted by older students, the guards let them pass through.
The city was enclosed within connecting thick walls of stones. The only opening on the south side was a 15 meters tall and 5 meters wide gate. A metallic portcullis hanged above the gate and thick wooden doors that were held together by thick metal bindings stood at the side.
The group passed through the gates and saw the inside of the city. Several armed men guarded the entrance.
“Wow so this is the city!”, Lia was in awe
The roads were paved with flat stones. The majority of each building had at least 2 floors. The streets were filled with people and the main road was wide enough to allow 6 carriage side by side to pass through. The many people were dressed in various types of clothes, some in armor, some in plain clothes, others in beautiful and exquisite clothes.
They walked along the main road. There were many stables, inns and restaurants placed near the gates and as they walk along, shops suddenly started appearing. Shops selling clothes, tools, materials, food, medicine and many others. There were also buildings that look grand and intimidating.
“Look over there, who are those people?”, Windle pointed out a group of armored people wearing a purple and white insignia on their various armors.
“Those guys are member of the Estoc guild, the largest guild within the city”, Tordin responded
“Let’s hurry and find some lodging”
“We are going to spend the night here?”, Lia asked
“Yeah, tomorrow will be a special event that we can’t miss. Besides, it’s the weekend tomorrow and there won’t be any classes for the next few days. We’ll stay here for 2 days”, Gina explained
The found an inn within the western part of the city. It was apparently where Tordin often stayed in when he went to the city.
It was not a problem for the academy for their students to leave the academy from time to time. The younger students were given more restrictions than the older ones. During the first two years, class attendance was mandatory so students who were in their first and second years would normally be restricted from leaving the academy grounds.
During the third year, students were free to choose to attend or not attend combat lessons. The only requirement for them was to pass the test at the end of the year. A similar test was also given at the end of their fourth year. Two tests must be completed to finish 2 years of combat training; if not, they would be required to attend 2 more years in combat training where their attendance would be mandatory.
After that, students were free to come and go with the restriction of coming back within a few months. The students would usually use this time to either improve their understanding of things academically, hunt wild beasts within the western forest of the academy or train in isolation.
There were very few incidents of students running away from the academy, but this was frowned upon within the empire. Once a student graduates, they are given a badge with their identity stone. The badge absolves them from paying exorbitant tax that the village or city sets, thus most students would rather not run away from the academy.
Unless they flee outside the empire, they would have to pay a large amount of taxes yearly. Once a student was deemed to have ran away, the only way they could get an exemption from the tax was to enlist within the empire’s army for 6 years.
The group rented out two rooms. Each of the room had 4 beds in total; two double decked beds, one bed on top of the other. One room for the boys, the other for the ladies.
After having rented out their rooms for 2 days, they explored the city as they headed towards the dueling arenas.
They finally arrived at the gates of the arena. It was quite late in the day but the area was still well lit up by torches and light stones.
“How many people?”, the guard asked if the group was entering together.
Tordin who was leading the group answered: “6 total”
“6 silver coins”, the guard said as he opened his palm towards Tordin
Tordin paid 6 silver for the whole group and led them towards the seats closer to the arena.
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There was a moderate amount of people who came to watch the fights, some even took bets on who will win.
As they found their seats, a fight had just recently ended.
Teo, Windle and Lia saw the stage of the fight. There were many stains of blood covering the stage, small bits of flesh could also be seen. It was a horrific sight.
The scene made the three sick. It was the first time they’ve seen such a thing. Although there were matches within the academy, it was not as brutal as this.
Their faces became pale. Lia became nauseous. The stench of blood was heavy within the atmosphere.
“Don’t look away, this is why people learn how to fight”, Tordin said
He noticed the three’s expression and could not help but to give them advice.
“NEXT FIGHT!!”, the one hosting the fights loudly said.
Two men approached the stage. One of them was a gigantic man carrying a large broad sword and a towering shield. The other was a small man with a very thin sword.
“START!”
Without much introduction, the two battled it out. The giant rushed towards his opponent swinging his broad sword without hesitation.
Teo could feel the killing intents of both fighters. It was the first time he felt killing intent this strongly that his senses was drowned by in. Sweat started to gather on the his back and he found it harder and harder to breath. It was as if he was drowning by both fighters killing intent.
Windle and Lia were no better than Teo. They also suffered from the killing intents.
Seeing this, Tordin spread out his Qi and blocked the spreading killing intent. The three was finally released from such oppressive pressure but they were still frightened by the scene that was in front of them.
The battle was bloody and brutal.
The giant was struck multiple times as his opponent was using speed to his advantage, but a slight misstep and a single swing from the giant’s sword was enough to end the fight.
Although the losing side was not killed, he was heavily injured. A large gash opened up his armor exposing a deep wound on his chest. He was barely breathing before the judge to call the end of the match.
The winner was full of cuts but they were not very deep. His body and armor were tough enough to stop the blade from getting any deeper. The winner stepped off stage and the loser was carried out. Two new fighters arrived and another match started.
Teo turned towards Rowen who sat beside him and asked:
“Big sister, why are we here watching this?”
He wanted to leave and avoid seeing these very bloody fights.
“You three have to get used to this.The strong rules while the weak are bullied. If you don’t want to suffer in the future, you have to learn how to fight; to kill. You mustn't be shy to shed the blood of your opponents”, Rowen responded
She also became of aware of this fact during her early years within the academy. During her third year, Aran brought her here as well to watch people getting maimed and killed. She gradually got used to these kinds of fights and eventually participated in them.
The fights were not fights to the death, but blades and fists has no eyes, and one could be accidentally maimed or killed.
Through battles of life and death, one would become strong.
Lia could no longer hold it in and puked to the side. Teo and Windle who were also holding it in was influenced by Lia’s action and also threw up.
The three seniors could only bitterly smile. They have brought many juniors to watch these fights and almost everyone of them threw up.
Even Gina and Rowen threw up when they first saw these kinds of fights. Only Tordin who was used to these scene did not.
After the three recovered, Rowen brought out 3 towels and gave them to the three.
“This isn’t only for you three to get used to these kinds of fights, but you can also learn many things by watching these fights. Pay attention to them and watch”
The three followed obediently and watched one fight after the other.
They noticed various tactics the fighters employed. They also saw that a brief carelessness could end the fighter’s lives. Tordin acted like a commentator to the three who could not understand too much of what had happen in the fights.
Some of the movements were too fast for Windle and Lia to follow so Tordin’s commentary was very helpful. Teo on the other hand could see the fighter’s movements no matter how fast it was. He was seeing it as if time slowed down and could carefully observe their slightest movements to such a fine degree.
After several fights the arena finally came to a close for the day. The group of 6 went to a restaurant to eat dinner.
Teo, Windle and Lia had no appetite from watching all those ruthless fights.
“Seniors, why what special event is happening tomorrow?”, Windle asked
He remembered that their purpose of their visit had something to do with tomorrow.
“There is going to be a rare fights being held in the arena tomorrow. The two large guilds of the city, the Estoc guild and the Flame guild are having a friendly match tomorrow”, Gina explained
Rowen also followed up: “There will be elementalists fighting tomorrow, you can see how grand their techniques are”
As they spoke, the three seniors’ eyes lit up. Even for them, these fights were rare. Compared to the academy’s elementalist matches, these ones were of higher level.
“There will be many class 4 fighters participating in tomorrow’s matches, and there’s even a rumor of a class 5 fighter participating as well”, Tordin announced
“What’s a class 4 fighter?”, Windle asked