Volume 3 Chapter 4: Part 3: Arrival

"What a beautiful sunrise." Onyx praised as he looked out the window to see the sun. It was a day since Onyx and Rena arrived at the Riqueza Kingdom. After they finished eating their fill, they rested in an inn.

Onyx walked out to the balcony to view the scene even more. It wasn't just the sunrise that was beautiful.

It was a beautiful scene in general. The light breeze brushed Onyx's face, a rising sun, and gentle calming waves from the beach.

This was so worth the one gold coin. Onyx laughed, remembering what he did yesterday.

He followed the vendor's advice and decided on an inn near the beach. To get to the inns to the beach, they walked past other inns. And they were grand.

But it was nothing compared to the one at the beach. The inns were larger than the ones in the city. But that grandness came at a cost. One night there cost 1 gold coin!

The cost slapped Onyx in the face. He did have the money, and he did say before they would splurge a bit. But one gold coin for one night was overkill!

In the end: with tons of mulling, Onyx did decide to pay it. You only live once!

And this choice was great because,

Damn, they're cooking so early. Below the balcony, stalls were set up, and the aroma floated up to Onyx's room!

Well, I guess this works. Onyx smiled as he walked to the door. But the sound woke Rena up,

"Master, where are you going?" The two decided to share a room together.

"I'm going to get a jog in." Despite coming to a new kingdom, that wouldn't stop him from training.

"Ahh,"

"You don't have to come with me if you don't want to." Seeing how she was about to get up from the bed, Onyx stopped her. He continued,

"I'll only be gone for a few minutes."

"..Understood then, master. I shall continue to rest." Onyx nodded as he walked out of the room. And the moment he got out of the inn, the beach was in his face!

Running alongside the beach, he was in awe at how big it was. He didn't expect that there would be a beach so large in the kingdom. As he jogged around the area, he noticed more stalls being set up.

"Get your shaved ice! We have apple flavored, seven grapes, and milk flavored!"

"Try some of our grilled beef stripes! They're nice and juicy! Grilled to perfection!"

Everywhere he jogged, hawkers were promoting their items out in the open.

I should bring breakfast back for Rena. The inn they were staying at didn't do breakfast or dinner. The innkeeper wanted us to go out and eat at the stalls instead.

That's the relationship between the inns and the vendors. The vendors enticed people with their food while the inns were there for people to stay even longer.

As Onyx bought some food,

Sniff Sniff.

What's that smell? Onyx sniffed some more.

Throughout all the food smells, a particular fragrance caught Onyx's nose. He looked around, searching for it, and his eyes locked onto the source. Away from the stalls, he saw a bunch of fish roasting in a fireplace.

Onyx didn't know why, but the smell coming from it mesmerized him. He didn't even realize that he was already in front of the fire.

"What do you need, young man?" An elder looking to be in his sixties asked Onyx.

Ahh. Onyx snapped out of it and realized where he was. His face turned red as he apologized, "Sorry for disturbing you. The smell from your fish brought me over here."

The elder laughed, "Haha, I like your honesty. Do you want one? There's plenty to go around." He chuckled as he brought one of the fishes up to Onyx.

"Thank you then." Onyx didn't hesitate as he took it. He sat down beside the elder and munched down on the fish. The moment he did, never did Onyx expect the flavors from the fish to burst out!

What flavor! Multiple explosions were lit in his mouth, setting off all at once!

Onyx couldn't believe it. But his mouth thought otherwise as it continued to munch down at super speed! Seeing this, the elder laughed,

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"Slow down, young lad. Nobody will take the fish away. And there's more to go around too."

"Sorry about that. I have never eaten something so good in my life." The food he ate yesterday was good. However, it was nothing compared to the fish he was eating right now!

"But why isn't anybody else coming over here?" Onyx looked around, and only he got drawn in by the fish. The other customers were focused on their own thing.

"That's because it's common here. Silver-tailed salmon is a staple here. It's always in the fish market. However, these people don't know how to prepare for it. So instead of having this delicious goodness here, what they bite into is gamy and tough meat." The elder laughed.

Onyx laughed, "I bet you can make a fortune selling this."

"Gagaga, you don't have to tell me about this. I'd already had. When I was your age, I was the number one vendor in the 1st district!" The elder reminisced.

I see. Onyx made a doubtful expression.

It sounded more like a boast to him.

"Hey! Don't give me that odd look. Even if you're an adventurer, you should at least hear about Darian's snack shack! It's the number one stall here!"

"Uhh, sorry. I haven't heard about it. I've only been here for half a day." The moment Onyx said this, that pride deflated like a balloon. As Onyx was about to apologize, he realized something,

"How did you know I'm an adventurer?" He wasn't wearing his armor and never said he was an adventurer. He looked just like any other civilian.

"That's simple, lad. You've said this is your first time trying silver-tailed salmon. That's a common fish here. And two, your muscles say a lot about you as well." Onyx rolled up his sleeves, showing his muscles.

To have such well-honed muscles like that showed he was a skilled fighter.

"Wow, that's some deduction." Onyx was a little shocked by how much knowledge he got from a glance.

"That's something you'll gain when you grow older. Also, what do I call you, lad?"

"Ahh, my name is Onyx Silver. What about you, elder?" Onyx forgot to introduce himself.

"Names Darian Todd. Just call me by my first name, lad. So how's your half-day in the kingdom?"

"Hmm, it's been fun. There are a lot of stalls around where anybody can have fun. I've already run around and tasted around 50 stalls. And it doesn't seem I've gotten through half of it."

"Haha, I can tell you, you haven't even gotten through a tenth of it." Darian laughed.

"But I'm curious, what's going on over there?" Onyx pointed at the center of the kingdom. The entire portion of the land was elevated two times, creating three different sections. (Best example is a smaller cake stacked on a larger one.)

"Ahh, this is your first time here, so you wouldn't know about it. The Riqueza Kingdom is separated into three different layers. The first layer we're in right now is Sea. That's where all the stalls are set up. This is the best place for travelers and people to tour around.

The second layer is Earth. That's where most residents live.

And the last layer is Sky: which is the highest point. Those who live there are high-tier merchants, and a majority of expensive items are bought there too."

"I see. So that's how the kingdom is made." It made a lot more sense to Onyx now, "Also, can I have another one?" Talking so much made him want another fish.

"..." Darian laughed, "Sure! Sure! Take as much as you want. But in return, I want to hear about your adventures."

"Hmm? You want to hear about my adventures?" Onyx tilted his head, "Are you sure? It's pretty mundane?"

"I've given you information. Now it's your turn to share."

"Sure, I don't mind." Onyx began to share most of the things during his adventure.

Darian's expression changed into surprise upon hearing all of this, "How is a deviled python mundane, child?! Do you know how many people died from fighting it?! Let alone a party; you did it alone." If anybody else had heard about this, they would have spat out blood!

"Ehh, Besides the devil python, the rest are pretty normal."

"..." Normal for you. Blood kong, a variant. There was no way an ordinary adventurer could do this.

"But it seems like there's something on your mind."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Onyx's expression changed a bit.

"You can't lie to me, lad. Do you know how long I have lived? Just from walking over here, I can tell there's something on your mind. Tell this old geezer here. I may be able to help you out."

"...I've just been thinking about something." Onyx said as he looked up at the skies, "It's something I've never imagined happening."

"Good or bad."

"Bad." That image was something Onyx couldn't get out of his mind.

"Hmm, then take this advice from this old geezer: Don't think about it at all."

Hah? Onyx's expression turned blank. Do nothing about it? That's what he was doing for the past few days. And doing nothing is why he was in turmoil all this time.

"Let me rephrase this; erase it from your mind. If you don't understand what's happening and have little to go on: there isn't anything you can do about it. So why be frustrated about it? It's a waste of thought."

"..." Onyx stayed silent. But it made sense. He couldn't do a thing about it. Yet, he was thinking about it so hard too.

Thinking about it a bit more. Onyx got off the ground,

"So you finally got your answer?" Darian smiled.

"Mmhmm. Thanks a lot. I have to go now. I have somebody waiting for me." Rena was probably sitting at the inn still. "Thank you for the fish."

Seeing Onyx leave, Darian chuckled, "So that's the hero."

...

"Thank you for the wait. Congratulations, you two passed the rank-up quest." The advisor said to Onyx and Rena.

After eating their breakfast, the two go to the guild hall to find out the result of their quest.

"Please hand me your guild cards." Onyx and Rena nodded and handed their guild card over. The receptionist stamped it, and the guild cards changed colors.

"You two are now C-rank adventurers. With the higher rank, you guys will take higher-level quests."

"Mmmhmm." Onyx understood. But then he asked, "What about the verdict?"

"You do not have to be worried about this. We have verified with the guild requester and checked the sight as well. Everything is what you guys said. In a few days, a letter will be sent to the guild hall in Advent City. It'll explain everything, and the adventurers will be punished accordingly by your guild master."

"Understood." Hearing that Vinnie and Blaine would get punished placed Onyx's heart at ease. The two didn't say anything else as they left.

The two have decided they will leave after this.

"Let's get some gifts for the others before we leave." Rena nodded, and the two decided to look at some stalls. It didn't take long before they bought everything they wanted.

"Rena, let's-" Onyx was going to say it's time to go; he noticed Rena eyeing something strangely.

She was looking at some accessories. Each one looked to be hand-crafted and well-designed.

"You want one?"

"Ahh, no, master. I was looking around."

"..." Onyx smiled as he looked down at them. A snowflake caught his eye.

"How much for this one?"

The vendor explained, "Oh, you got yourself a good eye there, young man. This hair clip is made from fragments of aurora amethyst. In the morning, this may look like a beautiful hair clip. But at night is when this hairclip truly shines! A beautiful aurora will form around it once moonlight hits it!"

"Huh?! Then why didn't anyone snag it up?!" If it was something like this, then it should sell like hotcakes.

The vendor scratched his head, "That's because it cost one gold coin."

"..." That explains it. Who would spend one gold coin on a hairclip?!

"Customer, I assure you! The quality of the material I used is high-tier! And the design is one of a kind as well!"

"Alright." Onyx gave him the gold coin. The vendor didn't need to explain it to him.

The vendor smiled, "Thank you for the purchase!"

After buying, Rena quickly questioned, "Master, why would you buy something so expensive?!"

"Give me a minute." Onyx unclasped it and placed the clip on Rena's hair.

Seeing it on here, Onyx nodded,

"This is why I bought it. The clip looks perfect on you." It felt like the hairclip was made just for Onyx.

"But-"

"Relax, coins are not an issue for us. And it's fine to splurge a bit from time to time."

"..."

"It's fine. Now we can leave the kingdom." Onyx said as they were ready to set off.