15 Days Later:

Jacob along with his father was headed for Agoross. They were walking on the dirt road and waiting for a caravan to pass by them. They would then take a lift on it.

Now that Jacob was an adult, it was time for him to join a sect. Their purpose for visiting the city this time was to search for other persons who were going to travel towards the sects.

According to the elder, it was better for them to join a group of people in Agoross that would head toward the sects in the east.

This time, the father and son were carrying all their weapons such as swords and bows. So they had to carry their full backpacks in their hands. All kinds of things were in their backpacks. They were fully ready for a months-long journey if required. They just had to join a group now.

Jacob was sporting a sad expression as he walked with his father. He had just left his home. He had been living in the house in the clearing for the past seven years or so. But today, he had to leave it for good.

Just when they were leaving the house, Jacob stopped there and keep looking at the house for many seconds. He wanted to engrave this house in his mind just like he had engraved the room of his mother once. He guessed that there was a high chance that he would never visit it ever again.

As Jacob kept walking with his head lowered, he felt a pat on his shoulders. He looked up and saw his father looking at him.

"Don't worry, son. This is how life works. You are now stepping into the next stage of your life. You have to leave it behind now, just like how newly grown birds have to spread their wings and leave their parents' nest behind. You can always visit our house in the future. It is still yours" The elder tried to assuage his son's worries by giving some words of motivation.

Jacob smiled at it and nodded back at his father. His mood also got better. He thought that his father was correct. He had to move on now. Time waited for none.

Soon, a group of wagons passed by them and they took a lift on them. Just a few hours later, they entered the city.

Jacob noticed that the atmosphere in the city was not right. He could see many people on the streets that had lifeless expressions on their faces. He could also see people who had happy expressions but they were very few.

As they walked on the streets, he could see many people making lines outside in front of the relief centres where rations were being distributed.

Jacob realized that it was one of the woes of war. Even if it was a stalemate, many people still lost their lives. Most of them were the sole bread earners of their families. They had left many widows and orphans behind.

Jacob put himself in the shoes of the orphans he could see in front of him, he could not help but shiver with horror. Losing his father in some war abruptly was beyond his wildest imagination.

He always automatically shut down such kinds of thoughts whenever they came into his mind and believed them to be impossible to happen. He knew that he was just deluding himself but he had no other choice.

The world was not in his control so he could not help but delude himself while making bone-breaking efforts to eliminate his deficiencies.

It was evening by now. So they went to the inn they usually visited. The inn was also not free of the gloomy atmosphere. Tables were occupied but the usual noise of chatting was absent. Everyone was speaking softly while minding their business.

Just as they neared the counter, the chubby barkeeper behind it stood up with eyes wide open.

"Jacob, welcome back. I thought you left me for good. I saw your father a few times but he ignored me whenever I asked about your whereabouts." The excited chubby man welcomed them with a loud voice.

He managed to attract the attention of everyone sitting there with his voice as everyone started looking at them.

"Hello, uncle Gifford. I was hiding from the war for the past few months. That is why you could not see me along with my father. As for my father, please don't mind him. When he does not want to answer something, he just remains silent."

Jacob made a helpless expression as he looked back towards the customers whose attention they managed to grab and answered the excited man in front of him with a soft voice.

On their every visit to the city before the war, they rented a room in the same inn. So, with the passage of time, Jacob became familiar with the inn owner and they started speaking with each other regularly after that.

Jacob found that the chubby man although looked serious from the outside, he was quite funny and talkative in reality.

He was also very blunt so he used to blurt out whatever he had in his heart without thinking much about it. Thankfully there was someone else in the inn who had perfect control over him.

The innkeeper became somewhat like an uncle figure to him in a matter of a few visits. He was very friendly to him. As a result, Jacob gained another support and source of information in this majestic city.

Whenever Jacob visited the city without his father, he always came to his uncle whenever he could not solve things himself and needed help. The chubby man also provided him with some useful information sometimes.

"Ok. It is good that you did not participate in the war. But I am your uncle. I have watched you grow up since you were this tall. I at least have the right to know about your wellbeing."

While saying his piece with a loud voice, he lowered his right hand to his knees as if to indicate the size of Jacob a few years ago. He also made a bitter face toward the elder. The elder just shrugged in return.

I was much more taller than that. Jacob protested in his heart as he looked at the antics of the man in front of him. By now they had managed to grab the attention of everyone present in the hall. They were all looking at them with various expressions. Some were annoyed while some were amused.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Keep it down. You will scare the customers away. I will beat you if you do that." A muffled annoyed female voice came from the storage room behind the chubby man.

His expression became that of horror as he heard the voice. Jacob almost laughed out loud after seeing that.

"Sooo, how many nights this time?" Gifford said this time so softly that it was almost a whisper.

"One night for now. We will extend the stay if needed later." It was the elder who replied this time.

"Ok. The usual then." Hearing that, the elder took our five bronze coins and handed them to the innkeeper.

"Uncle, our purpose for this time of visit is to learn about the potential groups that would head toward the sects. Do you have any idea about any?"

Jacob quickly described his purpose for visiting the city hoping that the innkeeper in front of him would certainly know about it.

"You are already an adult. What a surprise. You were so little just a few years ago. You grew up so quickly. Sigh." Gifford looked at Jacob from head to toe a couple of times before getting surprised. His voice was a bit loud initially as he started talking but toned it down immediately after realizing something.

"As my congratulation, your meal tonight will be free of cost. Eat as much as you like. It will be on the house."

"Thank you so much for your kind hospitality, uncle Gifford. So, do you know any caravan that would head towards the east in the coming days?" Jacob thanked the man in front of him and repeated his question. He was sure that his uncle forgot about his original question in excitement.

"Ah, yes. That. Let me think for a bit. Hmm...." The chubby man was surprised at first before he sank into deep thoughts.

The father-son duo kept standing there silently, waiting for the man to think calmly.

"I don't personally know about any kind of caravan that would head toward the east in the coming days. But I have a friend who has much interest in such things. He can guide you better. Tell him that Gifford sent you. It will keep him in line." After that, the chubby man gave them the contact's address and his appearance.

Jacob thanked him in return and the father-son duo called it a day. They decided to go after the contact the next day. After a hearty dinner, Jacob went to bed.

The next day, they left the inn after Jacob had his breakfast. According to the chubby innkeeper, the contact they were going to meet was active near the City Park. He worked as a foreman in the food logistics of the city and had an office there.

As Jacob walked on the streets with his father, he noticed an unusual phenomenon. Every few meters or so, he found people gathered near a wall, looking at some kind of poster excitedly.

He had found such a thing yesterday but it was not that exaggerated. He had thought that the posters were related to some kind of relief efforts or job placements. But he became curious now.

He found that most of the people looking at the posters were young adults like him and all of them had excited expressions on their faces unlike the gloomy mood present in the city. They were also discussing something with each other excitedly.

Jacob changed his direction to one such gathering without saying anything. The elder also did the same after seeing him walking towards the crowd.

He soon reached the gathering. He tried to hear what people in front of him were saying. Unfortunately, it was too noisy and he could not hear anything. All he could hear were some words such as coliseum and preliminaries.

Jacob judged it to be something related to the coliseum after hearing those words. He then looked in front of him. The poster on the wall was completed surrounded by young men. There was no more space to step forward and look at the poster himself.

Although he could forcefully make space by pushing people away using his superior strength, he deemed it too rude and impertinent. His father was also standing at some distance, watching his every move.

So, Jacob did the next best thing and addressed a couple of young men standing near him, talking with each other.

"Hello, friends."

"Hello." They both looked toward him and replied with a greeting.

"Can you kindly tell me what is going on here? I cannot see the poster myself." Jacob said while motioning towards the still crowded front of the poster.

"Preliminaries have been decided. The number of participants has grown so large that they had to weed out the weaklings first." One of them nodded and replied to Jacob.

After hearing them, Jacob made a befuddled expression. Whatever they had said went over his head. Sure, he knew that it was something related to the coliseum but he did not get his answer.

"Umm. Preliminaries? For what? Can you please tell me? I don't know anything about it."

The young men in front of him looked at him with a strange expression. It was as if they were looking at a strange animal in a zoo. Jacob could only bear their weird gazes. They kept up with it for a few seconds before one of them opened his mouth.

"Man, you living under a rock or something? The entire country knows about it by now."

"I live outside of the city in the forest, working as a woodcutter. I came to the city just yesterday." Jacob made a helpless expression. He was being patient with their questioning.

"No wonder, you don't know about it. Ok. You should have heard about the beast core at least. Have you?" It was the second teenager who replied this time and asked a question.

"Yes. I know about." Jacob replied with a nod.

"Perfect. Now listen to me carefully. I won't repeat it twice. Ok?" The second teenager said.

Jacob only nodded at that.

"From the rumours, I have heard that the beast core that was discovered many months ago was judged to be useless by the scholars. According to them, it has zero potential. I don't know the specifics of the matter. But it is still useful for first-level cultivators. So, ten days ago, it was declared by the coliseum boss that a tournament will be held ten days from now with the core as the winning prize." The teenager paused at it

"So a tournament is to be held ten days from now with the beast core as the trophy?" Jacob suppressed the rising waves in his heart and sought confirmation.

"Exactly. After the tournament declaration, people from all over the country came to Agoross to register in order to participate in it, in addition to the residents from Agoross itself.

Only those who have not started cultivation are allowed to participate. By now, the number of participants has grown so large that the management decided on preliminaries this morning. Seeing that crowd, it is because of it. Posters were attached to the walls just half an hour ago." The teenager pointed towards the crowd in the end.

"Thank you so much for your information. Are you two participating in it?" Jacob replied with a barely excited voice. He was trying so hard to act normal and suppress the excitement inside of him.

"Nah. We are not that strong enough. Confidence aside, the kingdom's best are taking part in it. We don't have any place there. We will be in the audience. We have already bought the tickets."

The teenager displayed a dismaying expression while saying his piece. In the end, his mood brightened as he took out some kind of paper outside of his pocket and showed it to Jacob.

"Hey. You seem decent enough in your strength. Will you try your luck in the tournament?" It was the first teenager this time. He was eyeing Jacob's body with an impressed expression.

"Yes. I will. I will go register right now. Please cheer for me during the matches." Jacob nodded excitedly at that. He had decided to participate in the tournament just after learning about it. This was a perfect opportunity for him. He was sure that his father would also agree.

"Haha, of course. We will cheer for you if you qualify for the main matches. A friendly piece of advice though. Give up when you think you can not win. Your life is more important. Good luck." The first teenager said while giving him a thumbs up. His friend also nodded at that.

"Thank you. See you later then. Bye." Jacob bade them farewell as he turned to walk towards his father. He could not wait to inform him about the beast core tournament and his decision of participating in it.

"Bye. Hey mate, at least give us your name." The teenagers shouted from behind him.

"I am Jacob." Jacob replied as he looked back at them. After that, he quickly walked to his father with an excited expression.