Chapter 191 – Cage Fight

“I thought you’d wait for me outside the throne room until I finished talking with the King.”

The Patriarch mumbled as Calron arrived in front of him.

“I’m sorry, I thought your discussion would take a while so I went to the Azure Pavilion to see Roran and Ellie. Anyways, what were you talking to the King about?”

Calron apologized, sitting on the mat before the old man.

They were back in Calron’s hut, as it was the most convenient location for them without any disruptions from others in the clan. Taking the already prepared cup of tea on the table, Calron joined the Patriarch as they enjoyed their warm beverages.

The old man loved tea, so Calron had gotten used to drinking it whenever they met.

“Hmm, it was probably better that you left before me. The King wanted to talk to me about what I thought about your marriage and if I had any suitors in mind.”

“Ptoo!”

Calron spurted out the tea he had just sipped in shock and looked at the Patriarch with worry.

No… he wouldn’t have… but the old geezer is crazy, so he just might have!

“Hahaha, that look on your face is priceless!”

The old man guffawed while slapping his knee.

Seeing the miserable expression on Calron’s face, the Patriarch relented and explained. 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t arrange a marriage for you. This was a ploy by the King to gauge whether the clan had already arranged a fiancé for you. I haven’t told you before, but a lot of the powerful clans, sects and even a couple of the other tower families have taken an interest in you. The power you displayed in the battle against Zarvel was different than the usual Raizel warriors, and some believe you are a direct descendant that we’ve kept hidden for years.”

“The King wants me to marry one of the clans’ daughter so he can bind me to this city?”

Calron frowned, displeased by the King’s machinations.

“Most likely. However, I think his plan was not for you to marry someone from the other powerful clans, but to actually join his family as a son-in-law. You might not know this, but the King has two daughters and a son. The son is much older than you and is currently training by himself outside the city and no one but the King knows exactly where he is. Whereas, the older daughter is around your age and is a fearsome martial artist who has said to have inherited a powerful legacy from a Deity. The youngest daughter is someone you already know, and she is also the one that the King adores the most. The King probably intends to marry one of his daughters to you, so he can slowly pull you over to his faction.”

The Patriarch conveyed, pouring himself another cup after realizing that his previous cup had gotten cold.

“Regardless of his plans, I won’t marry anyone anytime soon.”

Calron grumbled

.

“They all say that.”

The old man chuckled but did not push any further.

“Anyways, the reason why I called you now was to inform you of the second mission that you’ll be partic.i.p.ating in. The objective of this mission is to destroy and sabotage the enemy’s food storages and their granaries. This will force the darklings to retreat until they find more food in their kingdom. All armies know how important rations are to an army so each storage will be heavily guarded. This mission will test your ability to adapt in enemy territory and to combat under heavy disadvantages. Also, this mission will be slightly different than the last one, as other young members of the tower clans will be joining you as well.”

The Patriarch finished, getting up from the floor and patting his clothes.

“Wait, that’s all the information? Who are the members of the other clans? And how many people in total will be on the team?”

Calron countered, fazed by the lack of details given to him. This mission sounded simple on the outside, but there were too many unaccounted factors.

“This is also part of your mission, gather the information on your own as the enemy might have changed their tactics from when our scouts last reported. You’ll meet with the others tomorrow morning, so get a good night’s sleep. Once you start your mission, who knows when you’ll get to sleep comfortably again.”

The old man winked and disappeared from Calron’s hut before the young man could stall him for more information.

“Irritating old geezer… ”

Calron sighed and toppled on top of his bed to sleep.

He had a feeling that the Patriarch’s last words might come true.

Why?

Because Calron always had terrible luck.

………………………………

“Hey, did you hear? There’s a new contestant in the cages, and they say he’s a real brutal one!”

A man chatted with his friend, as the two walked into an isolated alley before coming to stop at a battered metallic door.

A slot in the middle of the metal door opened, followed by a pair of dark eyes.

“Really? I missed last week’s fight, so I wouldn’t know.”

The other man replied while casually bringing out a small amulet from his pocket in front of the pair of eyes. From his movements, it looked like he was a common visitor of this place.

*chak-chak*

The metal door slowly opened and the two men walked in, continuing their conversation.

Inside the gigantic room, or more specifically, the giant stage, two people were fighting bare-chested in the middle as a wild rough-looking crowd cheered them on. Loud noises were heard in the background, as someone was taking in the bets for the fight while announcing the stakes involved.

The whole atmosphere in the dark area was one of rowdy and lawless behavior. It was clear that none of these men seemed like the responsible and law-abiding citizens of the city. They were all goons and criminals.

“KAAH! Here’s thirty silver on the newcomer!”

A tipsy crowd member walked to a booth and shouted excitedly.

The woman behind the counter silently took the silver coins and handed him a piece of red paper.

It looked like the fight was soon coming to an end.

There was no use of elements or legacy involved in the fights, and it was a pure contest of raw physical strength and martial techniques.

One of the fighters on stage, the newcomer, looked young with solid muscles, while the other one was a lot fatter and bigger than his opponent. However, since the fight relied on pure strength, a lot of people were betting on the larger and fatter fighter instead of the newcomer.

Moreover, the newcomer’s body was battered with bruises and cuts while the latter remained only slightly injured. Both fighters’ faces couldn’t be seen since they each decided to hide their ident.i.ties. 

*pant*     *pant*

The newcomer was out of breath as he placed his arms on his bent knees and tried to catch a breath.

I am too weak to fight alongside big brother, so I’ll train however I can until I’m strong enough to proudly walk next to him.

Roran eyes blazed behind the mask, as drops of sweat poured down his forehead.