"Attention everyone, the monthly iron badge tournament will be starting shortly, can all participants please head to the main stadium, thank you." A loud female voice overpowers the entire training ground, likely some form of speaker magic.

In the end, I didn't find Norton, there are just too many people but I'm sure he'll be around once it's my time to compete.

Faris and I head to the main stadium which is just a large plain field with a large stage in the middle where a group of guild staff awaits. We settle ourselves at the closest spot to the stage we can find and wait for further instructions.

After another fifteen minutes, a middle-aged lady dressed in the guild outfit with brown hair steps out on to the stage.

"Welcome everyone, I am the guild master of the adventurer guild, Unatis branch, Sharon Lars." Her voice resounds in the entire field as if they are speakers spread around.

"It is my honor to be your host today so let me get right into it, spectators please listen to the instructions of the guild staff and move in an orderly manner. Wagers for each match are accepted at the designated counters for each respective arenas for the fight, with a maximum bet of 50 gold coins and a minimum bet of 1 silver coin."

The guild master pauses her speech to let the crowd settle down and whispers to her assistant beside her.

"Participants please find your name on the board behind me and head to the designated arena as written down. The brackets are kept confidential to allow for fairness so your subsequent matches will be announced in the same way." The assistants behind her unveil the cloth covering a giant board on the stage.

"The rules will remain unchanged this year, single elimination with only the top ten percent qualified to be promoted and first place will receive a prize of one platinum coin and each subsequent placement will receive 10 gold coins less until 11th place. Detailed rules for the duel will be explained at the beginning of each match so feel free to ask any questions you have after your judges explain them to you. That is all, let the tournament begin!" The guild master retreats into a tent placed atop the stage after her finishing remarks.

The crowd once again starts getting bustling while people at the back scramble to get closer to the board to find out where to go. From where I am, I managed to find my name in the long list of names that is arranged alphabetically under my first names, seeing the names I notice not everyone has a last name.

Aster Estrea - Arena #28

With the guidance of a nearby guild staff, we quickly find my assigned arena; a simple plot of grassland surrounded by a bunch of bleachers and some tables where the guild staff responsible for this arena are stationed.

"Faris, you can go ahead and try to find Norton or grab a nice seat in the shades."

"Okay, good luck master! I'll be cheering for you." Faris says with her fists brought up to her chest.

I move toward where the guild staff is where a large crowd is starting to form. They're two different lines but there is a cute catkin wearing the guild uniform and holding a sign at the tail of the line, guiding the new people approaching.

"All competitors please join the line to your right while everyone else looking to place bets please join the line to your left." The catgirl instructs loudly to everyone around.

I join the line for competitors that is thankfully moving much faster than the other line. My turn comes soon as I head over to the table where a male guild staff with an eye patch covering his left eye greets me.

"Your guild badge please." The man politely takes my guild badge and scans it across a crystal ball object.

"Aster Estrea, correct?"

"That's right."

"Would you like to place a bet on your match? Of course, you can only bet on yourself as you're a competitor but the other rules remain unchanged or else please head over to the area where a guild staff is holding a sign with the number 2 on it."

"I'll bet 50 gold coins on myself, how do the rates work?" I quickly take out the coins and place them on the table.

"Sure are confident, the rates are dynamic and changes depending on the pool as the guild only facilitates the gambling and charges a 5% fee on the winnings. You'll see the final rates posted at the top of the stands once betting is closed. If you win, come back with this slip, good luck!" The guild staff writes something and stamps on a piece of paper after taking my coins and hands it over to me.

I've been getting more confident recently especially after my daily training with Morgan and Faris so this will be a good chance to grow my funds for the slave auction. Would have gotten Faris to bet too if they didn't treat slaves as the same entity as their owner, they check your guild badge for adventurers and citizen ID or merchant guild ID for everyone who is placing bets. I guess it is a good measure to prevent people to use groups from manipulating the rates by dumping large amounts of bets.

I head over into the center of the arena and under the eyes of all the spectators settling themselves on their seats, I find about ten guild staffs holding up signs with numbers ranging from one to ten scattered around the field. As I head closers I notice an area is marked out in starking red which I assume is the arena for the duels. I arrive in front of the man carrying the sign with the number two on it.

"I'm Aster Estrea, I was told to come find you for my match."

"You're at the right place, I will be the judge for your match today. If you have any questions please ask after I explain the rules once your opponent arrives."

The judge didn't seem to want to waste any more words so I spend my time looking around at the bleachers to try to spot Faris or Norton's party. I didn't expect it to be this hard to spot them given the unique color of their hair but everyone else in this world seems to have a large spectrum of different hair colors.

I continue to scan the crowds but it's just too hard when they are all still many people moving around. I get interrupted when I notice someone heading towards me, he is a tall lanky fellow wearing leather armor and carrying a spear similar to mine.

"I'm Ray, I've been told to come here for my first match," Ray says while sizing me up.

It seems like my first opponent is a mage too, don't mind me if I cheat to see what you're capable of, I can't risk losing my money after all.

Human Male Age:20

Magic Level:

Earth Lv. 21

Light Lv. 12

Water Lv.1

Electric Lv. 1

Fire Lv. 1

Wind Lv.1

Healing Lv. 1

Dark Lv. 1

Nature Lv.1

Unique Magic:

Light magic? This is the first time seeing anyone decent levels in light magic, as far as my experience with it, it doesn't seem to have much offensive capabilities.

"Good, now that you're both here let me explain the rules. First and foremost, no fatal attacks or intentionally causing permanent damage to your opponent, failure to comply with these rules will not only disqualify you from the tournament, an investigation will also be launched and you will be arrested. Victory is decided by either forcing your opponent to surrender, knocking them out of the ring or when I deem that a participant is no longer able to fight. You may use any equipment you have brought as long as you do not break any of the previous rules. Any questions?"

"No, let's get this started." Says my opponents while pointing his spear at me.

"...No questions here as well."

"Very well, please head over to the spot marked with a circle at your respective sides, the match will begin the moment this sign touches the ground."

We both head to our positions and I take the chance to look at the rates for my match. I spot multiple pairs holding up large signs and found the one with a giant #2 written with my name and odds below.

Aster 1.70 Ray 2.42

I think that means I get 1.7 coins back for every coin I bet, guess that means there's more money on me.

We reach our designated starting location where we are twenty meters apart. Both of us focus our gaze at the referee, waiting for the signal to start. The loud cheering from the audience has already started as I faintly hear the sounds of fighting going on not too far from me. The judge takes the moment when the sound of cheers wane a little before letting go of the sign he was holding gently.

The sign looks like it's traveling in slow motion as gravity pulls it down and when it finally hits the ground, all I can see is a dazzling light shining right into my eyes. Shit, this must be his light magic.

I quickly form an ice shield in front of me to diffuse the light but unexpectedly, a loud sound of impact from something striking my shield is heard. He must have fired something with his earth magic after blinding me, not bad.

I see a figure rushing at me from the other side of my ice shield and decides to slam my shield into his charge. My assailant did not expect me to be able to counter-attack so quickly and gets knocked off his feet while the second spell I cast, water stream, engulfs his entire body that's lying on the ground. I freeze the water the moment it fully covers him and charges up close and point my spear at his throat.

"...I..surr...ender." My opponent voices out while visibly shivering in the cold.

"Match is over, the winner is Aster." The judge quickly appears beside us.

That fight sure was anticlimactic, but I'll gladly take the money from an easy win. I might as well release the poor guy out from my ice too.

"Congratulations, now please take this token and report back to the staff responsible for this arena, they will direct you to your next match." The judge offers me a small token as I finish turning my ice into warm water, releasing my opponent.

I head back to the counter from before to report my results.

"I finished my match, here's the token and my receipt for my wager." I find the same man wearing an eye patch and hands him my items.

"Oh, congratulations, the final rate was 1.7 which means you will get 83 gold coins and 25 silver coins after the guild fee of 5% is deducted, here." The staff swiftly produces the money and hands it over to me, which means I won a total of 33 gold coins and 25 silver coins.

"The details of your next round will be announced at the main arena in a few minutes, so feel free to make your way over."

"Thank you."

I retreat from the counter and instantly spots Faris walking over with Norton and his crew.

"Master! You won!" An excited Faris leaps at me.

"The young lady was passionately cheering for you the entire time, though you sure didn't waste time and finished the match quickly. Anyway, thanks for helping me earn some extra cash, it sure was worthwhile to come to this tournament." Says Norton as he's playing with around with a bag of coins.

"So you were part of the reason why my rates were so low! Come on, go ask your family for some money instead of fighting with me for the crumbs." I tease Norton.

"Hey, it never hurts to have some more cash, especially since I'll have to start relying on myself soon to take care of my party." Norton continues to gloat by tossing around his bag of coins.

"...Sigh, let's go, Faris, I'm going to find out where my next round is."

"Hey, don't forget about me too, I did come to cheer for you so it's only right I get a little benefit from this."

I ignore Norton as he trails after us.

---

Our party of seven is currently having lunch at a place Norton recommended to us, and of course, he kindly "offered" to treat us with his winnings from my matches.

I had another two matches in the morning after my match with that earth and light magic user, the other two opponents were just regular strength enhancers wearing heavy armor that made good target practice so I treated them to an electrifying experience. The sad part was that my rates were going lower and lower, I only made another 33 gold coins from the two matches.

"Hey, have you heard, the son of that Merchant Warrior is participating in the iron badge tournament. He's been breezing past through everyone else so why don't we go wager on him to make some extra change?"

"How do you know he's really the son of the Merchant Warrior?"

"I was among the spectators this morning, he had the same red hair as the Merchant Warrior and his name is Kou Hakuren, the same last name."

The conversation from our neighboring table leaks over into my ears.

"..."

"What's up Aster? Full already?" Norton asks me as I had stopped eating to pay attention to the conversation to the table beside us.

"Norton, do you know about the Merchant Warrior?"

"Oh, I did keep hearing people talk about his son in the stands today, the Merchant Warrior is a moniker for a famous adventurer named Tojo Hakuren. It's said he's conquered over 20 dungeons by relying on the best equipment that can be purchased, using the wealth he's made from his business he built up. Truly a merchant and a warrior at the same time."

"So he just relies on money?"

"Hmm, not quite, else all big merchants and kings will be able to do the same, he's someone with massive wealth and combat skills at the same time if he's able to conquer dungeons, he also has a lot of connections so even kings treat him with respect."

"...And what about his son?"

"Not sure, haven't heard much about him aside from today, but I'm willing to bet his father didn't cheap out on his equipment though. Anyways, why are you suddenly so interested in him? You guys met him before?"

"...Sigh."

I explain to Norton about our encounter with Kou as we continue to finish our meals.

"Hahaha, you guys are both so childish."

"...Fuck off, fuck that guy for trying to take Faris away from me." I hold onto Faris's hand as I say that.

"Don't worry master, he can't do anything to force me to leave you. I am already yours after all." Says Faris as she smiles sweetly at me.

"Yeah yeah, don't worry about it, he sounds just like some spoilt brat who's living in his own world, he probably already forgot about the encounter with you guys already."

"Still... I won't forgive him until I get to beat his ass up, he better not lose in the tournament before he fights me, I'll show him how strong someone who "forces" his slave to fight is."

"Hahaha, this is sounding more and more like a fight between children to me, you're seriously childish getting angry over nothing." Norton laughs until he chokes on his drink.

"Waiter, can I get a bottle of the most expensive wine you have at this store please."

"Wait... what? I thought you didn't drink." Norton manages to squeeze out his voice while coughing.

"I don't, but you did say order whatever you want, right?"

"Wait a second... you forced me into it! I promise I'll stop laughing, okay? So let's not waste any food or drinks now."

"I think the waiter already opened the bottle by now so you'll have to finish the bottle if don't want to waste it."

"...Petty." Norton whispers underneath his breath.

"What's that? Another bottle you say?" I evilly grin at Norton.

"...I...I give up."

That's what you get for screwing up my rates this morning buddy.