"What's wrong?"
"I...I can't find my pouch"
"Which pouch?" asked Rhaen with a smirk on his face.
"M...my money pouch...sighed... I think it felt on the road..I am sorry dad can I have more money"
Rhaen looked at Rahz nonchalant attitude and turned to look at the waiter and asked " It seems that he doesn't have any money to pay for this sumptuous meal Sir. What happens to people that don't pay their bill?"
The Waiter was pretty quick witted and knew that it was all part of a lesson to the young man and they were not going to skip on the bill. "They would have to work their debt off by washing dishes or cleaning the place, but with the small wages they can earned by doing manual labor it would take a person a couple of years to pay for that sumptuous meal. The other option would be to have him arrested and taken to jail until somebody came and payed in their stead".
Rahz heard the two options and almost puke his meal back up.
Rhaen saw that the statements of the waiter had worked somewhat and then asked his son a very important question " Think carefully Rahz did you lose your pouch or was it stolen?"
Rahz was about to replied that nobody even came within arms length of him and then the face of the old man came to mind. "No way!!! the old guy?"
All the adults in the party nodded with devious smiles on their faces.
"If you knew why didn't you stop him? I spent a long time killing beast to get that money you know."
"Is a lesson that only cost you 5 silver, what if you had taken the whole bag of silver coins like you wanted"
Gulp...
After Rhaen settled the bill, the whole team made their way to rent a couple of rooms before deciding what to do with their free time. Rahz and his Father rented a room for the both of them and before Rahz could leave his room, he was told that they need it to head to the Arena at night and that he should concentrate in clearing his mind so he could be in tip top shape for the challenge.
Rhaen looked at his son and with a serious tone said, "What do you think of the dark elf girl we saw on the way in, would you like to take her as a helper?"
Rahz thought very seriously about it and then nodded his head.
"Good!! make sure to win tonight and you will be able to. Just try to not make it look too easy, I saw how you killed that bandit and the poor guy was trying his hardest".
Rahz smiled at his dad's comment but still wanted to ask the reason behind faking weakness in the ring which was contrary to everything he had thought him during training.
"After the fight with the bandits, you should have a pretty good idea of your combat level and that most of the Level 10s should not be a problem for the current you. If we want to make a bid for the girl we need at least 500 gold coins maybe more. The only way we can get those is by betting on you during the matches but if people start catching on that you are just going to kill anyone that goes against you then the odds are going to drop and nobody would want to fight you"
"Ah so that's how it works"
"Anyways, make sure to clear your mind and get focus on the bouts happening tonight, do not fight more than three"
Rhaen stepped out of the room while Rahz grabbed his maintenance kit and started cleaning his 2h Axe while going over all the training his parents had given him.
Five hours later Rhaen came back with the address of the Underground Arena and had made the arrangements necessary to register his son in the matches happening that day. For new fighters, the earnings were 20 silver per victory and 5 silver per defeat this was in case you didn't die in the ring and was able to surrender.
The whole Helgahvall group left towards the arena as it was entertainment that they would not miss for anything in the world. A few of them even wanted to sign up as well but since First Evolution Level 10s was the lowest of the divisions they didn't dare to try.
The team made their way through at least five different alleys and arrived at normal looking bar that had and old set of stairs heading to a basement. Rhaen told the bartender that they were there for the special event and they were guided to the lower floor via the old stairs.
The basement was pretty normal but there were burly man guarding a door that was tightly shut.
Invitations!!!
Rhaen flash a fighter ticket to the guards and they were immediately allowed in. The group went down another set of stairs that bent around obstructing their line of sight in such a way that they couldn't see what was coming next.
At the bottom of the stairs, there was a hallway lighted up with torches and a very sexy woman in a revealing outfit that made the trainers GULP !! twice!!.
"Welcome to the Underground Arena gentleman. It is a very good night today as we are proud to host a Second Evolution Fight and it is sure to be an spectacular piece of entertainment. Both fighters are the same level and the odds are 2 to 1 in favor of the assassin but I am sure that his opponent would be fully prepare".
The group got excited about seeing a second evolution fight and followed after the hostess while listening about the up and coming fights and her speculations on the results. She also explained that the first show was the fight among First Evolution fighters and how it worked.
For the lowest tier event they had 10 fighters signed up and they would fight until a victor was decided, then the winner would have the option to continue or take his money and go home. The higher the streak the more money per match the winner will earn and the stronger the opponent would be.
Fighters were ranked by their winning streaks and they could always challenge up but not down the gauntlet. Every 10 wins they had to challenge up 1 level in a feature fight and the prizes would be Rare Items that range from mount eggs to exotic slaves. Fighters could also request the prize they desired for the fight and the arena would try to get it for the victor if it was within their power to do so. The fight between the two second evolution fighters had an iron weapon with a minor enchantment as the price.
All the Barbarians except for Rahz's father exclaimed in surprised. The excitement display by the group pleased the hostess as it indicated that she had done a good job spicing things up. By the time the introduction was over, the group had arrived in front of two doors, one was for the spectators and the other for the fighters.
Rahz and the group said their goodbyes and each proceeded along their respective tunnels. The spectator door led upwards while the fighters one went downwards even more.
The group walked along the tunnel and the closer they got to the light, the louder the noise from the cheers got. When the group finally came out, it was pandemonium, there were people standing close to windows all around and looking down into a pit where a fight was taking place.
The closer to the windows the more expensive the seats were and the only other way to get them was if you had a winning fighter representing you in the pit.
The Hostess showed them to their seats which were pretty decent ones, since they came in with a fighter they got a spot on the third row from the glass. After they settled into their seats, the hostess introduced the procedure to placing bets and how to get some free refreshments.
Enjoy the Event!!! said the hostess displaying her most dazzling smile.
Rahz tunnel led him to the locker room where all the fighters in the level 10 tier were waiting to go in. They were the first event of the evening and usually only the fighters with winning streaks would call the attention of the fans and as such they were able to fight last.
Fighters new to the Arena were always first in line to go into the pit and for many of them it would be their last time to go.
Rahz only had to wait 5 minutes before he was asked to get ready.
Rahz made sure he had everything he needed and move out of the locker, but just as he was crossing the threshold into the arena the announcer stop him and asked, "Hey kid!! what's your stage name?"
"My name is Rahz!!!"
The announcer click his tongue and said underneath his breath "All muscle and no showmanship EHH".
"Ladies and Gentlemen we got a new challenger!!! LET'S GET READY TO RUMMMMBLE!!! Fighting out of the deepest tunnels underneath the Realm of Elysian where the sun don't shine and there is only sand put your hands together for the KOBOLD MAN".
"And his opponent standing 7 ft tall and with a record of 3-0 all by dismemberment, THE ONE, THE ONLY BONE COLLECTOR.