POV of Ares Pridelyn:
The old man and I exchanged words a bit longer before being interrupted by the emergence of Romeo and Mia.
"Grandpa Gonzo!" Romeo said excitedly as he came rushing into the room. "Can we go to the Adventurer's Tournament today?"
"Adventurer's Tournament?" I repeated.
His eyes had spoken with an abundance of passion and an accompanying smile that was hard to reject.
"Hmm," the old man said as he rubbed his chin. "I suppose it would be a good way to make you more familiar with the kingdom," he said to me before smiling and giving Romeo approval.
"Yes!" the young boy enthusiastically rejoiced by throwing his fists up in the air.
"Mia," the old man called upon noticing her absence in the room, "would you please come from hiding and meet this young man?"
From the corner of the doorway, her face emerged. She seemed timid and shy but also poised with a presence of kindness.
"Romeo, Mia," Gonzo begun, "meet Ares. He's visiting for a while until he gets his feet off the ground. Today, he'll be taking you guys to the Adventurer's Tournament. It is your job to show him around town and be his guide."
The kids nodded. With every bone in their body, eagerness quaked. However, their eagerness quickly channeled into curiosity once they spotted Cres. Upon eye contact, their eyes grew bigger. Sensing their imminent desire to capture him, Cres's ears perked up.
Dropping his food, the tiny monkey scrambled to run across the desk before taking flight across the room. Having become the prey, he looped around the room in desperate means of escaping his pursuers. However, in the midst of their commotion, they knocked a book out from the top of the bookshelf near the door.
Hitting the floor against its spine, the book split open onto a random page. Within the contents of the two pages appeared to be a giant battle unfolding. Hundreds of Mages with spells casted appeared to be surrounding a colossal demonic looking figure. The figure had a dark body that lacked skin and revealed its upper skeleton with its skull lacking almost all muscular tissue. From its skull protruded two horns that complemented its dark, villainous eyes.
Among the demon and mages was an area of ruins. The sky was distraught while its twin was buried under a multitude of corpses. Fear and desperation were evident throughout the faces of the mages. A dark presence surrounded them all.
"Be careful," the old man said as he picked up the book before walking out the room.
"Sorry, Grandpa!"
Obediently, the kids came to a stop. Figuring he was safe for the moment, Cres flew onto my shoulder. Tired, he let his head drop into my shoulder. Afterward, I had begun walking with the kids to the tournament. During the walk, the kids helped me familiarize myself with the town, but they seemed more interested in knowing me.
"Ares," Romeo said, "Grandpa Gonzo said you weren't familiar with the kingdom. Does that mean you're a foreigner from another kingdom?"
"I suppose that does," I hesitated to say.
"Where are you from?" Mia asked.
"A—I don't remember."
The thought of Aerodom flashed across my mind. It was the only kingdom I was remotely familiar with but even so, I don't have memory of it. How could I say I was from Aerodom. After all, I don't know much about my past life before the banishment. They don't even seem like they're pleased with humans.
"What exactly is the Adventurer's Tournament?" I asked.
The shimmer of excitement returned in Romeo and Mia's eyes. "It's when adventurers ranked A and below compete in this huge tournament every year for a reevaluation of their ranks and a chance to join a guild," Romeo said. "Non-adventurers can join too for the chance of receiving an adventurer's rank and being acknowledged as one."
"And all of the adventurers show us their incredible magic as they fight for the top spot!" Mia chipped in. The shine in her eyes grew brighter upon mentioning the magic of the adventurers.
"Guilds?" I repeated.
"Yeah!" Romeo enthusiastically confirmed. "Are you not familiar with guilds where you're from?"
"No."
"Well, to help adventurers in their conquests, guilds began. They complete dungeons together and help reinforce adventurers with comrades to aid in adventures. An adventurer's greatest goal is to probably join one of the best guilds like the Knights of the Sun or the Golden Tale."