As usual, they settle down in one of the town's inns. They choose one of the better inns, which would cost most people an arm and leg but to them, it is just a drop of the bucket of their wealth.
After settling down, Ryker brought his entire group to sightsee the city. Even though the city is not the capital city of the Duchy, its size is much greater than even the Mariz Capital City.
Then again, the expert guarding it is a Genesis Lake expert, just one major realm below the Genesis Sea. With such an expert guarding one of the major cities, it shows the heritage of the older nation inside the Birak Kingdom when compared to the younger nation.
With that said the city, despite its size is less prosperous in terms of people that could inhabit it. After all, in the bandit-filled duchy, it's hard to not lose people whenever the bandits decide to cause havoc.
The only reason why the Duke was even able to control the territory was because of his immense strength. He and his father were the first ones to settle and create the Kilrun Duchy, showing how capable they were.
Even though the bandits still roamed the territory, they were less prevalent in the core region. After all, their heads are hunted for sports by the Great families and Noble Families living in the capital city.
-x-
They first decided to see the arena. As the leader said, the arena, despite its name, is more akin to a sparring ground, except each match must be officialized by one of the directors and the one participating needs to sign certain documents, just in case they die in the arena.
Even with the threat of death, it is still a popular place as if the participants win their match, they could get money and other prizes. If they were able to win more matches, they would receive even better rewards. So, the participants treated this place as some kind of work.
For the spectators, by paying for a ticket, they would get to watch some entertaining fights. For some, however, the arena is also a way to make quick money. This is achieved by gambling.
In simpler words, they gambled on who would win the fight. If their chosen fighter won, they would receive a great return. If the fighters lost, they would lose their money. Still, the allure of easy money encourages people to gamble on the fight.
The group decided to spectator the match. They watched intently as two people, both men began to fight. As the fight went on, the crowd cheered as the two men savaged each other, using the weapons scattered across the arena. Ryker could understand the motive.
If some rich heir decided to bring a powerful weapon and use it to defeat their opponents, then what is the point of battling in the arena? With this rule, the battle will be determined by the person's skills, ability, and prowess.
Overall, it would make most people enjoy the fight, especially between the veterans as their fights are more entertaining. Most people. Even when the more experienced fighters battled in the arena, Ryker found it to be boring, as most of them were just people at the Genesis Core and below.
However, watching the fight gives him an idea.
"Say, do you think you can win any fight they throw at you?" he asked his lovers, most of them looking at him before nodding.
"As long as the opponents aren't 3 minor realms stronger, then we would stand a chance," Ina told him.
Ryker hummed, while 3 minor realms didn't seem like too much of a difference, the difference in strength was more than enough to overwhelm people in a minor realm weaker than them. Mostly.
He could fight people in a major realm stronger than him, so the difference wouldn't be tooo much for him. His lovers could only fight people a few minor realms stronger than them, which would make people consider them to be geniuses.
"Why do you ask?" Miriam asked, even though she likely had some guests for the reason he asked.
"Just a way to train and make money at the same time. After all, how could some 'weak' woman beat veteran fighters," he told them, making them agree to do it.
"Well, now you mention it, we could use some more training. Besides, the reards seemed to be good too," Era replied, making the rest agree with her.
"Tomorrow, you could try to join the arena as a competitor. I will do something else for a while," he told them, making the rest nod in agreement.
"What are you planning?" unable to hold her curiosity, Lisha asked. Ryker gave her a smile that made her heart skip a beat.
"That's a secret," the pout he received is absolutely adorable.
-x-
By the time of the end of the third match, the sun had already dipped back to the ground. Ryker decided to end the arena trip in favor of having lunch and maybe buying something for dinner.
Their exit from the arena was blocked by the leader. "Mister," the leader said politely, making Ryker have some positive things to think about him.
Without stopping, the leader decided to tell him a good news. "A friend of mine is leading a caravan to the capital city. I asked if you could hitch a ride and he said yes. But he said you need to be strong enough or he won't accept you to join in,"
Hearing the good news, Ryker smiled. With them able to join a caravan, they could easily reach the capital with no problem. Of course, it isn't all sunshine and rainbow. "As for the bad news, the caravan would only begin their journey by next week. They need to make more preparations first before they can even begin traveling.
So, you will have around one to two weeks before you could move to the capital unless you find a way to the capital yourself," hearing this, Ryker fell into a deep thought. After all, he will be given the option to either wait or go on his own.
As for going on his own, he knew it was close to impossible, as there were many powerful beasts and bandits lurking in the routes. There is a reason why caravans are predominantly used inside a duchy filled with bandits.
After all, the added protection of having more people in a group is more than enough reason to form a caravan. He decided to agree to join the caravan. He gave his answer to the man, who gave him a nod.
"I will tell my friend. You should take a look at the city while you still here," he suggested before leaving him to his thoughts.