"Hey, Leo..."Liam called to him, like always, he didn't tremble or stumble on his words like he was in the house. (He was feeling much better now after being out in the fresh morning air.)
"Ya?" Leo replied as he turned around to look at him. (He was with Fiona walking in the front while Liam was in the back because he wanted to)
"When are we going to reach there?"
"Oh, just a few more steps-"
"Look at that!"Fiona shouted as she pointed to the trees in front of them.
Both of them tilted their head confusedly, they didn't understand what was so interesting about the trees. They were walking for so long with trees and bushes around them so... what was so special?
Seeing their confused expressions, Fiona slapped her palm on her forehead as if she was saying'Are you guys dumb or what? It is obviously not the trees!'Then, she dragged the branches and leaves that were blocking the actual thing she wanted them to look.
A huge cage that shaped like a ball could be seen among the forest below them, they were standing on a hill that strayed not so far from it.
"Wow!"Both of them gasped in amazed.
"What do you guys think they use it for?"Fiona asked them, snapping them out of their stunned reaction.
"I think it's to trap something inside."Leo guessed, kind of confident with his answer.
"Huh?! Is there something that big for them to catch?!"Liam replied, shocked by Leo's guess."No way, there's something this big...right?"
"Well, the only biggest creatures I could think of are dragons. So other than that, I don't know..."
"Dragons?"Fiona suddenly added in, looking quite shocked."Aren't those a myth?"
"Huh?"Liam answered almost immediately after hearing her question."What do you mean by myth?! They are real!"
"What?! You can't trick me! I'm not a child! They only appear in storybooks!"
"No, they don't!"
"Calm down both of you...Don't argue over something so trivial..."Leo broke them off of their argument." and..."He said as he turned to Fiona with a somewhat serious look."Dragons are really real. I too didn't believe it at first but...we encountered one in a cave...It isn't impossible to meet them but just extremely rare..."
"I can't believe it...I thought they only appear in books!"Fiona replied in disbelief.
"Well, anyway did Liam tell you the reason for our next destination?"
"No..."
"Ok, well, it is because there is a tournament there and the winner will win a valuable prize. That is a wild animal that ate dragon's scale."
"Eat dragon's scale?... I think I heard about it before...It will give them special abilities, right?"
"Ya, that's right!"
Fiona stared back at the cage-like object in the middle of the forest, she was still carrying the stunned look on her face.
Well, can't blame her. Just imagined something you always believed was fake, was actually real. I bet I would have a hard time digesting that information too.
"Anyway, "Liam grabbed Leo's attention back to him. (He disliked being ignored like he was transparent)"Are we going there?"
He looked to the cage and Leo turned to his map.
"Looks like we're in luck!"He said as he wrapped his arm around Liam's neck and pulled him over to him."The place, we're aiming to go is there!See!"
He used the hand, he wrapped Liam to point the map. He pointed to a place with a green patch and said.
"We are now here and the place we are heading to is just right in front of us!"
He indicated to the cage with his pointer.
"Oh...ya...I can see that..."Liam replied, slowly, which attracted Leo's attention.
"Is everything all right? Why is your face red? Are you sick?"
Leo raised his hand and touched his forehead with the back of his hand. Liam's heart was beating uncontrollably, he didn't understand why. He didn't even realize his face was blushing until Leo asked.
"It's...It's nothing!"He covered his mouth with the back of his palm."Can...can you let me go now?"
"Oh, ya!"
Leo let go of him and he felt like he could finally breathe.
What is wrong with me?! Why is my heart beating so fast?! We're just doing something we always do so...why?!
He was looking at the ground while his mind began to buzz with questions.
"Hey!"A call suddenly snapped him out of his confused mind.
He looked up and saw Fiona and Leo ahead of him. They were both waving their hand as if giving him a signal they were there or they were saying goodbye.
"Weren't you excited to go there just now? Why the hesitation now? If you don't hurry up, we'll leave you~" Leo said then turned his back on him as he walked away. As if he was saying 'You better run.'
"Bye-bye!"Fiona yelled as she followed Leo.
Liam was stunned for a second before realizing what was happening. He grasped and quickly yelled.
"Wait for me!"
He sprinted after them as all of them slowly walked down the hill.
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"Wow!" Liam and Fiona grasped as they stood in front of a giant wall made out of brick.
The walls were dyed in grey and the height and thickness of it made them feel like they were insects. Seeing the well-colored and hard-headed image of the wall, they have high expectations of the city.
Leo chuckled as he saw both of their amazed expression. Then, he called them.
"Hey! Come on! Don't you want to see the city?"Leo cut them out of their stunned feeling and painted them with excitement.
"Yes!"Liam and Fiona yelled as they dashed to him.
Both of them followed Leo and soon they stumbled upon a huge double-door gate. It was as big as the walls. Both of them grasped again but this time their shocks were immediately disturbed by a person wearing armour from head to toe. They couldn't even see the person's face and worse the eyes too.
"What affair do you have with our kingdom?"The guard said with a spear in hand. (He wasn't pointing it at them but was holding it in a position that seemed ready to attack.)
"We mean no harm," Leo replied him in a serious yet friendly tone."We're travelers from afar and we heard about the competition your kingdom held."
"I see, so you all come here in the hopes of joining the event. But I'm afraid we can't allow that."
"Why not?"Liam suddenly joined in the conversation, he was a little piss by the fact that they went all the way here just to be refused.
"As you can see, our kingdom is well protected from the outside world and letting you all in would bring a little hassle to us. If you all were to cause chaos in the kingdom."
"How could you-"Liam was about to snap back when Leo pushed him away to the back with Fiona.
"Don't listen to him," Leo said to the guard. Then, he turned to Liam and whispered."Let me handle it."Before continuing chatting with the guard.
"All of us are tired from traveling for so long to come to your amazing kingdom so please forgive his rude act."
"I see and I'm grateful for all your hard work for coming here, but I'm afraid I still can't let you all in."
"Except for one thing!"Suddenly another guard popped out of nowhere. (There were actually two guards by the gates but they only noticed one because he was the one who stopped them.)
This guard was holding a bottle of liquor in his hand as he stumbled, drunkenly toward them. He wasn't even wearing his metal helmet! His face was chubby and red with a little unshaven beard.
"But sir we-"The guard who was just talking to them replied but was immediately cut off by him.
"Shut up, you newcomer!"He yelled at him and the new guard flinched. He then turned to Leo and wrapped his arm around his neck. (Leo was pulled down a little to the side since the guard wasn't as tall as him)"Come on, let's talk about this over there."
He pointed to the side of the gate and both of them wandered off, leaving the new guy with Fiona and Liam. The three of them were awkwardly staring at one another not saying anything, nobody knew how to start the conversation. (Or at least that's what Liam thought.)
"Umm...so you all come from the faraway lands?"The guard asked, even with his face covered they could tell he was flustered.
Liam nodded in response while Fiona kept silent.
"I'm really sorry for not allowing you to enter just now...I just want the safety of our kingdom..."The guard apologized but soon he whispered under his breath."But it seemed like that guy only cared about getting extra coins..."
He was glaring at the other guard, who was speaking to Leo. (They could tell him glaring due to the aura he was giving off and his head was tilted slightly to the side to look at them.)Liam turned to look at them too and saw Leo secretly passing something shiny to the guard.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bad-mouthed my seniors!"The guard suddenly apologised, he must have noticed their confused look and he knew he had say out what he was thinking."Please don't tell him!"
"No, no. We won't say anything about it. You were just trying to do your job."Fiona quickly reassured him and they could hear a sigh of relief from the guard.
"Thank you! I appreciate that, I really like this job!"The guard bowed as he said so.
"Yo, newbie! Go fetch the entry scroll!"The drunk guard suddenly ordered him.
He jogged back to them, staggering while Leo followed behind. The new guard hastily disappeared to grab the scroll while Liam and Fiona stared at Leo with curiosity on how he managed to bribe their entry.
"How did you-"Liam was about to ask but was stopped by Leo.
"We'll talk about it when we're inside."Leo whispered to the both of them behind the guard's back when the guard yelled to the newbie 'What took you so long?!'
They could see the young guard dashing toward them with a scroll and quill in hand.
"Here's the contract!"He said as he handed it to the guard."Sorry for making you wait!"
"You better be!"The older guard scoffed as he opened it for Leo to sign.
He was wearing a greedy smile on his face as he snatched the quill away from the guard and handed it to Leo. Leo took it and read the scroll for a few seconds before signing it. Immediately, the guard rolled the scroll back up and threw it to the new guard.
'Go open the gates for them!"He ordered and the poor guard once again dashed away.
Without a minute, the gates to the city opened up. Wind of the freshly new area unlocked blew through Liam's face as Liam's eyes glowed with excitement of what he was about to see.