William lived in a supercontinent popularly known as Eldrath, consisting of three major nations. Among them, the Empire was the cruelest and most influential, neighboring the no man's land, Torn Land, and a nation called Ashwel.
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Six months later..
William began to work at the bakery and now
William had started to get used to life in the slums finally at peace.
"Old mannnnnnn, I'm done with the bread dough!" William spoke energetically.
"Boy, could you stop calling me old?" the man replied with a faint smile.
"Here's your bread. Take it, and a ticket," the man added generously.
"Old man, what's the ticket for? I only did the work for the bread."William said, confused.
"You can keep it,"
The baker said
"The ticket is for more work. I heard children these days love to go to these events. One of my customers gave it to me," the man spoke happily.
"I guess... thanks then," the boy replied, still puzzled.
"Byeeeeeeee!"
William proceeded to leave the bakery.
"Damn, I'm exhausted. "
William thought fatigued
While munching on the bread, William read the ticket. He found out it was for an illegal fighting ring in the next town.
"Is that what children my age like? I guess I'll give it a try then..."
The moment William was about to finish his sentence, he noticed the event was at dusk, and the sun was about to set.
"What the...?? Huh??"
William started to run with all his might toward the event in the next village.
"I'll make it for sure!" he muttered to himself confidently.
Let me be the one to tell you—he doesn't.
When William reached the village, he was amazed to see how different it was from the slums. Everyone was laughing, and a happy atmosphere filled the air. He wished the slums could be like this. In the slums, everyone was depressed. Compared to this village, the slums had miles to go to reach this level of prosperity, and this wasn't even the royal capital.
It was William's first time seeing houses made of bricks with chimneys on top and a bustling market where you could find anything you imagined. There had to be at least 200 houses. The village also had a river cutting straight through the middle.
William really wanted to buy some candy. He approached a shopkeeper and asked,
"How much for one candy, uncle?"
"One copper, my dear," the shopkeeper replied, "but for you, I'll give it for free."
The shopkeeper then reached out for a few candies and handed them to William at no charge.
"Thank youuuu!" William exclaimed with a grateful smile.
In this continent:
100 copper coins = 1 silver coin
1000 silver coins = 1 gold coin
This currency system was universal across all countries.
William then wandered around the village, asking questions. He noticed he was getting weird looks from everyone. Eventually, he arrived in front of a shady door beneath a bridge in a desolate part of the village. The bridge was practically unusable.The door
Was made up of iron and was very strong. A iron-door bellow a broken bridge was very wierd.
To think a fighting ring would be here—how bizarre!
He tried to knock on the door ,but nothing happened ,no one answered .
"Maybe the fight somehow got canceled..." William muttered, getting cold feet.
Just as he was about to turn away, he thought to himself:
"I am not a coward. I won't be one."
He remembered events from six months ago.
When he was about to reach for the doorknob, he heard a loud clamor from inside:
"WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE!"
The voices from inside were deafening.
"Maybe I am a coward..."
Having second thoughts, William turned to leave, but the door opened, and a bald man appeared, looking at William with a grim expression. He had to be the biggest man William had ever seen.
"What's a noble-looking kid doing here?" the man asked in a deep voice.
William, his mind gone blank, handed the man his ticket.
"You may enter," the man spoke politely.
Inside, William observed a whole arena built under the bridge. Mages were casting fire magic all over the arena, and the most pumped-up crowd he had ever seen was gathered. All eyes were on a 30-foot Square patch of land in the middle, where two men were locked in a brutal bloodbath.
Looking at them, William felt nauseous.
He proceeded to get pushed around until he reached the front. The two men punched each other with all their might, even impaling each other with swords.
"Whats a kid like him doing here ".Some people said .
William looked terrified.
"Are children my age supposed to like this?"
Trying to fit in, William suppressed his urge to leave. That was when Jason met William's gaze.
"Now this is gonna be fun for sure".Jason said with excitement.
Jason was the same muscular 14-year-old who used to torment William. Jason ran to his father, whispering some kind of idea.
"Go ahead. I'm all for it," his father replied with a wide grin.
Jason ran to the middle of the ring, pushing everyone who got in his way. He started to scream toward the crowd:
"I AM HERE TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT! I ANNOUNCE A DUEL BETWEEN ME, THE MIGHTY JASON, AND THE FRANTIC WILLY!"
The crowd went silent. William's heart sank.
Jason looked familiar aftet a few seconds he realized and remembered who Jason was.
"Just when evrything was going well".
William daid with sadness.
Jason began to yell, and the crowd joined in:
"WILLY! WILLY! WILLY!"
Under pressure, William stepped forward, muttering to himself:
"Not a coward. Not a coward. I can do this."
The crowd went crazy, chanting:
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
William now stood ten feet in front of Jason, who grinned from ear to ear.
William might as well have been hallucinating—Jason looked like the devil himself.
"Let's have fun, shall we?" Jason spoke in a high-pitched voice.