First Arc (King of Euphorion) – 3. Pearl Gate City

A few days after leaving Greenwood Village, Angel arrived at Pearl Gate City, one of Euphorion trading cities on the Northwest of Euphorion's territory. It was a sunny afternoon, the heat bit his skin as he walked down the street. He explored the city, his eyes looked around and his brows furrowed with a puzzled expression on his face. Despite this city having a beautiful name, the situation told him a different thing. The city gates were unguarded with walls that look almost never repaired in years. Even, he wasn't sure if the city walls could withstand monster attacks. Inside the city, there were only some shabby buildings, old shops and houses that some of them looked too worn-out to live in. There were almost no traders in sight, only a few people were passing by.

'It's weird, the city location is very strategic, even the scenery is more beautiful than Springwell City. This place has the potential to become a bigger city, but why does this place look neglected?'

His mind kept wandering as his feet continued to move to the city hall. His steps stopped before a big rusty gate with a 'City Hall' sign in front of it. He looked around searching for the guards but couldn't find them.
'Are they already closed?' But the sun that was still shining above his head said it was impossible for a city hall closed at this hour.

'Should I barge in?' He shook off his thoughts since he didn't want to make trouble on his first day here. Finally, he decided to find another way.
'Where can I get the information other than the city hall?'

Suddenly, he remembered the crowd that he had just passed. He quickly turned around and retraced his steps back to the crowd.

In just a few minutes, he could find the crowd that was placed in the middle of an abandoned market. The crowd looked so excited about watching the street match before them. Some of them kept shouts to encourage their fighter. He tried to ask one of them but their attention was focused on the fierce battle between two muscular men in front of them.
'I need to get their attention before I can ask them.'

He looked at the match, one of the fighters looked exhausted while the other was still eager to continue the match. Quickly, Angel split the crowd before him and approached a man who looked like a judge for the match.
"Excuse me, sir. May I participate in this match?"

The judge frowned and stared at him with a condescending look.
"Are ya sure? Ya didn't sound like a fighter at all."

He just remembered the way he talked was too polite for a fighter.
"It's just a habit, sir."

The judge observed him once again before finally letting him join the match.
"Alright, ya are in. But this is a bare hand fight ya can't use your sword here. Also, I won't take any responsibility for your injuries."

"Thank you, sir."

It was not long before, one of the fighters collapsed accompanied by loud applause and cheers from the crowd. The judge walked into the middle of the match as two men pulled the loser from there.
"For today's last battle! We have a new challenger!" said the judge as he pointed to Angel.

A loud sound of cheers came again from the crowd.

The judge shifted his gaze toward Angel and his opponent.
"Are you ready?"

They nodded in reply.

"Go!"

He walked to the middle of the crowd. His eyes observed his opponent who had a bigger body than him.
'Big body, strong arm, stocky leg. I have no choice then...'

His opponent stormed at Angel with his fist raised to punch him. But he simply threw a high kick on his opponent's head before his opponent's fist reached him. Then he quickly turned around to avoid his opponent's body falling on him. All of that happened in the blink of an eye, even though he didn't use his magic power.

Everyone fell silent in surprise as his opponent body collapsed to the ground, despite the match just begun a second ago.

Angel turned his eyes to the judge since he hadn't announced the winner yet.
"I win, right?" he said in confusion.

The judge startled as he tried to gather his thoughts.
"Oh... Right. The winner is... Um..." The judge turned his gaze to Angel.
"What's your name?"

"Zel, " he said.

"The winner of today's match is Sir Zel!" announced the judge.

Loud applause accompanied by cheers came from the crowd. Some of them started to approach to congratulate him. With their attention focused on him, he intended to start asking them. But before he opened his mouth, he saw two kids struggling their way to him. Their clothes look worn and dirty. He split the crowd and helped them to reach him safely. Then he turned his attention back to the crowd and started asking them.
"Excuse me, does anyone know a person named Chay Fadington?"

Some of them shook their head, while the rest just walked away after congratulating him. Angel sighed as the crowd dispersed before he could get any information from them. But he didn't expect too much since it was his first day here. A few seconds later, he felt someone kept pulling his clothes repeatedly. His gaze turned to the boy who stood beside him.
"Sir, are you looking for my dad?" said the boy.

"Is Chay Fadington your father?" he asked.

The boy nodded. His eyes looked at Angel admiringly.

He knelt on one leg to equalize their body height and make them easier to talk to.
"May I know your name?"

The boy smiled innocently at him.
"My name is Cley." Then he pointed to a girl that held his hand.
"And she's my twin sister, Claire."

He gave them a slight smile.
"Nice to meet you, Cley, Claire. My name is Zel. If you don't mind, can you take me to your father?"

"Of course," said Cley in excitement. Without hesitation, he grabbed Angel's hand to show him the way.

Angel just stood up and walked a few steps when the judge called him.
"Hey, champion!"

He turned around facing the judge and suddenly a bag of coins flew at him. He caught it in reflex.
"You forget your prize!" the judge continued.

"Thank you," he said as he turned around and followed the kids again.