Chapter 9

(Argthanaw 20th Year 672 of the 4th Age)

Arven, Kaera, Merrick, and Sylfinas work around the house for four days in preparation for the festival and cattle auction. On the day of the festival and cattle auction, they and Jemeir arrive at a massive clearing outside Belburn and discern various tents retailing art, woodwork, glass, and additional merchandise. With the aid of people on horseback, they lead the cows worthy of the auction off to the area that's hosting the event, and they locate Jemeir's designated spot; they herd the cattle into their pen in a single file line. "You can now scatter and enjoy the festival. You've earned it. Here's eighty gold to spend at the fair. I'll stay here with the cows and ascertain their price. Meet me back here around the time the festival is over," Jemeir tells them. After his approval, they cheer and head out to have entertainment.

There are food stands, mini-games, a petting zoo for children, various competitions, and a stage for performers. One of the two biggest stadiums contains a superabundance of people. They erupt in sonorous plaudits as competitors riding wyverns soar above the colosseum for the world to view the acrobatics before diving back down. Arven, Kaera, Merrick, and Sylfinas descry a place where the administrators post the entire festival schedule. The events that have their attention are an eating competition and a melee competition schedule for today. Starting tomorrow, there is a talent show at the later half of the day and a circus immediately after that.

Immediately upon discovering the eating contest, Merrick latches on to it. "Oh, sweet! There's an eating competition starting soon, and the grand prize is fifty-five gold; I need to sign up for that immediately."

The post also intrigues Kaera. "You'll face stiff competition, Merrick."

Her words don't faze Merrick at all. "I can pack away a sizable amount of food. I'd love to discover what stiff competition I'll face, Kaera."

"For starters, you'll be dealing with me."

"You're joining in also?" Merrick inquires as he raises his eyebrows.

"I believe that I can beat my opponents and claim that prize."

"One problem with that."

"What is it?"

Pointing a thumb at himself, Merrick answers, "I'll be the one winning the competition."

"Enjoy second place," she replies with a grin.

"Well, after you two finish the eating contest, the fighting contest is after it, and I anticipate on joining, so we have that on our schedule," Arven interrupts the playful banter between Merrick and Kaera. "Notice anything else scheduled for today any of you are interested in?"

"No," Kaera and Merrick respond together.

"The only event I'm interested in is the talent competition tomorrow before the circus," Sylfinas adds. "The competitors should forfeit before the contest."

"I wouldn't be so sure of it, mutt." Arven, Kaera, Merrick, and Sylfinas turn in the voice's direction and discern a group of four men standing on the path connecting to the petting zoo. Three of them appear to be buddies to the one standing in front of them. The one in front is around the same age as Arven and is wearing a noble's clothing. 

"Envarn Hearthrow. It wasn't my imagination when I detected a void of intelligence encroaching closer," Sylfinas announces as he recognizes the stranger.

Envarn laughs sluggishly. "Ha. Ha. Ha. You're hilarious. I almost forgot to laugh."

"I imagine you'll enroll in the competition?"

"You are correct."

"May I suggest you bring in coffins to the event in case you bore the audience to death?" Merrick offers.

"Is that actually you, Merrick? Every time I look at you, I'm reminded of the true purpose behind the spell, Darkness."

Arven holds Merrick back as he surrounds his hands with electricity. "Stand down, Merrick."

"Yes, Merrick. Be a good boy and listen to your master."

"That's enough, Envarn."

"Alright, Arven, we'll leave. Before we commit, let me say this to you, half-breed. You'll never prevail in the talent show, mongrel. Your kind is inferior in every way, and you'll continue to be, and society will always view you as a lesser person."

"I severely doubt it," Sylfinas retorts.

Envarn and his crew leave, and he issues one final reply towards Kaera, "I almost forgot my manners. Welcome to Belburn, furball."

"Who was he?" Kaera asks after Envarn leaves her vision.

"He's Envarn Hearthrow, the son of a noble family, and that somehow causes him to believe he's superior to the entire populace," Arven answers.

"I heard him call Sylfinas a mutt and a half-breed."

"Those are racial slurs towards Half-Elves such as me or anyone that is an amalgam of two races. People with the conviction of racial purity, particularly unadulterated Elves, view me and other mixed races as anathemas." At Kaera's confused expression, Sylfinas adds, "Half-breeds are abominations or mistakes."

"Didn't you say Adoran is a kingdom that treats races equally, aside from those from Pheha?"

"Well, there are extremely diminutive amounts of people that refuse to share those values, and Envarn is one of them; he's also the main culprit in the numerous instances behind my ass-kicking."

"You never fought back?"

"I never violate my principle of not harming people, regardless of what happens. I believe that to cease violence in all of Illyria, I must not add to it as much as possible and show others willing to listen that there are multiple paths to resolving conflicts without leaving cadavers. As long as I can recruit people to follow and spread that kind of message, then it's worth whatever pain that comes my way."

"That's a difficult path to follow in this world. Are you sure you want to pursue your vision?"

"If I refuse, then who will be the one to continue it?"

"Ok. Let's save this conversation for later. This is a festival, a place for pleasure and not for deep thoughts," Merrick interrupts the conversation. "What do you plan on performing for the competition, Sylfinas?"

"I'll sing and play guitar."

"What song?"

"It's a popular song, but I won't reveal it to you or anyone else."

"Are you sure you can't give me a small hint?"

"Shouldn't you and Kaera complete a registration soon? It's almost time."

Merrick's expression changes to urgent. "Oh shit! We need to leave, Kaera." With her hand in his, Merrick bolts before he travails at dragging Kaera along.

"Let me ask Sylfinas another question." Swiveling her head towards him, she asks, "Do you know where you came from?"

"I came from Allsa Alari in Eltyr. Unfortunately, I can't remember my parents or the settlement, except it's a utopia where the citizens are friendly, and I recall tiny childhood fragments. Then it's all one massive blank until my adoption by Arven's parents." Sylfinas indicates his pin by tugging his shirt. "This pin on my shirt is the only relic I have from that place; it travels wherever I journey to."

"Attention everyone at the festival, the eating competition will conclude its registration in ten minutes. Attention, everyone at the festival, the eating competition will conclude its registration in ten minutes," a voice echoes throughout the festival.

"We better hustle if you two want to enter the competition," Arven suggests. At full speed, they sprint to where the competition is, and Kaera and Merrick barely register. Along with them are eight other people eager to win, and one of them is one of Envarn's friends. When the competitors sit in their seats, plates filled with beef slabs covered in brown gravy begin coming out and settling in front of each contestant. The announcer starts to explain the rules. "Ok, ladies and gentlemen, you have thirty minutes to eat as much of the fifteen pounds of food currently in front of you. You can't leave your seat until the thirty minutes are up, or you forfeit the competition—no magic from any source and no outside help. We only allow your appetite, and that's it. There is a white flag for each of you on your right; if you honestly believe that you're full and want to forfeit, just wave it, and you are free to leave and receive help if you need it. Tossing the contents in your stomach before the thirty minutes is up results in disqualification too. When the thirty minutes are up, those remaining will have the remaining pile of meat weighed, and whoever has the least amount remaining wins the grand prize. If, by some miracle, that a single competitor consumes all fifteen pounds of meat, we'll double the prize and terminate the competition even if there is time remaining. Everybody understands the rules?" The competitors nod. "Then let the competition begin!"

Within the first six minutes of the competition, no one surrenders as the competitors slice their meat or seize and tear it like primitive creatures. Towards the ten-minute mark, one competitor waves the white flag after he acquires the urge to use the bathroom, and one of the judges catches another using the Reduce spell to subtly shrink the size of the meat, disqualifying her. Sixteen minutes pass and half the competitors forfeit; Kaera, Merrick, Envarn's friend, a female Dwarf, and another Human remain. Kaera and Merrick ingest steadily, and they never evince any signs of slowing down, demonstrating their voracity to the astonished audience. Five minutes left on the clock, and four competitors remain as the other Human capitulates. Towards the competition's conclusion, Envarn's friend surges ahead in food consumption, and it appears he'll achieve victory. Still, he then commences vomiting from out of nowhere seconds before the time runs out. After some discussion by the officials, they determine that he too forfeits, resulting in him protesting about the decision, and two guards escort him as he squirms and hurls insults; the host returns to the stage.

"Sorry for the minor interruption, folks. Now allow us to determine who is the winner of this year's eating competition. First up, we have a new person that I'm sure a vast majority of you in the audience have never her race before, so this is a special celebration in of itself. Let's check how well Kaera did." The judges weigh her plate, and the conclusion is that six pounds remain. "Six pounds remain! Definitely one of the lowest amounts and near the record set ten years ago of 5.6 pounds of remnants. Give it up for Kaera and her impressive performance!" The crowd applause and cheers.

"Next up, we have Merrick. This is his first time competing like Kaera, so it's a pleasure to witness this competition continue to expand. I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I had doubts that he would survive. However, he has proven me wrong so give him a round of applause!" The crowd applauds. "Now, to determine how well he performed." The officials murmur amongst themselves for a minute or two as they carefully inspect the result. "It appears that Merrick and Kaera are in a tie currently for first place. Unless our final remaining contestant comes out on top, we will enter sudden death!" The crowd cheers.

"Now our final contestant has been here several times before, so she isn't a stranger to this kind of competition. Let's welcome Nalris!" Again, the crowd cheers and applause, and the judges measure her plate. "Incredible! Not only is Nalris the winner of the competition, but she also broke the record that stood strong for ten years with her plate of remains weighing five pounds! Everybody cheer for Nalris, winner of this year's competition!" Kaera and Merrick meet up with Arven and Sylfinas after the dwarf receives her reward and trophy, and the crowd disperses. In futility, Merrick attempts to mask his disappointment from them.

"You ok, Merrick?" Arven inquires, looking concerned.

"Yes," Merrick answers melancholically as he kicks up dirt with his feet. "Just disappointed that I didn't win the grand prize, that's all."

"It's natural for people to feel disenchanted when they lose the competition and the grand prize, but the loss has a greater impact on you than anyone else," Sylfinas comments.

"Let's just say that I need the money."

"For what?"

"Personal reason that I won't share right now."

"We can at least help you out, right, Arven and Sylfinas?" Kaera asks.

"You have us to help you out," Arven responds.

"I'm sure we have money to give to you with no strings attached," Sylfinas offers.

"Appreciate your help, but I prefer not accepting charities. It's my personal code like your pacifism, Sylfinas," Merrick replies.

"Well, we're here to help when you need it."

"I'll keep that in mind. When's your competition starting, Arven?"

"It starts in a couple of hours. I'll leave and sign up right now while I still remember, and I'll be right back." With that in mind, Arven vacates from the group.

A rumble in his stomach alerts Sylfinas he is esurient, and he leaves after alerting Kaera and Merrick. "I'll return also. Watching the eating competition left me famished, so I required sustenance. If Arven arrives before me, let him know my situation." Now that there are two remaining, Kaera and Merrick locate a nearby bench to rest and digest the massive quantity of viand in their stomachs. 

"Argh! Maybe it wasn't the best idea to enter the contest," Merrick complains, holding his stomach.

"Same here. Since we have time before Arven and Sylfinas return, I have a couple of questions for you."

"What are they?"

"The first one is how did you come across Arven and Sylfinas?"

"Sylfinas is the easy one since he's Arven's adopted brother, so he came along. For Arven, he saved my life more than once when we were younger. When I was around fifteen, I moved to Belburn. Nobody in town cared enough to pay me any attention unless it was negative towards me. One time a gang of thugs kicked the living shit out of me, and I, unlike Sylfinas, tried to fight back. Arven noticed and alerted the guards to stop the fighting; he took me to a healer, and I survived that encounter. After that, he offered to be my friend, and that's how it all started. Been friends for six years now. In a way, I'm like a Fenri when it comes to being extremely loyal to their friends."

"Do you remember where you lived previously?"

"I've bounced around settlements in Adoran before Belburn. None of them I've stayed for too long before I found a reason to leave."

"Must've been hard on your family to be on the move constantly."

"They stayed behind."

"You've left them?"

"I did for reasons I don't want to reveal right now."

"Then, I'll move on to my second question."

"This would be your fourth or fifth one."

"Sorry about that. I tend to ask multiple questions about places I'm new to and people I'd desire to know."

"What is your next question?"

"How did you obtain magic powers?"

"I honestly don't know. Just appeared one day as a little kid by accidentally shooting a bolt of lightning and destroying the front door as I reached out to open it. These marks on both of my arms appeared around that time as well."

"Cool."

Merrick believes otherwise. "I guess so." He sits more erect on alert. "Hold up. Do you notice what's up ahead?"

"What?"

"Two High Elf women walking straight at us, and they are H-O-T hot. Wait here." As Merrick stands on his two feet, he briefly pauses to regain sight and introduces himself to the two Elves. After several attempts at flirting, one of them kicks him in the nuts, and he crumples to the ground in the fetal position, and they storm off. It's a miracle the digesting contents don't surge out his mouth.

Stifling a giggle, Kaera stands up, walks over, helps him off the ground, and takes him back to the bench. "That went well."

"I can kiss my future children goodbye." Merrick continues to moan.

"I'm back with food." Although the food muffles his voice, Kaera's and Merrick's ears detect Sylfinas's voice. "What's up with Merrick?" he asks after he swallows a comestible on a stick.

"He tried flirting with a couple of High Elves, and one of them kicked him in the nuts as a reaction," Kaera answers.

"An intense kick, I might add," Merrick wheezes as he still holds his family jewels, massaging them.

Several minutes after Sylfinas's return, they spot Arven sauntering back. "Sorry about the wait. I wasn't aware that the location changed for registration until I arrived, and it was farther away than I expected, and the line for it was long. At least I managed to sign up for the competition."

"Glad to hear that," Kaera responds.

"But I heard that it's been delayed an hour, so we have around three hours left to kill before it starts."

"Any proposals, Arven?" Sylfinas catechizes.

"I'm thinking of at least prepping up to fight the Phantom Brotherhood branch, such as obtaining better weapons, armor, and some potions."

"What about Pumpkin?" Merrick asks.

"Hopefully, not reencounter it."

"One problem, though. Acquiring better equipment costs money, and it's not affordable," Sylfinas points out. "We need additional funds."

"Hmmm. You're right, Sylfinas. We can return to our father and check if he has any coins to give us, but he may not. Any other competitions starting before mine that is quick or mini-games or anything else to win and earn some money?"

"If there are eating competitions, don't bother signing me up," Merrick replies and belches. "I'm not certain about Kaera."

"I may have a room inside."

"What? You still have space?"

"Fenri can pack away food in colossal portions during the day to support our body structure." A wave of nausea suddenly hits her, and she prostrates herself. "On second thought, maybe I'm done with eating contests for the day."

"I don't notice any tournaments that interest us or are fast, Arven," Sylfinas utters, and it dawns on him. "Wait a second. What about our father's gift to you? You haven't opened it yet, and from the looks of it, the coin purse has a hefty amount of coins inside."

Arven briefly sighs. "If it would satisfy you." The coin purse requires untying the string holding it shut, revealing its contents after it opens. "What is this?" In his hands is a handful of coins that aren't gold.

"Those are platinum pieces; they're greater in value than gold. Father must've acquired some from his adventures and kept them." Sylfinas responds. "We should have an adequate amount of funds to gear up. Might be superfluous, actually."

"Then we can actually shop," Arven speaks. "There's a blacksmithing business that I need to purchase equipment from."

 

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