In a quiet corner of the tavern, the busty serving girl dropped the three trays she carried and bolted toward the kitchens in a rush, not paying any attention to the people calling her name from the tables.
"Mel, what kind of guy are you? That gorgeous beauty is serving only us!"
"I can't believe it either, Florin; we're actually eating in this place!"
With huge shock, the robust boy watched his two new friends trying to talk while wolfing down their food; at the same time, he drove his fork into the plate sitting in front of him.
"Don't you guys live in this settlement? Why does this make you so happy?"
Both boys heard Mel's question, but they didn't answer until their plates were completely wiped clean.
"Our families are stuck at the absolute bottom. They either work for the noble families just to get food and a roof over their heads, or they waste their lives on brutal jobs for pennies. The money they save is barely enough for gruel and a few fruits. Every piece of meat on our plates belongs to the wild beasts roaming the outer forest!"
While Nalt explained their reality, Florin stayed completely focused on the food; Mel, on the other hand, seemed to fully understand how this settlement worked.
"Girl!"
He raised his hand and called the busty beauty; like she was waiting for that exact call, the pretty girl practically flew to their side.
"How may I serve you, Young Master?"
"First off, my name is Mel; I'm no Young Master!"
It seemed the young boy was really annoyed by the noble kids who used the title 'Young Master'; knitting his brows after the serving girl called him that, he set her straight.
"I understand, Master!"
"Just Mel!"
"As you command, Mel; do you have a request?"
Having gotten the serving girl to talk normally, the young boy leaned back into a chair that was a size too small for his robust body and spoke.
"We need three plates of your best wild beast meat, and get ten more portions ready for me. I'll take them to go when we leave!"
Finishing his order, he reached into his clothes and pulled out a single gold coin. He quietly slipped it under the hand the busty girl rested against the table, looking around to make sure nobody saw the handoff.
"This is for you; thank you so much for being nice and taking good care of us!"
The serving girl's body started to shake; curling her right hand—which hid the coin—into a tight fist, she backed away from the table in a huge hurry.
"I think this is the first time I've ever seen a servant crying tears of pure joy in a place run by the nobles!"
Wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, Florin cut in; after that, he explained exactly why the girl reacted like that. He talked about the terrible conditions these people worked in, how they worked just to avoid starving, and the abuse the customers put them through, listing every horrible thing one by one.
"The more I learn about this place, the more I miss my village and the forest. Even that wolf pack had more honor than the people living here!"
Mel muttered with a deep sigh; a little while later, with a huge smile on her face, the serving girl brought out the top-tier meat he had ordered.
The three friends ate and drank until they were stuffed. When they were leaving, Mel once again left way more money on the table than what the bill asked for, but this time, he whispered one last order into the ear of the busty girl.
"Would you share this tip with the people working in the kitchens?"
Paying back kindness with kindness was one of the big rules his grandpa had left him. With so much money on him, he couldn't stand not sharing a little bit of it.
"Mel, we have to split up here. We need to go home and give this food to our families before it gets cold. We'll meet at the trial grounds tomorrow morning."
After Nalt said his goodbyes and left, Florin also threw out a few parting words before walking his own way; the robust boy was left standing all alone at the crossroads.
"It's basically night time; I'd better find out where the Alchemy Division is and go support Marvina, or I'll never hear the end of it tomorrow!"
By asking around non-stop, Mel found his way through the maze-like streets to his target. Because it was dark, most of the merchants had closed up shop, leaving barely anyone on the streets to talk to.
Even so, he didn't give up, and finally found a dome-shaped building surrounded by really weird decorations. Carved on the outside were statues of winged monsters and people holding alchemy bottles with wide bottoms and thin necks.
Thinking it was getting really late, Mel walked fast toward the door, only to find his path blocked by two fully armored guards. The spears in their hands were pointed straight at him.
"Stop! Identify yourself!"
The guards weren't joking around. The steel forged on the tips of their spears shined brightly against the dark night.
"I'm Mel!"
When the robust boy—who stood almost as tall as they did—spoke, the two guards looked at each other, but they didn't lower their guard one bit.
"What's your business here?"
"A friend of mine is in the Alchemy trials; I came to watch her!"
Mel gave straight and honest answers to every question; his attitude made one of the guards lower his spear and speak.
"Listen to me, my young friend; it's obvious you don't know the rules. The Alchemy trials aren't open for just anyone walking by to watch. To get past this door, you either have to be a direct family member of a candidate, an official member of the Alchemy Division, or an official member of the Botanical Division!"
"If you don't have any of those titles, a boss from either division has to give you a formal pass. Without that, getting through this door is impossible!"
Figuring out the bad spot he was in, Mel took a step or two back, muttering the guard's rules under his breath.
"I'm not a member of the Botanical or Alchemy Division. As family, Edgan must have gone in already; so the only way left is to get a formal pass. But who in this settlement could give me something like that?"
Mel hopped a little right where he stood; after that sudden move, the two lowered spears were instantly brought back up and pointed at his chest.
"What the hell are you trying to do, boy?"
When the guard who had just spoken yelled, Mel started walking forward, holding the token Cantankerous Hanry had given him.
"Brother Guard, does this count as a formal pass?"
Seeing the token, the guard pulled his spear back so fast that the weapon slipped out of his hand and smashed against the marble wall behind him.
"Are you messing with us? Why didn't you just say from the start that you were the student of Lord Hanry, the Second Commander of the Botanical Division?"
Totally confused by how fast the mood changed, Mel started to stutter, but the second guard jumped in.
"Your Master got here a long time ago; get inside right now!"
The second he finished talking, they practically grabbed Mel by the arm and threw him past the door. As the young boy walked forward with careful steps, they started gossiping behind his back.
"The kids these days have no respect; what kind of student shows up after his own Master?"
"You're right, but his Master is the famous Cantankerous Hanry. I can't even imagine the beating he's going to get."
Hearing every word, Mel kept walking with a small smile. It looked like the man whose record he matched had given him a token made only for personal students.
Lost in deep thought, he reached the end of the path and froze; a really weird sight appeared in front of him, making him look around carefully before moving on.
When the end of the path opened up inside the dome-shaped building, he found himself not on the ground floor, but right at the very top. A huge crater, looking exactly like the dome on the building's roof flipped upside down, went deep into the ground. Lined with rows of seats going up, the crater stretched all the way to the edge where Mel was standing.
At the very top row, guards were posted just four steps apart; it was obvious the tight security wasn't just for the front gates. Realizing he was drawing attention, Mel headed toward one of the stairs going down into the crater to find a seat.
As he walked down with slow, calm steps, nobody except the guards noticed he was there; except for a single pair of eyes that watched his every move.