Next morning, they took 4 wagons, loaded up supplies and some silver just in case. Maro waved goodbye to Rolf and off they went.
"Gnarlo, how long till we get there again?"
"A week… a full week of us sitting side by side… please don't make this journey more difficult than it has too… I barely tolerate you as is" He said looking straight ahead.
Maro rubbed the hair on his head like he was a toddle, Gnarlo slapped him across the face with the wine skin
They both laughed and then continued grumbling in annoyance of each other.
An eventless week later, they had arrived at the gates of the entertainment city of Gloriana
No hi, no hello, no pleasantries
"We've been on the road too long, cursed by each other's company, where is the best brothel in the city!"
That broke the Ice, the guards laughed.
"Patience weary traveler, you can have all the access you want to the brothels once procedure has been followed"
Gnarlo couldn't wait and just walked in unnoticed while holding up a new obscene gesture that Maro taught him… 2 little middle fingers in the air…
"Please do, we are hungry, tired, thirsty and horny!"
He got another laugh with that one.
"Purpose of visit" the guard asked
Maro and Gnarlo spent a week making up fantasy backstories out of boredom, all that ended up with Gnarlo somehow being the boss.
Maro blanked for a second, he blanked for a couple more seconds… "we're here to enter the arena as challengers"
… "how are you going to enjoy the brothel if you are dead"
"Easily, before and after every match" Maro responded with a blank stare
"Ok… Arena registration is by the arena, you can't miss it, you'll be able to see it as soon as you pass the gates… and the brothels are coincidentally near the arena… filled with people as confident as you… On you go"
Maro paid the toll for his wagons and men and drove the carriage inside…
The arena was sitting at the city centre, it was vast… it looked like a brand new Roman colosseum… Maro looked around
Holy hell it was large, it must be a 100k person city atleast… All the architecture was completely random… Human houses, Beastmen shops, Dwarf Inns, Orc fight pits in the centre of most squares… every street was unique… this city proves the Unity Kingdom can function somewhat… He was impressed until he realized there were 2-4 guards at the corner of every street. They had more guards patrolling the inside than manning the walls. Guess not as peaceful as it initially looked.
Maro made the painful decision to register at the Arena first… he needed to scope things out… What better way to scope it out than to be a participant.
Pretty pissed that Gnarlo was enjoying the brothels before he did… Maro looked at his men
Pointed out his 4 men who had a warrior class now… "lets make some money"
Everyone registered independently, in the off chance people would target them.
At the Gloriana Arena, everyone was judged by your wins. If you lost once you would most likely die, in the off chance you lived your stats would be completely reset.
Due to the nature of the Orcs and some Beastmen tribes most of the willing participants were from those two races. A good chunk were also involuntary participants, who had broke one law or another. Those people Maro would target for liberation!
After a cohort of people finished registering, the officiant gave them a breakdown of the rules. A human with glasses…race traitor…
"New fighters with zero wins to five, exclusively fight before noon. No one wants to see losers at prime time"
"Fights have no rules, if someone gives up, you could honour their request or kill them, or with some Orcs take their bodies in conquest in the middle of the arena, the city doesn't care"
What the fuck, these people watched Orcs rape people to the death. What a moronic fucking place, who the hell enjoyed watching that.
"No cheating of any kind if you are found to do so, you will become a prisoner participant"
"With all that said folks, get a good night's sleep, the lot of you fight in the morning… good luck to you humans…" as their fellow humans gave them sorrowful glances.
"One question sir, should we expect to encounter people with Classes?"
"Only if you are unlucky and meet up a new participant who is trying to grind 25 wins to be part of top tier of fighters in the arena"
Kadrin couldn't help but grin, easy betting… we're gonna be rich.
Fuck this shit, time for the brothels.
They headed to the brothels in groups of 4-6, each warrior with a class led their own group.
Maro immediately went to the nicest looking brothel, kicked in the door.
"I'm fighting tomorrow, I need two women for the night, good wine and a third woman!" He roared, disrupting the fellow Brothel goers. His men laughed with him.
A laugh came from the back
A tall, beautiful blonde with blue eyes walked up to him. She was wearing a silk pink dress that exposed one beautiful breast and the opposite thigh completely… guess to show off the goods before purchase.
Maro's internal dialogue was completely distracted and not composed, however on the outside he was cold, charismatic and making eye contact with her.
He leaned in "what happens if you can't handle me by yourself"
She smiled "arrogance or confidence… which is it?"
"Only one way to find out…" Without breaking eye contact, "Barkeep, if my wine runs out tonight… I'll fight you in the arena tomorrow" and with that he picked up the unnamed brothel worker and headed upstairs.
No one could challenge his ego as a sex god, he was up for the challenge.
After an hour or so, the blonde lady walked to the top of the steps, with her legs shaking… "Jaina, Victoria!, take over for me!" as she tried going down the stairs with a death grip on the railing and silver coins clinking in her purse
A brunette and a redhead came up to her and asked if she was okay…
With her hair in a mess and her dress barely back on, "He broke my spirit… but I am fine"
A little startled the ladies, went on up… after 5 min of contemplating what kind of transcendent experience she just went through… she caught herself drooling and the blonde lady limped her way back upstairs to the room.