Combat Arena — Dawn
The arena was full three hours before the contest was set to begin.
Five hundred people in the official stands. Another two hundred standing around the perimeter. Children sitting on parents' shoulders. Elderly folks with the best positions they'd claimed before dawn.
It wasn't just the population of Aschenfall. Villagers from Grimbach had traveled through the night. Workers from the iron mines. Merchants from surrounding territories who had heard rumors.
Everyone wanted to see this.
The air was thick with anticipation and the smell of food from street vendors who had set up improvised stalls. Bread. Roasted meat. Beer. As if it were a festival instead of a serious combat.
Kaito was in the judges' box, visibly uncomfortable with all the pomp.
Gorman stood beside him, holding a tablet with rules and scoring systems.
"Betting has reached absurd levels," Gorman commented.
"How absurd?"
"Naporia three-to-one in combat. Some people bet land."
