Eden's Gate: The Arena: A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  “Huh yeah? I like the sound of that.” I felt him bump his feet against the Besty a little. “What are we trodding around for? Get this horse moving!”

  As brilliant as Aaron was, he still had a one-track mind. He mostly kept his trap shut for the rest of the trip.

  Chapter Six

  1/26/0001

  There was a large wooden stable adjacent to the entrance of Outer Highcastle, and we dropped Besty off there before heading inside. The stable master and his help seemed a little put off when they saw the three of us riding up to them on the same horse, but they didn’t make any comments that matched their surprised facial expressions. The cost to stable to horse for a day was 20 gold, and the stable master informed us that we’d have to pay an additional 20 gold per day at the time of pickup if we retrieved the horse late.

  As we passed through the Outer Highcastle gates, Aaron’s head started turning from left to right. “Nice, nice,” he said. Lots of people were all moving about, even more busily than I remembered, so I couldn’t tell if he was impressed with the amount of action or if he was commenting on the women he spotted. “Quite impressive, I must say.”

  “Lots of stuff going here, but I think the Vale is nicer,” Ozzy said.

  “Hard to beat the Vale,” I agreed.

  “Hot loaves of bread! Hot loaves!” the bread maker shouted as we entered the same small market that I visited the first time I had come to Highcastle.

  “What are we here for again?” Aaron asked. “Babes and booze?”

  “To figure out where the reagents are for sword schematic, remember?” I said. “If that doesn’t pan out, maybe we can find a bulletin board with some quests.”

  “We have time to eat, right?” Ozzy asked. “I’m starving.”

  I inhaled deeply, and the scent of food seemed just as varied and delightful as the chatter that hung in the air. I had made a note to try some of the foods in Highcastle the last time I was there, but never got the chance, and we weren’t in any particular rush this time around. “How much money did you guys bring?”

  “I brought a ‘G’ with me,” Aaron said, indicating that he had 1,000.

  “I’ve got 500,” Ozzy added.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ve got 900 after stabling the horse, so we’ve all got enough for food. Let’s grab something that we can carry around with us.”

  We browsed the various stalls filled with both fresh produce and prepared foods, and I ended up buying a slice of spicecake. It looked like any slice of pie I would’ve purchased on Earth, but the brownish orange body of the cake had small glittery speckles throughout. I had no idea what was in it, but it was pungent, sweet, and delicious all at the same time

  Aaron picked up a couple kebabs filled with chunks of what looked like beef and pork with tomatoes and vegetables nudged between them.

  Ozzy bought some sort of meat pie from the baker, which was basically a large loaf of bread that was totally packed inside with some sort of minced, cooked meat.

  The spicecake was only 5 gold, and I was so busy enjoying every bite that I didn’t bother asking the guys how much they paid for their food.

  “Oh my goodness,” Aaron said. “This meat—whatever it is—is absolutely delicious.” He swallowed and used his teeth to rip another chunk from the kebab.

  “This thing is good too!” Ozzy said with a full mouth. “Better than anything I ever had back home, but… still not quite as good as elven pie.”

  We all seemed to moan in unison at the mention of elven pie.

  We continued munching on our food as we slowly walked the streets of Outer Highcastle, and I couldn’t help but notice an air of excitement that was stirring. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was; maybe it was that people were walking a little faster or that their eyes were glowing or maybe it just seemed like there were more people than normal out.

  “Is today a Friday?” I asked.

  “Friday?” Ozzy asked. “I don’t think there are weekdays in this game, dude.”

  Aaron chuckled as he bit another chunk of his food. “Every day is a Friday in Eden’s Gate.” A young, busty woman with freckles darting her face and chest suddenly rushed by us, lifting her cream-colored skirt just enough that it wouldn’t rub against the ground, and Aaron’s eyes followed her as she passed. “Man, oh man… I hope it’s about to be Freaky Friday tonight though,” he said licking his lips and shaking his head.

  “Hey Sizzler,” I scolded. “Get ahold of yourself.”

  Aaron shrugged. “Hey man. Did you see what I just saw?”

  I rolled my eyes at him right before I noticed a nearby stall where various flowers were on display. A plump woman with thin, dark pigtails was standing in front of it with a bundle of flowers in each hand.

  “Orchids!” she wailed. “Sunflowers for the lady!” As a well-dressed man passed, she virtually shoved the flowers in front of him in an attempt to get him to buy. “A bundle of flowers, a bundle of joy!”

  I elbowed Aaron. “That an herbalist?”

  “Nah, I don’t think so,” Aaron said. “Looks like she just has a bunch of flowers.”

  “Flowers are herbs too, right?” I asked.

  Aaron shrugged. “I guess some of them would be.”

  Ozzy stuffed his mouth with his last piece of pie and spoke with his mouth full. “Flowers are herbs. Herbs are flowers.”

  “I dunno if it’s that straightforward,” Aaron advised.

  “Well, let’s go talk to her,” I said. “Maybe she can help us find the reagents. Jax did say we might need to talk to both the cartographer and an herbalist.”

  As I approached the flower lady, she shoved a bouquet of sunflowers under my nose before I even had a chance speak. “Smell wonderful, don’t they? Just 15 gold.”

  I cleared my throat and politely nudged my hand between my body and the flowers. “Yeah, they’re quite nice, but—”

  “How about you?” She swung the flowers over to Ozzy. “Surely a handsome man like you has a lady who’d love a bouquet.”

  Ozzy scratched the back of his head and his cheeks lit up. “Me? Handsome?”

  “Excuse me, ma’am,” I said. “You’re an herbalist, right?”

  The woman raised an eyebrow and smirked. “An herbalist? I just sell flowers.”

  Aaron chuckled. “Told you so.”

  I flung my hand back without turning my head and slapped Aaron with the back of my knuckles. I cleared my throat again. “Do you know where we can find an herbalist? Or do you know anything about Bloodmoss and Heaven’s—”

  “What’s Bloodmoss?” the lady interjected. “Sounds hideous. If you don’t want to buy the flowers I have on display, quit wasting my time.”

  I sighed.

  Ozzy leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Maybe if you buy her flowers, she’ll open up a bit more.”

  I gave a slight nod as it didn’t sound like a bad idea. “If we buy a bouquet, will you tell us what you know? You do know an herbalist, right?”

  The lady eyes perked up and her scowl turned into a bright smile. “Well, sure. 15 gold for a bouquet. I’ll tell you what I know.”

  I pulled 15 gold out of my bad bag and pointed towards the purplish-pink flowers she was holding one of her hands. “Give me the orchids.”

  The lady accepted the gold, handed me the flowers, and grinned. “A bundle of flowers, a bundle of joy!”

  “Yeah… Now, can you tell me where the herbalist is in town?” I asked.

  The lady frowned and placed her free hand on her chin. “I’m afraid I’m not sure. I’ve only been living in Highcastle for a few days.”

  “Oh, c’mon,” Aaron groaned.

  “Why didn’t you say ‘no’ when I asked you if you knew an herbalist?” I asked.

  “I do know an herbalist, but nowhere near here. My hometown is a couple days ride on horseback on if you’d like directions.”

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Ozzy said.

  “What?” the lady asked. “I told you what I kno
w.”

  I just rolled my eyes and sighed. I had experienced the various levels of honesty from NPCs in Eden’s Gate, so I already knew that you were rolling the dice any time you tried to buy information. The lady working me for flowers came as no surprise.

  “What a bitch,” Aaron cursed.

  “Excuse me?!” the lady yelled and her mouth went wide.

  “Nothing.” I held up a calming palm to the lady, and then I turned and pushed Aaron away from the escalating scene. “Let’s go.”

  Aaron snarled as we started walking away. “That’s annoying.”

  “It’s part of the game,” I said. “You’ve been sitting in the village too long.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I’d still like to give that lady a little piece of my mind—even if I know she’s an NPC.” Aaron suddenly smiled and laughed. Perhaps the idea he was getting angry at an NPC over something so small amused him somehow.

  “Well, now you’ve got some flowers,” Ozzy said with a laugh.

  Useless orchids… I thought.

  As if Eden’s Gate were reading my mind, I was suddenly halted and almost tripped, when the base of my legs bumped into something much smaller than me. When I looked down, I saw the same little girl that had been covered in soot the last time I was in Highcastle.

  Her dirty hair was clean, combed, and other than a single smudge of dirt that was on her tiny brown overalls, she looked thoroughly bathed—a stark comparison to the first time I saw her. She held her hands up to me and smiled, just like before.

  “Hey, you,” I said, and kneeled down to one knee so I could look the girl in the eye. “Don’t you look nice today?”

  “Gunnar?” Aaron said. “You know this little girl?”

  “Not really,” I answered. “I ran into her and—I think it was her mom—the last time I was here.”

  “Foo!” the girl said.

  I knew she probably wanted gold, but I wasn’t about to give her another coin out of fear that it would become a habit for her to ask every time I visited Highcastle. Plus, I knew she had a mother or some sort of caretaker looking after her, even if that lady she was with didn’t seem so kind.

  “I can’t give you gold today, but how about this?” I asked and popped the flowers up in front of her face. “If you can tell me where the herbalist is, you can have all these.”

  The girl’s eyes lit up like she just saw the most amazing thing in the world. “Wowwwwwwww…” She said. She held her hands out and grabbed the base of the bouquet, and I let go so she could hold them.

  “Pretty, aren’t they?” I asked.

  The little girl just smelled the flowers and looked up to me with a wide smile on her face.

  “Okay…” I pursed my lips. “Well, like I said. If you can tell me where the herbalist is, you can keep them.”

  The girl seemingly only listened to the ‘you can keep them’ part of what I said, because she suddenly giggled, turned on her heels, and bolted through the crowd of people with the flowers.

  “Hey!” I shouted as I stood back to my feet and watched the girl scurry off. I took an instinctive step in the direction she fled, but then thought better of wasting my time chasing her over the cheap flowers.

  “Damn, Gunnar,” Aaron said mockingly. He walked beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “You’re making all the good calls today, aren’t ya?”

  “Oh, fuck you, Aaron,” I said. I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes at the incident with the flower lady and the little girl, and then I just started chuckling. Aaron and Ozzy joined in on the laughs.

  At the end of the day, it was only 15 gold.

  “Hey,” a quiet, barely noticeable voice said as our chuckling subsided. I turned to see a shaded area between the side of a tall building and a tree. In the thick of the shadows was a man wearing a dark gray shroud, barely visible, leaning with his back against the building’s wall. “Yeah, you,” he said with a nod and motioned his hand to come near as our eyes met.

  I exchanged glances with Ozzy and Aaron, and I could tell by their faces that they had the same thought as me: kind of shady. Thus far, my experience with figures in shrouds hadn’t been too great. Nonetheless, I had two guild mates with me, so I felt safe enough to walk into the shaded area when the man motioned his hand again.

  “Yeah?” I asked once in speaking distance with the man.

  “You looking for herbs, huh?” the man asked. He was a few inches shorter than me, and when he looked up, I could see pale white skin, glossy blue eyes, and straight platinum white hair that looked it didn’t belong on someone as young as he appeared. When he smiled, his teeth were abnormally pointy and small, as if they had been filed at the tips. “Special herbs?”

  “Special herbs?” I asked.

  The man glanced at Aaron and Ozzy who were standing on either side of me, and then he looked even further left and right as if he were checking to see if anyone else was listening in. “I’ve got some joojak leaves if you guys are interested.”

  “Joojak leaves?” I asked.

  “Yeah, man,” the guy hissed. “It’s good stuff.”

  “Some kind of drugs?” Aaron asked, leaning closer anxiously. He seemed overly interested.

  “Some call them drugs, some call them herbs,” the guy cooed, “but it’s just what you guys need.”

  “What are juu-joke leaves for?” Ozzy asked.

  The man chuckled. “Joojak leaves. You guys really don’t know? Joojak makes you feel amazingly relaxed. You can instantly enter a meditative state, regardless of how low your skill is, and you recover mana like a meditation master. It skyrockets your charisma while it lasts too. It’s great stuff to have at home when you’re just relaxing with your friends.” He cleared his throat and leaned in closer. “And if you need a little extra ‘pep’ when you’re with a lady, this will keep you going for hours.”

  “I’m in,” Aaron said. “Just take my money!”

  Ozzy started chuckling, and I threw an elbow at Aaron’s shoulder.

  “Dude,” I scolded. I wondered if bringing Aaron along had been a good idea after all. He was fun to have around, but his impulses were a little too much.

  “What?” Aaron looked at me questionably then turned back towards the guy. “How much?”

  “300 per hit,” the man said.

  “Wait a minute,” I said holding out my hand. “So it does all that but there’s no side effects?”

  “Oh,” the guy groaned. “Side effects… Well, it does lower your movement speed by 20% while you’re on it, and when the high is over, you’ll be really hungry. Like really hungry.”

  “I’m in,” Aaron said again, and before I could say more, he was already handing the guy 300 gold.

  “You sure you want to waste your money on that?” I asked.

  Aaron nodded. “Gotta enjoy life, Gunnar.”

  The man pulled out a small bag that contained dry brown and green leaves and exchanged it for Aaron’s gold. He looked over to Aaron and I. “You guys not interested in joojak?” he asked. “If you’re looking for something stronger, I can offer you some kroka. That’s the really good stuff.”

  When the man said kroka, it hit me like a truck. There was a thump in my chest, and my mouth watered. I had a brief flashback of the feeling that I had when I took the kroka in the Sands—that feeling of grandeur, power, and invincibility. Something told me that I needed that again, right then and there. “You have kroka?” I asked as I swallowed.

  “Never heard of that either?” the man questioned.

  “Yeah, he has,” Aaron said. “Did you ever find that bag you lost?”

  “I’ll tell you later,” I said, barely paying attention as my mind thirsted for what the man was carrying. “How much for the kroka?”

  “I’ll give you one bag for 2,000,” he said.

  I swallowed again. I knew I didn’t have enough money on me to buy it, but then I started doing the math in my head, wondering if we’d have enough if I borrowed the money that Aaron and Ozzy had.
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br />   “Yo, Gunnar!” Aaron said loudly and snapped his fingers in front of my face.

  I turned to him. “Huh?”

  “You okay, bro?” he asked. “Looked like you spaced out for a moment.”

  “He wants the good stuff,” the man hissed through a devilish smile.

  “We can’t afford to waste 2,000 right now,” Aaron said towards me. “You can come back later if you really want it. Let’s go find those regs for the schematic.”

  I rattled my head, shaking myself into a more sensible state. Aaron was right. 2,000 was too much for us right then, and the idea that I was almost going to spend that much for something I really didn’t need was a little crazy. Clearly, kroka had a strong draw, even after using it just once. “Yeah,” I said. “It’s out of our budget for now.”

  “Suit yourself,” the man said with a shrug. “But hey. You looking for anything else? I’ve got connections.”

  “Do you know where to find Bloodmoss and Heaven’s Shroom?” I asked.

  The guy scoffed and waved his hand. “Not my area of expertise.” He paused, smirked, and then leaned in closer again. “But hey? You guys looking to get in to the big show today?”

  “What big show?” I asked.

  “At the Arena,” the man said. “You haven’t heard? The top ranks in Highcastle are fighting today, and the King’s even coming out to watch. Lots of people from the Freelands turning up to see the show too.”

  So that’s why it’s so bustling today, I thought.

  “I wouldn’t mind seeing a fight,” Aaron said. “We should take some time to watch the show.”

  “Don’t they sell tickets at the front entrance of the Arena?” I asked the man.

  “Yeah, for 100 gold. That might be affordable for Inner Highcastle folks, but most common people can’t pay those kind of prices. I can sneak you in for just 20 gold.”

  “20 gold is better than 100,” Aaron said.

  I turned my head and watched as a couple of guards marched by a few meters away. “Sneaking in with all these guards around?” I asked.

  “Half the attendees in the Arena sneak in,” the man said. “They’d never fill all the seats at full price.”