18th Day of Spring
514 AV
514 AV
The weight and clink of his coin only put Elias even more on edge as checked his purse for the hundredth time. He wasn't used to carrying around this much coin, especially not through the streets of Ravok. He walked by a elegantly dressed couple too engaged with smooching and giggling at each other's to pay him any mind, yet still he made sure there was a good deal of space between himself and them regardless. He checked his coin again as soon as they passed. It wasn't as if Ravok was a festering crime pit like Sunberth or the wilds, but still, people got funny around money, particularly around the amount he was carrying. Hell, the fact that he was this nervous was just proof of his point. The mage was usually a lot cooler than he seemed now, and Elias wasn't putting himself through this gut wrenching anxiety for joy of a new experience either. After arriving on the docks with little else than the clothes on his back and what money he had managed to save from Zeltiva, the Caldera had realized he would be in a desperate need of supplies if his stay was going to be longer than a few days. In the end, this was just a shopping run, yet he couldn't get it out of his mind something terrible was going to happen.
In all honesty he should have very well known he was going to remain for more than just a brief stay, but a stubbornness had overtaken his usually clear thoughts. Even it wasn't something as important arranging his mother's funeral, he would have still made up some excuse to keep himself here for as long as he could. That was partly because he had no love for another wilderness trek back the way he had come, but more so because it had only taken a few chimes back before he realized how much he had missed this place. He had been away for too long, just far too long.
Though caught up in his own reminiscing -yet again- Elias wasn't blind to the fact that the crowds were getting larger and larger as he delved deeper into the heart of the city. He was beginning to notice a greater number of people among those he passed who were dressed in more finery, and carried an air of more extravagance than one would have normally found on say, the docks. It was when he began to take note of the slaves being marshaled about that he realized where he was. He looked up to see Syna high in the evening sky, and it came to him. He was nearing The Pit, and it was almost fight time.
Elias couldn't remember the last time he saw a good brawl. They didn't really have a Pit in Zeltiva, not that he had managed to discover anyway, and it wasn't so unusual to find a young, excitable Elias sneaking away from training to go watch Alto the Butcher tearing into some poor bastard, or Marick the Undefeated slice through half a dozen men with his twin blades. If you were particularly lucky, you might have even caught a glimpse or two of Malfus himself in the ring, though the crowds were often so large and boisterous it was impossible unless you were as tall as the giant you were coming to see fight.
Elias did a poor job of hiding his smile as he passed by the arena, and an even poorer job of keeping himself from wandering inside. Maybe another time, he told himself as he tried in futility to focus on something else. There was a large list in his pocket that he needed to start working on if he expected to survive another day in this city without dying of boredom... or starvation.
As he continued on his way, the sound of something all too familiar caught his ears. It was faint, and Elias strained his ears to hear it over the chattering of the enthusiastic spectators flocking about him. It was only when he was mostly clear of the crowds did the noise become discernible enough for the young man to follow it. If he was right however, it was probably the last place he wanted to go, but considering it was on his way to where he needed to be...
As he rounded the corner an alleyway opened up to his right. He peered inside, transfixed in morbid curiosity as he watched one brutish, stocky man proceed to beat the ever loving shyke out of two others. Behind the bloody knuckles and broken teeth, Elias could have sworn he could see a women standing there as well, smiling as it all went down. Truthfully, his first reaction would have been to just move on, or maybe even put down a bet in the spirit of things. This wasn't his fight, and by the looks of the bruises they were taking, it certainly wasn't the other two's fight either. For whatever reason however, a word slipped through Elias's lips unabated. Perhaps it was divine humor that elicited his weak shout, or maybe it was just that funny side of him that came about when he already too worked up about his money. Or perhaps it was that flashing moment that passed through his thoughts when he pondered how impressive it would be to actually stop a mugging and save those two men. He must have thought of the coolest, most intimidating and heroic thing he could say at that time to put everyone in their place and scare the thugs off, but instead of not saying it and walking away, the words just kind of slithered off his tongue instead.
"H-hey!"