Chapter 200: Mindful Steps

Chapter 200: Mindful Steps

Mid Morning - Late Fall : The Golden Lotus, Northern Market District (Valtivar)

*Click* *Yawn~* "Hm?" Finally coming out of her room after nearly a full day of rest, Amara gave me a confused look. "How do you and Ilios seem even closer than before?"

"Haha, do we?" Looking down at Ilios, who was sleeping while stretched across my body, I couldn't help but notice warmth fill my chest. -I guess I can't deny it...-

As I idly thought back to my 'enlightenment' again, I casually ran my mind over the events that followed it to make sure I didn't miss something.

But in all honesty, not much happened.

After I finally accepted reality for what it was, Amara, Yolanda, and I continued our talk for quite a while.

At first, the conversation stayed aimed at Ilios and me to figure out what our plans were going forward since it didn't make much sense to continue a pilgrimage meant to show loyalty and worship to ourselves. But after some thought, I decided to continue with things as they were. -At the very least, it'll be worthwhile to see what the prayer is all about.-

After figuring out our plan though, the conversation finally changed directions and landed on Amara and her situation with the halfie and Helvig family.

Our conversation gradually fell apart after that, and I'm sure it made her night feel like an eternity, but it was good for her to vent pent-up feelings and finally sort out her thoughts on the situation.

Following that, Amara said she felt exhausted and went to take a nap, leaving Yolanda and me alone for a while, before she inevitably went back to her room as well.

But at the end of it all, it made things work out quite well.

While they napped, I left the inn with Ilios and flew out of treant territory to spend the day playing with him.

-Maybe I got a bit carried away while playing though...- Since it was the first time really playing with him after quite a while, we were at it for several hours non-stop, and I ended up not watching his stamina closely enough.

When he suddenly slowed down and hung his head to pant heavily, I broke into panic, but things settled down once I finally realized that we had played for twice as long as normal and used incomparably more strength as well. -But to think those tiny black tubes all around my body affected my strength and stamina so much...-

After playing with Ilios for nearly the whole day, I wasn't even half as winded as I normally was. But even though the gap between us in terms of strength and stamina widened... -He still crushes me in terms of speed... Without using magic, I could only barely even catch his tail.-

But instead of feeling jealous, when I looked down at his sleepy face, I felt proud. -It's good to see that you're still getting stronger, buddy!- *pat-pat*

"You know, recently, I was starting to question whether you or Ilios slept at all." Amara wore a smile as she poured herself a glass of water.

"Haha, I don't blame you. It's pretty rare." -Normally I'm more careful with his stamina, so he doesn't get so exhausted...- I felt a bit guilty seeing his exhaustion, but I knew he wouldn't have pushed himself so hard if he didn't enjoy it. -If I told him I felt guilty about it, he’d probably just try to smack me...-

He gave a slow but strong nod immediately before licking my face a bit.

"Haha, I love you too, buddy." With a few extra pets though, he finally moved to the side and let me sit up. "Well, bud. How does going to the gambling district sound? You want to come?"

He nodded before I even finished. "Woof!"

"Haha, it's good to see you back to your energetic self again." Casually leaning over, I gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before finally standing up. "Well, now that he's finally up, let's get going shall we?"

Seeing everyone in agreeance, we finally made our way out of the inn and across town as a group. We ended up walking for about a little over an hour before we finally made it to the district though.

"Is this it?" Seeing that I was the only one new to Valtivar, I had to ask quite a few questions to stay up to speed.

"Yeah, this is the edge of it, where lower-cost gambling dens are. The deeper you go, the more expensive they get." Amara spoke like she had fond memories of the place.

"Oh?" -So we’re going to the high-end district?- "Sounds fun! So where exactly are we going first? Didn't you say it was a tournament or something?" Casually looking around, I tried to not make a connection to Earth, but I couldn't see the 'gambling dens' as anything other than casinos. -They even have card games of some sort...- Although I couldn’t tell exactly what the games were, the cards looked extremely similar to those from Earth. -It’s probably just a coincidence though...-

Turning my attention back to where we were walking, we quickly traveled through the treant town and came into a different, more well-lit area with half-breeds, elves, and demihumans of all kinds walking around. -There are even some dark elves... How rare...-

Continuing even further into the town, we eventually came onto a branch of a treant that didn’t act like a street at all. "What is this?" The entire width of the branch was taken up by a large raised platform.

Thankfully, Amara was quick to explain. "This is called the Western Martial Road, it's a place for martial artists to fight and train, but.." She paused as we walked up the stairs to see countless people huddled around the arenas. "It doubles as a place for people to bet on fighters."

"Why is it the western Martial Road and not northern?" -And why is there not a single noble-looking guy or dragon around any of these arenas?-

"Well, that's because Valtivar’s Grand Martial Hall is at the center of that treant over there." A wild grin came to her face before I knew it. "That’s where the really big bets are!"

Although I didn’t think much of her excitement at the time, thinking she was just excited to place bets and watch, I was very, very wrong.

*Ding* "And after 15 long years! The rising star, the Bronze Stallion, Amara Chalkos has returned!"

Sitting in the stands among countless cheering elven nobles, half-breeds, and even dragons, I looked down at the arena to see Amara wearing adventuring clothes with an excited grin on her face.

"Haha, I really should’ve expected it from her!" -To think she wanted to come here, not to place bets, but to let off some steam...-