83 Voice
“Since you’ve shown me the entertainment of the human world, I can’t let you look down on the martial world too much, now can I?”
“Oh? Can you beat Lord of the Rings though?”
Madeleine had a mysterious smile on her face.
“f we were powerful enough, I’d bring you to a volcano even more powerful than they described in it. Unfortunately, it’s in the Demon Fire God Clan’s territory and I’ve only been there once when my master brought me. We also have real dragons in the Qilin-Drago Lands! And real elves in the Elvin Forest! And no orcs! How could we lose?”
Dyon smiled wryly, ‘It is a bit hard to beat them I guess.’
Thinking of dragons and qilins though, Dyon brought out Little Black so he could enjoy the view.
“Oh, what size is your spatial ring?” Dyon asked Madeleine.
“It’s not too bad. It’s about 27 meters cubed.”
Dyon waved his hands, “Store your things in your hairpin instead. I forgot to tell you that it doubles as a storage device.”
“Oh?” Madeleine clapped her hands in excitement. The storage of a Spiritual level treasure was no joke. After putting away her lyre, Little Black immediately jumped into her arms.
“So, what are these entertaining things you’re going to take me to do?”
“There are illusory formation games, fantastic restaurants, magic performances. You can even enter dream worlds to live out a few years in just a few moments. There are a lot of Sapientia family run auctions. There are also a lot of tournaments to watch.
“All over the continent, there are Chaos Arenas run by the Cavositos God Clan. They enjoy battles so much that they try to find the strongest warriors to pit against the younger generation in their main clan arena. It’s a lot like those sports games you mentioned from the human world.
“Everyone has their favorites and fighters also have organizations that sponsor them, kind of like teams. If you work your way up, you can fight in higher level arenas. If you win three fights against their Cavositos clan members, whether in a row, or after many losses, then you automatically have the choice of either joining their clan as a respected member, or a prize of equivalent value.
“But, probably the most entertaining thing is probably the Ancient Games. There is a total of three. No one knows the names of them and the rules have long since been forgotten. However, the formations and materials used to play those games from so many years ago still exist.
“Also, there’s something very odd about these games. Once someone decides to embark on a journey of learning the rules through play, an ancient array formation appears as a mental block, disallowing you from discussing the rules you’ve figured out!” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
Dyon was intrigued, “Wait, so why are games no one knows how to play so entertaining?”
Madeleine smiled, “The thing is, even without knowing the rules, you can still play and can still watch people play. Although no one can talk about the rules, there are still a few basic rules that even a child could figure out. But, only true geniuses can delve into a more complex understanding and therefore win more consistently. But, even they often lose.
“How could you win every time if all the rules aren’t known to you? In those arenas, the Elves have dominated for a long time. I’m sure if you ever meet them, you’ll figure out why. Or, maybe if you ever see the games, you could make some guesses. Unfortunately, the city we’re coming to now doesn’t have an Ancient Games Arena. But! There are a lot of other things to do,” Madeleine said with a smile.
“Wow… Ancient Games that even till now can force billions of people to be unable to speak of the rules…”
“Impressed?” Madeleine asked with a grin.
Dyon lightly pinched Madeleine’s nose.
“Don’t get too cocky. I have more of the human world you haven’t seen yet. Plus, isn’t the thing that’s most entertaining to you from the human world?” Dyon said with a wide grin.
Madeleine blushed, “Pervert. Look, we’re almost at the gates, let’s go!”
**
Dyon and Madeleine walked hand in hand under the night sky. Although the city itself was relatively small compared to others, as Madeleine pointed out many times as she still argued the side of the martial world, it was quite ridiculously large and bustling.
The roads were wide and diligently made with hexagonal tiles. Vendors filled the sides, often calling out to attract the attention of customers. Buildings as tall as Focus Academies outer pillars were as frequent as the tiny, packed stores were.
After spending the whole day here with Madeleine, Dyon was pleasantly surprised that no one bothered them, ‘It’s either this city is quite morally upstanding, or they know Madeleine’s identity and don’t dare to offend her.’
Madeleine skipped ahead a bit, pointing towards the tallest building at the center of the city, “That’s our last stop for today. It’s the reason why this is called Wine City, and also the reason why this city is so active even though its near the edge of the continent.”
Dyon allowed himself to be pulled along as he ignored the jealous faces around him.
“It’s called Heaven’s Wine. They actually have the best wine within thousands of kilometers. An expert of the Saint Stage is actually said to be the founder, although no one has ever seen him or her. As for why they decided to come to such a weak place, I’ve heard that they just liked the ocean view,” Madeleine said with a smile as they reached the door.
“We’ll only be able to enter the first of four levels because we don’t have any cultivation currently. But, it’s still good wine. I’ve been to the 3rd level with my dad before too, it’s quite good.”
“Oh? Are the floors restricted based on cultivation?”
“Yes, there are 4 sets of 10 floors each to accommodate the people from around the continent. You can enter the first 10 with no cultivation, but to enter the last level, you need to be essence gathering.”
Just as they were about to enter, a voice came from behind them.