Swords, magic, and martial arts

"You guys go downstairs and have a match first, then the winner can come and fight me." Rhodes saw so many people blocking his doorway that he couldn't even go downstairs.

"None of them are a match for me. I want to challenge you," one of the young men said.

"Who gave you the courage to say such a thing?"

"With your small frame, I could take on five of you by myself."

……

The people at the door started arguing with each other.

Rhodes was helpless. These were probably people who had been eliminated in previous competitions. They felt that they were very strong, but they were eliminated mainly because of bad luck. Others hadn't competed yet and wanted to see how strong the people who had advanced were.

In short, they all want to use Rod's current reputation as a stepping stone for themselves.

Rod closed the door, opened the window, and jumped from the second floor, intending to go to the first floor of the hotel to discuss with Baron and the others about finding a different place to stay.

They found that Baron and Hammer were already fighting with someone at the door, and there were many people watching.

"A lot of people are trying to challenge you, aren't they?" Misell asked, appearing behind Rhodes.

"The doorway to my room is surrounded by people, all wanting to challenge me," Rod replied.

"Shall we go for a stroll in the city?" Misell suggested.

Rhodes thought about it and agreed. Since he couldn't go back to his room to cultivate anyway, he might as well go out for a walk. He hadn't properly explored Gulfstream City yet, and this trip would allow him to see how different the cities of Fish Kingdom and Nord were.

"Alright then," Rod said.

Baron and Hammer had already dealt with the challenger. There weren't as many people who wanted to challenge them as there was with Rhodes. Perhaps they compared their physiques and thought that Rhodes, being quite famous, was the easiest to bully.

"I'll go with you." Miles suddenly appeared beside them.

"They want to go for a walk, why are you going with them?" Baron walked over as well.

"I'm afraid someone will challenge me," Miles said righteously.

"Should we move to a different place?" Rhodes asked Baron.

"Forget it, there's no need. After the other matches are over, they'll go challenge other qualifiers. You guys go wander around the city now, and when you come back, they'll probably be looking for the afternoon's winner," Baron said.

"I'd better go too, just in case someone challenges me," Miles said.

Baron looked at Rhodes, then at Messiah.

He grabbed Miles and dragged him toward the hotel. "It's alright. Someone challenged you, but I'll help you get rid of him. Now go back and play cards with us. Hammer is waiting for us."

"I don't want to play cards, I want to go into town with them..." Miles shouted.

"No, you want to play cards." Baron dragged Miles into the hotel.

Rhodes: "..."

Actually, Rod didn't mind Miles coming with them; the presence of a man and a woman made him feel a little awkward.

"Let's go buy some ingredients to make a cake," Misell said. Rhodes realized that this was her real purpose. She had asked him to go into town the day before yesterday, probably for the same reason.

"Let's go then," Rod said.

The hotel was not far from Gulfstream City. Because the tournament was held outside the city, not many people entered the city, and Rhodes and his companions quickly passed the city guards' check and entered the city.

Last time he entered the city, he went straight to register for the competition and didn't have a chance to properly explore other places. Today, he finally has the time to experience the culture of different countries.

"The food ingredient store is over there," Misell said, pointing in a direction. She had just asked a passerby.

"Aren't you tired of cake yet? I can make some other delicious things," Rod said.

"What's delicious?" Messil asked.

Unlike Baron, who thought cake was inferior to roast meat, Messil believed that cake was the most delicious thing in the world.

Judging from this, Messiah seems to prefer sweets. Rhodes thought about what kind of sweets he could make.

By the way, it seems there's sugarcane in Gulfstream City. He saw someone eating it in a hotel a few days ago, but after thinking about it, making sugar is too troublesome, so he decided to do something else.

For example, you can use honey to make egg tarts and donuts. However, it seems like you don't have aluminum foil for making egg tarts.

"I'll tell you later. Let's go look at other things first, and buy them when we leave the city, so it won't be a hassle to carry them around," Rhodes said.

Messiah nodded.

Rhodes found a blacksmith shop by the roadside and took Messil inside. For some reason, he really enjoyed going into blacksmith shops to look at weapons and equipment.

However, his experience in Ice City left him with a somewhat negative impression of the prices at blacksmith shops in the city.

This blacksmith shop was completely different from the one he had visited last time; the finished equipment all had price tags hanging next to them.

Rhodes went up to take a look and saw that a shiny chainmail was only selling for eighty gold coins. He remembered that any piece of iron armor in Ice River City cost hundreds of gold coins.

"How's this chainmail?" Rhodes asked Messiah, who had grown up in the Knights and knew more about weapons and equipment than he did.

"Not bad. The forging technology of the Fish Kingdom is the best on the continent. The items that can be displayed here must be of very high quality," Misel said.

"And the price?" Rod asked again.

"It's a bit cheaper than in the blacksmith shops of the Roman Empire and your Nords, but that's normal, everything is cheaper here," Misel said.

It seems that if I hadn't been broke at the blacksmith's shop in Ice River City, I would have been ripped off.

That person probably thought I was young and easy to bully, and that I was naive, so they tried to swindle me out of my money. But wasn't they afraid I'd be broke?

Rhodes thought for a moment, maybe it was because I was wearing a spatial ring that made him think I was very rich. Rhodes didn't know what material the spatial ring was made of, but he figured it must be very expensive.

"Do you want to buy armor? I remember you have a dragon scale armor, don't you?" Misel asked, seeing Rhodes lost in thought.

"I'm not buying, I'm just looking," Rod said, having less than five gold coins on him.

"I think you could wear a suit of armor to participate in that knightly lance tournament. I think you seem quite durable, and you also have a dragon scale armor, which will give you a significant advantage in that competition," Misel said.

"I don't have a warhorse, nor the money to buy armor from other places," Rhodes said.

"I can lend you my horse, and I can also lend you money to buy other equipment. No, not just lend you money, I'll pay for it for you directly," Messil added.

Rhodes was somewhat tempted, but after thinking for a moment, he thought, "I don't have much experience in mounted combat."

"None of that matters, as long as you stay on the horse without falling off, you'll always have a chance to knock others off their horses," Misell encouraged.

"Okay, I can give it a try. I'll pay you back for the equipment later." Rhodes decided to give it a shot.

"You don't need to pay me back, just make me delicious food every day on your way home..."

……