Selling the Prey

Kayden walked briskly down the main street of the town.

It was almost nighttime, so the atmosphere was not as lively and bustling as in the morning. Yet, there were quite a few people at the stalls, many of them preparing to close up for the day.

As Kayden passed by, many glances turned to him, and now without reason. With traces of forest dirt on his shoes and clothes, a bloodstained bag, and a deer on his shoulders, Kayden's figure stood out in the crowd.

Meanwhile, he was looking for a stall that sold meat, following the innkeeper's advice to sell what he had hunted.

As for his unkempt appearance, it was because he had come directly from the forest, fearing that the stalls would have closed before he arrived if he was too slow.

Eventually, he saw a man who appeared to be a butcher and approached.

The man, slightly chubby, had a dark, bushy beard that contrasted with his bald head.

"Hello. I've come to see if you'd be interested in buying what I've hunted," Kayden asked, without needing to explain what exactly he wanted to sell since the deer on his shoulders clearly answered that question.

"Sure, I can buy but I will have to examine the condition of the animals before deciding," the man replied.

"Of course," Kayden said, as he left the deer on a wooden table so the butcher could get a good look at it. He also placed the bag with the smaller animals on the table.

"Let's see…" With a soft murmur, the butcher examined the meat as he stroked his beard, his experienced eyes assessing its condition.

"The meat looks to be in good shape, and the wounds haven't damaged too big areas. This is especially noticeable in the smaller prey, where it's impressive to see such minimal impact on the meat after the hunt."

Kayden listened to his words patiently, waiting with expectation for the butcher to name a price.

"I can offer you a gold coin and 50 silver coins for the deer, and an additional 30 silver coins for the rest. What do you say?"

Kayden tried to weigh the offer, but the truth was that he had no idea of what the average price of a deer in the market was, so he had no idea of how much the butcher should offer.

"Deal," he answered, choosing to trust that the butcher was not scamming him.

"Nice."

A smile spread across the butcher's face as he handed Kayden a small bag, its contents jingling with the sound of wealth.

Eagerly, Kayden opened it, revealing a bunch of silver coins and a golden one that stood out among the others.

He had no idea how many silver coins equaled one gold coin, but he guessed that a hundred.

Although there was nothing to base it on, that was the standard in most fantasy stories so he decided to go with it.

Saying goodbye to the butcher, Kayden headed back to the inn, seeing a few participants along the way, none of whom he knew.

After stepping into his bedroom, Kayden finally sighed in exhaustion as the events of the long day replayed in his mind.

First, he had appeared in an unknown bedroom, finding later that it was an inn. There, he finally understood the main goal of the Trial even though some details were still beyond his understanding.

Then, he met Lily, and realizing that she could be giving him a task, Kayden decided to help her to hunt a bit. Thus, he had headed to the outskirts of the town, where he met the ailing Ollie, Lily's brother, and found his current sword.

After that, he ventured into the magnificent forest, where he hunted his first prey ever before finding the massive, wild boar, which almost killed him.

However, despite being hit in the side once by the animal, or what is more accurate, the beast's ferocious assaults, he managed to kill the boar.

It was upon returning to the hut that things went awry. After Lily and Ollie's death and Kayden's promise of revenge, which he honestly hoped consisted of another task, he returned to the in with the notebook and sword.

Finally, he hunted again, this time looking for easier prey than the wild boar, and sold the animals for some money.

When Kayden thought about it in this way, he realized that his first day at the trial had been undeniably eventful.

Furthermore, his engraving had already improved a whole level, and he had no plans of stopping there.

After taking a shower to clean himself, Kayden got ready for bed while thinking about what he had to do the next day.

The next morning, Kayden asked the innkeeper again about whom he could ask for information.

The innkeeper took him to one of the tables, where an old woman was having her breakfast. Her face was riddled with wrinkles and her hair was completely white. Yet, her body showed hardly any sign of age.

Kayden sat down at her table, causing the woman to look up before she turned her gaze back to her food.

Undaunted, Kayden asked her if she knew where he could find a place to buy good-quality weapons.

Ignoring him, the old woman kept eating until Kayden placed a silver coin on the table, pushing it toward her.

Finally, the woman's gaze moved to him, clutching the coin before replying.

This cycle of giving coins in exchange for information went on for a while until Kayden was satisfied after getting answers to most of his questions.

Saying goodbye to the woman whose name he did not even know, Kayden headed out of the inn.

***

The sun warmed the streets of the town as Kayden weaved through the crowd, moving nimbly to avoid bumping into the townsfolk.

He had noticed several figures following him, their gazes fixed on his back. After a brief consideration, he took a decision as a wide grin appeared on his face.

With an excitement that he had never felt before, Kayden headed for the outskirts of the town.

The adrenaline surged through his veins while he prepared to fight other humans to death for the first time in his life.