Aron decided that the liar would be the one who would lose in the fight, so as the Village Elder it took him a few dozen minutes to organize the battle.
By this time, many people had already gathered in the main square, most of them were villagers, but there were a few players among them whose number was gradually increasing.
"Hey... What's going on here? Did these two just decide to fight in the middle of the village?" The young man with short hair muttered in confusion.
"Hah, it's only been a few hours since the game started, but someone already has a conflict. People never know how to just enjoy the game." His buddy said, shaking his head.
"Wait... This fight was organized by a Village Elder? Doesn't that mean these two got a unique quest?" The girl's eyes went wide as some of the other players had the same reaction.
"A unique quest...? Damn! I'm so jealous of them! I still couldn't get anything interesting, all the NPCs give just regular quests!" The young man exclaimed with an envious expression.
"We must tell everyone about this!" The girl jumped up with a happy smile before turning into a blue flash.
In Fallen Fate Online players could not communicate with each other through a special chat room like in other games, so to tell about some news they had to leave the game and write about it in various forums. It was done for realism, and for those who were in the center of an important event had time to make a decision until the news spread around the world.
The way the players disappeared was seen by all of the villagers, it may have seemed strange but none of the villagers were surprised as if it was normal.
"The ability for Travelers to temporarily return to their world to recover is actually amazing." Harald spoke seriously with his arms crossed over his chest.
"It is. Fate has given them a blessing, though I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. I can't imagine how hard it is when your world is destroyed." Aron nodded and looked at the young men preparing for battle, "I hope the end is fair."
Whooooooooooosh.
After a few minutes, the players who had left began to return as a large number of blue flashes appeared along with them.
Zayne didn't realize it at the time, but he was the centerpiece of one of the first big events in Fallen Fate Online. It was the first day of the game, so the participation of such an important NPC as the Village Elder in their quest and the full attention of all the villagers was something that definitely caught the eye.
"Whew, I hope they don't start anytime soon. My friend said he's coming this way, but he needs ten minutes." Someone said with an excited expression.
'What the hell...? Why are there so many people here?' Zayne inwardly muttered looking around. He felt uncomfortable since he didn't like being in a crowd, also people were staring at him with glowing faces which was unusual for him.
Suddenly people began to move apart, making way for someone. He was a plump man of medium height, dressed in a yellow robe like a wealthy merchant. Behind him walked two muscular men with massive swords on their backs.
"Well, well, I knew something interesting was about to happen, but I didn't expect it to be a fight in the middle of the village, unbelievable!" The man exclaimed as he waved his arms attracting everyone's attention.
Harald frowned, "Feto... I was hoping your fat ass would be asleep by now, but you came anyway."
"Hehehe, Harald, why are you always so serious? This is a great opportunity for our village to get even better!" Feto smirked with narrowed eyes, revealing his teeth some of which were gold.
'Hmm? Who is he?' Zayne tilted his head in confusion.
Unlike Zayne, the other players seemed to already be familiar with Feto.
"Damn! That's the merchant that all beta testers recommend going for! They say he gives the best quests at the beginning in this region!"
"Right! He gave me a simple quest and I got a cool set of armor in return! Feto is rich, he sure has the best terms!" The young man with short black hair exclaimed, still excited about his new armor.
Feto clearly enjoyed the praise in his direction, which was evident by his wide smile.
"Fine, I'm glad you enjoyed my errands so much. I intend to do something more impressive today!" Feto waved his arms sideways as several men ran up to him from the crowd. They carried forward two massive tables each with a secret section.
Bam.
They rattled the tables to the ground and Feto announced, "Any fight is not only a great spectacle but also an opportunity to make good money! Here you can bet on one of the fighters!"
Feto smirked and looked intently at the young men. His gaze studied Rolf for a while, then shifted to Zayne, who clearly looked less confident than his arrogant opponent.
"Before the betting begins, I want to make an important clarification. All bets on this young man will have an increased odds of 1.5x!" Feto exclaimed pointing to Zayne.
This confused everyone for a moment, then the players and some of the villagers rushed to the tables. They must have known that the dealers would never act to their own disadvantage and that betting on Zayne's victory was risky, but all most thought about was that this was their chance to win.
The bets were quickly taken as more than half of the people bet on Zayne's victory, which made Feto's smirk grow wider.
"Hey man, I hope you won't forget to share a piece with the winner?" Rolf looked at Feto, rubbing his fingers together.
"Sure, don't worry. The winner will be able to make a pretty good profit, too." Feto nodded a few times.
Clap.
Suddenly there was a mighty clap as if from a thunderclap as everyone looked at Aron. His serious look covered the entire crowd before he said, "That's enough. We are here to answer Fate's question, not put on a show. The stakes are over, the fight is going to start soon, but before those, show your weapons."
Some of the players hadn't bet yet, though they really wanted to, but they didn't dare go against the Elder's will especially considering that even the brash Feto was a little scared.
"Oh... In that case, let's enjoy the fight." Feto said with an awkward smile slowly stepping back.
Rolf nodded and quickly drew his sword from its sheath. It was long and sharp, with no frills, but it was obvious that it was not the starting weapon a player received after selecting a warrior card. Zayne responded by showing his blade which was half the length of Rolf's sword.
"Fine, bring the duplicates." Aron said calmly and after a short time, a tall man with two wooden weapons entered the arena. He threw the blade to Zayne, then the sword headed for Rolf.
"We have no purpose for any of you to be fatally wounded, so we'll make do with that. The loser is the one who cannot continue the fight or admits defeat. The battle begins in thirty seconds!" Aron proclaimed thunderously as a shiver went through the bodies of the fighters.