Sit and drink some tea.

As your whole entourage sits around the dining room table of the small, cozy home--which looks even smaller now--you take a sip of tea and it's actually quite tasty. Even Bek seems to be enjoying it, though in your mind it's still strange to see a fantasy dwarf holding a tiny cup of boiled leaves. You've made some good friends so far all things considered. It was certainly not that way when you first arrived in this world.

"I think we can trust you, Thomas," Niki says. "You were cowering in a cage when we found you, and who knows what that lich would have done if we didn't show up, huh?"

"You fought a lich, honey?" her father says.

"You don't have to word it like that," Thomas mutters. "And you can just call me Tom."

"And you. I recognize you," Niki says as she points to the dwarf.

Bek laughs. "Yeah. My name's Bek. We both attended that ball. I helped Kyle here cause some chaos and started fighting some people. It was a great afternoon."

"Oh yeah! I do remember that. We can trust this guy for sure."

That was fast.

Hedi lowers his tea cup to the table and sighs. "Two more days. I'm getting so anxious. What about you, sister?"

Niki shakes her head. "Hell no. I never get anxious. While you were all cozy up here, I was out living the live of an adventurer! Slimes. Devils. Slimes. Goblins. You name it, I've had to fight it. This tournament is going to be a peace of cake."

"I envy your confidence..."

"More like over-confidence," Tom says quietly.

"You tell 'em!" Bek shouts from across the table. "Kick some ass."

Hedi turns to you. "I have an idea. I've stolen you away for long enough, I reckon. How about I stay here with the others, and you and Niki can enjoy the town? I'm sure she's been eager to show you around. All I did was show you one place in particular after all."

"I mean, I guess I can..." Niki sips her tea.

"Enjoy the rest of the day. And then tomorrow, the real preparations can begin. I hope you're all ready. It won't be long before we'll have to face each other, you know. It isn't like we're going to be on team out there."

"It's not to the ****, right?" you ask.

"Oh yes. It's definitely to the ****." He stares you down.

Niki slaps her hand on his back, causing him to ****. "Don't mess with Kyle. He's really gullible."

Oh I'm not even responding to that one.

Bek holds up two fingers. "There are only two ways to lose in a Golden Sword match. One, you willingly surrender. Two, you make contact with the ground outside of the ring. People have died before, but it's very rare. They have some incredibly talented healers on duty."

"They like to throw some curve balls in though," Hedi says.

They have baseball here?

"Yeah. Like a match can't just go on forever," Tom adds. "So if it goes on too long, they'll do something like release a monster into the ring, or whatever they feel like doing. Half of the Golden Sword is the glory of combat, but the other half is definitely entertainment. That's what brings people in."

Niki stands up from the table and stretches. "Well then. Why don't we go for a walk?" She looks to you with a smile.

You return it with your own. "That sounds good to me."