Nameless King



Obviously, the Guard didn't know who was in front of him. Gael didn't have some unique appearance so that at first glance everyone would realize that he was the Progenitor of Ashens.

He had an insane amount of scars all over his body, but most of the time they were hidden. Only during battle, when Gael needed extra strength, did Gael reveal his scars.

So, the Guard thought that Gael was an ordinary Second Chronicle Ashen that had fallen into their world. This was not uncommon as the Beastfolks were an open race. Anyone could come to their world after getting special permission, which was easy to do since it was just a formality.

The Beastfolks let everyone into their world, as they were interested in learning more about other races and fighting their representatives if they had the chance.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Guard smirked, "Have you decided to chicken out and not even make the attempt?"

Guard looked at the iron disk, "Even if you fail it's no big deal, I'm sure after a few tries you'll be able to do it, in the future! Fear shouldn't stop you!"

"Fear, right..." Gael muttered with a bitter smile, "I can't remember the last time I had that feeling..."

Guard raised an eyebrow in a confusion.

Step. Step. Step.

Gael calmly approached the disk and examined it. There were dents and scratches in several places, and he pointed to the largest of them.

"Who left it?" Gael asked, pointing to the deep dent. 

"Oh, no wonder you noticed it! We had a Fourth Chronicle Demon come over once, that guy was huge! Practically as tall as me! Out of everyone in this town, his punch was the most powerful!" Guard exclaimed with an excited expression.

Gael nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He realized how much power he needed to impress the people around him without accidentally destroying a street with a few houses. He wanted to avoid destruction by any means necessary.

"Fine, in that case, I'll give it a try. I just need to hit it, right?" Gael took a few steps back, getting within attacking distance in front of the disk.

"Yeah. I suggest you be right in the center, the ringing will be much louder that way and it'll help you pass the test." Guard smiled, pleased that Gael had decided to do this.

'Right in the center, right? Well, I think that will be enough. At least I hope so. Gael internally muttered, clenching his fist tightly.

He had gathered enough power to make his attack equal to someone from the lower border of the Third Chronicle. Gael thought that was enough to draw attention to himself.

Step.

Gael took a confident step forward and delivered a high-speed kick right into the center of the disk.

At the same moment, a loud, but not annoying ringing from the disk spread throughout the town. Almost everyone from the nearest streets noticed it and got a slight smile on their face.

No one thought that their town was being attacked or someone was fighting, everyone knew that just now someone was taking a test in front of the tavern entrance.

The ringing was great, so they were glad that whoever came into their town was strong enough to taste their incredible food.

Guard was surprised as from the shockwaves his thick fur stood up and his eyes went wide.

"Damn, man, are you sure you're in the Second Chronicle?" Guard was surprised, "That punch was definitely Third Chronicle level."

Gael shrugged, "We Ashens train quite a bit, I have good punching technique, I think it affected the end result."

Guard nodded, "Yeah. Looks like it."

"Now, can I make my way to the tavern?" Gael asked.

"Sure. Tell the owner to pour you a free beer, you deserve it!" Guard vigorously replied.

Gael smiled slightly as he walked past Guard.

'Hmm?' Guard felt strange, he didn't see Gael's movements just as he didn't hear his footsteps, as if Gael was a ghost.

'Nah, it just seemed like it. He's strong, but I outclass him in Chronicle, that's for sure.'' Guard said confidently to himself.

Crackle.

Gael opened the old, wooden door, but it wasn't because the tavern owner was lazy or greedy. It kept the original atmosphere of this tavern that was built a long time ago.

"Agh... Unbelievable..." Gael took a deep breath, enjoying the pleasant smell of the food and alcohol that filled the entire tavern.

Inside, there were many round tables, each of which was occupied by someone in attendance. There was a huge amount of food, wine, and beer on each table. The waiters were struggling to bring the food from the kitchen in time, but it seemed that by now the food was no longer the most important thing.

"Hey! Cut the crap!" A girl with cat ears and a tail exclaimed, with an annoyed look, pointing at Beastfolk from Wolf Clan. He had black fur and cold blue eyes.

"It's obvious that we Cats are more agile than you Wolfs!" The girl said confidently with puffed-up cheeks. Her face was red as she had already had more than enough to drink.

"Hah, what a funny joke." Wolf smirked, draining the bottle of wine and pulling his dagger from his belt. He was drunk too, perhaps even more so than the girl.

"You use your agility for acrobatic tricks, and we use ours to cut our enemies into small pieces! There is a great difference between us!" The wolf smiled, holding his dagger on one finger. Even drunk, he could keep his balance, effortlessly.

"Pfft!" The girl snorted, "This cheap trick can be done by anyone! Even a child! If that's all you're capable of, no wonder my words hurt you so much!"

"Argh? What are you implying?" The wolf frowned.

"Nothing. There's no way you can beat me anyway, so none of this makes sense! Get over it!" The girl said arrogantly.

The wolf narrowed his eyes, took a sip of bourbon, and looked at her intently, "You want to fight?"

The girl smirked, "Yeah, but I don't feel like leaving here at all."

"Oh, that's not a problem. For times like this, everything can be done right now." The wolf set the bottle aside and headed towards the center of the tavern, the girl did the same.

'What...? They're going to fight right here?" Gael was puzzled.

A crack.

At the same moment, the door behind him opened as in walked in a tall Lizard, with scales all over his body, a muscular chest, and a long thick tail.

Lizard scratched his head, looking down at the floor, so he didn't notice Gael and they collided. Since Gael had purposely weakened his strength, he staggered and lost his balance fell. 

If Gael hadn't started to weaken his strength, Lizard would have bounced off him like a steel wall.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" Lizard with a worried expression said, quickly extending his hand.

Gael was silent for a few seconds, then he smiled and picked up from the ground, "It's okay. It's my own fault, I shouldn't have stood right in the aisle.

"My name is Marg, nice to meet you!" Lizard said politely. Despite his menacing appearance, he acted completely different, and Gael liked it.

"Gael, nice to meet you." Gael smiled, shaking his hand. Gael didn't bother hiding his name since thousands more Ashens had the same name, so there was no point.

"You're an Ashen...?" Marg's eyes went wide, "It's not often you meet yours in our world."

"Yeah, I've heard that before. By the way, I was wondering, is it possible to fight in a tavern?" Gael pointed back at the Wolf and the Girl, who were clearly in the mood for a duel.

"Agh... This is your first time here, isn't it?" Marg's smiled, "It was probably your punch that caused that ringing that everyone heard recently."

Gael just shrugged.

"Don't worry, those two won't stop you from enjoying your food and alcohol, on the contrary, they're about to put on a show!" Marg uttered with an excited expression.

"A show...?" Gael tilted his head in a confusion.

"Look." Marg pointed forward, and Gael turned around.

The wolf and the girl wanted to fight, but the tavern had its own rules. They could only fight in one format - arm wrestling.

In the center of the tavern, was a massive stone table, very strong, so no one could break it even if they were very strong.

Crackle.

The wolf and the girl stood across from each other and prepared for their fight.

"Hah, how many times have we done this before?" The wolf smirked, obviously enjoying what was happening.

"I don't know, but I'm sure I've won more often than not!" The girl exclaimed.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

One of the waiters quickly ran up to them, it was a Fox Clan girl with pointy ears and narrowed eyes.

"That's not true." The girl said sweetly, "This year the score between you is like this - 34/35."

"Hah, I knew you were a loser!" The wolf chuckled.

The girl frowned, "Don't worry, I'll fix it today, and we'll have a tie, and tomorrow I'll defeat you again!"

Gael turned to Marg, "And... Does that happen a lot around here?"

Marg nodded, "Sure. Definitely more than 30 times a day. During particularly active times, it happens that this table is always occupied by someone."

Gael scratched the back of his head, he didn't even know what to say.