Chapter 4: The Tipsy Trophy.

"... Huh?" Seth blurted out.

Brahm laughed. "You heard me right. You were talking all about her being your type, Heh I dare you to say that in front of her."

Seth replied. "Brahm, I was just joking…"

"Can't back out now." Brahm walked down the hallway not continuing to talk. 

'Number one thing I didn't want to happen, happened, what kind of luck is this?' Seth was disappointed.

After some time, Brahm stopped in front of a normal-looking brown door, he was about to put his hands on the door handle when the door opened as a young girl walked out.

"Hi, Lina." Seth said but Lina didn't reply, instead, she nodded trying to leave quickly. She wasn't in any mood for chit-chat.

'I thought she was the talkative type, what's up with her.' Seth thought as he became more afraid of Sasha.

Brahm entered the room, followed by Seth.

The room was narrow and long, and at the end was Sasha, She was sitting at her desk doing paperwork, in front of her was a chair, and on the side, there were two long sofas. Behind her was a large window and on her left was another door.

"Hello, darling." Said Sasha.

Brahm replied. "Honey, this is Seth, he's beginning to learn Caelin. So I'm introducing him to everyone."

'I guess they are not roleplaying anymore.' Seth thought as he nodded.

Sasha looked at Seth as she spoke in a low voice. "I see, pleasure to meet you, Seth, my name is Sasha Schmidt, and I supervise all the models in Crown and Canvas. Today is Tuesday, you will begin on Monday. You're free to go wherever you want and do whatever you want, just make sure to be here in my office by Monday."

'Why is she speaking so much?' Seth thought as he questioned.

"Uhh, Ma'am Sasha at what time should I be here?" 

"Be here at four." Sasha answered without a change in her expression.

Seth looked beside him where Brahm was supposed to be, but he saw no one.

"... Ma'am Sasha may I ask something?"

Sasha, slightly annoyed said. "Brahm went into my room."

Seth didn't say anything as he left. 

Walking down the hallway he thought.

'So far I'm not in immediate danger but why did Brahm leave so fast? Wasn't he trying to introduce me to everyone? How did a 190cm giant just disappear like that without making any sound in such a tiny room? Brahm wouldn't just leave me like that, would he? Clearly, he did but whatever the case he doesn't seem to be as simple as I thought. My cheat might be harder to discover, or I overestimated Sasha's abilities. Whatever it is, I can't drop my guard against any of these people here.'

Seth went down the stairs re-entering the first floor seeing that Edith was teasing Lina, Seth paid no attention to them as he walked out of the mansion.

'Sasha said I'm free to do whatever I want, so I guess it's time to explore this place.'

Seth didn't encounter any carriages for a while because Crown and Canvas had bought a large plot of land to keep carriages away from the mansion, preventing them from stinking it up with the smell of horses.

'This mansion stands out like a sore thumb. While most houses here are two or three stories, this one has seven! I'm convinced that Crown and Canvas is no ordinary company. Regardless of the high nobles they serve, it doesn't make sense to have a seven-story mansion unless they're involved in something more than just offering the latest fashions.' 

These thoughts floated in Seth's mind as he finally left the land of Crown and Canvas and entered Caeloria's stinky streets.

…

"Excuse me, where is the history section?" Seth asked.

The man behind the desk said as if he was tired of everything. " The history book section is at the back of the library, on the second floor."

Seth replied. "Thank you very much" 

he began ascending to the second floor and then continuing to move towards the back of the library.

'The best form of information, books!'

As he arrived at the history section Seth took out a book named Chronicles of Caeloria and began to read.

…

'After the god of land slayed the god of skies, he took on the title of god of both land and skies and then declared war on the god of seas? Seems like the gods are treating the world like a game of rock-paper-scissors.' Seth chuckled. 'What's next, the god of snacks declaring war on the god of naps? ' As an atheist in his previous life, Seth didn't take the so-called gods seriously, mocking them and blaspheming them whenever the opportunity arose, of course, this bad trait of his remained even in this world.

Seth continued to read when he started laughing out loud catching the gaze of almost every other person in the library.

'Oh, the god of land and sky—what a show-off! You'd think with all that power, he'd be able to handle a splash of water. But no, he ended the battle in a "draw" and had lifted a quarter of the continent as a "gift" for his people, yeah right, more like he lost and the only way to save his kingdom from the sea god and other factions was to lift half of it high up in the air and escape with his tail between his legs! Heh, I guess in a way that worked, what was left of Caeloria was conquered and split by others and this piece of land was left in the air, abandoned and unbothered for several hundreds of years.'

With his special ability, he quickly read the rest of the book and comprehended it.

'As I expected, there were tons of lies and exaggerated truths but I got the gist of Caeloria's history and how it came to be.' Although there were many other books about Caeloria and various kingdoms, after reading Chronicles of Caeloria Seth chose to leave.

Seth left the library and once again started to explore the dirty and smelly town.

'Caeloria now is a secluded place, basking in its previous glory. I've confirmed that I am really in a floating kingdom and the problem is that not many people visit this place. All the history books about other kingdoms are most likely outdated and filled with even more lies to make Caeloria look greater than them.'

After the night slowly approached, he stumbled upon a not-too-shabby-looking bar.

Wanting to blow off some steam Seth thought.

'Old habits die hard, huh? Even in another world, I'm still the same..'

…

Entering the bar Seth walked up the stairs he was met with strange gazes. The bar was nothing too fancy. Illuminated by gas lamps right as you entered you could see the bar counter, on the sidelines there were wood round tables, and there was a huge empty space in the middle of the bar. The drunkards had not arrived yet. The bar was just filled with poor-looking people wanting to quickly drink and leave before it was too late.

Seth approached the bar counter and noticed an old man enjoying a drink. The man was dressed in casual clothes— a plain white shirt, black trousers, and a pair of ordinary boots. With his thick white beard and hair, a scar running across his eye, and fierce expression, he resembled a seasoned warrior.

"Yer all dressed up fancy for a bar like this, ain't ya? Ye from Rena or somethin'?" The old man said in Rennaric

Seth replied in Caelin as his eyes glowed briefly. "I'm sorry?"

"Ye know Caelin, do ya? Quite a surprise, lookin' all fancy like yer from Rena. No one'd ever guess, eh?" The old man realizing that Seth knew Caelin no longer bothered speaking in Rennaric.

"Well, disappointed to burst your bubble, old man but I'm not from Rena, never even seen the place." Seth spoke as he looked at the old man and then at the bartender he sat down and continued. "I'll have whatever he's having" Seth raised his head towards the old man, "And a meal you enjoy the most from the menu."

"Alright, one Rustic Refresher and a simple porkchop coming right up, that will be four copper Caelcoins."

Seth was dazed; he had forgotten that he was in a new world. Not only did he have no money, but he also didn't know anything about the currency—its name, its value, or any other detail.

He patted his pockets and said. "Unfortunately, I left my wallet at home"

The bartender looked at him, processing what the young man dressed so fancily had just said when the old man replied.

"No worries, kid—this one's on me. Just tell me a bit more 'bout yerself, will ya?" As he said this he took out four copper Caelcoins and put them on the counter.

"I guess if you insist. Name's Seth, not from around this place, if you haven't figured that one out yet."

The bartender put down Seth's drink and food in front of him.

Taking a huge bite of the porkchop he listened to the old man.

"Good to meet ya, kid. Name's Uiseann Webb, but ye can call me Sean for short." Sean said not stopping to talk. "Bout not bein' from around here—I've already figured that one out—where're ya from? Ye got no accent; ye talk like ye were born right here in Caeloria!."

Seth took a sip of his drink, gauging its strength, as he gulped it down, before he was going to speak Sean yelled out.

"Yer impressive kid! That is the strongest drink in this whole bar, and ye downed it like it was a glass o' water on a hot day! Ain't seen anyone handle it like that before—'course, me and some others bein' the exception.."

Seth was disappointed as he spoke. "This was the strongest drink? Tsk thought I could blow off some steam coming here, but the strongest drink is just child's play! I can drink this all day and it wouldn't affect me in the slightest!"

The bartender listened to both as if he'd just won the lottery.

Sean hollered. "Yer crazy, kid! Do ya know how many folks ye've just offended with that? Might've stirred up a hornet's nest with that tongue o' yers"

The bartender sensing Seth's confused look quickly told him. "Take a look right beside you."

Seth did as he was instructed, smiling at his view.

What he saw was a poster. On the poster there were various names ranked from tenth to first and at the right of their names there were numbers.

"Heh, so basically I said I'm better at drinking than most of them?" Seth realized why Sean would say that he offended many people. "So what? I am indeed, too bad I don't have enough money or my name would be plastered at number one!"

All the people in the bar looked at Seth as some smiled, some frowned, some laughed, some whispered between each other, and some hurriedly left.

Before the bartender could say some more old man Sean yelled out crazily.

"Yer absolutely insane! This ol' man's got a real admiration for yer guts. Challengin' all them folks—good on ya! Ye don't hafta pay a ting. This here's a proper drink-off: the loser foots the bill for all the drinks and pays the winner half o' it! Most important part? Yer name gets plastered on the poster! As we say in Fale Gaya, 'You've got the spirit of a lion,' and 'Fortune favors the bold!"

Seth began laughing. "Excellent! Then when will the number one—John Carney come?"

Sean was about to praise Seth for his guts once again when a deep voice was heard.

"I heard there was some brat talking about being able to last all day drinking Rustic Refresher"

Sean laughed in excitement.

"Speak o' the devil, kid—here's yer man, John Carney! Things are 'bout to get right lively, so don't be disappointin' me after all that big talk, especially not in front o' John Carney. If ye back out now, yer reputation'll plummet quicker than we do when leavin' this floatin' ol' rock!"

John Carney was a normal-looking Caelorian with brown eyes and brown hair standing at 197cm. he was surprised by Seth's appearance.

"A Renan scum? What are you doing here in Caeloria? Not satisfied down there you came flyin' up, wanting more of our land?"

Seth answered. "You got it all wrong buddy, I ain't from Rena, and can we get on with this chit-chat? I can't wait to see my name up on that so-called Triumph board instead of yours!."

John Carney frowned. "You sure talk a lot of bravado."

The bartender smiling knowing that he was about to make a ton of money yelled out to his staff. "Set up the Triumph table!"

…

Behind and in front of a small table stood two gentlemen—Seth and John Carney. Behind them, a massive array of ingredients for making Rustic Refresher was laid out. On the sidelines, people roared and cheered for both Seth and John Carney, adding to the excitement of the moment.

"Kick his butt, Seth!"

"Show him why you're the number one John!"

The main reason why people were that excited was because they could bet on who would emerge victorious,

"Are you gentleman ready?" Spoken by a female worker 

"I Shot out from my father ready!" John Carney yelled out.

People on the sidelines watching Seth and John Carney burst out in laughter.

Seth laughed along with them beginning to drink Rustic Refresher, followed by John Carney.

The drinks quickly piled up, and once they reached the twenties more and more people entered The Tipsy Trophy surprised by the situation.

"Someone really challenged John?"

"Yeah, he is a new face. Looks like he's Renan, but speaks and acts like a true Caelorian, says that he ain't from around here though."

Slowly but surely as more and more people entered the more drinks piled up, it exceeded the previous record of John Carney, Seth, even if he lost would have his name in second place on The Triumph board!

"Ye sure ain't all talk, kid—ye exceeded my expectations, that's fer sure! But now the real challenge begins. When the stuff gets tough and both o' y'all start feelin' tipsy, that's when it gets hardest and most excitin'!" Sean hollered in excitement cheering for Seth.

Although John Carney was number one on The Triumph Board and drank daily, he never in his life drank this much. If it wasn't for the fact that he was competing against a young man who should not be even capable of drinking Rustic Refresher, He would've been long blacked out, John Carney's will alone kept him awake!

Seth, although having less experience drinking than John Carney. He had experienced much more heavy and strong drinks in much greater numbers, in his previous life. He was not hanging by a thread like John Carney and could actually continue for the whole night!

Seth gulped down another Rustic Refresher when he looked at the old man Sean and smirked.

"The real challenge? Did you think I was lying when I said I could drink this for a whole day? This is like a walk in the park!"

John Carney's will shattered, he blacked out hearing that Seth could go on longer and was not in the same place as him.

The whole bar went crazy!