The merchant | Tournament of Hopeful Knights King's Quest Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
You start the second chapter of the adventure with a long cutscene, where you will have the opportunity to pick your dialogue line once. Since it is of no significance, it does not affect the game itself and the ending.
After it ends, you start a short sequence, where your character is rolling down a large cliff. It does not really matter if you avoid obstacles and boulders in your way, because it is impossible to die or lose here.
As soon as you are down on the ground, you can approach the post, thanks to which you learn where the path that you can see leads. If you take the path up (to the left), you activate a cutscene, from which you learn what your animal friend Triumph is doing. However, you cannot continue up there (each time you try, you will be directed back).
Therefore, you need to go right and, after a while, you reach a dilapidated bridge. At the other side, you notice the parade of Hopeful Knights, heading for the tournament.
Of course, you can interact with the horn here, next to the heap of stones, but this does nothing. This is why, you need to backtrack a little to the hidden path, which has been hidden from your sight. Go there to progress.
Head on. As of now, you find nothing interesting here.
After a while, you reach a slanting path, up to the river. Now, you can go left to reach a tree, with a toolbox at the top. If you interact with it, you knock it down onto the ground.
Now you can approach the toolbox at the riverside. After you interact with it, you find an axe. You can find it in your inventory, now.
After that, you can go right to make it across the river. For that, hop onto the boulders in the water, to reach the other side safely. The crossing is a piece of cake and requires no additional skills. The nearby frogs are no threat to you.
At the other side, you find a broken wheel, and the narrator comments on that. After you listen to him, take the only path into the woods.
After a while, you encounter the Merchant, who asks you to help him fix the carriage. In exchange for this, he offers to give you a lift to the tournament. If you pick the axe, from the inventory, for four times, while standing next to the merchant's unicorns, you die. This way, you receive the "Unicorn Snack Food" Steam achievement. However, if you get around the animals on the right, you find a secret path into a cave. Unfortunately, after a moment's walk, you will have to get back, because this is not meant for the current chapter. For this, you will be rewarded with an achievement: "A Secret Entrance".
Since you already have the axe, which dropped out of the toolbox, approach the tree at the riverside and chop it down. During the sequence, keep tapping S, for the action to be successful. Of course, you do not interact directly here and pick the axe from the inventory instead, while standing next to the tree.
Walk over the tree trunk across the river. You do not need to worry about anything, during the action.
Head into the dark forest and run down the path. Along your way, you run into bushes several times, which you can interact with. By doing that, you wake up monsters, which are agitated by your presence. However, they are no threat to you.
After a while, you run into a passage blocked with sharp roots, to the well. If you interact with them, you learn that this must be the well from the previous chapter of the game. However, if you walk straight into the roots, you die instantly and you are rewarded with a Steam achievement: "A Prickly Situation".
At the end of the path, you get to see a city, with a locked gate. You need to approach the wall and climb over the rocks, sticking out. With movement keys, you aim at the stones, after which you need to jump to grab on to them (interaction).
Now, you can open the gate at the other side, thanks to which you can cross the gate on your way back. However, you need to remember that it is imperative that you close the gate while leaving the city (this has to do with an achievement that you obtain later into the game).
While at the market place, you can visit thee locations. The first one is the forge, where there is a decorative shield. You should note that you can use any of the special items available in the city as the cart wheel and it does not matter which one you pick. Of course, as soon as you pick one for your equipment, you will be unable to pick any of the rest of them.
If you go to the bakery, you can pick up a loaf of stale bread, which is just as good a choice.
In the alchemist's shop you can obtain table - the last one of the available items.
As soon as you collect the makeshift wheel, you can simply head back to the merchant who is waiting for it/ Now, you can be on your way to the tournament. Before you mount the cart, however, the merchant offers a special ticket to you. This is a trick, which is why you should keep refusing his offer, even though the price keeps going down. If you decide to buy the ticket, you only lose some money and will be mocked by the staff of the tournament.