Light made its way inside, followed by the appearance of a man, average height, wearing leather armour, a sword hanging by his waist.

"Oh, you’re awake. Come now, before the boss gets angry."

Luke did the obvious. He followed him, glancing around, trying to find a way to escape. All he saw was more people, dressed in the same way as the one he was following, yet their weaponry varied from polearms to axes.

"We’re here. Better don’t try anything funny."

Luke reached for the door knob, noticing his ring was still on his finger.

"I thought these guys were bandits. I wonder what they want from me." thought Luke, right as he was heading inside.

The boss was waiting, sitting at a wooden table, holding a mug of ale.

"Come, sit down."

Luke’s hair rose up on his arms when he heard his voice. He felt small, yet he suppressed the feeling, telling himself it would be fine.

"So, tell me, what’s your deal?" asked the man, slowly moving his mug, looking at Luke with a sparkling interest.

"What do you mean by deal?"

The man frowned ever so slightly. "I mean, what are you doing in these parts? It has been ages since somebody came on these roads. Consider yourself lucky that I’m a curious person, otherwise, you’d be dead already." followed by a gulp, and an empty mug.

"Well, there’s this one village I come from, and I want to help it prosper." answered Luke in a straight forward manner, yet still afraid of the beast of a man sitting across the table.

"Hm... interesting. So, how do you plan to make it ‘prosper’?"

Luke offered a smirk, followed by the words, "A brothel. That’s how."

"With pretty women?"

"That’s right."

The man came closer.

"Food and drinks?"

"Fuck yeah."

He laid back in his chair, still swinging his mug around, yet the atmosphere changed to a leisurely one.

"Kid, you speak my language. I like you, let’s have a drink."

Both of them went to the main room, all eyes laid on them.

"Boys!" shouted out a strong voice, catching everyone’s attention, "let us have a drink. I have a new drinking buddy, let’s see how well will he last."

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Everyone started cheering, clearing the way, placing a big table in the middle of the room, then bringing two barrels, full of ale.

"Join me..."

"Luke, my name’s Luke."

"Call me Ogre."

The confused Luke sat down. He went from prisoner to drinking buddy with these guys just because he mentioned the brothel. His eyes swung around, only to be met with cheers from those who were already drunk. He then glanced at the ring still resting on his finger. Before he could even say anything, a mug as big as his head appeared on the table, filled to the brim.

"Boy..." called out the already familiar voice, "Let me tell you something. If you happen to outdrink me, you can become the new leader of the band. That’s a funny tradition we have, so I’m letting you..." his words were cut short by the beer that was filling his stomach.

Luke smelled the drink, they gulped it down at the same pace as the Ogre.

"OOO! The boy’s got guts!" yelled out someone from the sildelines. Everyone gathered around, ready to witness one of the greatest events for them. All cheered on, some for the Ogre, while some cheered on the newbie.

Mugs went up and down, moving in a perpetual motion, similar to the planets orbiting the sun.

"You... -hic- are –hic- a good drinker..." spoke the Ogre, his face flushed in a bright red shade.

Luke, he himself red as the setting sun, spoke like the drinks were barely enough to make him tipsy.

"Ogre, you’re the best drinking friend I ever had. Cheers!"

Their mugs met, only to be emptied for the who knows what time. A thud was heard, and the Ogre was unconscious.

Luke, still wanting more to drink, raised one of the empty barrels, then sent it flying into a wall, knocking it down.

"Hey! What do you think you’re doing!" shouted out someone, swinging their axe at Luke. He grabbed it, then sent both the axe and its wielder flying in the same wall. No one could touch him, no matter what. They could only bring him more ale, hopping that his thirst will, at one point, calm down. Yet now, it was raging like the sea, crashing drinks down, swallowing them up.

The bandits grew afraid, seeing that the drinks were running out.

"What are we going to do? He’ll just break this whole place."

"Right!? We have to stop him...", gulping down seeing how Luke kept throwing empty barrels, "yet I don’t know how..."

A strong sense of disaster struck them head on, seeing how their boss was sleeping like a baby, despite hell breaking out around him. Countless members of the gang tried to challenge Luke, only to be thrown around, yet some of them enjoyed it. Being able to try to fight someone stronger than them without being killed instantly was fun.

The two henchmen looked at each other, their emotions now gone like someone had erased them. Perhaps Luke winnning the drinking contest was a good thing.

Before they could imagine the good times, another part of the wall fell into a pile of dust.

"We came to get Luke!" yelled a voice through the dust cloud. Right in front of his eyes, the current madness could be seen. The bandits came closer and fell to their knees.

"Please, we beg you! Take him! We have no more ale, he’s ruining this place!"

Mark and Angela, confused as one could be, nodded in approval. Mark approached Luke, who was drunk to his core, yet happy to see his friend. He picked Luke up, and like a father carrying their sleeping child inside the house, took him back to their ride, somewhere nearby.

The same figure who was the first to meet Luke approached. "You’d better bring him back. The boys will be waiting for their new boss."

Mark’s head was more than filled with "Boss? How the fuck..." and things like that, yet he silently nodded before making his exit.

They made their way back to the main road, Luke sleeping soundly, unbothered by the bumpy road. Angela whispered, "Just what did he do there to be accepted as their boss?"

Mark focused his gaze on her, making the expression one would make when telling their darkest secret, only to whisper back "I got no fucking clue..."