S16, Tavern Night

Thud!

It was soon in the morning and many of the trainees were practicing with their spears in the training grounds. All of them were hitting wooden poles under Instructor’s Remme and Instructor’s Marcus attentive watch.

“Put more strength on those strikes!” An angry looking Instructor Remme shouted. “You, Red Hair! I told you twice already! When thrusting you have to use your weight on it to increase the power, you are not going anywhere until you manage to do it properly!” He sounded just like an army sergeant and I wondered once again if he had been a soldier in the past.

“It’s better if you grab the spear this way.” On the other side of the group of trainees Instructor Marcus was demonstrating how to properly handle the weapons. His smiling face and easygoing attitude was a striking contrast to Instructor Remme’s shouts. “See? If you do it like this you will have an easier time when doing follow up moves or defending.”

“We shouldn’t be doing this kind of exercise this late in the training period! Your performance in the dungeon is really lacking this year!” Instructor Remme kept harshly admonishing the novice adventurers. “Both our guild’s alchemist and herbalist are almost out of healing supplies! I’m going to make sure you wont go into the dungeon until you can properly take care of yourselves!”

“Ugh, I can’t do this anymore. I cant feel my arms!” Falnid complained close to me and Instructor Remme glared at him.

Despite doing quite well our group had also been forced to take part in this training. It seemed like everyone had been called here in various batches since a few days ago.

“Alright, you can take a short break! After that you will be practicing in pairs!” Finally Instructor Remme showed us some mercy.

“Ah, finally some rest!” At my side Terence took a waterskin from its belt and started drinking with big gulps.

“Ugh, I won’t be able to endure Bolton’s strikes like this.” Falnid protested again, this time without raising his voice.

“I will hold back a little.” Bolton told him in with his usual quiet voice.

“You always say that, but I end up in the floor almost every time I try to stop your spear!” Falnid pointed an accusatory finger up at Bolton.

“That’s not Bolton’s fault, you are simply too small,” Terence teased Falnid before wiping some water off his chin with his sleeve.

‘I hope these exercises end soon.’ I thought from the side without saying anything.

Right now I would rather be practicing my mana sense than repeating basic spear moves that I had already mastered years ago. A couple days ago, after drinking a palemoss potion, I had finally been able to grasp a bit of my internal mana and to slightly stir it up.

“Dammit, and we had planned to take all the day free.” Falnid was really annoyed that we had been forced to do these exercises. “I wanted to go buy that dagger first thing in the morning! I swear if someone bought it before me…” He paused for a moment. “I’m gonna put a whole bag of mouthburner in the instructors’ food!”

Yesterday we had handed the last varan hide to the guild and had received the reward for the task. Four silver coins, one for each of us. I had also planned to go shopping in the morning and to do some mana training in the afternoon.

“Well, we can take things easy for a couple days. We could go gather herbs tomorrow morning and take the afternoon free,” Terence said. “Also, after lunch you will have plenty of time to go shopping before our dinner party.”

Since we had ended our first serious mission we had decided to throw a party in the same tavern we had dinned after receiving the payment for our first task. We had been going there from time to time to drink and knew there wouldn’t be a problem even if we got a bit loud.

“Heya! How are you doing?” Stroud, the leader of another group of trainees, cheerfully greeted us. Lately we had been doing some joint training following his suggestion.

“Hi Stroud, we are doing quite well. What about your group?” Terence answered him with what seemed like a genuinely radiant smile.

“Not bad, it seems we are finally prepared to leave behind the rats and the lizards and enter the caves. Instructor Marcus is going to guide us there after we are done with these damn exercises.” He said, discreetly glaring at Instructor Remme. “By the way I heard you already completed the varans task.”

“Yes, we hunted the last one yesterday. We are throwing a party tonight, wanna join us?”

“Uh, no thanks. We are a bit short on money.” Stroud declined rubbing the back of his head with a nervous smile. “Anyway I’m quite envious of you. I’m not sure if we will be able to handle those scaly monsters, even with the five of us.”

During the exchange the rest of Stroud’s group members had come closer. I could only remember the name of two of them, Rupert, their tall vanguard, and Bert, the light bearer with the mischievous grin.

“Anyway, I was wondering if you want to join us for the next part of the training. I have been practicing quite a bit and am really looking forward to a rematch with you and Simon.”

“Yes! We will join you!” Falnid rushed to accept in Terence’s behalf. He looked like he had been spared from a harsh punishment.

Stroud’s companions weren’t bad. Their spearsmanship had been quite lacking when we began training together, but had improved quite a lot since then. Now they mostly lacked real battle experience. Stroud himself was really good with both the spear and the sword, although he wasn’t yet at Terence level. His free style swordsmanship made quite a good addition to our sparring sessions.

“Attention everyone! We are resuming the training!” Instructor Remme announced the end of the break.

…

Soon after the sunset the four of us arrived in front of the tavern in the southern side of town. The night was warm and cheerful voices could be heard from inside the building.

“We are staying until we can’t walk straight!” Everyone was looking forward to the dinner, but Falnid was the most vocal about it.

Once inside we saw half a dozen villagers staying in the illuminated spots close to the counter. There were also some middle aged adventurers in the shadowed tables near the left wall, all members of the Grey Hounds guild.

“Ugh, they had to come today of all days.” A expression of annoyance showed in Falnid’s face.

Personally I had only experienced that small incident with one of their members. But since coming to Algus I had heard a lot of bad rumors about the lot of them. The last I had heard was that some trainees who encountered them inside the dungeon had been extorted and had to give up on their catches.

Most of their members were iron plates and one of their main preys were also varans. Which were relatively easy to find near the dungeon entrance without risking to pass by the kobold’s territory.

What should we do?” I asked slightly concerned.

When they had a good hunt they would often celebrate drinking loudly in the illuminated tables, but today they seemed to be in a sour mood. They had probably been unable to catch anything today.

“Let’s stay. Hopefully they will leave soon,” Terence said throwing an unfriendly glance in their direction.

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“Old Winthrop, today we are ordering plenty of food and drinks. Make sure the ale doesn’t stop coming!” Approaching the counter Falnid greeted the owner. He was a plump and affable old man with only a few remaining white hairs at the sides of his head.

“Oh! Did you complete a task with a nice reward?” Old Winthrop asked with a surprised smile.

“Sure we did, and we are throwing a party tonight.” Falnid replied with a gleeful grin.

Having asked for a small banquet to be served the four of us sat in one of the well lit tables, not far from the counter.

“Look at this beauty,” Falnid said just after sitting as he pulled a dagger from his belt. “I convinced the smith to give me a small discount!”

The fifteen inches long weapon had a straight steel blade and a carved deer horn handle. Separating them was a small metal guard and at the end a round metallic pommel helped balance the weapon.

“How much did that cost?” Terence inquired raising an eyebrow.

“Twelve tiny silvers.” Falnid said proudly.

“That’s more than you got from the reward!” Terence exclaimed with surprise.

“It’s alright.” Falnid dismissed his concerns with a wave of his hand. “I have been saving up for some time. Don’t think you are the only ones that can do it.” He added with a smug expression.

“Well, I hope you can make good use of it.” Terence said shaking his head.

“Of course. I plan to use it during important quests. It’s a lot better than the ones given by the guild. Simon also got quite a few things, but none of them is a blade.” He sounded slightly disappointed about the last fact. He had been nagging me about buying another dagger that had caught his eye.

“They are tools to remove the fangs and claws of monsters. This way I can safe time when I dismantle them,” I told Falnid.

“Oh, that sounds interesting, maybe I should get some too.”

Once the food arrived the conversation died a little while everyone focuses on the meal. Tonight’s main dish was dungeon lizard stew. We had also ordered spicy roasted pork ribs with mouthburner sauce.

“Your southerner cuisine is so flavorless.” Falnid sighted while dipping a rib in the sauce. “This would barely be considered mild in Vesturkal.”

“Your tongues must be completely burned from eating so much mouthburner. No wonder you like to eat rat meat up there,” Terence teased Falnid.

“Bullshit! I can taste this mead perfectly.” Falnid exclaimed gulping his drink.

“Hi guys, in the end we meet again.” Around the time most of the food had been consumed and we were beginning to speed up on the drinks Stroud and his companions entered the tavern.

“Hey, Stroud, are you guys here for dinner?” Falnid greeted them.

“Nah, just for some drinks.” Stroud denied.

“Then join us, we just ended our dinner.” Falnid told them with a cheerful smile.

“Alright, let us order some drinks first.”

“Wait, let me invite you guys to a round.” Terence got up from his seat and headed for the counter, he was looking a bit tipsy.

“Eh? No need, we can at least pay for our drinks.” Stroud tried to stop him.

“I insist! C’mon, you know we got ourselves a nice reward.” Terence insisted pushing Stroud away. Soon him and his group joined us to celebrate the completion of the varans’ task.

“Let’s have a toast, for free drinks bought by a good friend!” Stroud exclaimed raising his mug of ale.

“Cheers!” Shouted everyone.

“Not bad, but since we are having a toast we should use some more proper liquor,” Terence declared placing a bottle of spirits on the table. “Old Winthrop said this one was made with distilled fruits from the orchard. Bring your mugs, let me fill them!”

“We should make a toast for luck hunting in the dungeon!” Falnid exclaimed.

“Wait, Falnid. I bought the bottle, let me decide the toast!”

“Alright, what’s the toast for?”

“Hmm, give me a moment to think.” Terence pondered caressing his chin.

“So guys, what task are you planning to do next?” Stroud asked.

“We haven’t decided yet, maybe Simon has some idea. He is the most experienced when it comes to hunting.” Falnid signaled toward me with his mug.

“There is nothing that has taken our attention.” I told Stroud. “We will probably be doing whatever pops in the bulletin board. And if we come across a varan during a mission we will most likely focus on hunting hunt it. They are quite valuable even without the task’s reward.”

“Alright guys, I got our toast!” Terence shouted interrupting my talk with Stroud. “For a fair reward after an arduous job!”

“Cheers!” Everyone chug down the strong alcohol. It was my first time drinking such a beverage and it felt like my throat was being set on fire.

After that the party only got louder as the nine of us drank together.

“Can you lads stop being so annoying!” Suddenly the voice of a middle-aged man rang inside the tavern. It was a rude looking adventurer from the Grey Hounds. “You have been yelling all night, can you shut up already!”

“Excuse us, but this is a tavern, and it’s normally as loud as this,” Terence replied bluntly, far from his usual politeness. Probably the alcohol had gotten to his head as I was also feeling quite tipsy.

Following Terence’s words a few members of the Grey Hounds got up from their seats and glared at us. On our side a few people also stood up, ready to confront them.

Feeling alarmed I also hurriedly got up from my seat. “Wait, goodmen. My friend didn’t pretend to be so rude, he has just drank a bit too much.” I said, trying to calm the situation.

“What! You think that’s an excuse after spoiling our night and messing with us? You brats are given a toy plate and believe you are better than veteran adventurers.” Said the same man who had shouted before.

“I’m sorry, it’s true we have been a little loud.” I bowed slightly. It was obvious we weren’t at fault, but I wanted to avoid starting a tavern fight.

“An apology isn’t going to cut it! For starters you should be paying our tab after fucking up our dinner!” The crude man belligerently walked towards us.

“Ha! We aren’t giving a copper to scum like you!” Stroud shouted.

“Damn brat! I’m gonna teach you how to respect your seniors!” Another of the Grey Hounds cussed at him from his seat.

“Stop! Goodmen, we can talk this peacefully.” I said as I got myself between our table and the approaching adventurer.

“Ah? Get out of the way or I will also give you a lesson!” Blurted the most rude looking adventurer, the one who had started all this.

“Please, wait!” I lifted my arms to the sides, desperately trying to cut the man’s path.

“Simon! If you act like that they are going to look down on you. People like them need a good beating to listen properly!” Falnid’s voice came from behind. “Trust me! I have seen a lot of bullies like that back home!”

“Yeah, Falnid is right, these assholes need to learn a lesson themselves!” Stroud shouted again.

‘Ugh! What should I do now? Father always told me I should try to avoid trouble with this kind of people.’

Looking for help I tried to meet Terence eyes, but he was focused on the Grey Hound members, ready for a fight.

“I have had enough! You little shits!” The adventurer in front pushed me out of the way.

Everyone on our group started to move, including Stroud and his companions. On the other side of the tavern the adventurer’s comrades also got up. I counted eight, including the one that just pushed me. Old Winthrop wore a worried look on his face and the few townspeople rushed to get out of the way as the two groups were about to clash.

“Well, you were asking for it brats!” Another of the Gray Hound members yelled and approached us with a grin on his face.

Chairs started to fly and some tables toppled as the fight started. Stroud was exchanging blows with the adventurer that had begun the fuss. Rupert, the vanguard of Stroud’s group, a boy not smaller than Bolton circled the fallen furniture to meet the Gray Hound members head on. Meanwhile Bert, the guy with the mischievous smile followed behind him with a stool in hand. The other two trainees kept their positions, waiting for someone to approach them while eyeing some suitable makeshift weapons.

As for my companions, Falnid was behind a table hurling mugs and anything else he could find at the approaching adventurers. Bolton was already engaged with an opponent that had jumped over the toppled furniture. The man was physically lacking compared with our vanguard, but he managed to evade most of Bolton’s punches while countering him. As for Terence, he was trying to break a chair’s feet to use as a club.

“Are you scared, brat? Do you wanna call for mommy?” In front of me a man in dark clothes mocked me, he seemed amused by the situation. Seeing him I got really angry.

‘Falnid is right. To hell with all this! I really wanna punch his face!’

These assholes were just having fun, they weren’t better than thugs. I clenched my fists and put my guard up.

“Oh, are you gonna punch me, little boy?” The man said sneering. “Good, good, most newbies these days don’t have the balls needed for this job.”

I silently glared at him and answered with a straight punch at his smug face. The adventurer blocked it with his arms and, obviously having fun, threw a punch back to test me. I bent my body to evade and hit his chin with an uppercut.

‘Hell, Yes!’ The sensation I felt after landing the hit was more satisfying than I would want to admit.

“Ugh!” The adventurer took a step back and rubbed his chin. I threw another punch that he managed to block and soon we began to exchange blows.

“It seem this years’ batch isn’t so bad,” the man said in the middle of the brawl, he sounded conceited but his fists were getting more frantic.

We kept fighting, sometimes mixing a kick in with the punches. I did my best to keep my distance from the adventurer, he was tall and muscular so it would be troublesome if he got a hold of me.

‘If I hadn’t drunk this would be easier.’

I could feel the alcohol in my body dulling my movements. My fists were inaccurate, my steps felt unsteady and my reactions were slow. I could barely spare a glance at my companions’ own brawls.

Some of them were engaged in individual fights, while others were teaming up in couples. Falnid was the only one without an opponent and was running around helping the others. It seemed that the Grey Hound members had the advantage, as soon as someone from our side fell the combat would tip in their favor.

I needed to finish my foe as soon as possible and go help my friends, but as I grew restless my feet slipped on a puddle on the floor and I lost my balance.

“Uff!” The adventurer took the chance to hit my side and I groaned as the air left my lungs.

“Dumb brat! You should be looking at me!” The man laughed arrogantly despite being quite battered himself and I made use of the time to regain my stance. I had also gotten pretty bruised during our exchange and looked around pondering if I should find a weapon.

“You shouldn’t do that, kid.” The sneering adventurer advised me. “If you get a weapon I will do the same. It’s better to use just our fists, we will both appreciate it tomorrow.”

He was right. In a way it was the same reason no one would take out a knife in a tavern fight, once a blade was out the consequences would be a lot worse for both parties. I clenched my fists harder and got ready to continue.

“Who the fuck is messing my parents’ tavern!” A familiar voice suddenly shouted from the door.

“Oh, shit. It’s Marcus!” One of the Gray Hound members recognized the owner of the voice and stopped fighting.

I turned my head to look at the door. There was Marcus accompanied by Old Winthrop. Marcus took a serious glance at everyone fighting before rushing like a flash at the nearest Grey Hound adventurer and punching him in the stomach.

“Huff!” The man fell on the floor and twisted in pain while grabbing his belly.

Not bothering to see if the adventurer would stand up Marcus moved again. With the same blinding speed he shortened the distance to another Grey Hound, grabbed his arm out of the way and also struck him in the stomach with his knee. The force of the hit made the astonished man fly up in the air.

‘Those movements are too fast, is he using mana to reinforce them?’

I focused back on my opponent, just in time to see something approaching me and blocking my vision.

‘Uh?’

Thud.