[Day 12]

  By the time I woke up, it was getting dark outside already. The noises from outside of my room were sneaking in through the gaps in the wooden door, most of them easily identifiable as Bryga’s voice. Mark was nowhere to be seen; probably downstairs with the others, then. He and Talisha definitely had quite a bit to catch up on.

  I walked down, finding Fink and the others already sitting around the wooden table, the sight almost the same as the one from the breakfast a few days ago. Dusk and Timmy were nowhere to be seen, though.

  “Finally, he woke up! I was beginning to think you were dead!” Bryga’s familiar laughter silenced every other sound as she boomed, her tankard of beer swinging in the air as she sat on the ground. “Mark told me you were drunk with the goblins! Is that right?!”

  The memory of waking up in the street re-surfaced. God, the flashbacks of that morning would probably haunt me forever, wouldn’t they? “I did. The goblins gave me some drink Martin made, and that’s the last thing I remember from that night.”

  “That he did, duh! Ya should have seen him! Drank all of us into oblivion, he did duh!” A voice added onto my comment, immediately recognizable as well.

  Walking over to the table, I took a seat next to Crudia.

  Gummz sat opposite of me, next to Fink, gnawing at a bird leg. The smell of cooked meat made me salivate. How long has it been since I’ve had a proper meal? Who ate it was still more interesting, though. “What the fuck is Gummz doing here?”

  “Dusk said the leader of the runaway goblins should join the meetings. I agreed.” Mark said, looking out of the inn’s window.

  “Speaking of Fink, where is he? Crudia mentioned something about him before…”

  Mark chuckled. “He basically rules the city now. Humbled the city guard, implemented some hunting tactics and they basically treat him like a god now. I saw some of them come for him an hour ago. He seemed so awkward about the situation that Talisha couldn’t stop laughing.”

  “Dusk is leading them very well though! We’ve made good progress! Followed Mark’s advice on trap building as well!” Crudia smiled, nibbling on some bread.

  “I also updated them on all we’ve been through, and talked about the traps and fortifications. We should go check them out once you eat.” Mark said as he looked over the table now.

  “Ahh, that’s boring! He should join me for a drink! Dusk refuses to party with me now, that boor!” Bryga boomed again. Even though she seemed relaxed, I could see the way she looked at Fink, as if checking if he was still there. It was nice to see that the sense of friendship wasn’t just one-way.

  “Girl, I’m all for party life and all, but I actually agree with Mark for once.” Talisha said, sitting on top of the table, in the middle of food. Why did she have to sit right on top of that bird I wanted to eat? Could I grab it? It was weird, grabbing food from the middle of a guide’s body, right? Or was it?

  I took it anyway.

  “You all are boors! Fink and Shrimpie coming back calls for celebration!” Bryga raised her tankard again and took several long gulps, her expression surly. It was funny, how small the tankard seemed in her huge hands.

  Another thought struck me then, a memory of what I talked about with Crudia. “Crudia said you all sparred while we were gone? I thought maybe we could combine Mark’s boring bird-watching and a duel outside the city. What do you say, Bryga?”

  Her face lit up immediately. “Oh hell yeah! I wanted to spar with you for a long time, little man!”

  “Me too, me too!” Crudia stood up, leaning over me. “I’ve improved a lot! You won’t beat me this time, Shrimpie!”

  “I don’t do bird watching, dude! That’s old people stuff!” Mark hissed, so offended that even I was surprised. It was obviously an offhanded insult, just like usual!

  “Whoah, hold on there! It’s a cool hobby. What the hell do you have against bird-watching?” Talisha’s voice got angrier as well as she hovered next to Mark, staring him down.

  “I am not having this conversation. I agree, Shrimpie. Let’s have you all duel. Maybe I’ll have the pleasure of watching Crudia kick your ass today.” He gave me a wink, that cocky bastard.

  As if I’d lose to anyone now, after all this fighting experience! “I’m sure I can handle my teammates after manhandling Xila.”

  “Manhandling? You barely won, man.” Mark raised his left eyebrow.

  “I obviously had it all under control.”

  Fink snorted behind me, apparently finding it all really funny. “To be fair, we’d all be dead if it weren’t for Martin. That guy rocked.”

  “This whole fiasco of yours seems made up, I have to say.” Talisha added, shaking her head. “Beating Xila, convincing goblins to turn on their former friends, saving players, meeting Martin again. I’d not believe you if all three of you didn’t retell the same experience.”

  “Four!” Added Gummz, smiling. He was already standing next to the door.

  “Seems like your new bodyguard is eager to train.” I smirked at Fink, who showed me his middle finger.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  …

  We spent a damn hour inspecting the fortifications and traps, as if there was even time to remake them if Mark didn’t end up happy with them. Even Talisha seemed angry, yelling at him for the ‘lack of trust’. In my own humble opinion, these things hardly mattered. Sure, they’d slow down the army of the dragon, but the big point was the dragon itself. And Xila’s gang, if they decided to join in the attack even with Xila herself one leg shorter.

  I wondered whether the leg could be used to craft something I could taunt her with. As collected as she seemed most of the time, I saw how angry she could get when something didn’t go according to her plans. I’d have to ask Mark later.

  Finally done with the inspections, we found a nice even spot, and prepared for the duel.

  “Finally. Give me all you’ve got, little man.” Bryga taunted, summoning her anchor. She seemed confident, but I could sense the nervousness underneath. She lost to Crudia several times, and I won against Crudia herself. That didn’t bode that well for her chances, right?

  “I always do.” I gave her a smile as I felt the familiar feel of the chitin of my shields around my arms. I’d still not gotten completely used to their golden look, so it was always a nice surprise to see them shimmer. Immediate, on-call confidence booster.

  “Okay, same rules as last time! No kill-moves! Surrender if you lose more than half of your health!” Mark shouted, surrounded by four goblins that Fink selected as his guard.

  I met Bryga’s eyes, intending to rush her. But she moved first. With a grunt, she lifted her anchor, took three giant steps forward, and smashed it into the grass in the middle of where we started the duel. The ground shook violently, causing me to lose my footing for a precious moment.

  It didn’t seem to affect Bryga herself, though, and she continued rushing at me. Her anchor came from her hips in a horizontal swing, aimed right at my body.

  Quickly sidestepping, I punched out at her knee, but I wasn’t balanced enough, and all I managed to do was a strong tap. She turned and kicked out, sending me flying through the air. The attack seemed as strong as the Ant Queen’s, though there was nothing I could crash through this time.

  Quickly, I stood up, just to find her already rushing at me again. She was smiling, her eyes completely locked onto me. We were alike in this, weren’t we? In our love of fighting?

  I’d not win by strategizing. She was too different from my enemies. No; I’d just have to lose myself to the fight.

  Her anchor came at me again, arcing in a horizontal sweep, deceivingly fast for the mass of steel. I jumped, letting my strength-boosted legs carry me into the air, and landed just as it passed by. Her eyes widened with shock, clearly not expecting my magnificent dodge.

  Yes, please watch me! I used [Bubble flash] That very moment, listening to the groans of Bryga and the others in one moment. I rushed forward, and smashed into her knee again with all I had. Bryga bit down on her tongue and oomphed, collapsing onto the knee, her other leg planted on the ground. My shield came at her neck, and I barely stopped myself from smashing into it.

  She held her breath for a moment longer, her eyes finally opening a few seconds later. She looked down at the shield almost pressed to her neck, back at me, and sighed. “Seems like it’s my loss this time too, Shrimpie. Respect.”

  I returned the smile, helping her stand up as her leg shimmered and repaired itself. “Pleasure is mine. You were tough.”

  She scoffed. “Yet I lost. You’re a weird fighter. Who the hell has sunlight in their hands as an ability?”

  “Surely you had more tricks up in your sleeve too. The moment just wasn’t right.”

  She laughed. “Indeed, little man. Though I don’t wanna wash out all of these bystanders. You’ll just have to see when we fight someone for real.”

  I had no clue what that meant. The sounds of footsteps came from behind me, the others approaching to congratulate me on the victory, or share some insights in Mark’s case. Talisha tried to hit me several times for blinding her, forcing Crudia to try and calm her down.

  “Can’t say I expected such a brief duel!” Mark clapped. “Your strength is really scary, though.”

  A compliment from Mark? I’d take it. “Oh thanks!”

  “I meant Bryga.” He rolled his eyes.

  “Fuck you too.”

  I still couldn’t help but chuckle. Weirdly enough, we probably bickered more with Mark nowadays than before, but I didn’t get mad anymore.

  Bryga shook herself, picked up her anchor, and reset to the position she started the duel in. “Who next? I need to get faster for you guys!”

  Crudia stepped forward, and another duel started. I watched, holding my breath with anticipation. The duel seemed a bit similar to mine, but the difference was that Bryga just couldn’t hit Crudia at all. She dashed under her legs, jumped onto Bryga, and genuinely made it impossible for Bryga to lock her down.

  “She was really happy to see you come back today.” A voice came from behind me. I looked back, seeing Talisha standing behind me . The others stood a little bit away, watching the duel almost as keenly as I did.

  “So was I.” I stated the obvious there, though. Who wouldn’t be happy to see their friends?

  “You know… Raccoon dogs make life pairs. They choose a partner for life, and live the rest of their life with them. Sharing territory, raising pups, all that stuff.”

  I scratched my head, and with great reluctance, tore my eyes away from the duel to look at Talisha. “Where are you going with this? I don’t like reading in between the lines.”

  She chuckled, more femininely than I’d ever seen her. “Yeah, that’s right. Classic man. What I’m saying, Shrimpie, is that I think that Crudia probably thinks of you that way. I don’t know what happened to her while she was an animal, and she refuses to speak of it, but that doesn’t matter anyway.”

  “I still don’t-”

  She raised her hand, stopping me. “I’m getting there. I’m not asking you to date her or anything like that. I’m honestly not sure if she’d even want that. But she trusts you a great lot. More than she trusts me, I think. I… I just don’t want you to hurt her, okay?” Her eyes met mine, and there was an intensity in them. One I had never seen from the likes from Talisha. But underneath that, I could see something else. A plea. “Never, ever betray her.”

  I was getting more confused every second. Dating? Romance was the last thing on my mind. I’ve never done anything slightly romantic in my life, after all. And her request was so obvious that it boggled me. Were there some hidden meanings I was missing?

  “Of course I-”

  She interrupted me again. Would this woman even let me talk? “I need you to promise me, Shrimpie. If it’s between helping Crudia, or getting a new item, new level or whatever the fuck this tournament wants you to get. I want you to choose her.”

  Oh, so that’s what she wanted. It probably should have been something I should think about for some time, but for some reason, I had no reason saying “I promise” in that very same moment. Leaving Crudia? Nah.

  Who’d be there to cheer me on after that?

  That’s when cheering sounded, making me turn to the fight again. Bryga lay on the ground, holding Crudia in both hands, her anchor planted to the ground next to them. Both of them were bloodied.

  “That's a draw!” Mark shouted, clapping again, ignorant to the discussion with Talisha. I followed, but the discussion remained on my mind for the rest of the evening.