"Niel.....you...."
Thranduils long pausing sentence and glaring eyes made him seem somewhat taller and menacing to myself as I already started imagining the long and grueling signing process I'd have to go through to become a knight once more.
Wooden barrels and a body of a large neatly cut mana beast were slowly brought into the tavern by two men in seemingly ragged attires and gloves that barely covered their finger tips, I stood there glancing at the two figures bringing barrels before quickly looking back to Thranduil who only grew even more menacing to look at however the glaring expression on his face soon transitioned to a grin then a smile and finally a loud laugh of amusement.
"you damned genius not even I'd have thought of using the peoples depression as a marketing tool, truly a genius strategy indeed"
"I-I just thought they all needed to liven up"
"don't sugarcoat it that's exactly what you did"
Opening and closing my mouth as I struggled to formulate an argument to the half dwarf who simply smiled even more broadly to my silenced state, I finally let out a sigh and gave up before turning to the carriage that was now emptied of all its barrels of ale. I stared as the two figures gave a rather cheerful wave and disappeared down the street of Cranborne.
"so you're completely fine with serving free ale?"
"of course I am just don't come crying to me when I refuse to give you a paycheck"
Laughing as he slammed the door to the tavern behind me I was left to sulk outside in the dusk of day as I started deeply regretting my actions, I glanced back at the door and the street that would soon be filled to the brim with all sorts of customers I couldn't help feeling slightly proud for myself despite the fact we wouldn't be earning any money but that was insignificant to me.
'I'd managed to keep my job at least'
Comforting myself with this thought as I re-entered the tavern with Thranduil already stacking an array of clear glass cups in the once empty shelf, noticing my arrival Thranduil placed the final cup atop the shelf at a height I was surprised could be reached by someone possessing dwarven blood.
"you're at least decent at cooking"
Raising an eyebrow to the odd question I soon came to realize what Thranduil was referencing to, my eyes widened to the idea as I reminisced at the times I'd been allowed to hold a pot which almost always ended up in odd stares between comrades in the battalions or my theoretical license as a cook being revoked.
My stunned expression spoke volumes to Thranduil as he sighed and gave a little shrug.
"you looked like the cooking type, why is it good looking woman these days just lack the basic skill of cooking...."
"I was jobless just where do you think I would've acquired the skill to cook?!"
Thranduil took a thoughtful gaze at the ceiling then back to myself.
"Fair point I should've guessed your skills lie in the pleasurable side of things"
My face was deadpan while Thranduil practically laughed himself to near suffocation as he lifted the wooden board of the bartenders desk revealing a metal interior painted black from the used remains of the coal situated at the bottom of the metal box. Thranduil soon pulled out a pair of long forked rods and placed them in an upright position within the metal box before hurriedly placing the skinned body of the mana beast right through them, holding the meat perfectly in place.
Grinning as he placed his hand just above the pieces of coal while chanting words I was sure didn't have a place within the English dictionary, a flicker of orange occurred after Thranduils awkward chanting followed by a second and third before finally erupting in a blaze of orange and red.
Thranduil looked on to me as if counting on a reaction which I happily gave as I was left awe stricken at the peculiar event, I was sure practically any dwarf or individual related by blood somehow to dwarven lineage was naturally affiliated with earth magic not flames or did that stem from the ludicrous number of novels I'd dived into?
'it was interesting nonetheless anyway'
"Impressive right?"
"so was it a type of fire spell or...."
"Fire spell.....,well I guess you could say that it's a braai stand with a certain spell trapped within it. In this case the spell is well yes....a fire spell"
"wouldn't this be similar to an enchanted weapon?"
A scoff exited Thranduils mouth as he crossed his arms and responded in a manner that belittled the weapons I'd grown so fond of.
"Enchanted weapons work by slapping a few random activation runes of a specific element and a certain spell since you can't draw the spells entire activation sequence on one weapon, the spell is incomplete and specific making determining whether the enchantment on your weapon fits your desires other than its element a seriously annoying challenge and you won't know that till you try it out and I'm sure you know what happens to an enchanted weapon after one run"
I suddenly began to feel a small bit of anger and frustration as I remembered the dozens of ludicrously priced enchanted weapons I'd bought and how so many shattered in the palms of my hand after just using the weapon once. At this point I felt slightly robbed.
"Hey you can't blame em, giving any simple object the ability to wield a spell is an achievement in on its own even if the process the is idiotically simple..."
"geeze all you've done is slander so why don't you explain how yours works"
A grin appeared on Thranduils face as it was fairly obvious he was enjoying the thought of teaching me the wonders of an invention that'd probably strike anyone rich.
"Ha the reason why its near impossible to use magic through weapons or any object is cause unlike living organisms such as plants and animals they don't possess mana veins to channel mana through"
"so in other words that metallic material in there actually comes fro-"
Thranduil quickly caught on to my idea and brushed it off with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"you can't use a dead animal's mana veins since they deteriorate a few days after the animals death if mana veins did last after death then people would be running around with fully wooden weapons or leather knifes."
I let out a chuckle to the silly thought and watched Thranduil explain the topic with an enthusiasm akin to those mad scientists in novels.
"instead you forcefully make them on the object by pouring mana into them till they eventually form. Mana veins are formed like that anyway, you aren't born with mana veins but you are born with a mana flame and since the mana needs somewhere to go when you unconsciously use it during your infant years then it just makes its own forcefully.....the process is excruciating but you'll be a child so its mostly forgotten"
"Ah so I'm guessing since its an object and not a living thing then the mana veins won't deteriorate through time although I thought that would cause the material to crack or even shatter"
"well its a slow process that involves gradually pouring mana into the material when its melted and the only material that can take the brunt force is iron but its not like you're going to put magic into an item that won't be used as a weapon"
"fair enough but what about the half-assed spell sequences, yours doesn't seem to have any"
Thranduil pointed within the blaze of flames to the edge of the metal box where a glowing orange rune in the shape of a cursive "M" mixed with a "C" was crudely engraved into it.
"fire, water, earth all have one rune to represent them, basically the rune can apply for any spell of the specific element"
"So then why the hell do long sequences exist!!"
"further detail, long rune sequences classify the specific spell, its size, and range, of course, that's if you have the mana for longer range and size. Long rune sequences take away the need to imagine the spell yourself"
I slumped at this revelation as I wondered just how much easier it would be to just write one rune and imagine the spell properly even if you failed a few times it just needs practice however thoughts like those particularly stemmed from the fact that I almost failed the academy from not memorizing even one spell sequence.
'My imagination still sucks so I guess it wouldn't really help even if it was just one rune, geeze why the hell do I need to memorize something like that. when will I actually need to write a damned spell on a floor or something!?'
Sighing under my breath I turned my attention to the windows where the obvious dimming of daylight was visible causing me to hurry off to the corner of the room as I hurriedly began placing the chairs and tables for the arriving guests, tables screeched with Belrog butting in a few times to help which was the first time the beast had been useful ever since I landed a job here.
I grabbed a cloth that was laying conveniently on one of metal pieces of supposed junk in Thranduils storage room and started dusting off the tables and chairs that hadn't been cleaned in what felt looked like years, finally dusting the last sets of tables and chairs a loud knock came from the door to the tavern.
'right customer's, this where I'll need to....wait what's with the sudden seriousness here?'
I opened the door widely to a group of panting guards as they staggered inside only to sigh in relief with the sight of the tavern completely empty. Staring back towards me and then at Thranduil the young groups faces lit up as they instantly lifted their hands to order for a few drinks.
"its all free tonight right?"
"R-right....all on the house..."
I replied while glancing towards Thranduil who pulled six bottles from under the shelf of cups all of which differed from each other in labelling and placed six cups to follow, Thranduils demeanor and attitude from here completely changed as he hovered his hands over each bottle.
"take your pick, you're our first customers tonight so why not choose any of our best. blood scorpion poison, Hellshire wolf blood and a whole lot more more. All yours to choose from"
Each drink that was labelled on the bottles were expensive and hard alcohols that'd leave even drunks like Erebore a pile of slurred speaking and at a loss to control himself with just a few sips however information like this didn't seem to be present within the young groups minds, each of them starting a serious analysis of each bottle before finally picking the Hellshire wolfs blood causing a sinister grin to form across Thranduils face as he slowly poured the drink into each glass.
Together the group clashed their glasses together before each having a swig as another knock came from the door.
'geeze their coming in like flies'
This time it was the knight from the gate that accompanied me to the captains board room however his expression was a lot more livelier and beaming as he wore a simple shirt and pants with a red haired woman with a lean figure and a simple outfit wrapped around his arms with the same lively expression painted across her face.
"Is this the place holding a celebration with free drinks?"
"aha yeah that's us"
"Then two cups of ale for me and my partner she just came back from the Bellfont fronts, coming from a place like that needs a drink am I right Vera?!"
"geeze calm down you'll make the waitress uncomfortable.....but a drink after that place is probably what I need right now"
The two seemingly reunited friends took a seat at the table across the middle of the room as I rushed on over to Thranduil who already laid two glasses on a round wooden tray, treading carefully through the mass of chairs and table I lowered the tray for the two while showcasing a warm smile.
"They left you cleaning out the entire region on your own?"
"well yeah after the calamity had ended reinforcements were more focused on the more important areas of the country, sadly Bellfont doesn't fall in that category...B-BUT THERE WERE NO CASUALTIES SO DON'T WORRY!!"
Halting my eavesdropping to tend to the next knock from the door which turned out to be a trio of similarly dressed ragged figures who entered with a song they sang in unison as they ordered for their own share of ale that I wondered would even last the entire night, placing the three glasses on the trios table which caused a few whistles from them as I left.
"Blue ribbons cross guard should be the songs new name wouldn't you think jake one?"
"Disagree it sounds like a children's game even Jake three agrees"
"Agreed, Imagine seeing that on a billboard"
'Triplet singers?'
More arguments spurred from the trios table as another knock came with an oddly well dressed thin man in an obsidian black suit, I was peered at from the head down before being jabbed with pick up lines copied straight from a nervous 16 year old child who'd just been forced to confess to a crush.
"That's flattering but I'm working right now, it'd help if you ordered a drink"
"How about I order you?"
'Please just stop, who the hell taught you these?!!'
I forced a chuckle and played along with the flirts till I convinced him to finally take a seat and drink something for god sakes, even though dismissing the guy was a more logical approach I didn't want a hateful customer on the first day.
A knock came once more after I placed the drink on the flirtatious mans table, this time a squad arrived all of which carried different instruments slung across their backs while also wearing identical ragged clothes and a menacing glare directed to the trio seated at the corner of the room.
"Jack....."
"Jamie...."
A tense handshake occurred between the two groups as they both glanced at each other a few times while gulping down Thranduils ale. Numbers rose by each passing second as I felt like my entire body was trying to be torn in two, each new knock introduced completely different characters and faces I'd never actually seen before even after living in the city for 23 years I idiotically thought I memorized most of everyone's faces.
Belrogs stature and large figure caught him a few stares which caused him to walk around even more proudly while getting a few affectionate pats on the head from the more elderly drinkers that had started arriving
"Ms Niel tell this man that natural ale tastes better than mana accelerated ones"
'That type of shit can be done?!'
"aha I'm kind of a light drinker so I haven't really tried the second one so..."
"if she hasnt tried the second option then its obviously a piece of bull"
'wait I never even mentioned that!?!"
Sighing I left the two in their debate of ale till a loud shout of cheers came from the end of the room, a few of the customers had gathered around a specific table with an oddly muscular half shirted man seated across the man who'd attempted at flirting a few hours ago. The two both wore tomato red faces with their arms parallel to each other and open, ready to clasp each other for an arm wrestle as the people surrounding them started making bets with money I never could've imagined any of them possessing with Thranduil counting a few thousand silver coins on the desk beside the match as he orchestrated the bets.
'the sly bastard...'
"if I lose then you take my perfectly new enchanted axe, its worth 300 silver pieces can you match that?"
"if I lose then I'll hand over 400 silver pieces"
"deal"
The two said this unison and clasped hands with matching ending right after that with the flirtatious man from before completely sprawled on the floor and handing a bag the size of a fist to the muscular man and Thranduil handing over other coins to people I supposed were in on the betting while also keeping his own.
The next match followed up with the muscular man and Vera's friend who looked less wasted than anyone else in the room, bets went off as Thranduil bunched up the silver coins being placed on the empty table beside the match all while wearing a sinister grin.
"same as before if I lose my axe is yours, can you match that?"
"If I lose I'll give away 2 gold pieces"
"deal"
The two clasped hands and were evenly matched with both sweating buckets as they tried to slowly turn over the other, minutes passed by with neither budging and Thranduil tempted to call it a tie however moments before he could Vera's friend gave way in an instant causing two gold pieces to be placed on the table as he panted and shook his arm.
"if that's all of you the-"
"Hold on you still have to beat the orchestrator of this event, if I lose I'll give you 400 silver pieces. Now match me idiot!!"
Enthralled to hear the sound of more money the man grinned and readied his arm.
"my axe and the 400 silver pieces from before"
"deal"
The two clasped hands and stayed even for few minutes and more however instead of them both sweating it seemed as if Thranduil was completely fine unlike his opponent who was now huffing out air like a mad man, minutes passed once more and like before the muscular man snapped and fell to the ground with a livid expression on his face but otherwise gave the promised items to Thranduil.
"The two gold coins as well"
"Are you insane he lo-"
"Its not a loss if your opponent was cheating with reinforcement magic to get the upper hand, now hand it over before I pull them from you"
Muttering under his breath the man slammed the coins into Thranduils hands and walked out the tavern leaving the half dwarf with an electrified demeanor and ready to leave with his earnings.
"wait!!, let me have a go as well"
said Vera with a face flushed red and a glass that she placed onto the empty table next to them with murmurs of excitement between the people crowded around them, shrugging as Thranduil face exposed that he was just as wasted as everyone else he sat down placed his arm in a readied position with Vera following after.
"If I lose I'll happily hand over 2000 silver pieces and 3 nights worth of free drinks here, can you match that?"
"if I lose so does my virginity!"
"DEAL!!!"
The two said this in union with a weird enthusiasm to it as they clasped hands and were evenly matched with neither showing signs of tiredness, minutes passed by without neither showing signs of budging. Evenly matched the two threw light jokes at each other till Thranduils arm slowly started tilting downwards and with all the strength she could muster Vera attempted to quickly finish the job but was quickly countered and her fist slammed to the table, marking an end to her.....virginity.
"you're not planning to do it here right?"
Thranduils eyes widened at the question and he stared at Vera dumbfounded.
"you were serious!?"
"a bet is a bet, a knight never goes back on a pro-"
"how drunk are you right now?!"
A loud shout came from a table situated in the middle of the room with a man dressed in a white coat and black pants with a large beard to fit held a glass high over his head and glanced across the room as now he'd caught everyone's attention.
The man slowly tapped his foo on the ground while humming a soft tune, still glancing across the room he sped it up a bit and then a bit more till he was tapping his feet and stomping them on the floor at the same time. Suddenly the man erupted into a loud song that he sung alone however gradually gained support from the trio as they started to understand and realize the beat and lyrics to it, In a matter of moments everyone erupted in a sea of cheers and music with myself somehow shoved within it as the song was quite uplifting and catchy to say the least.
The 3rd calamity, humanities victory, the countless sacrifices made and even myself were all included in one song it wasn't depressing to say the least but a cheery reminder to the obstacles we were able to overcome I'd probably wanted the event to happen in a less drunken manner but I guess that cause drinking doesn't always suit me.
'That headache was unbearable.....'
"I think this thing is ready to eat, DIG IN FOR THE 3RD CALAMITY HAS ENDED!!"
"THE 3RD CALAMITY IS OVER, CHEERS TO THE WORLD AND LORIDAE"
"AND THIS TAVERN AS WELL YOU IDIOTS!!"
"CHEERS TO THRANDS TAVERN!!"
Meat was passed around with cheery atmosphere only increasing as dancing and drinking still continued with the night sky barely aging as if giving us this one time to enjoy ourselves after so much turmoil, exhausted I took a seat in the tables at the end of the room with piece of meat and a small glass of ale next to it but I barely felt hungry or the thirst for alcohol.
"at least have one drink, you wont get another chance till the next catastrophic world threatening event"
Thranduil chuckled while taking a seat across me and holding a full bottle of ale.
"you need someone to clean this place up toni-"
"to hell with that, weren't you the one trying to stop everyone from acting like that for one night? then do it its been 5 years of no ale, festivals and a damn few brakes so drink tonight or get another job"
"and here I thought you only cared about money"
"well I made the gambles to make some but to hell with money as well, tonight we celebrate a victory we never had the chance to for so long. Everyone needed this Niel hell even after their little mourning event those people looked more depressed than my salary"
Laughing at the joke I stared at my barely filled cup and grabbed the ale bottle from Thranduil and poured it inside, almost overfilling it.
"That's more like it, drink it all now and deal with the hangover later!!"
"don't remind me dammit"
I chugged down the ale in one go before pouring another and did the same, my face starting to flush red the more I did so. We sat there in silence as the music and dancing only got louder as the hours ticked by with the night still kind enough to halt its aging.
"Ha Thrand would've loved to see this, the idiot had a weird fetish for wanting to see people happy like this"
"Thrand is your brother right?, you said you're taking in on his place as the owner so what happened anyway?"
"Tch that half dwarf was too smart for his own good truth be told he built that braai stand a lot of other junk in that storage room and our old house, power or intelligence come with unwanted attention and next thing I know the bastard is all the way in helfeim elf region making new inventions and weapons to further assist in the end of the 3rd calamity"
"Helfeim that name sounds-"
"it was the research stronghold that went up in flames after being attacked by the robed figures spies, Yelaine was supposed to evacuate the facility in advance for individual interrogation.....however she refrained from the idea in the thoughts that the velgra's cult would gain the upper hand with their main weapons research facility gone...."
The memories slowly rolled back to me, my idiotic decision to keep the facility running, trusting that a spy couldn't have been in the ranks of so many devoted researcher however all that shattered when one of them actively stabbed a dagger through their own stomach triggering a self detonation spell they placed on themselves...there was nothing I could do from there....
"he died huh?...."
"Of course he did, the tavern and some of his inventions were stuck under me from some will he'd made a few days after being told he'd be joining the research team like he knew he'd die"
"do you blame her.....Yelaine I mean"
Thranduil took a lot longer to answer the question but grabbed the bottle of ale and poured a full glass in both our bottles and raised his high.
"Yelaine is the bravest woman i've seen, more of a man than I was during that 3rd calamity. I wasn't there for my brother when I could've been so no I don't blame her idiot I admire her, CHEERS TO THE SAVIOR YELAINE A WARRIOIR LIKE NO OTHER"
"CHEERS!! and thank you Thranduil"