T H U D ! ! !
A cheer erupted from the crowd as the man across from Fenrir slumped off his chair and fell to the ground, the contents of his mug sloshing onto the cobblestones.
Tilting back his head Fenrir drained his fifteenth mug of ale before slamming it down on the table, "WHO'S NEXT!"
His shout was met with another ruckus cheer as Fenrir picked up the leg of mutton from the mountain of assorted roasted meats that were his winnings. After finding out he was going to be deprived of his newfound favorite food for more than a month and without money to pay, Fenrir had devised a workaround.
Being raised by veteran adventurers Fenrir wasn't normal by any definition of the word. Early on, Fenrir had been fed a various diet of different vegetables, mushrooms and edible roots. Most of which were foraged daily from the forest, and all of them possessing some kind of toxin or poison.
Thus Fenrir had an innate poison resistance that he had shamelessly used to out-drinking several grown men while betting for food.
'I'll never have to pay for food again!' Fenrir thought cheerfully as the crowd around him slowly thinned out. It seemed people had realized that trying to outdrink the strange foreign-looking child was plain insanity.
Fenrir didn't care much as he had earned nearly half his body weight in meat, more than enough to sate even his unending hunger.
Closing his eyes in bliss Fenrir munched happily away when someone bumped roughly into his arm. Opening one of his eyes Fenrir stared up at the boy who had confronted him for speaking with Freya.
"Well aren't you a star," Troy said angrily but the impact was a bit diminished by the slight rosy hint across his cheek and his slurred speech.
Taking another mouthful of the succulent mutton chop Fenrir shrugged, "Eating is one of my less impressive talents."
"I'm not talking about food you idiot. You took Freya away!" Troy slurred as he jabbed an accusing finger in Fenrir's face, "She only awakened her magic because she was standing next to you, it's all your fault!"
Fenrir stared up at Troy uninterested and disdain clear in his gaze, "Fuck off, your smell is ruining my sense of taste and I want to enjoy my meat."
Troy's face flushed even brighter as Fenrir promptly closed his open eye and went back to enjoying his meal, "Don't ignore me you little shit!"
Troy's leg snapped up as he kicked the table Fenrir was sitting at, knocking it over and sending the platter of meat tumbling onto the dirty cobbled ground.
Fenrir's eyes snapped open as he stared at the pile of ruined meat, in his eyes now covered in dirt, grime and maggots spoiling the last warm meal he would have in over a month.
"Oops sorry about that did I ruin your meat?" Troy laughed at the distraught look on Fenrir's face, "Maybe that will teach you so damn manners you little-"
In a blur of motion, Fenrir disappeared from his spot on the ground as he suddenly was in front of Troy. Pouncing on him, Fenrir's momentum drove the much larger Troy to the ground.
"W-what," Troy gasped as his back slammed into the ground and Fenrir slammed his knee into Troy's solar plexus.
A low rumbling came from the base of Fenrir's throat as his hands tightened into iron clamps around Troy's shirt as he stared into his eyes, "Since you ruined my meal, maybe I should eat you instead."
Troy tried to push Fenrir off of him but he didn't even budge, "W-what are you doing?"
Fenrir's lips pulled back in a feral grin revealing fang-like canines, "Taking my pound of flesh!"
Troy's eyes widened before they rolled back and his skull and he went limp in Fenrir's grasp. Letting out a disappointing sigh Fenrir dropped Troy on the ground, 'Not even a decent fight.'
---
Watching the scene from afar Mordecai sighed as Fenrir let Troy drop to the ground, "This is going to be a pain."
Reaching into his coat Mordecai pulled out an ornate silver pocket watch etched with intricate magical symbols across its surface. Pressing the button to open the watch Mordecai revealed the glowing blue gears and countless arms, some moving too fast for the eye to follow and others appearing not to move at all. Clearly the pocket watch was far more than a way to keep time.
Mordecai snapped his fingers and for a second every mechanism of the watch came to a jarring stop. Then Mordecai's figure seemed to duplicate, with spectral clones of himself spreading out from his body.
Eventually, the specters merged with Mordecai's body as he closed the pocket watch with a sharp click and returned the magical device to his pocket, "Tomorrow is going to be interesting."
The next day Mordecai stood outside the Eastern Gate as sunlight began to creep over the horizon. Most of the town would be asleep well through the morning and spend the rest of the day nursing hangovers. Those who had just become adults however were in for a rough day ahead as they would be in charge for cleaning up after the previous days festivities to learn the new responsibility they now had to shoulder.
Hearing the gate behind him jostle, Mordecai turned around as Freya slipped through a small gap between the giant armored doors, "Love you too dad, thanks for opening the gate."
Turning around to face Mordecai Freya stood awkwardly not knowing what to say to the examiner.
Cracking a small smile, Mordecai dipped his head as he greeted Freya, "Good morning Freya. Thank you for showing up on time and prepared."
Freya stiffly nodded in return as she looked down at her traveling gear compromised of cotton pants with leather patches sewn along the inside of the thighs and the knees, a rough spun tunic that would hold up to wear and tear, a pair of riding boots and a large satchel slung over one shoulder packed with dried food and a heavy cloak for cold nights or rainy days.
Picking up her head Freya looked around as a confused spread across her face, "Um, where are the horses?"
"What horses?" Mordecai asked with a straight face.
Gritting her teeth, Freya tried not to blush, knowing Mordecai was making fun of her, "The horses we're taking to the capital."
"Oh, I see what happened," Mordecai said with a knowing nod, "You assumed we were riding to the capital, which is rather unfortunate."
Freya's mind blanked, "B-but y-you said to pack a week's worth of supplies!"
Mordecai nodded again, "I did, but one should never assume that the information given to them is one hundred percent accurate. This is one of the many important lessons you will come to learn."
Freya bit back a scathing response and instead was content to glare hatefully at Mordecai, who remained unbothered, "But now that we're all here, it's about time we get going."
At Mordecai's words, a nearby bush shook as Fenrir popped out of the shrubbery, "If you knew I
was there, why didn't you say something earlier?!"
Freya stared dumbly at Fenrir who was glaring at Mordecai, "Why were you hiding in a bush?"
Fenrir glanced over at Freya and shrugged, "It seemed like good practice at the time and I was hoping he'd open a portal to the capital if I didn't show up and I could jump through. But now thanks to you we have to walk all the way to the capital."
"How is that my fault!" Freya shouted, "Also where are your shoes, and bag. Did you not pack at all?"
"First off, I never had or will wear shoes its easier to feel the ground barefoot. Second off, I didn't have any money to buy supplies. Not that I would have anyways, I hate rations, jerky and anything dried with a passion." Fenrir said proudly getting a look of disbelief from Freya.
"But what are you going to eat then?" Freya asked, wondering how Fenrir could be so confident.
"What are you going to eat after the first week?" Fenrir shot back with a smirk.
Unable to answer, Freya could only shoot daggers at Fenrir with her eyes, who continued to smile.
"Enough," Mordecai commanded sternly, "I don't care if you two flirt, but do it on your own time. We will have our first lesson in one hour from now, and since we've fallen behind schedule walking is no longer an option."
Then without another word, Mordecai broke out into a jog leaving Freya and Fenrir staring at his back, "He can't really be serious right?"
Freya asked only for Fenrir to run after Mordecai laughing, "You better catch up."
With a scowl, Freya pumped her legs to catch up to Fenrir before matching his pace, already feeling short of breath, 'He can't expect us to run for an hour straight, right?'