The next day, early in the morning before dawn, Jesse went to clean the dust in the study in the Mage Quarter. Amy Marin said that the situation in Redridge Mountains was a bit complicated and her father might not be back in the next few days. So when Jesse planned to go out on business, she took the initiative to give permission.
After finishing his work, he hurried to the old city district.
This trip was almost from the west end to the east end of Stormwind City. By the time he arrived at the Pig and Whistle Inn, it was already crowded with people.
The crowd rhythmically chanted "Bainthor, Bainthor!" Jesse always felt that he had heard this name somewhere before. It was very familiar but he wasn't sure.
He squeezed through the crowd to the front and came to the corner of the inn. In the middle of the crowd, he saw two guys, one tall and one short, with bare upper bodies facing each other.
Among them, a tall man with light brown shoulder-length hair was holding a wooden stick and facing his opponent. His face was resolute and extremely handsome. He was a typical northerner with very three-dimensional facial features.
Although he had a small mustache, he could be seen as still relatively young. He should be only about thirty years old. Both his hand movements and footwork were extremely steady.
On the other hand, Gerred was in a much worse situation. The battle had been going on for a while, and now there were bruises all over his face and body. The man had no injuries except for sweat all over his body. He looked as energetic as if he had just joined the battle.
"Beat that dwarf, Bainthor!"
"Hit him!"
"Stab! Use stabbing! Dwarves have short arms!"
The shouts of the bystanders were a bit harsh to Jesse's ears. Although he was also a human being, if he cheered for Gerred, he might be surrounded and beaten.
The man called Bainthor was a head taller than Jesse. Standing in the small space under the stairs on the ground floor of the tavern, his head was almost touching the upper beam.
Judging from the state of his hair and beard, his skin, his muscular body and his slightly bulging belly, he was likely a nobleman and definitely not an ordinary middle-aged veteran.
A nobleman in Stormwind City who can fight... Is this His Majesty Varian Wrynn?
Impossible. Varian is only about fifteen or sixteen years old at this time. He is still a kid. Moreover, his hair is dark brown.
Gerred suddenly roared and attacked with a double-handed wooden stick. The man on the opposite side easily deflected Gerred's stick with his own stick, deflecting the landing point of this attack. His whole body gracefully moved to the side, perfectly avoiding this attack.
Although he was tall and muscular, when he moved, he was not at all sluggish. The muscles in his legs tensed up and drove his whole body to move sideways. He was like a well-coordinated machine, pleasing to the eye.
I have to say, Gerred is in danger. Yesterday when he heard that Gerred was going to fight with people from the "middle-aged and old people's club" today, he thought it would just be a matter of finding an old man and giving him a good beating. But he didn't expect it to be so intense and exciting.
Wait... Bainthor, Thorbaen. Could it be a deliberately reversed name?
If it's Thorbaen, then Jesse is familiar with it.
Could this person be one of the Sons of Lothar, one of the leaders of the expeditionary army, and the strongest human warrior in this era, Danath Thorbaen?
Thorbaen is the royal family of Stromgarde. Danath is the nephew of King Thoras Thorbaen.
But at this time, the Alliance expeditionary army is confronting the orc tribes at the Dark Portal in Nethergarde Keep. Perhaps the war has spread to Draenor.
Danath should be in a fierce battle with the orcs. It is impossible for him to be here fighting with an unknown Wildhammer dwarf while his comrades are in the middle of a war.
"Kill this mustached sissy, old boy from Eagle's Nest City. Don't let us look down on you!"
"This guy... If I went up there, I would be ten times stronger than him!"
Jesse glanced sideways in the direction of the shouts. It turned out to be two dwarves. Probably from Ironforge. In recent years, more and more dwarves from Ironforge have come to Stormwind City. There is even a special dwarf district set aside for them to live in.
Just when Jesse was worried that Gerred might be defeated and injured, after Gerred's thrust was avoided, he suddenly turned around and swept. The man obviously didn't expect this sweep. He dodged it very reluctantly and even almost lost his balance.
Seeing this, the dwarf excitedly pursued and attacked. Taking advantage of the man's disorderly footsteps, he launched a fierce attack. Relying on his absurd upper body strength, he struck continuously from various strange angles, chopping and slashing. All of a sudden, the situation reversed. The man was actually unable to parry in the chaos and kept retreating until he was backed into a corner!
This person seems to be not used to the strength of dwarves. Does he lack experience in fighting dwarves?
If it were Danath Thorbaen, such a situation would not seem to occur.
Danath is recognized as a combat master by the entire world, from Quel'Thalas to the three hammer dwarves and all the way to the seven human kingdoms. Not only because of his consummate skills and high martial arts, but also because in his fifty or sixty years of life, he has extremely rich combat experience with elves, dwarves, and trolls.
Yes, Danath Thorbaen is already over fifty years old. The man in front of him is obviously much younger.
Although backed into a corner, the man still didn't intend to admit defeat. His arm span was much longer than that of the dwarf. Gerred actually didn't dare to extend his stick to poke the man's neck or chest because he would definitely be hit in a vital part first.
Just as he hesitated for a moment, the man suddenly reached out and grabbed Gerred's stick. Then he kicked the dwarf in the chest with his lower body!
This kick hit him solidly. The stick flew out of his hand and he flew backward and fell on the floor. The dwarves and humans around all let out a cry of surprise.
"What's going on here?!"
"It's an utter disgrace!"
"Bainthor!"
As if hearing the boos from the surrounding audience, Gerred gritted his teeth and got up. He spread his arms and rushed over with a yell. The man was about to repeat his trick and lift his foot, but at the moment he extended it, Gerred accurately grabbed his ankle!
"Die!"
The man's face turned pale and he was thrown upward by Gerred and hit the ceiling hard!
Gerred chased after him in two steps and used his knee to press against the man's back and the back of his neck. He grabbed the man's arm and tightened it. He roared, "Do you submit?!"
The audience erupted into a fierce cheer. Beer and milk splashed everywhere. Even those humans who were shouting "Bainthor" thought this was extremely exciting.
"I submit!"
After hearing the admission of defeat, Gerred's eyelids drooped and he released his hand and slowly stood up.
The man rubbed his arm and stood up. Leaning against the wall, he looked at Gerred. His face wanted to smile but also grimaced in pain because of the fall just now. In the end, his expression was a mixture of crying and laughing.
"They will let you join the Warrior's Guild, Mr. Gerred." The man said.
"This is inevitable." Gerred sat on the nearby steps and said, "Good fight, Bainthor."
The man limped to a short distance away and picked up a medium-length straight sword. He said, "This fight was so exciting. This is yours. I admit defeat and keep my word."
Gerred happily took the sword and said, "You are quite a man of your word."
After the audience dispersed, Jesse leaned over here. Gerred took a look at Jesse and his face immediately darkened.
"I said, you promised me that you would come and watch in the morning. Why did you come only after the fight was halfway through?"
"I have to work in the Mage Quarter, Gerred. And you said morning. Who knew it would be so early? As soon as the sun rose, you guys started fighting? I got up before dawn to go to the Mage Quarter first in order to watch your match."
"Alright. Anyway, the final result is not bad. You didn't miss the exciting part either." Gerred shook the sword in his hand and said, "I mainly did this for this. This sword in Bainthor's hand is a new one. It's much better than those broken swords and axes we picked up outside. Once we go out, we also need a decent weapon by our side."
Jesse didn't expect that Gerred was actually thinking about finding weapons for the two of them.
He took the sword and observed it carefully. Finally, he found a clenched fist emblem on the counterweight ball at the end of the dark red grip.
"The emblem of the Kingdom of Stromgarde. This is a sword from Stromgard."
"Probably an Arathorian mercenary." Gerred said, "But he didn't catch up with the war. So this sword seems unused. I also saw it earlier. This sword is a weapon used by the royal guards of Stromgarde. It's not the sword of ordinary soldiers."
Jesse asked, "How much can it sell for?"
"It probably can't sell for too much. At most, it's worth about ten or twenty silver coins. And it depends on the gimmick of being a weapon used by the royal guards. The high status of the user doesn't mean that this sword is inherently good. Nowadays, Stromgarde is not as good as it used to be. They can't make weapons of very good quality. This sword is certainly not bad, but it can't compare with our things. It's even not as good as yours in Lordaeron."
Jesse asked again, "Didn't you notice anything strange about this person's name?"
"What's strange?"
"What's the surname of the royal family of Stromgarde?"
"Isn't it Arathor? No, Arathor is the family name of their ancestors. The king of Stromgarde is Thoras Thorbaen... It's Thorbaen! Could that guy be Galen Thorbaen, the younger brother of Danath? No wonder he is so good at fighting. This person should have been sent off by his father to see Danath Thorbaen off. So he has been staying in Stormwind City during this time. He is so restless even during this short stay and comes to fight in the Warrior's Guild?"
Jesse agreed, "It's very possible. After all, all the Thorbaens are born fighters. If that's the case, you just defeated the brother of the strongest person in the world."
Gerred shook his head and smiled and said, "Whether this person is really a Thorbaen is another matter. Galen is far worse than Danath. There's nothing to show off about defeating him. But he is at least a famous person. If one day I can defeat Danath in a duel, that would be a feat worthy of boasting about for a lifetime. I hope he doesn't die over there in Draenor. Come back soon."
At this point, Gerred seemed to suddenly remember something. The excited look quickly faded.
"Let's talk about our plan for this afternoon."
"Don't you take a rest?"
"What's there to rest? I just beat up a pampered rich young master."
Prince Galen Thorbaen's reputation is indeed not good. As an excellent warrior, he had almost no performance in the previous orc war. This is in stark contrast to Danath Thorbaen, who led the Stromgarde army to fight head-on with the orc legions in Khaz Modan and served as Turalyon's tactical advisor.
Many people suspect that he is cowardly and hides behind his father and brother and is unwilling to take the lead.
As the only son of the king, Thoras also spoils him a bit and is unwilling to let him join the expeditionary army to train. He doesn't even want him to go to Nethergarde Keep to contact the orc troops guarding the Dark Portal.
However, such a controversial heir has ambitions that do not match his own ability and the strength of his country. He has always been delusional about reviving the ancient Arathor of his ancestors and reuniting the seven kingdoms to establish a human empire.
This also laid the groundwork for the later tragedy of him and the entire Kingdom of Stromgarde.