The sky slowly got brighter and the stars disappeared as the sun rose over the horizon, signaling the start of a new day. My breath is heavy and my clothes are drenched in sweat. I am kneeling, unable to get up any more. In front of me he lies, the giant called Sam.

How many times has it been? How many times have I fallen into darkness only to wake up covered in soft glowing light, the dwarf Bryn standing over me and once more urging me to my feet in order to face the raging giant again? I could not remember. Was this the first time I saw the sun since the fight had started or had days passed as I was unconscious? It no longer mattered. At some point I had tried to run away only to have Bryn drag me back. I had begged Sam to stop, only to have him laugh at my face and taunt me. My bones had been broken like twigs; I had puked blood and thrown up. I had my nose broken every time that enormous fist collided with my face.

At some point I had stopped being afraid of the pain. What use was fear when the pain would come anyway? Like that I had kept fighting. It was strange. How, even when I tried to run or beg, I never gave up. I never accepted the pain, always I tried to protect myself, to find some way of fighting back or to get away. It altered every time. I would try to dodge and stay away from him, only to get caught. I would get angry and attack him head on, only to beaten down. When that didn’t work I would try to create new weaknesses. I would constantly try to attack the same area. I focused on his left leg. Kicking it, punching it, only to be faced with a bored face. It wasn’t until I really started to try to hurt him that the fight turned around. It was when he lifted me by my throat that my chain of thought changed. Until then he had only really thrown me around, or punched me. But when he got fed up he grabbed me and lifted me up while choking me with a single hand. While slowly choking my life consciousness away he had been turning to Bryn and boasted to about something. I had clawed at his hand, kicked at him, all to no avail. I felt how the pressure in my brain increased and felt my consciousness start to fade and still Sam kept talking to Bryn without paying me any attention. My sight disappeared and I was desperate for air. I then realized that this guy didn’t care. I was about to die by his hand and he didn’t even bother looking. Up until now I knew that this fight was dangerous but I always believed that I would be left alive by the end of it no matter the outcome. I always thought that this giant was holding back in order to let me live. I felt myself on the edge of giving up. And then…

I snapped. I took my fingers and shoved them into his eye. The shock and pain he felt made him recoil and he let go of me at the same time. I fell, coughing heaving, to the ground as the giant screamed a feel himself to the ground. When I saw him rolling around on the ground I, still gasping for breath, somehow got to my feet and approached the man. I stumbled around him and approached his head. My body felt weak and for a second I thought about how I could kill this fucking asshole when I was too weak to even kick him in the head. The answer came to me in the form of an image from a movie I saw once, years ago. Remembering that scene I smiled a little. I had always thought that using that move should really be forbidden since it could make you a cripple for life. But right then and there I didn’t care. What would it matter? Thinking that I smiled and stared down at him, and just like that I jumped up as high as I could. In my mind I reached a height of two meters before falling down on to the giant, but in reality it was more around 30 centimeters. As I was in the air I grabbed my feet and pointed my knees downwards, aiming for him face and neck with either knee. He saw me as I jumped but was unable to react with anything but raising his head slightly off the ground before my knee crushed his other eye and his head smacked back down in the cobblestone. His body convulsed but soon it stopped moving.

After stepping of his body I took a step outside of the alley, into the newly arrived sunshine and sunk there to my knees. It was done. He was dead. The scene played over and over in my mind. My fingers was covered with blood from the man’s eye and felt cold in the morning air. Behind me I heard slow footsteps approaching. I wondered a little what Bryn would say, but then again, fuck that dwarf.

Still gasping in air I was feeling like no matter what happens next I would not move from this spot for a while. I thought that… and then Sam stepped out into the sunlight by my side. Like nothing had ever happened he stood there with his back towards me. I was unable to believe my eyes and questioned my own sanity. It wasn’t until he spoke that he became real in my mind.

“That should do it, shouldn’t it Bryn?”

“Yes that will do. Say hello to Belinda for me.”

“Yea right. If I ever catches you speaking to her again I will really break your neck.” Saying that he turns around and I once more can’t believe my eyes. All his wounds have disappeared but that was not what really surprised me. His ear was back, all scars and blemishes had gone away and he looked like a new man. He even spoke like a new man. He looked down on me and smiled, with a mouth full of teeth.

“That was some good exercise, eh kid? Maybe we will do it again sometime.” And he walks away down the street.

I look at Bryn, wondering what the hell that was about.

“What?” Was all he said.

“Okay fine, just stay like that for a little bit.”

He walked behind me and soon enough my body was embraced by a soft glow and my pains, aches, wounds and even my fatigue started to fade away. Within minutes it was as if I had just gotten out of bed the morning before. I got to my feet and turned to the dwarf.

“I-… Ehm… What the hell just happened? What did he mean by a deal? When did you make a deal? And who are you really? Are you a healer or something? And what was the point of all this? I just… I don’t…”

My tired mind is unable to keep up with the events that keep on unfolding and questions that I haven’t had time to think about while fighting fills my head.

“Hold your horses, boy. Besides, we are going to spend a lot of time together from now on, so there will be plenty of time to talk. For now I am going to find myself a place to sleep for a few days and couple of bottles to empty. After I have had my rest I’ll come find you and we can really get started. Hehehe…” And while laughing, he walks back into the alley.

After gathering myself, I make my way back to the castle. The guards look at me a bit concerned but they still salute and let me pass. After entering I could hear them whispering behind me. As I walk through the castle ground there is not much activity. Only a few servants are walking about, doing chores in the early morning. I make it back to my room and fall on my bed. Sleep takes me away before I can even feel the pillows on my face.

A loud, insistent knocking wakes me up.

“What!?” I shout out annoyed.

“Excuse me my lord but your presence has been required in the grand hall. Uhm… for some time now… please hurry and get ready. Shall I send for someone to help you get dressed?” The voice of an older woman is heard from outside my door.

“I-I’m fine, thank you… Why do they need me?”

“I’m sorry but I have not been told. However they are quite insistent that all heroes need to be present.”

“Urgh, okay. I will be out in just a minute.” I crawl out of bed. I notice that I was still wearing my armor. Looking over myself in the mirror, while my hair is all over the place and the armor stinks of sweat, I still give of a respectable look. The armor has held up well despite the thorough beating it had taken. Only if you looked closely could you see faint scratches in the metal where it had hit the stone covered ground.

Since they are waiting, I guess this will have to do.

I take a quick moment to wash my face and to straighten out my clothes a bit before exiting my room. The old woman who had woken me up was still there and quickly led the way to the grand hall. The moment I enter the main hall everyone gets quiet and turns to stare at me. She kept leading me all the way up to the honoree table, not giving me a chance to sit among the rest of the crowd like I usually do. I cover my head with the hood and pull up the scarf. I can feel my face giving of heat and I bet it is almost glowing red. This way I can at least pretend like I am not nervous at all.

The old woman pulls out a chair for me among the other heroes and then steps away to the side where the other servants have gathered. After the hall has been quiet for a few minutes the big doors leading outside opens and 13 people enter in formation. They are all dressed in gray loose fitted robes that are open showing a black silk shirt underneath and black cotton looking pants. They were all armed with a unique weapon. At a glance I could see a tomahawk looking weapon, a spear that had two spearheads, a sword that was wide enough to act like a shield, a long nunchaku looking weapon with short spearheads in either end, and what I could only guess was a belt sword. What caught my eyes the most though were not their clothes nor their weapons but they themselves. Their skin was dark gray; their hair was in colors varying from pure white to stone gray to pitch black. Their builds were slim and their eyes big and dark. What made me realize the name of their race were their ears. Pointy ears stretching upwards 30 centimeters made it clear that these were elves. And if one were to judge by their skin color it was rather obvious that they were dark elves.

My eyes glow as I smile. The fact that I am in this world just makes me happy every time I am reminded of it.

I remember the armorer talking a little about the dark elves when he refused to give me the weapon I had chosen. I guess that is why they are here.

An announcer hurriedly started to announce the elves.

“The commander of the dark elves, Liam Phantier, and his retinue, The Twelve! Here to discuss the return of their property and the future relationship between our two races.”

Judging by his hasted announcement and the way the elves simply strode all the way up to the honor table and stood in front of the royal family had me thinking that perhaps my delay had pissed them off…

The elves stop in front of the king and look down on him with disdain.

“Bring the Vou’jack to me.” He demanded.

Everyone was quiet and a lot of those present, including the nobles and heroes, looked at each other in confusion. Then there was movement from the side of the platform and the Armorer came around the table, holding in his two hands an ornately decorated wooden box which he handed over to Liam with great care. The elf did not pick up the box, only opened it. He then picked up the item inside; it was indeed the sword I had picked out a few days ago. After a quick inspection of the sword the elf suddenly backhanded the dwarf so hard he went flying of the raised platform and lay in a heap next to the wall.

The few soldiers stationed around the hall all draws their swords and some or the heroes rise to their feet. The elves on the other hand only give them a bored look.

“You dare have a filthy stone sucker handle an elven soul!?” Liam roars at the king. “The very thought insults us all!”

The king’s face darkens but before he is able to say anything the queen speaks up.

“We are sorry to have insulted you; I assure you that was not our intention. The dwarf is in our employment for his talent in the forge surpasses the rest of us, hence he is in charge of creating and maintaining any weapons and armor that is in our possession. Therefore we concluded that the sword would be best left in his care until it could be returned to its rightful owners.” The queen speaks with a calm convincing tone. The elf only frowns slightly at her and stays silent for a while before speaking.

“Are you not aware of what the dwarves have done in the past? Do you really not know how they can’t be trusted neither with metal nor with life? And here you freely admit to having this stone lover in your employment? How low the human race must have fallen to depend on such creatures. I have come here to retrieve the soul of my friend and to discuss the possibility of an alliance in the coming calamity, but now I see no reason for such a discussion.”

He takes a look around him, taking note of all the heroes one by one.

“We have heard the news that the humans have made a summoning. That new heroes have come forth. But I see now only children. Weak fools with no experience and no strength. Are these the ones you shall depend on for aid?” His gaze finally reaches mine and he stops for a moment before continuing. “I fear that the humans have ‘tossed their hopes over the cliff, instead of climbing down himself’. There will be no alliance made between us.” At that he turns around and walks out. The queen tries to get him to stop.

“Wait! Surely we can at least share a meal together?”

The king can’t contain himself and growls.

“To just leave, and after such a performance, does the dark elves have no manners?” Both of them are ignored by the elves that simply walk out.

Finally, the king is unable to hold back his indignation and calls out:

“Guards! Stop them.” Three words that he came to regret before they fully left his mouth.

At his words the Twelve all moved out, with speed and precision, each targeting a separate guard. The guards who already had their weapons drawn were taken care of in the blink of an eye.

I had only been able to watch one of the elves move, it all happened too fast to keep track of the others. The one I watched drew her weapon, a single thin dagger attached to a string, and stepped on a chair, up on the table, on a man’s shoulder, and another’s head that she leapt off while throwing her dagger. It pierced a guard’s eye only to be instantly pulled back and using the momentum it was swung around her body and cut another guard's throat and then it was again thrown into another’s eye. Her movements were as if she had been an action hero in a movie. They were all too precise, as if she already knew where everything should be and had practiced it for years in order to perform this move, flawlessly. Her moves had carried her halfway across the hall, at least fifty meter in just a few steps and when she landed, dagger in hand, three guards slumped to the ground, groaning and screaming in pain. When I managed to take my eyes of her, every other guard in the room laid dead or in pain.

The Twelve calmly left the grand hall. While this total dominance went on, Liam had not even turned around to take a look. Only kept striding out of the castle.

The king, the royalties, the nobles and the heroes were all looking on in fear and awe.

That day the humans lost an opportunity of gaining an ally that could have saved them from the tides to come.

After the elves had left, healers were swiftly summoned and some of the heroes volunteered to help the injured guards. Since no one had called the meeting over I stayed in my seat. I had no intention of getting any further attention. For all I know I was the reason that elf, Liam, was in a bad mood. For now I think it is best if I just stay here.

The armorer was soon back on his feet, after refusing help from one of the healers. Stretching his neck and groaning in pain he looked over the room before letting out a loud *Humph* and started to complain.

“I warned you they wouldn’t be happy to have a dwarf be handling one of their weapons. I told you about our history, but you didn’t want to listen now did you. No I had to be the one to hand over the sword, because you say so. Never mind the fact that the dark skins would skewer me for it. Sigh, why did I ever agree to this…?” He loudly grumbles to himself as he makes his way out of the hall.

After about twenty minutes the hall has been put back into order and the guards that survived have been healed, those that didn’t survive was carried off somewhere by the servants.

“Now then, let us put this unpleasantness behind us and move to brighter topics, shall we…” The King announces once everything settled down somewhat. “The reason I called you all together here today was only partially for the sake of the… ambassadors of the dark elves. I had hoped to announce this as a celebration to their visit but, as things are…” He stumbles and looks around rather sheepishly. “These are dire times and it will only get worse in the future so in order to get everyone in high spirits, me and the princess have decided to organize, at the end of next month, a grand tournament!” He tries to play it off like some big thing, however because of the events unfolded just moments ago only a few sporadic applauds are heard.

“…right, uhm. So, the tournament will consist of several competitions ranging from archery to one on one combat duels, to a showing of magic and a grand joust of course. The participants of the tournament will be our greatest soldiers, the honored heroes, as well as those in the general public who believe they have what it takes.” This causes some interesting whisperings in the hall and a few more applauds ring out. I can see the eyes of the heroes shine at the idea of competing. I can’t help but sigh to myself.

For the love of god what do you think this is? Some damn circus for you to perform in? Don’t we have more important things to do, like oh, I don’t know how about learning how to survive? There is a war coming isn’t there?

“Of course there can’t be a grand tournament without a grand prize…” At this every single hero, whether man or woman turns their head to look at the princess. “Therefore I will prepare a large sum of gold coins for those that distinguish themselves, as for those who will take the winning spots we shall prepare some suitable weapons, armor and other trinkets fitting to the specific competition.” A look of disappointment comes over them, noticing that the king speaks up once more. “But that is not all! To the one accumulating the highest number of points at the end of the tournament, we shall grant him the title of Baron, or Baroness, and all that comes with that title.” Now the nobles made a big clamor and cheers erupted among them. I could see some of the other heroes looking confused at the big commotion from this announcement however they just don’t realize how but such a thing is.

This means that during this tournament a regular commoner could raise himself and his family to the status of nobility and even be granted land that comes with the title. You could compare it to getting an Olympic medal, while being given a mansion, raising the status of your family to that of politicians and winning millions on the lottery, all at the same time. People will swarm at the opportunity.

After the announcement there are some slightly awkward celebrations in honor of this grand idea. Food is being carried in on lavish plates and everyone starts to enjoy themselves while talking about the prospects of the coming event. Meanwhile servants do their best to casually clean up the traces of blood from the previous fight. It is clear that they had planned this out, only to have it ruined and are now trying to piece it all back together. I can only shake my head at the situation.

After eating my fill I observe the room until I feel that I can leave without any problems. I then stand up and with a slight bow to the king I get out of the grand hall.

The rest of the day was uneventful as I spent it in my room, resting. Come morning the entire castle is buzzing with the news of the tournament. Even as I sit down to eat breakfast I hear the servants, who by now have gotten somewhat used to the idea that I will sit among them, talk about their expectations for the tournament and who they would like to see competing. Apparently Hank, whom I have met before, is a bit of a fan favorite among them. There was also excited talk about the mages who would be showing of their magic. As usual the fire mages and the frost mages have the most attention.

How dull, I hope I get to see some more interesting magic. Maybe some shape shifting or something more impressive stuff. It would be nice if I could see something I have never seen before…

After eating I get back to training my body. I feel like I might have fallen behind the others since I have not been following a schedule other than my own whims really, so I was surprised when I showed clear progress during my training session. I was now able to keep going for an hour before needing to rest. The body of a hero is still shocking me with its rapid development. I continue working hard until midday where I get some food and go take a nice long bath. This time I use the bathroom instead of having the wooden tub brought to my room. I was almost alone in there and the few men who came and went left me alone. When I had enjoyed the hot water long enough that I was starting to get dizzy, I get back to my room and rest for a while longer. As the day started to come to an end I got dressed in new clean clothes, my armor had been sent to the cleaners after a maid had discovered that it was causing my room to stink.

Feeling nice and fresh I made my way back to the castle gardens once more.

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“Hey, Millie!” The dwarf waves to the bandit looking woman.

“Ah, there you are Bryn. I was wondering if you were ever going to show up.”

“Well you know me; I had to take care of a few problems before I came.”

“I trust those problems are still alive…”

“What, do you really think that low of me? I left that behind me when I came to the surface with you, you know that.”

“Old habits die hard…”

“Heh, you’re one to talk about old habits. As I recalled the reason I even left with you was because…”

“Bartender! Get me and my friend here a drink so I can shut him up, please.”

“Heh, now you’re talkin my language Millie.” He says and accepts the mug of ale when the bartender hands it to him.

“So, since you clearly didn’t call me out here to reminisce about old times, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

“Hmm… It’s a bit complicated. You know about the heroes, right?”

“Oh, the snot nosed brats that the king likes to parade around the town. What about them?”

“Well while most of them are indeed nothing but children, I met one of them who is a bit, shall we say, peculiar.”

“Oh, no. You know I don’t swing that way. Only ladies can catch the eyes of this dwarf.”

“Don’t be an ass. That was not what I meant. Normally a hero is said to be all honor and strength you know. Sacrificing themselves for the good of the land and all that. You have heard the stories. And most of the kids that were summoned are like that. But this one guy, he is different. Rather than training with the others I found him in the secluded area at the back of the barracks, training by himself. After talking to him he told me that he didn’t believe in all that fighting with honor, bullshit that the knight commander tends to spew out every now and then. Instead he told me he wanted to learn the opposite. Can you imagine my surprise when a hero, summoned to help defend the people against the summoned hordes told me straight to my face that he had no intention whatsoever to help us out. That he even considered us to be in the wrong and resented us for summoning him, have you ever heard of such a thing?”

“He must be mad, I’m sure you set his back straight eh? Hahaha”

“That’s the thing though. He was right; it is our fault for summoning him, for summoning all of them. That got me thinking, we are going to send these kids out there to fight our fight, while we hide behind our walls. And in order to prepare them for that what do we teach them? We have them spar against each other with wooden swords and rules so that they don’t hurt themselves. We forbid them to use the so called dishonorable combat skills. Fuck, we might as well send the prancing nobles out the front line. So that got me thinking, right, what if we did the opposite. What if we taught them the way to fight dirty, how to throw sand in the opponent's eyes and then gouge them out, how to attack from behind and where to shiv them with a knife. You know, like us. People like us have always looked down on the noble’s way of doing things, hell I don’t think there is a person in the underworld that would ever lose to a noble in a real fight. Just imagine if a hero was able to fight like we do? He would be unstoppable right?”

“Heh, but then would he really be a hero? Doesn’t that sound more like a villain to you? Besides you said it yourself, he doesn’t want to help us. Why would you waste your time on a person who would only betray you and leave when you need him the most? Don’t get me wrong, I agree that if we could teach a hero how to really fight then he would become a monster, but you have to think about the reason anyone would want to learn that way of fighting. And this guy doesn’t sound like he can be trusted. Hell for all we know he might join the demon hordes when they come rather than fight for us.”

“Oh must you be so damn dramatic? Who cares about any of that! Have there ever been heroes who have been able to understand our kind? Has there ever been even a hint of sympathy? No, we have always been considered the bad guys. To them we are the same as the damn demons! The bard's even sing merry tunes about the ‘heroic’ slaughter of our comrades. I say fuck that! If the nobles have to have heroes to hunt us I say let’s make our own hero!”

“…I don’t know Millie. I just don’t think it will work.”

“At least meet with the guy and make your own opinion. I have a good feeling about him but maybe I’m blinded by my dreams and need another set of eyes to see the truth. Will you be my eyes?”

“Stop flirting with me Millie, I ain’t falling for that again. Fine, I just have to meet the guy right? Maybe I will test him a little while I’m at it…”

“Go for it. As long as you let him live. But knowing you he will probably beg to die before you are done ‘testing’ him. Hehe, I still remember that time you captured a goblin and…”

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