In a small village to the east of Adventum City, a dwarf sat at the bar of the local tavern downing a flagon of mead with impressive speed. Durwith Bronzebeard had been a slayer for about 2 months now and had decided to strike out on his own rather than throw his lot in with 1 of the Great Slayer Hosts, so he had so far only been up to some low level slaying across the land during that time. He had just finished dealing with a rat man problem that the owner of the tavern needed someone to deal with. The rat men had taken up residence in the cellar the owner kept the good stuff in. Instead of money, Durwith asked for all the mead he wanted for free. The owner agreed to this thinking it'd be cheaper. He was wrong. Durwith drank and drank. He drank more than it seemed possible for his body to hold, he drank enough to put a regular man into a coma, and he drank far more than enough to make the tavern's owner regret paying Durwith the way he did.
"Keep it comin', Barkeep" Durwith said as he held out his empty flagon.
The tavern's owner took the flagon forlornly and went to refill it with mead when a door opened behind him. "You heading off to your 1st lesson with Sir Wilhelm son?" the owner asked.
"That's right" the son replied.
"Good luck on your 1st day then" the father said, momentarily forgetting about the dwarf that was 5 flagons away from consigning the tavern to financial ruin and seeming a lot happier.
"So this be where Sir Wilhelm lives now eh?" Durwith asked after the son had left.
"Indeed" the owner said, remembering Durwith's presence and growing grim once again "He gives lessons to those who are willing to learn, such as my son".
"Hmm" Durwith hummed thoughtfully. He'd heard of Sir Wilhelm's exploits, lessons from him would surely do no wrong. "I'm done here" Durwith said "Thanks for tha mead".
Once Durwith had left, the tavern's owner breathed a sigh of relief.
Durwith joined the son as he left the tavern and followed him to Sir Wilhelm's home, talking about what they knew of him along the way. When they arrived, there was a group of students waiting for the knight to arrive and the lesson to begin. Among them stood an elf. Durwith narrowed his eyes a little. It was said that there were 2 kinds of elves, friendly elves and arrogant elves. Durwith was fairly certain that friendly elves didn't exist, as the only elves he's ever met were arrogant snobs. And when the elf spotted Durwith, he was quick to establish his arrogance. "Ho there, Peter" the elf said "I do not wish to alarm you, but you are currently being followed by a murderous vagrant".
"Who be ye callin' a vagrant, ye knife eared ponce?" Durwith asked sharply.
"Isn't is obvious?" the elf replied "I suggest you run along now, Sir Wilhelm will be here any moment now and he has little patience for those who distract his students".
"I'm nae goin' anywhere" Durwith retorted "I'm here ta learn a thing 'r 2 from Sir Wilhelm as well".
"And just what makes you think you're worthy to learn from him?" the elf asked.
"What makes ye think I'm not?" Durwith answered.
The elf drew a saber and pointed it at Durwith. "Come over here" he taunted "I'll show you".
"With pleasure" Durwith said before drawing his 2 axes and charging the elf.
@Balthazar007
