As Alenius walked away the trio of mercenaries began moving out of the keep.
-"So boss, how'd ya like a piece of that?" One of his men questioned, obviously referring to Alenius.
Claus gave him a slap over the shoulder, albeit not a very hard one.
-"That's no way to speak of a lady!" He was smirking.
A short silence followed, then the other armsman spoke.
-"So you would like a piece of that?" He quickly dodged Claus's slap, and the captain shook his head a bit.
-"Well i'm not gonna deny it, nice ladies like that aren't too common." Followed by a holler from his men, Claus was certain that Alenius could hear this exchange, but he didn't care, he imagined her simply shaking her head with a sigh.
After a slow walk back to the Drunken merchant, with banter, hollering and the odd cat whistle, the trio entered the tavern.
-"YOU THERE!" Shouted a young girl with short black hair whom had confronted Claus and tried her best to impose her presence, which she did sort of well considering her size, even if she was taller than most of her age.
Claus was slightly shocked at this, but put his hands to his hips and gave a big smirk.
-"Are you captain Rotstein!?" She pointed, she also mimicked Claus's pose.
-"Why yes i am, whom might you be!?" Claus told with weight to his voice, so everyone in the tavern could hear. Many of his men sat down and were laughing, so she has probably been here waiting for a while before he showed up.
-"I am Katrina Nikos! I am here to provide your company with the best blacksmith in town!" She looked positively gleaming, proud and resolute. Claus noticed she was here to stay.
-"And where might this man be? Hm?" Claus told with a massive grin, obviously teasing the girl. Whom flustered with anger but managed to keep her cool.
-"SHE! Is right here!" Katrina bombarded out, kinda hefty for one of her age. She tossed her hair with her right hand, but the impression was a bit flawed because of its length. A few cheers, a whistling and someone shouting 'feisty' could be heard from all around.
-"Oh yeah? Best blacksmith in town? So what makes you think you have anything to offer to the best damn mercenary company in the world!?" Claus jeered. A cheer was heard from all the mercenaries in the tavern.
-"I am... strong, great at making weapons, and smart!" She kind of struggled a bit, but managed to come up with a few answers. She wasn't shy but it was evident she wasn't used to situations like these either.
-"Great at making weapons ey? Well here in the fist we usually buy our equipment, so i don't really see a point in a blacksmith!" Claus leaned forward towards Katrina, and put his left foot on a stool and rested his arms on his leg.
-"I CAN FIGHT! I am strong! I can probably fight better than many of your men!" The young girl proclaimed, followed by fake impressed 'oooh's.
Claus stood there and let the men gasp and awe at her, then he kicked off the stool and began circling her.
-"Fight better than seasoned military veterans do we? Hehe, somehow i doubt that." Claus was trying to get an all around view of Katrina but she turned and faced him with a stern face.
-"I can beat any of your men! I am no little pushover!" She proudly stated, but also swallowed when she saw that Claus stopped circling her and set his gaze upon her eyes.
-"Now THAT! Is what i wanted to hear! ARMS!!!" Claus roared and held out his right hand, and Katrina was shocked when mercs removed some of the tables from the floor. 'Fight fight fight' was chanted from all around the drunken merchant.
-"EY! No fighting in the bar!" The barkeep yelled. Claus was now given a loose chair leg resembling a mace in his hand, Katrina was handed a wooden sword. Claus inspected his weapon and tested its balance when he spoke.
-"This is no fight, this is a trial! Every single man and woman in the steel fist has fought me. And NONE have bested me!" There was massive cheers, somewhere in the crowd 'Yeah right' was heard followed by laughter.
Katrina looked positively terrified for a moment, but gathered herself and assumed a fighting stance.
-"EN GARDE!" Claus roared and the fight begun, much to the dismay of the barkeep.
Katrina was no coward she thought, so she quickly stepped in a swung towards Claus centre. A move he simply stepped back from.
She swung again but was again backstepped, with a two handed blow she struck for Claus left shoulder but he blocked it without much effort, took a step past her and turned around and gave a push with his mace to her shoulder which put Katrina off balance.
Laughs and cheers were given when Claus twirled his mace, pranced about with a whistle as Katrine frustratingly regained her posture.
She growled and began a flurry of attacks, while not masterful swings she at least got some proper strength in with each one. Claus however struck two of the blows away from his body, and sideswiped her sword and sidestepped her entirely.
She did not halt her strikes though and made a backhanded strike which Claus barely managed to block with his stool-leg weapon.
-"Not bad." Claus told, Katrina smiled.
-"My turn!" He countered and her previous optimism turned into stress.
Claus made a swing for her head, which she managed to parry. He struck for her left arm which she barely pulled out from harms way and then Claus finished off with placing his right foot on her torso, and pushing hard so that she was haphazardly flung to the ground.
Triumphant Claus held his hands in the air, cheers and a few boo's were the response of the audience.
Katrina however did not give up and got to her feet and ran at Claus full speed planning a massive two-handed strike to strike down on his back.
Claus however saw it coming, did a sidestep and tripped her so she slammed into the floor.
He then followed with kneeling besides her and putting his right foot upon her back, she wasn't going anywhere.
-"It looks like you couldn't best me." Claus smirked and looked at Katrina's struggled face. He had barely broken a sweat while Katrina had gone all in and was panting heavily. When he told those words a tear could be seen rolling from her eye and she sulked a response.
-"No... i couldn't..." She was obviously sad, and turned her face away so no one could see.
-"Luckily, no one said you had to beat me!" Claus removed his foot and extended a hand. Katrina looked up and confusedly took it.
With little effort he stood himself and Katrina up from the floor, dropped his makeshift mace and in a rough manner wiped the tears from her left cheek.
-"Soldiers of the fist! I didn't know we needed one, but we got our first blacksmith!!!" Claus bombarded out and was met with a massive cheer, Katrina was stunned.
-"Now i want you all to welcome our new trooper. DRINKS ON ME!!!" And his last words were met with a massive cheer, two mercs, one a woman lifted up Katrina and carried her around on their shoulders for a lap around the tavern before putting her down at a table.
-"And nothing too strong for her just now, she's young you know." Claus boomed out, he saw some of the men already bringing tankards of strong ale to her table, a 'naaaaw' followed by another laughter was heard from that general area.
-"Hey, i'm no child!" Katrina yelled out, still a bit shocked by the turn of events.
-"Of course not." Claus jeered with a massive grin.
-"Also do go and tell about the good news, but not just yet. For not only have we got a new blacksmith, we have a new employer! Soldiers of the fist, you are now proud fighters for the imperial concord, so at least pretend you care about them!" Claus boomed out, the cheers were a mix of glad shouts, disappointed jeering and one table chanting 'money, money!'.
-"More information about that to follow, but now, do tell everyone, and enjoy yourself! We won't be here in Nyhem forever so better drink it dry quickly!!!" Claus was met with a loud cheer as he walked up to the barkeep and slammed a hefty gold coin unto the counter, the barkeep looked a bit less annoyed as he took it, bit it and pocketed it.
