Saiyan

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

He managed an extra hour of sleep after getting back from the jailhouse, and woke up with a groan. The sunlight made him squint, already hurting his eyes and he'd not even opened them yet. His head was banging, he was dehydrated as hell and his guts felt like they were tied in knots. He stayed lying there with an arm covering his face for a few minutes, feeling sorry for himself. Then he started chuckling. Then outright laughing.

"...Fell down the fucking well, haha."

Last night had been one for the books. As a montage of moments moved through his mind, he decided that how he was feeling, right now, was all absolutely worth it. Looking James in the eye without laughing was going to be difficult today. Talk about 'full of surprises.' Here was a guy who, when you get past his unapproachable grimace, was actually a good-hearted dude. Smart. Caring. Died trying to save someone from a burning building, for Christ's sake. But Hoe. Lee. Shit, was he ready to roll around in the mud if you gave him the chance. Picked up a chair as soon as he saw his friend in trouble. Chopped it up with those goons at The Brass Monkey. Stole a fucking horse!

James was officially 'The Best.' But the award ceremony would have to wait, because there were more important matters at hand.

"Alright Zell," he said aloud to himself. "Game day."

And just like that, his hangover was promptly ignored. He sat up, dug the heels of his palms in his eyes, then with an unnecessarily loud strain, stretched his arms. He went to the bathroom and drank a litre of water straight from the tap, then went back into his room and banged out a tonne of press-ups and sit-ups, having to use his imagination in place of loud music. After a shower, he armoured up, then went downstairs and got himself a big breakfast that he ate while chatting with some of the others.

"Alright, doll," he greeted MacKensie, at one point during the morning. Zell quirked an eyebrow when she acted strangely, all-but blanking him and making herself scarce. Strange.

He did a poor job of holding back a grin when he greeted James, giving him a nod and a knowing look. Of course, he remembered that they'd made an agreement that last night stayed just between them. That didn't mean he couldn't be a fool though.

"Can I get another cup of tea, Frederick, please mate? My throat's a bit hoarse."

"Well, I..."

"Well, now that you mention it..."

Later in the morning, when things got a little more serious and Barracker gave some advice about the upcoming mission, Zell nodded his understanding. Killing actual people instead of monsters, definitely had a sour ring to it, but Zell would do what was required, in order to ensure the safety of his teammates. As for the ghost enemies; Zell was one of the ones who didn't possess any elemental magic, but he trusted the others to have his back in that regard. He was not perturbed.

As had quickly become a habit when travelling, Zell took the lone rearguard position. Even though they travelled on the man-made roads of civilisation this time, he still kept his awareness on the surround, ready to jump into a front-line position should any trouble arise.

He was happy to note that Adam was back to normal again after seeing him converse with Barracker and even squeezing some potentially valuable information out of the wagon driver who'd stopped to chat. Being at the back alone had given him the chance to assess his friends the way he'd survey his team before a football match. Their demeanours. Their countenance. Their energy. It was a team-captain's job to make sure his troops were ready on match-day. He was no longer a team-captain of anything, but old habits die hard. Everything seemed well, aside from MacKensie acting weird earlier. It was probably nothing but he decided he would eventually say something, just in case.

He walked up front as the wagon driver left them on the road. "Looks like the cult like to play dirty," he said, patting Barracker on the back as he passed him (for no reason other than the vampire happened to be within reach.) Zell turned to face everyone who was stood around. "We should be careful. If the enemy is pulling off charades like that, then we shouldn't put it past them to have double-agents all around the local area. Be wary of anyone in Cherrad who is being a little too helpful."

"Here, a little extra something in case you ever need it."

When James handed out the spare knives, "Cheers boss," Zell came up alongside MacKensie to recieve his. He tested how the scabbard fit in his right boot and it was pretty snug, so he took off his boot and tied the scabbard to his ankle, then put his boot back on. Then he turned his gaze onto his french buddy and lowered his voice. "If something's bothering you, you'll only make it worse by overthinking." He grinned. "I need you at your best so you can save my dumb ass when I inevitably do something insane, okay?"

As he walked away, his eyes went skyward and he wondered about Sil the falcon. Once the party was moving again, Zell checked in with Fenna. "Hey, Fenna mate?" he began, steering himself alongside her. "You know when you were saying about your magical connection with Sil... can you communicate at all with her? Like, is there any chance she could possibly sniff out an ambush and warn us...? Anything like that?"

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

That's the 2nd day in a row that I've sat down to post and my night's been completely interupted lol I'll be back tomorrow

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

"Instant karma." Zell grinned down at James, choosing to watch him squirm for a moment before lowering the bucket the final foot of the way. "Up you get, then."

In the quiet darkness, the neigh of the horse several streets away filled the night air. James was back to chuckling again once he was free of the well, and the two men started off down the street once more.

"Ay, bruv," Zell said, hitting his buddy's arm with the back of his hand. "Wanna see this sword's superpower?" He said as he drew the black blade from the sheath on his back. He still hadn't seen the special enchantment himself yet, but he deciced now was as good a time as any to test it out. "Old Gildor Hammerfist says that it can cut through anything... once a day."

"Anything?" James was skeptical.

"That's what he said." He went up to streetside statue and looked up at all fifteen feet of it. Then he tapped it twice with the sword to hear the metal-on-stone sound confirming it was solid and uncuttable. He looked back at James briefly to make sure he was watching, then dropped into guard. "Take Vor, Baphomet!"

He put all his might into the swing, but perhaps he hadn't needed to, because his sword went through the statue like a hot knife through butter, spinning him around with the momementum of the swing to 180 him back to facing James. He stumbled a step, then stablized, looking quizzically at his friend. "Did it work?"

It did. The top half of the statue slowly slid off the bottom half. It was a good job James saw it in time - "Shit!" - as Zell would not have seen his most-certain death coming. The Mexican tackled the Englishman out of the way, both of them falling to the ground as the massive hunk of stone crashed onto the ground where Zell once stood. The noise was loud, prompting dogs to start barking in nearby gardens. James and Zell shared a surprised look, then looked back at the statue.

"Fucking hell," Zell exclaimed. "Thanks mate."

"Don't mention it," James returned.

...

The rest of the night, for the two mischief makers, consisted of being spotted by and subsequently fleeing from the town guard. Finding themselves at the infamous Thieves' Guild's tavern and casino: The Brass Monkey, where more drinking and gambling was to be had. Zell introducing James to the teardrop-tattoo man known as Devon, who turned out to be a henchman for a local crimelord. James having to aggressively turn away flirtatious advances from lecherous men, sometimes resorting to violence when 'Fuck off' wasn't enough. There was also a spell of vomitting in the yard outside, and more drinking. And later bumping back into the town guard who promptly arrested the pair for Grand Theft Horse and property damage.

Zell and James slept in Valhiem's jail until morning, when they paid a fine for their crimes and were released. They came skulking into The Mended Drum, feeling haggard and hungover, and went to bed for a few more hours, vowing to eachother that they'd never speak of the night's events, out loud, in front of anyone. Some things were best just buried in the past.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@ZoolI herd you're trying to stop the puns. That's pretty foal, dude

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

"Ridden a horse?" Zell stopped with James in the street. "What the fuck do I look like, to you, Mac- err, James...?" That disguise really needed to go. "...some kind of country bumpkin?" Then Zell realised that the excited light in James' eyes was like the light-bulb signal of a bright idea. He looked around and saw the stable. "Mate, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"

"Come on." James headed towards the stables. Zell watched him go, drunk indifference on his face, then sighed and shook his head.

"You're barmy, son," he commented before following after his friend.

James was not shy, he didn't hesitate a step, unlatching the gate and boldly going right up to the nearest horse. Zell decided to keep lookout. The Englishman had never even seen a horse close up before, let alone ridden one, so he couldn't help but be surprised at just how big they were, in person. "Blimey," he muttered as James led one out by the reigns.

"That's it, boy," James whispered to horse, keeping it calm. "We're just going for a ride, me and you."

"Have you done this before?" Zell whispered loudly.

"Maybe," was the reply.

Once it was out into the street, James reached a foot up onto a stirrup, then Zell helped boost him up onto the horse. Zell then used the stirrup himself, but at that moment the lights came on in the building next to the stable, and the front door opened where a man in his night gown looked furiously at the horse thieves.

"Oi!"

"Shit." Zell jumped up and managed to get his body over the back of the horse, lay across it, belly down, like some kind of kidnapped victim. "Go!"

"Stop!"

"Yar!" James snapped the reigns and the horse charged off down the street.

"This was a bad idea!" Zell yelled as he bounced up and down on his stomach in what to be the most uncomfortable position he could have possibly put himself in. His view was of nothing else but cobblestone street flying past at great pace and all he could do was try his best hold on. Three streets later, he was losing the battle to keep himself atop the horse. "James, slow down, you twat!"

But it was too late. He slipped off and went flying like a bullet into someone's garden. "Shiiiiiiiiit!"

Crash.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

O_O You're planning to steal a horse, aren't you? <face palm>

@Zool

I'm not not planning for them to steal a horse :)

<Snipped quote by Saiyan>

<Snipped quote by Zool>

Saiyan, quit horsing around :P

@Zapdos

Nay, good sir. And it would behoove you to quit with the puns

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

lmao @Teyao you really gonna make me do this!? cuz I'll do it bro ...lol fine, I'm doing it!

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

James wouldn't have made the bet if he had any doubt Zell was going to win, also, I think that my wording may have been ambiguous so I apologize for that but yeah, Zell won and because everyone else thought he was going to lose they betted heavily against him, so they found themselves drunk and with a lot less money to buy more booze, thankfully there was a Zell and James shaped person to blame rather than, you know, blaming themselves for betting it all in the first place.

@Teyao

Lol ah I see now. The ambiguity left enough room for me to change the tone. So now, James is a drunken idiot for thinking Zell could have won against that giant man in a fair match lol smh Second Chance's beloved strategist with the worst strat ever. "Kids, don't drink. This happens."

This is what happens when there is no planning and using eachother's character, but it's fun and makes some hilarious moments. Standard practice for me n Zool

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

She might even have an arrest on her record before the night is over lol

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

It was a rapid-fire decision in the moment.

James had stupidly gambled all of their money and Zell was going to lose against this giant of a human being. (In fact, Zell wasn't even sure Stevenson Bear Arm was a human, he was that big.) Well, Zell decided that he and James simply couldn't afford to lose everything. So he did what Zell always does... he found a way to win. He cheated - more specifically. As the crowd counted down for the match to begin, right before they started, Zell kicked Stevenson Bear Arm in the balls, under the table, then used the distraction to slam the giant man's hand onto the table, stood up and raised his hands in victory. This would, at the very least, let James avoid having to pay all of their money out, but the drunken Englishman hadn't thought past that. There was no exit-strategy. And perhaps there should've been one.

This thought process trickled through Zell's mind as he ducked the chair that went flying over his head and smashed into the face of the man behind him. James' tactics of using barroom furniture as an equaliser against being outnumbered by powerful adventurers was a good idea, and Zell decided to indulge, picking up a stool next to him as he rose up.

"Why don't you have a seat, mate!" he shouted as he broke the stool over the closest man's head. "Ha!" he managed before taking a stiff punch to the face.

The taproom floor became a picture of chaos. Punches, kicks, wrestling and breaking furniture were the sights and sounds along with the shouting. Stevenson's party had started the fight, but they were rightly pissed off. James wasn't to know, he just saw his friend getting attacked and jumped in, as a friend should. Zell was to blame for all of this. But Lucinda Bottrill - Guildmaster of the Valhiem Branch of The Adventurer's Guild, did not give a crap who was in the wrong. She stood on the mezzanine balcony with a face of fury.

"WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AAAAATT!?" she roared.

...

It took Lucy, the bartender and another party to break up the brawl, and not long to figure out that it was Second Chance's fault this had started in the first place. Zell wore a smug expression in spite of the bruised cheek and cut lip. He was just glad that James had avoided paying off the gambling debt.

"You two are banned from the guildhouse," Lucy told him and James. "Your party may still do business here, but you two are not to set foot on this property, do you understand?"

When James and Zell left, Lucy ordered Stevenson's party to help clean up lest they be banned too. When she got back upstairs, she went to her magi-tech systems and brought up the details of the party; Second Chance, then sighted the two members by their pictures.

"Zell Brooks and MacKensie Trydant," she said aloud to herself. She would remember those names and faces.

...

"That was fun," Zell grinned at James. He couldn't tell James had even been in a fight. Maybe it was because he was disguised as a woman, so no one attacked him, or perhaps it was because Sillagy's blessing was covering up his bruises. Or maybe Zell was just drunk. "The night is young, mate, let's go see where else is open."

And with that, they stumbled off down the street, laughing about the fight.