Dungeon Prowler : One Man Army

Chapter 17: meeting the demons (2)

Excitement was overflowing from Yunan as he was heading to the training hall number 5, once he arrived he was bedazzled by the sight of a dwarf scolding an orc three time his size "listen here you little brute" said the dwarf while pointing his finger at the nose of the squating orc "never touch my hammer again, otherwise i will wring your ears off and feed them to you" then the dwarf turned around leaving behind a grinning orc who looked like he has just got away with something naughty "Titan's beard, why do i tolerate you so much?!. might as well shave my beard next time" while Yunan was watching the scene he heard a sniff behind him and turned to find a half beast sniffing at him, he did not even know when the guy came next to him much less when he started sniffing.

"Bai, is this the guy? smells nice can i have a bite?" the silvery hue in the half beast eyes was almost hypnotic, Yunan was barely able to react before he saw the elf Fae, fly over grab the half beast by ear and drag him to squat beside the orc "no snacks outside of meal time, you will get fat again" she then proceeded to flick his forehead, now there were two guys squatting and grinning like fools.

Soon the dwarf came over with Leader and Bai, the dwarf directly bumped a fist on Yunans chest "the name is Balin, master dwarf of the iron beards, i play the father figure for these bunch of misfits, if someone bullies you tell me" Yunan did not even wait and just pointed at leader and said "she messed up on purpose when we training last time" then he pointed at Bai "he made me and my friend a laughing stock in the academy"

The dwarf looked at Leader and Bai then the three burst out into laughter " i did not think you would sell them out so fast, you need mum training lad" the laughter of the dwarf drew in the others and they surrounded Yunan, and started making comments on him. "he feels much more polite than Bai said"," i find it easier to halv my expectations when it comes to sleeping and Bai","wise words, although he does look weak and famished we need to feed him more","this one is mine, go get your own obedient Little boys" the last remark was made by Leader followed by an order, "class today is swordsmanship, with chanting and arithmetics" she hugged Yunan to her side and walked him to center of the hall, then explained how the lesson will go.

"It should be easy, you basically chant an addition of two numbers in a singing voice, as long as you are training, today we do a simple series, you start by 1 and go up by one each addition, for example 1+2=3, 3+3=6, 6+4=10 and so on, basically the first number is the rest of the last addition while the second number is the next number while counting upwards, easy, oh, those idiots over there will come to correct your stance and will be making noise just by being here, so there will be distraction, i don't want you to stop singing or swinging until i say so, understand" Yunan nodded and asked "what is your name? you have not introduce all members yet and never told me the name of the party?" , "are you interested?". Yunan nodded and exclaimed in his head, 'i need to know who i will be complaining against if you go beyond teaching me' .

Leader called in the bunch that have been betting on how many sword moves he can make before he drops. Bai was snickering at them, he knew Yunan was much more than he looked like, once they surrounded Yunan started introducing them once again. "my name is Mary, you can call me Leader, this here is Fae, check her skin for her mood, she is fluffy most of the time, next is sly sleepy Bai, schemer and lazy, next is fuzzy Lucian he is the nicest one, the sneakiest too, next is master dwarf Balin, master of forge and combat, he is the most vulgar yet the cutest one, and this green lump of muscle is Dustan, big brute with simple demands in life, good axes and unlimited monsters" then she paused for a moment and looked towards Bai "what is the name of our party?" Bai looked at the others confused, "we have one?" that was an inquiry made by Dustan.

Bai just shrugged and said "i don't know, you guys never mentioned it before me and i came in last", the lot looked at master Balin "how do you deal with the official business?" Balin just showed his palms in a shrug "i never used a party name, since we are the only party from the 20th floor that ever leaves Tartarus city, i only introduce myself as a crew member of leader Mary's party and they recognize me immediately, was i supposed to use a party name?"

"Guess we don't need one anymore, i think we are now officially known as 'leader Mary's party' if i know guild personnel" interjected Lucian, it seems the party forgot they needed to train Yunan so he just moved away and started swinging from top to lower right or lower left alternating between the slashes and started singing and calculating.

While the party was debating, sometimes they would make an order at him " feet shoulder wide and one step forward, don't stand so stiffly" then something like "36+9 is 45 not 44 start over" mean while a discussion in this vein could be heard " i think we need a better party name, leader's fuzzy freaks sounds like a circus name", "well we are a walking circus","even so, no beard will be in a circus named party or a circus for that matter lass"," i heard others call us some good names after each quest","really good names?","not the most imaginative but . don't keep your elbows bent after you start a swing, unfold them before your sword is level with your head. yeah things like demons, devilish bunch, evil queen's entourage, walking insanity, most of them are like this", "barely anything fancy", "no imagination at all. its 78, start over", " why do they calls that any idea?", "provably because of the things we pull while fighting, especially when we get bored", "imiss the 20th floor, so much fun", "there, there, little lass, you can just wait three more years, how about having my baby while waiting?", "i don't want my baby born with a beard","you can shave him, beards only count after adulthood", "feels wrong to imagine a dwarf beardless", "here is a good name, beardless dwarf, we can shave balin while we are at it", "stupid orc, all dwarf kin will hunt us down for the name, and keep away from the beard, i still need to practice braiding", "how about braided beard?", "why do we need a beard in the party name? you are the only one with it","i concur, we need something we all have".

Yunan who just sat down from exhaustion, said whispering to himself "how about the brainless jesters? lookes fitting to me" he almost choked on his own saliva when he heard Dustan's reply "Bai has a bit of brain, so that is a no go" then discussion started again " i do like the jesters part, even though its not dignified, i counted 212"," the lad did 214 swings, Balin wins"," thank god, i would have died if any hair was snuffed out of my precious beard".

leader clapped her hands "15 minutes rest, beardy go get your rewards, Bai find a name for us, it must be dignified and represents us, although i don't feel like dignified suits us."