A Warlock's Ascent

The conversation between the group of men which just entered Gendry's bar caught Dave's attention. Those guys were talking about a beast that they spotted in the forest, the more they described the monster that they saw, and supposably almost killed until it ran away, it sounded a lot like the deer that he snatched from those goblins.

"I say he is bullshitting us!" one of the men yelled. Everyone nodded their head as well.

"I am not!" the man telling the story yelled glaring at everyone. "I saw that beast with my own eyes, it was golden, it had legs like a horse, but it was less fat, they were thin. I am telling you, that thing was the Skistag"

Gendry then gave those men their mead and came back, giving those men a look of haughtiness. "Yeah of course a Skistag." He mumbled, but Dave heard him.

"Hey, what is a Skistag?" he asked.

Gendry who had started to wipe the bar looked up. "It is a legendary beast. Nothing you should be worried about." He then went back to rubbing the bar

"Why it is called a legendary beast?"

Gendry looked up, clearly annoyed with all these questions. "I could tell you that… But you seem like a person who needs some friends. Turn around and talk to those fools."

Getting no answer, he got up and walked up to the table of those men, where they were still discussing that monster. "Alright, how can we believe you? You are a famous liar here."

"You are fucking liar here! I am telling you I saw a Skistag."

Looking at these guys bickering amongst themselves, he was getting tempted to join in the conversation as well. From the clues that he had heard till now, he knew that these guys were talking about the deer he caught, so if he want he can join in.

He wondered whether this would be a good idea, after all, he had a big secret in his life, if Grump was here then he would have suggested against making friends. But it is then he realized that he was never able to keep his identity a secret in the past. No matter how hard he tried, one way or another his secret comes out in the open.

'FUCK IT! Let's join in the conversation, I could use some friends. I am about to die one day or another, it would be good for me to die after making some friends.' He thought.

"I saw the beast that you guys are talking about." He said out loud, gathering the attention of all the people at the table.

"You saw a Skistag?" one of them asked.

"Yeah. When I went hunting goblins today, came across a small group of those midgets. They were carrying a beast just as you described."

It is then a voice came from behind. "Describe the beast."

He was startled and damn near spilled his drink. He turned around and a bearded man with white skin and a towering physique was standing behind him. The man was approximately six and a half feet tall and had a muscular physique that may put bodybuilders to shame.

Dave looked around and saw that everyone was eagerly waiting for an answer, so he started describing it. "The beast was nothing as I have seen before. It was slightly bigger than a wolf, it was covered in golden fur which had small white spots all over it. It had hoves like a horse, but they were very smaller."

He then put his hand on his mouth, showing that it had a long mouth like that of a wolf, but its teeth were not sharp as wolves. That man's eyes widened with surprise. He then came forwards and grabbed his shoulders. "What happened to that beast's carcass?"

He fucked up, he haven't really thought about what he was supposed to say in this scenario. "Well, I left it there. After all, goblins were way more valuable than it, right?" he said with a slight laugh.

"Where did you leave the carcass?" the man asked. Hearing this one of the men from the table got up. "Mr. Hasan, did this man really see a Skistag?" he asked the towering man. But that bodybuilder ignored that man.

"Tell me exactly the location… where did you leave the body. Dont worry I will reward you for that information."

He didn't know what to do anymore, he had fallen into a trap laid by him. "South from the city, somewhere around the forest. You will find two goblin carcasses  that I cannot carry with me, beside is the beast that I described."

Hasan immediately turned around and ran outside the bar. The men at the table looked at each other, but then suddenly they all got up and ran behind Hasan, out of the bar. Gendry was in distraught, they didn't pay for their drinks, so he also ran behind all of them.

Now alone in the bar, he wondered what that was about. He knew that the meat of a deer is very tasty, but could it be considered worthy of the title 'legendary beast', he didn't know. But the naming sense of the people in this world sucked hard, so who was he to question it anyway.

He came back to his seat and started drinking and eating in silence. It is then Gendry came back, mumbling profanities under his breath. And when he saw him sitting there, drinking beer and chips, he frowned.

"You are still here?"

He turned towards the man. "Yeah,"

"Why didn't you go with them? You know the location of a Skistag, You should go with them and get its carcass back."

"What is the fuss about this Skistag anyway? Is the meat of that thing that delicious that these guys so frantically ran after it?"

As if seeing an idiot, Gendry widened his eyes with surprise. "You really dont know anything about Skistag, do you?"

"No, that is why I asked you before, didn't I?"

Gendry chuckled at his ignorance. He then came back behind the bar. "Do you wanna know, why the Skistag are called legendary beasts?"

"Why?"

"Because they…" before he could answer, the muscular man from before came back again and came rushing towards him.

"I will give you 5 gold coins if you could show me where you saw the Skistag." He looked at his cup, it was almost finished. And he could use some extra money, so he agreed and went with Hasan, but only after paying Gendry 20 bronze coins.