Earl, the jolly berserker as he was nicknamed in his local guild, was a popular dwarf.
It was a familiar name in the city, one with respect among the lower and mid class of the city - of course nobles look down upon everyone else in Orrid so that’s the best anyone can hope for.
“Huh, makes one wonder what’ll happen when those bairns'll reach S rank - then again Lil’ Purp’ would likely make it up there on stats alone in a few. Good she trains hard though.” <Earl>
He himself was a C-rank which was the first ‘skill barrier’ as it was put. After all, unless you were a dragon, most people struggled to get levels with raw stats.
This is where skills come into play however even then two brothers won’t be equal in this regard even if they put in the exact same work… This was the ‘skill barrier’ that required natural talent over all else. Cutting the kings from the chaff as it was - so it was impressive to be as young as Earl and reach this point!
Of course… He wasn’t the youngest C-rank in the city.
As he was thinking about where he was going to visit tonight the forest suddenly seemed to come alive… And it didn’t seem to appreciate him!
The branches from a nearby oak slammed down onto the ground where he was about to walk; causing mud to explode out as he dodged back only for the roots to lift up out the ground behind him, catching his heel and causing him to fall on his back.
With a fluid movement, as if he was used to it, he drew his pair of axes from his waist and guarded his stomach.
This proved itself wise as from the branch that had dug itself into the ground a figure dashed out with a bone white blade meeting the metal axe heads causing the dwarf to skid across the ground on his back.
In the seconds it took him to steady himself and look back - the dust cloud had vanished but so too had the figure that attacked him.
“I’m guessing she’s got some free time from training then.” <Earl>
Chuckling to himself, something one wouldn’t usually do after being seconds away from becoming a kebab. Though, this had basically become a greeting they had both agreed upon at this point so it’s not like it was unexpected.
They’ve even done this in a certain brothel only to get in trouble from a very angry half-elf.
Holding the smile on his face as tightly as he did his axe heads - this wasn’t an opponent he could go easy on after all.
She hadn’t mastered her combat method as Earl could clearly hear the sounds of her moving about the forest around him but he also didn’t turn to face those noises.
He’d be dizzy far before the time he actually caught the spiked tail of this little menace - after all her speed was the highest stat… And the other physical stats weren’t much farther behind since she didn’t even min-max speed!
He would simply keep a reactive stance, staying light on his feet and not relying on his sight. Instead he would have to rely on the last sound he heard as well as the explosion of wind in order to block this little blighter. That’s block, not counter, as the worst case scenario is for the Lil’ Purp’ Devil to abandon all defense and go full in.
If there was one thing this girl understood after all… It was how to control the momentum of the battle so the best thing to do when facing her was to resist getting caught up in drawn out confrontation as it was VERY easy for her to take advantage of this and become a bulldozer that just keeps pushing. Ironic since he was supposed to be the berserker...
“As for whittle her down to slow her or wait for her to run out of juice… That’s a big nope.” <Earl>
She regenerates more health than she has so anything below instant kill is pointless! Not to mention, despite being a lizard she has shared stamina with a fucking succubus! How do you even fight that!
Oh, but don’t think about running… That’s the part she likes the most!
Suddenly from the side a blade made from light burnt into Earl’s side causing him to bite his lip and cough out a bit of blood.
“Can teach a young dragon new tricks huh… Lucky she hasn’t reached a past apprentice in her magic…” <Earl>
Oh course, that didn’t include the magic she used to make a tree into a living club.
Before he had time to recover his breath, a sudden purple flash brought her spear head towards his face from right in front of him. However, instead of facing that spear he would move his left axe to knock aside the space in front of his stomach again.
The most surprising thing was the sound of metal hitting metal that indicated a successful parry as he sent his foot into the stomach of the little girl that was attacking him - this time being her time to gasp for air as she was sent on her back a few feet away.
Even then it was Earl that felt like he should complain due to his foot that felt like it was broken.
“Jeez, what are they feedin’ you Lil’ Purp’!” <Earl>
“Determination and the souls of the guilty!” <Eel>
An oh so familiar 9 year old spoke (one everyone had likely already guessed) as she’d hold her stomach, feeling a bit woozy due to the impact to her solar plexus - because everyone always hit there.
A little cow would walk past her and wave her large wooden stave, a warm golden light went over Earl, recovering him back to peak condition.
The Eel on the floor, recovering from the blow, would unsteadily get up and look towards Earl.
“How-” <Eel>
“Because you love to do stuff like that! You do it every time!” <Earl>
Laughing boastfully as he had his hands resting on his hips, chest out proudly and face pointed to the sky. Eel would just be forced to rub the back of her head and let out a giggle.
“Well, at least I made you fall on your ass - fufufu~!” <Eel>
“Ah yes, I suppose you wouldn’t suffer much from falling on yours unlike me with my toned masterpiece!” <Earl>
As he said this he would pose, proudly showing off his own.
“Ah, but I thought you’d want to see how reliable these cheeks of mine were since - knowing your hobbies - you’ll be trying them for a night in 7 years time~!” <Eel>
Teasingly swinging her own rear which got a humph from the dwarf that soon climaxed into a confused Abbigale when she had caught up.
Seeing a grown dwarf and (seemingly) elf child wagging their asses aggressively at one another… As well as a little calf passed out by a tree with blood pouring from her nose with a very ‘happy’ look combined with a ‘happy’ giggle.
“I think Eel Jr may be a bad influence on you Earl…” <Abby>
“*Cough* Well, moving on.” <Earl>
The dwarf, crimson cheeks under his black beard, would soon cough into his closed hand and support his elbow with the other.
“Right, Earl, can you do me a favour and make sure Abby and Mil are safe so I can have some fun~!” <Eel>
“Fun?” <Abby>
“Ah~ I thought it was weird that you didn’t prolong it. When did you notice?” <Earl>
“As soon as we left the manor! Surprised Leaf didn’t drag one in for some fun, they were so eager!” <Eel>
“W-well I only noticed after we got out… Too many people around…” <Emily>
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