It was near dusk on a cold autumn day that the Swineherd pub was filed to the brim with people. There was laughter and cheer, a band of bards were playing music on the stage and the fire in the fireplace was crackling. Outside, the heavy rain made it almost impossible for people to traverse the streets. There was so much rain that the cobblestones were all entirely covered. Taking a step on the street would definitely cover the soles of your boots in water. The thing that drew people to the tavern was the bright light coming out of the windows. It looked like an oil painting. The rain was thundering down. You couldn’t really see through it. You had to look for cover.

On this day. Steel had not arrived at the tavern yet. He had been outside training for most of the day but the closer it had been getting to dusk the heavier the rain had gotten. And the heavier the rain got the more disheartened Steel became. He was wearing his full plate armor. And over that he was wearing a hooded cloak/overcoat that you could remove by unbuckling a single band in the front that kept it all together. Luckily the cloak did more than just keep him out of the rain, The hood protected his identity and the length of the cloak hid Mjolnir the mythical hammer.

Stepping up to the doors of the Swineherd pub. Steel put his hand on the handle, opened the door and as with most places that weren't palaces. The door was far too small for Steel to simply go through the door. He was afterall a huge piece of a man. So he slouched down, bending his head down and slowly made his way through the door frame.

Finally inside Steel walked over to one of the tables at the back end of the pub. Now it was quite the full pub but that table had not been filled yet. There was a hidden respect for the table. A respect that in truth was given to the owner of the pub. Steel did not own the pub nor did he know the true identity of the person who owned the pub. To Steel all he saw was a near empty table. And so he walked over, unbuckled the cloak and removed it as he walked. He then hung it off the end of the table. This revealed the hammer of the thunder god hanging from Steel’s belt. It was large enough where Steel couldn’t sit down with it. He had to remove it from his belt first. So he did and placed it on the floor next to the chair where he would then sit down.

STEEL'S STATS
Strength: 79+60 from Earrings +120 from Mjolnir +20 from Armor = 279
Speed: 31 +40 from Ring - 50 from Mjolnir - 10 from Armor = 11
Constitution: 61 (HP + Armor = 2S ranks HP + 1S rank armor durability)
Endurance: 34 = B rank pain tolerance/5% Weapon mastery WCR
Intelligence: 31 10%Mana Cost Reduction & 10% Spell training WCR
Mana: 1635
Minor Armored Movement & Wielding: Half speed penalty on all heavy equipment except shields.

STEEL'S EQUIPMENT

Weapon: Mjolnir
Armor: Vanguards Haste
Earrings: Pyaar Earrings
Ring: Haste Ring

The rain had clearly drenched oak in muckiness and even slight melancholy. Various puddles were scattered about, created from dirt, or indentations in which erosion had occurred and created holes within the road. Even as Valentine attempted to dance through this makeshift swamp, he was not fully able to prevent the soaked ground from bleeding through the soles of his dress shoes. Valentine admittedly felt like he was walking on mush, as his shoes made soft squishing sounds. Needless to say, Valentine was obviously not enjoying the dreary cold autumn rain that had settled on Oak. The pub was like a beacon of entertainment and warmth against this cold and wet day, which was rather ironic seeing that the Swineherd pub had a rather questionable reputation. Valentine luckily managed to reach the club before the rain could pick up again, and as he turned the knob and pushed open the door, the rain immediately started to pick up again. The sand mage dunked so that he would not hit his head against the casing of the door as he stepped through, of which, he was immediately greeted by a multiple bards prompt up on a stage and playing music, music which was directly challenged by a symphony of laughter and mirth.

All together it was a welcoming atmosphere, one that Valentine took a liken to and even admired. The tall and muscular male, made his way to the bar, ordered himself a drink, before brushing through the crowd to a lone table that was directly across from another male of similar height and dressed in armor. This male seemed to be a bit bulkier than Valentine, who largely seemed broad due to his overtly large pelted fur over coat that dangled from his shoulders like a great cloak. But in spite of his muscular body, Valentine was slender, and his taste for formal clothing reinforced the idea that he was scrawny. Valentine pulled the tie off from his shirt collar, and laid it out onto the table. He casted a mildly interested gaze towards the heavily armored male before his eyes drifted to his hammer. Valentine titled his head curiously to the side, and clasped his chin in thought. “Mjolnir, your weapon reminds me of an Mjolnir as depicted by the Icebergian artist Osvald Arnsson.” He pulled a cigar out from his coat and tucked it between his lips. "It would be something if that is actually the weapon that had inspired the artist, heh." Even as the words left his mouth, Valentine quickly recognized that it was full of folly, and that it was highly unlikely that a unknown stranger, a seemingly brutish brute,  would posses such a weapon.

Steel whilst sitting in his spot raised his hand and ordered food. He ordered today's special meat and root vegetables soup. The rain had not quite started going down yet so there was no rush to “go home” yet then again. Steel had no home in this town. No specific place to sleep. All he did was camp outdoors. Which to his dismay was starting to become quite cold this time of year. So the warmth of the indoors was nice. When the food got to him he thanked the waiter and started eating. Not long after he started eating, the new person entered the tavern. Steel was not aware of the other person's presence until they stood in front of him.

Steel kept eating as the person stood there eyeing him. He was ready to grab the hammer at a moment's notice if things turned to shit. He would however have to drop the bowl of soup that he was currently holding onto with his left hand and the spoon that he held with his right hand. Why had this person come here? Well it was probably for the same reason as Steel. The table had been the most vacant out of all the tables.

Then they mentioned his hammer. They seemed interested in the hammer. Talking about how it had been represented in art or something. Steel actually had no idea himself. He had never had more interest in the hammer than the fact that he could bash someone's skull in with it. It did have some weird powers though. It was capable of strengthening him and changing the weather. Even calling down lightning. It also had this weird ability of returning to Steel after he threw it at someone.

Steel looked up from his bowl of soup to look the man in the eyes. He gave a slight smug grin. As if confirming that it was the hammer. He had no clue who this guy was but for now he would allow it. “You can sit.”

STEEL'S STATS
Strength: 79+60 from Earrings +120 from Mjolnir +20 from Armor = 279
Speed: 31 +40 from Ring - 50 from Mjolnir - 10 from Armor = 11
Constitution: 61 (HP + Armor = 2S ranks HP + 1S rank armor durability)
Endurance: 34 = B rank pain tolerance/5% Weapon mastery WCR
Intelligence: 31 10%Mana Cost Reduction & 10% Spell training WCR
Mana: 1635
Minor Armored Movement & Wielding: Half speed penalty on all heavy equipment except shields.

STEEL'S EQUIPMENT

Weapon: Mjolnir
Armor: Vanguards Haste
Earrings: Pyaar Earrings
Ring: Haste Ring

A waitress came by to drop off a bowl of special meat and root vegetable soup, seeing how delicious the meal looked, Valentine stopped the waitress before she could leave and requested whatever the stranger was having. Then, and only when the waitress had left, did Valentine return his interest to the hammer and the man who wielded it. The stranger had brought the hammer closer to him, no doubt worried that Valentine would attempt to steal it; but he had nothing to worry about, after all, the sand magician would never stoop to the level of a common thief, and he definitely knew not to challenge the power of Mjolnir. Well, there was that, and in truth, Valentine had no use for the infamous weapon. The smug look that the stranger gave him said it all, apparently, the weapon was indeed the infamous weapon of legends. With an eyebrow cocked upward, a vein in Valentine’s forehead popped a little, and he immediately started to wonder just who the hell was this person? And what the hell was he doing with such an infamous weapon?

The vein that had popped twitched a little in agitation, the gears within Valentine’s head started to turn as he tried to figure who the hell this guy was, and well, he was insulted with this man’s smug attitude. Placing on a gentle, but sarcastic smile, Valentine cooled off just a little and grabbed the tie that he had placed onto the table before sliding into the seat in front of the stranger. “Mjolnir, eh?” he questioned in a song-like voice, “That must mean that you must be pretty strong? Eh? Or well, at least you have proven yourself a worthy warrior?”

Valentine started to wonder if the stranger understood the true nature of the weapon, and if he was aware of its path, mainly the myth of it being wielded by a god? In truth, Valentine did not know much about the weapon, only things that he heard about within Icebergian myths and poems that he had read. Occasionally, Valentine would come across paintings of the weapon, but for the most part, he rarely gave it any attention or concern. The lack of concern was largely due to the fact that, Valentine would have never expected that he would run into the weapon, or see someone actual posses it.

Steel looked up at the man that was now sitting in front of him. He was a tall man but unlike Steel this other person was a lot skinnier. He was asking a lot of questions about the hammer and about Steel in general. Steel did not like it. Was he looking for a fight? Because Steel could definitely provide the steel of his hammer if such was the case. But before things got heated Steel would remind the other person. “Where are your manners? When you walk up to a stranger you give them your name.” Steel looked the other guy dead in the eyes as he said this. Not because it mattered to Steel but because he wanted to make the other guy pause and think.

Then Steel raised his hand to call the waitress again. He wanted to get another bowl of soup and hopefully some drink to go with it. He did not drink alcohol though so he hoped there was a glass of cold milk or other alcohol free beverage. In time the waiter came and Steel looked up at her smiling. “A glass of cold milk and another bowl of soup please. And give the chef my regards, this is amazing.” The waitress smiled and noted it then made the rounds checking the other tables if they wanted anything and then went back to the kitchen. Steel probably wouldn't get his food or drink for a while due to the large number of guests but he was at least happy with the service. He looked back at the man sitting in front of him and said happily “Great service don’t you think?” which seemed out of character for Steel as he had been very quiet and gloomy up to this point.

STEEL'S STATS
Strength: 79+60 from Earrings +120 from Mjolnir +20 from Armor = 279
Speed: 31 +40 from Ring - 50 from Mjolnir - 10 from Armor = 11
Constitution: 61 (HP + Armor = 2S ranks HP + 1S rank armor durability)
Endurance: 34 = B rank pain tolerance/5% Weapon mastery WCR
Intelligence: 31 10%Mana Cost Reduction & 10% Spell training WCR
Mana: 1635
Minor Armored Movement & Wielding: Half speed penalty on all heavy equipment except shields.

STEEL'S EQUIPMENT

Weapon: Mjolnir
Armor: Vanguards Haste
Earrings: Pyaar Earrings
Ring: Haste Ring

My manners? Valentine gave the stranger a quick glare for calling him rude, after all, the sand magician had not determined if this hunk was even worthy of knowing his name, or well, more like if this stranger could be trusted with his name. From his incident, the Rune-Knights thought he was dead, and admittedly, Valentine preferred to keep it that way. He had lost most of his battle prowess while recovering, and his senses and even his magic power has dulled over the years. Until he had trained a bit more, Valentine preferred to stay in the shadows and remained hidden within Oak. Therefore, he was a little hesitant to give the stranger his name. 

Valentine studied the stranger for a bit and watched as he waived down the waitress. The man in armor seemed to be a little mannerly, at least towards the waitress, Valentine noted the change in behavior as he mentioned something about the service here. “Indeed, the service is not too bad, a bit better than fancy restaurants in Era.” The waitress had come and gave him his food the first time she came by, and Valentine took a moment to taste it. It was good yes, but in truth, he was not really hungry. He pushed the bowl towards the stranger, not really offering the stew to him, but it was there, nonetheless. A few coughs would squeak out from Valentine, who immediately reached into his great pelted fur jacket and pulled out a bottle of pills; he’d take two with some ale before tucking the pill bottle back into his jacket. "I have heard remarkable things about the owner as well, admittedly, I admire his rumored strength and power."

Steel was slightly offended by the fact that the stranger did not introduce themselves even when their manners were brought into question. Who was this person? They seemed very dishonourable. Not that Steel had much honor himself but he did not fight unarmed people even though he himself was armed. If it came to fighting Steel would mostly dress down to level with his enemies in strength level.

The stranger had not actually warranted for Steel to attack him so he would not. He wasn’t going to throw the first punch. And he was not going to attack someone in a situation like this anyways. He looked on as the person in front of him seemed to not want to eat. They pushed their plate away.

Steel had never been to Era so he would not know and he even commented on it “Oh? Is that so? I have never been to Era so I would not know.” He said this calmly before looking on as the person in front of him would cough and squeak. They then took out a bottle of medicine. They were obviously sick. But why did they drink alcohol with their medicine? That could not be good for you. “Is it really ok to take your medicine together with alcohol?” He asked, wondering why they had done that. Was it rude to ask? Probably but Steel did not care. They had not shown manners so why should he.

They seemed to know something about the owner of the pub. Something Steel had no clue about whatsoever even though Steel had been staying near the city for quite some time even. Was it time for him to stop camping and go live indoors? Maybe this tavern/pub had rooms to hire. Steel noted this. It would be nice to get out of living in the wilds.

STEEL'S STATS
Strength: 79+60 from Earrings +120 from Mjolnir +20 from Armor = 279
Speed: 31 +40 from Ring - 50 from Mjolnir - 10 from Armor = 11
Constitution: 61 (HP + Armor = 2S ranks HP + 1S rank armor durability)
Endurance: 34 = B rank pain tolerance/5% Weapon mastery WCR
Intelligence: 31 10%Mana Cost Reduction & 10% Spell training WCR
Mana: 1635
Minor Armored Movement & Wielding: Half speed penalty on all heavy equipment except shields.

STEEL'S EQUIPMENT

Weapon: Mjolnir
Armor: Vanguards Haste
Earrings: Pyaar Earrings
Ring: Haste Ring

“In my opinion, Era is a shit hole filled with corruption and poverty.” Valentine would pinch his noise as if smelling something foul and wave the thought of Era and the Rune-Knights out of his head. The stranger would question if it was a good idea for him to take his medicine with a mug of alcohol, for a moment, Valentine considered the question as if asking himself the same question, but then he would shrug away the comment. “Probably not, but oh well, I have survived much worst.” He paused for a moment, and carefully studied the stranger and then the unique hammer. Admittedly, Valentine still wanted to know if that weapon was truly the weapon from legend, and how this random strange came to possess such a remarkable artifact.

“You never did answer my question, about how you came into contact with that weapon, and if its truly is Mjolnir.” Valentine would gesture out towards the weapon and cocked an eyebrow upward. “If you tell me more about the weapon, I will tell you may name, and maybe a few secrets of my own depending on the information giving.”

He thought this was a fair trade, and that by exchanging information the two men would both be at risk. “Does that sound like a fair trade? Plus, if it was Mjolnir I would have no interest in taking the weapon, I am above petty thievery, and I have no use for it. I only need my magic, and I certainty don’t need to rely on the power of some artifact, no offense of course.”

Steel was really starting to get tired of this pompous prick at this point. He had already questioned the man's manners which he seemed not to have at all. And he did not like the fact that the person was so inquisitive. Especially the fact that he was asking about the hammer that Steel had found recently. See Steel was not really sure himself if it was the hammer of legend but this man who did not even tell Steel his name seemed very interested and it had gotten Steel to wonder. Was it really the hammer of legends. It could have been but Steel had no clue. So instead of answering the way that the man seemed to want him to, he did him one better.

“You seem capable. Why don’t you make me tell you?” As Steel said this he started unbuckling and removing the straps on his armor. Taking it off piece by piece. Until the point where he was only wearing the clothes that he had worn under his armor. A tunic, A pair of pants, Underwear, Socks and boots.

Whilst Steel was removing his armor he spoke “I’ll fight you on your terms. No armor. No weapon.” He even removed his Pyaar earrings and his Ring of haste. Enchanted items that usually made him stronger and covered for his lack in speed. However now that he was out of his armor and not wielding his weapon he was actually a lot faster than most people would think. Since they usually saw the slow moving form he had when he had his equipment on. Of course to do all this he had to stand up from the table. As removing a plate armor on your own is a difficult task.

He only truly looked the man in the eyes again after his armor was removed and sat aside at the table. And even then he looked over at the waitress. “I would like to rent a room at this fine establishment. Please put my equipment on the bed in the room. And don’t worry. I know you can't move the hammer. I'll get it later.” Saying this hinted that the hammer was the real deal as only the one the hammer considered worthy could move it.

Steel then showed the other man the door as it was obvious the two could not fight inside.

Valentine was not an idiot. He understood that in a physical battle he would not be able to challenge or overcome the armored stranger, this was mainly due to the fact, that the stranger seemed to have been heavily armed. Once more, if this stranger held the might and will to wield a potentially legendary weapon, then Valentine realized he must be a man of notable power and physical strength. For that reason, he easily assessed that he would not be able to directly beat the stranger in a one on one brawl, at least, not while he was still recovering from his wounds. Valentine then wondered if this heavily armored nature meant that he did not have as much magical power as himself. After a couple of moments assessing his options, weakness and strength, Valentine would stand up from the chair and head outside while explaining the rules and issues.

“You will win in a physical fight. It would not be much of a win.” Valentine would choke and cough on his own words and hold his chest as if he heavily offended himself. “Furthermore, I need to stretch my limbs. Its been a while since I have been in a fight, therefore, I will use your opportunity as a chance to train.” He paused for a moment, walking about three meters away from the solider. “Magic, natural talents.” Valentine would state, “Whoever falls victim to fatigue first, loses. Sounds fair?”

Valentine would wait for the brute to answer, “Like traditional duels, two or three meters apart.” Admittedly, Valentine understood that there was no way that he could win, he had been out of practice for about two years? Give or take, and he was still in recovery, therefore, this person should take the fight easily. Right now, Valentine was only taking this as a chance to train and become stronger. Hopefully, the stranger would agree to his terms.

Steel walked after the other man whilst listening to him explain the rules. He said it was some sort of training. Should Steel go easy on him? Maybe. They were allowed to use their natural talents and also magic apparently. Steel was ok with this. He had not really tried his magic yet so this would be a great chance for him to try it out.

Assuming whatever this was was not lethal. Steel set his taser to stun. He did not actually have a taser he just put his mindset in non-lethal mode. Then again the rules of training and sparring worked no other way.

Getting to the three meter mark Steel would get in position and stance. Facing his “enemy” with both of his fists in front of himself not unlike a boxer. His feet steadily planted on the ground with a sense of spring in them as if he was weighing on his toes to more easily step backwards or forwards.

The area outside the bar was a street. There was not a whole lot of space to move. The street was only a total of four meters wide but it seemed infinitely long. Whilst not true it was over a hundred meters long. There wasn’t really a curb and the cobblestones were slick from the rain that luckily was dying down. Slipping here would be easy if one was careless. The house walls that made this street were tall. At least six meters high.

And so this place was like a box with the top cut open and the box was four meters wide, over a hundred meters long and had six meter tall walls on the sides.

When he was in position facing the man who hadn’t given him his name(Valentine). Steel would speak, short and concise “Say when.”

"When" never came instead Steel shrugged his shoulders and started leaving. He had no time for people who were all bark and no bite. As he left he equipped all of his gear again leaving nothing behind.

-exit-

STEEL'S STATS
Strength: 79
Speed: 31
Constitution: 61 (HP = 2S ranks)
Endurance: 34 = B rank pain tolerance & 5% Weapon mastery WCR
Intelligence: 31 10%Mana Cost Reduction & 10% Spell training WCR
Mana: 1635
Minor Armored Movement & Wielding: Half speed penalty on all heavy equipment except shields.