Knock, Knock! Goose there?

Maxwell and his comrades burst into the guild, opening the door violently. Every conversation stopped and every gaze turned toward them, some people even spilling their beers on their tables as the glass didn’t reach their lips.

There must have been at least a hundred people in there, and the same sweaty scent Maxwell had smelled the first time he came in still reined in the atmosphere.

Maxwell looked all around him as if he were discovering the guild for the first time while nobody spoke.

“The ceiling height is impressive! Is that a load-bearing wall?”

The general look of the guild felt like some medieval tavern, but the magic lights in the air, the immense vaults, the strange people there… everything felt unreal, yet it didn’t scared Maxwell, stars shining in his eyes.

Jeremys stepped forward, clearing his throat. He grabbed Maxwell and hoisted him onto his shoulders.

“This man’s ass saved us! He killed the dancing monster all on his own! I don’t recommend clapping this man’s cheeks to thank him though — we need to preserve them for future fights!” He shouted, his voice full of pride and joy.

Nobody reacted. They all looked at each other, surprised, whispering inaudible things to one another.

“Did I say something wrong?” Jeremys whispered to Matos.

“I don’t think so. You didn’t lie – he had a great ass earlier and he saved us, that’s true.”

“Should we just go get the reward then?”

“Why not? We can split it like 50% for him and the rest split between us. This money will help us travel so we can make him follow our training.”

Jeremys nodded as they walked to the counter of the guild’s secretary. Only her golden eyes and her pale hands could be seen beneath her large cape and hood.

The weight of everyone’s look followed them. It was as if they were some kind of alien visiting earth for the first and that hadn’t took any precaution to hide their true self from others eyes. But they already came here a lot before no?

“I want to go down…” Maxwell thought, being carried on Jeremys’ shoulders like a little child.

Krotos put the quest paper on the counter and asked the secretary for the reward.

“Prove it. You know how it works here, Krotos, you’ve been here for a while.” She said in a monotonous voice.

He put a bag on the counter and opened it, pulling out their war trophies directly retrieved from the goblin’s body.

The secretary took them and placed each of them in a glass basin, which glowed green a few seconds later after each item. A flicker of light illuminated her eyes and, from under the counter, she grabbed a large pouch filled with golden coins, handing it to Krotos.

“Thanks, Lala. Always a pleasure doing business with the guild.” Krotos said, a faint smile softening his face.

“A pleasure for me too. But you will do yourself the favor of dressing when you return here. This is not a place for indecency. Even the bravest barbarian warriors here wear at least a cloak when they return.” She replied, a tinge of anger rising in her voice.

“Oh! We have the right to do so, how could we flex our muscles otherwise?” Matos retorted.

“Let me get down, please. Jeremys’ sweat is staining my pants… they’ll think I pissed myself.” Maxwell thought, trying to free his legs from Jeremys’ firm grip.

A laugh erupted at a table near the entrance. An old man couldn’t stop laughing.

“Well… I must say that you’re not normal guys, that’s for sure, but you’re not bad guys! Just goddamn muscles mountains – except for the little guy.” The man said, climbing up on his table. “My friends, let’s a raise a toast to this young man who completed a hard quest! This man should be praised, as he avenged some of our friends who died while fighting this monster!”

After a few seconds of heavy silence, everyone started laughing and cheering for Maxwell. Jeremys finally put him down – he managed to hide the sweat by closing his coat. Some people rushed to him to ask questions. Some of them completely drunk tried to kiss him, but he dodged them, watching them trip over their own feet and fall a few meters away.

“So how was the dancing system? Was it effective?” An archer asked.

“Well… you could say that it wasn’t the best thing to fight this monster. I tried to dance and shake my hips, but it didn’t work well, so we had to do it another way.” Maxwell replied, confident in his words, confident with people he had never talked to before and who had been eyeing him up and down just a few minutes earlier.

“Ah yeah that happens sometimes! And even more if it’s these muscles guys who taught you how to dance… They teach how to strengthen your hips, but not how to be fluid in your movements, and that’s really important! That’s what they teach at my dance school.” A warrior with big muscles said, hairy from head to toe, at least two meters tall and carrying a big sword.

“Quite the contrast, isn’t it? Does he wear a tutu too?” Maxwell thought, scrutinizing this man head to toe.

“Though even if it’s strange that it didn’t work, be aware that other creatures have weaknesses like this one. So it should work next time, I’m sure of it, Mister Nice Ass.” The warrior laughed.

“Can we stop the ass jokes, please? I don’t want my nickname to be this one...” Maxwell thought, desperate.

They celebrated all day and all night with the other guild members, drinking alcohol, singing, dancing, playing cards, telling each other their stories, which Maxwell listened to carefully to learn more about the world.

The atmosphere was soothing, and Maxwell felt good. He laughed a lot, even more when Matos pulled a set of knucklebones out of his tight shorts.

“How the fuck did that fit in those tiny shorts? And how didn’t I notice before?” Maxwell thought, shocked by the sight.

As the birds twittered when the sun rose and lit up the sky, Maxwell opened his eyes slowly. He had fell asleep on a table. No one around was awake except Lala, who was cleaning the mess from the party.

“Working hard already?” He asked, walking painfully toward her, hungover from all the alcohol he had drunk.

“As always. They do this like twice a week, but you must be new here, so you don’t know very well how things are, right?” She replied, her voice still monotonous, but sparks of light rushing in her eyes – the only part of her face he could see.

“So… did you enjoy the party at least?” Maxwell said, standing there and watching her sweep the floor.

“More than you could think. And it’s because of you, so thanks.”

Maxwell was surprised and laughed as he thought he had seen a smile beneath the darkness of Lala’s hood.

He said goodbye to her and went outside to walk a little, to clear his head before beginning the new day ahead. The sun outside brought a sweet warmth to his face.

He walked to the inn he was staying with his comrades, but instead of going in, he made a detour and went around the back of the building. There was a little garden with all sorts of animals there, but there mostly geese – a large group of geese.

Maxwell watched them from behind the fence. They radiated something that soothed him. It was relaxing to watch these animals live peacefully.

As he was lost in his thoughts, he didn’t hear the children coming from behind him, pushing him over the fence before running away laughing.

Maxwell fell onto the muddy ground and was covered with excrement and dirt.

“You fuckers! I’ll catch you so quickly you’ll pay for this!” He shouted, fury in his voice. “Fuck, I’ll never be as fast as them to avenge this...” He whispered.

“In desperate situations, in need of strength, the wheel is here to help you!” Its clicking voice echoed as it appeared in front of his eyes, leaving him completely shocked.

“But… but I didn’t call you!”

“You did! You wanted me here!”

“Ah fuck… and I wanted to not use it so often. Well, show me what you’ve got for me.”

A lot of cries came from behind his back. “Quack… Quack…” Maxwell turned around and saw the group of geese running toward him, enraged, ready to attack.

He jumped over the fence and began to run away, the wheel following him, floating above the ground. But the fence wasn’t enough to stop the furious geese – they broke it just by hurling themselves into it, wings spread open.

He was being chased by geese. They were after him or after something else, he didn’t know. All he knew was that his day was not starting as well as he had thought.

“WHY DO I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS!?”