Nameless King

If the girl could win, she would even score, and if the wolf defeated her, she would prove her superiority, at least for the time being.

"Are you ready?" Fox girl asked, with a slight smile on her face.

"Yeah. How can you not be ready to win?" Wolf smirked, placing his hand on the sturdy stone table.

"You\'re too arrogant, though, as you always are!" The girl exclaimed, doing the same.

Marg smiled, "Gael, which one do you think will win?"

Gael didn\'t answer right away, first, he looked at each of the contestants carefully. His experienced gaze traveled over their bodies, examining every detail.

Then, Gael pronounced, "The wolf. It will probably be him."

Marg raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Honestly, I expected a different answer from you. I think the girl has a much better chance. I admit she looks weaker, but she\'s definitely faster, and with that, she\'ll have a decisive advantage."

Gael nodded, "Sure. That\'s exactly what will happen. However, the Wolf will hold out. He\'ll almost lose, but he won\'t let her do what she wants, then the fight will get to the point where only he can win."

Marg tilted his head in a confusion. It seemed to him that this was not Gael\'s guess, but a retelling of events that had already happened, as if Gael could see the future.

Fox girl approached and raised her hand high. At the same moment, the girl and Wolf exchanged glances and squeezed each other\'s hands as tightly as they could.

"By the way. I hope you remember the rule. The loser must pay for a full round of beer for everyone in the tavern." Fox girl said calmly, with slyly narrowed eyes. Her fluffy tail wagged from side to side. 

"Sure!" The wolf and the girl replied at the same time.

"Fine." Fox girl nodded, as a cute smile appeared on her face, "In that case, start on my command."

Tension rose quickly and everyone in the tavern fell silent. Everyone watched Wolf and the girl intently. In arm-wrestling everything happened very fast, in a heartbeat. Their fight could be over in an instant and it was important not to miss it. It was a case where an hour\'s wait was worth a second.

Whoooooosh.

Fox girl quickly lowered her hand and when her palm was below the table, Wolf and the girl immediately went into motion. Their muscles are strained to the limit with swollen veins and clearly visible tendons.

Then, the girl, with lightning speed, brought Wolf\'s arm down on the table. Everyone\'s eyes went wide as they thought she had already won, but in fact, Wolf\'s hand had not yet touched the table. The distance between the back of his palm and the stone surface was a few millimeters, but it was. 

Gael smirked since it was happening exactly as he had envisioned.

Crackle. Crackle. Crack.

Gritting his teeth, and clenching his jaw with force, the Wolf slowly raised his arm, gradually overpowering the girl. It was obvious he was using all his strength to do so, as getting out of this position was damn hard, but he realized that too.

"Come on..." Wolf growled, "I can do it!"

Then, Wolf got his momentum and brought the girl\'s hand down on the table with a loud crack, showing that her hand had touched the table.

For a brief brief, everyone went silent, waiting for Girl\'s reaction.

The girl\'s eyes went wide, then she exclaimed, "Shit!!!! How could I lose at a time like this?! No! No! No! No!"

"Hahaha! Loser! Now I\'m so far ahead that you\'ll never catch me!" Wolf laughed happily, echoing throughout the tavern, "What\'s more! You now owe us all a beer! Damn! What a nice day!"

The girl just turned her head to the side with puffed-up cheeks and an annoyed look. She wasn\'t going to argue since it was obvious she had lost.

Beastfolks never tried to cheat in these situations or somehow used the rules in their favor. She had lost and that was a fact that everyone understood. Beastfolks recognized their defeats just as much as their victories, in that they were sincere and honest.

"Should I get a beer now or later?" Fox girl asked.

"Agh... Now... I\'m afraid if I wait until tonight, I\'ll go bankrupt..." The girl sighed.

"Sure. I\'ll do it now!" Fox girl quickly replied and headed towards the bar.

"Hey!" Wolf said loudly, causing Fox girl to turn around.

"Hmm?" The waitress gave him a questioning look, touching his lips.

"Bring an extra portion, my friend." The wolf pointed at the girl with a smirk, "This one\'s on me."

The girl blushed slightly but didn\'t say anything or react in any way.

"Sure." Fox girl nodded and quickly headed towards the bar.

"Damn... You didn\'t just guess who would win, you predicted how the whole fight would go... That\'s actually impressive..." Marg muttered with a dazed expression.

Gael shrugged, "I didn\'t do anything amazing. Come on, let\'s go get a drink. Free beer is just what I need."

"Hah, I agree." Marg grinned, following his new but curious acquaintance.

They sat down at the bar since other places didn\'t have free seats for the two of them, only here they were relaxing together.

Tap.

Without hesitation, the Fox girl placed two massive glasses of beer in front of them, huge and glassy. Supposedly one glass held about two liters of amber napita.

"Wow, I\'ll be honest, I didn\'t expect the portion to be so impressive." Gael said in surprise.

"Hahahahaha! This is the norm for Beastfolks! We drink and eat a lot, just like we fight and hunt a lot! The more energy you expend, the more resources you need to replenish it."

"Yeah... You\'re right." Gael took the glass by the handle, effortlessly lifting it and taking a sip of the cold drink.

Marg did the same, in a few sips he drained half the glass and it seemed that for him it wasn\'t the limit. He was capable of more.

"By the way. I couldn\'t help but ask, you\'re quite rare, aren\'t you?" Marg asked with a curious look.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Gael asked without taking his eyes off his beer.

Marg scratched the back of his head, "I mean, all the Ashens I\'ve met before had brightly burning hair and hands. These flames are as beautiful as they are dangerous. I was surprised to see that you don\'t have it at all. If it weren\'t for your eye color, and your pale skin, I would have thought you were Human or Vampire."

Gael shrugged, "Well, I don\'t consider it anything special. But, yes, I am part of the minority who chose to follow the path of ash rather than fire."

"And...?" Marg said cautiously, knowing that this was an important topic for Ashens, "You won\'t regret choosing this path? As far as I know, for the most part, the path of fire is much stronger."

Gael smirked, "Well, maybe you\'re right, but I\'ve already made my decision, so I definitely shouldn\'t give it up. In any case, I\'m not complaining, and I\'m quite happy with my result."

Marg nodded without saying anything more. He\'d already asked more than he needed to.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Suddenly there was the sound of thundering footsteps and the cracking of the wooden floor, then a massive door, over four meters high, opened from the kitchen side.

Everyone fell silent again, and slight smiles appeared on the faces of the visitors. They knew what that sound was and seemed pleased by it.

The huge door slowly opened, and Bear Beastfolk stepped out. He was even taller than the guard who kept order in front of the tavern.

Bear had thick brown fur, two bright green eyes, and muscular arms. He looked formidable and seemed to be some kind of bandit, but two details changed the whole perception of him. It was the long chef\'s hat on his head and the apron covered in food.

"Mr. Grot!" Fox girl quickly ran up to him and bowed respectfully, "Is something wrong?" 

"No, Vasa, nothing\'s wrong. I should have been out earlier, but I was busy preparing food, our guests have an unexpectedly large appetite today." Grot calmly replied. Despite his menacing appearance, his voice was normal, and even relaxing, and his manners serious.

Gael tilted his head in confusion, unlike everyone else he did not know who this Beastfolk was.

Marg noticed this and leaning close to Gael\'s ear whispered, "This is Mr. Grot. A very respected person in this town. He owns this tavern and is also the head cook."

Gael\'s eyes went wide, "I see... Now I see why everyone suddenly calmed down."

Then, Grot glanced at Gael, "Ashen, you\'re the one who recently passed the test, aren\'t you? The ringing from your punch was powerful and clean, it shows a high level of skill since you used more than just brute force."

Gael nodded, "Yeah. That was me."

Grot nodded with a complicated expression, then his face completely changed, and with a wide smile, he exclaimed, "Excellent! In that case, it\'s about time to have a feast and a tournament!!!"

"YEAH!!!!" Everyone exclaimed at the same time, raising their glasses of beer up.