I don't think I could be in a more awkward position right now.
Knight: "And how exactly was it sloppy? We won, isn't that all that matters?"
Ren: -disguised- "Sure you could say so, but there were a few moments you could have lost, if things went a little different."
Knight: "Really? You don't look like a great fighter yourself."
Priest: "Just leave him be."
"I don't really know why I have this desire to tell them, but I think I should just shut up and leave, before it gets more complicated."
I stand up and start walking towards the door.
Rogue: "Yeah! Scram you twat!"
I stop. Turn.
Inhale, until my temporary lungs can't hold any more air.
I point at the Rogue.
Ren: -disguised- "You! Should have come back to the side of the Knight after inflicting the first damage on the Leonin. That would have given your Knight more room to manoeuvre.
Pointing at the Mage.
Ren: -disguised- "You were too far away from your allies. Standing in the back is alright, but you were too far off. With a few feet between you, your allies can easily come for help. Also breaking away so far, vastly diminishes your use for area of effect spells.
Pointing towards the Priest.
Ren: -disguised- "When such danger arrives, keep to your allies as well. That dude you tried to heal? Already dead. With you being far away your support could only land on halve the party. Pretty inefficient.
Pointing to the Knight.
Ren: -disguised- "Why were you just standing around? Do your legs not work? Move where you are needed. You could have moved over to the fight between the Leonin and the Mage and Rogue. Helping and closing the fight to one front. Also, letting someone else grab your shield? If you can't use it right just leave it.
Finally pointing to the Ranger.
Ren: -disguised- "You… did alright."
The last bit of air escapes my lungs. The Heroes all look at each other. Silence spreads through the tavern once again. Some nods can be seen in the crowd.
"That went maybe a little too far, but oh well."
I turn to the door again, and start walking. Stools scraping on the ground.
Knight: "Wait! It seems you have great knowledge about fighting. Please lend us your strength and train us."
The Knight slumps down on all fours bowing with his head on the ground.
"What the-."
The other members of the Heroes look at each other again. All slowly mimicking the Knight. Bowing down just like him.
Knight: "Please! We are sorry to have angered you, but please help us."
I stand there, frozen in place.
"Am I hearing that correctly?"
Heroes: "Please, Mister!"
Rogue: -under his breath- "I guess I'am sorry."
"What are they doing, I can't just train them. I am their enemy, their last obstacle before liberating this world. Wait, if I trained them, the fights would be so much better. The viewer count would skyrocket right? Till now the Heroes were always on their own, taking forever to get good. I could speed up that whole process."
I move into a pose. Feet shoulder width from each other. My left hand on my hip, the other pointing towards the ceiling.
Ren: -disguised- "My name is Renly! Former student of Burg the Unmoving! Master of Tactics and Brawns! I hereby take you on as students until I deem you unworthy or fully trained.
"What are those titles man?"
Silence, once again. Then loud cheering. Not only from the Heroes, but the villagers as well.
"Alright, I guess that worked out?"
Renly: "Let's move to your camp and talk about the details of this new relationship.
I point to the door and start moving to the street. After some struggle to get to their camp, because the villagers wanted to thank us with gifts and talk more, we sat around an extinguished fireplace. On the move here, I tried my hardest to move any doubtful thoughts away, and convince myself that this was a good idea. The Heroes were also really quiet. No banter, no jokes, all silence. Except some humming from the Rogue. After some awkward silence while sitting the Knight starts talking.
Knight: "Let me start by thanking you again for agreeing to train us, mister Renly. I was not aware that we had so many flaws spread among us. So let me introduce ourselves once more as students of yourself. My name is Erik, son of Drom. I am looking forward to your wisdom.
"Alright, don't know who this is but sure."
Priest: "Okay so, ahm my name is Marie. I have been studying holy scripters my whole life and have been wielding my magic since I was eight.
I nod along.
Mage: "Hello, mister Renly. My name is Odran, but these people just call me Odi.
"Weird name, but ok."
Rogue: "Salesh."
The Knight Erik gives him an angry look and gives the Ranger a heads up.
Ranger: "Hello Mast- mister… You can call me Eris.
"Don't slip up like that!"
Renly: "Well thank you for the introductions. There are a few rules you need to follow for me to give you any form of training. First, I need my own tent. Second, from the moment I enter my tent, till the moment I leave it, I am not to be disturbed. Under no circumstances. Understood?"
Some questionable looks on their faces, but everyone nods.
"With these rules I should be able to return to my own world somewhat risk free. I just need to check in with Eris to enforce these two rules strictly."
I look directly at Eris.
Renly: "Understood?"
She looks confused, but nods.
"Why do you look at me like that?
It takes me a few seconds.
"I am disguised! Damn. I am an idiot, of course she does not recognize me."
Erik: "Sooo, when were you thinking about starting training?"
Renly: "Well, seeing as it is late afternoon, and you already thought today, I'd say tomorrow. Just do whatever you usually do now."
I dismissively wave my hand. Turn to a place a little outside of the camp and walk there. Using "Stone Shape", a low level spell, I create myself a little tent-like structure for me. I also created a door, so nobody can peek into it. After finishing, I turn to see everybody look at me curiously and/or confused.
Odran: "I didn't know you were capable of magic, mister Renly."
Renly: "Oh, yeah. I picked up a few things from long gone allies."
Odran: "Is that so…"
He gives me a suspicious look. I actually don't know if magic is rare in this world. Maybe I should study this world a little more, now that I am this involved.
Renly: "Soo, I will turn in for the evening. Like I said, no interruptions! I will not answer.
I move into my stone tent, with an intense expression to give off some serious vibes. Moving the door closed, I finally relaxed a little.
"I should head back to the fortress, and then back home, get a book or two on Alura and hit the bed, it's been a long day."
Teleporting back, and using my special item in the drawer, my body gets moved back to my world. I feel exhausted. My legs bring me with a steady, although slow, pace back home. Opening the door I hear crying.
"Chris!"
Ren: " Chris? Are you hurt?"
A long pause.
Chris: "Welcome home and no, not physically."
Ren: "Why are you crying? Did I do something?"
Chris: "No, no. I just got fired from my job. I really liked being a 'Lifeforce' refiner."
I go and hug her. Hold her while she cries.
Ren: "Don't worry. We will figure something out."