"Bob and his friends."

I turned to observe the newcomers. It was a diverse group of adventurers, composed of two humans, two elves and a kender.

I focused first on the humans. One of them was a female warrior of a barbaric appearance. You know the type. The woman was more than two meters tall, muscular, long black hair and with a huge two-handed sword in a holster on his back. The other human was a skinny, lean wizard, with a green robe and numerous belts and pouches for spell components.

Then, I looked at the elves. The most striking was a slim beauty with blond hair and eyes as blue as the western sea. She had a white priestess's robe that could not quite hide her well-formed curves. The other was a tall guy, and quite robust to be an elf, with a red-haired beard and muscular arms. He had a long bow and a quiver behind him. I figured from his appearance that he was a ranger.

The four adventurers seemed trustworthy people. Professional. Experienced.

That's why I did not understand what they were doing together with the last member of the motley group.

The one who had recognized me.

Bob, the kender.

Bob was a sly and talkative petty thief. About two years I had made the mistake of saving his skin once. At that time I was trying to head north disguised as a caravan guard and Bob worked on it as one of the guides. The accursed kender led us straight to a bandits' lair. The criminals did not even had to set a trap. This guy delivered the whole caravan to them like it was a gift.

Worst of all, Bob did not do it on purpose. The imbecile made a mistake reading the map.

I did not care too much because my real goal had been from the beginning to find the minotaur who officiated as boss for the bandits. But the rest of the caravan took a really bad hit. A lot of people died for his incompetence.

So when in the aftermath someone suggested to leave Bob to his fate in the middle of the desert, every survivor agreed without mercy. They continued without him and I am sure nobody miss Bob at all.

It was a death sentence for someone who was not able to read a map.

But at that time I was on a good mood after slaying the minotur and I decided to save him on the spur of the moment. I still do not understand why I did it. The point is that I had done it and since then Bob had grown quite fond of me.

Too much fond of me.

He was pretty annoying.

"Isaac, my brother! What a joy to see you again! "

I did not answer him. I just look at Bob and his group. With a very sour face, like it was a rainy day or something. And then I just took another long drink of my beer as I ignored him.

But Bob did not get discouraged so easily.

"See, I told you guys that here we would find another professional. Now that we have Isaac, we can just go and quickly get that wizard's crown you all are always talking about so much," the kender said as if this unexpected meeting had been planned from the beginning.

What a guy! Bob was really something. It had not been a minute and the bastard was already using me to dupe someone. An incredible shameless guy, indeed.

"You should not mention our goal so freely, my dear kender friend." the beautiful priestess scolded him.

"I really do not give a damn about your goal," I said.

And it was true. These guys had come out of nowhere. And if they were with Bob surely they would not had a good fate.

And who is this disrespectful guy? " the sturdy forest elf asked as he examined me up and down.

"This my dear friend Isaac, a great guy, just the kind of person we were needing to round out the group."

"Seriously? He does not look like a professional adventurer."

"And it does not seem like he's your friend either?"

Annoying flies. Who ask for their opinions. The second statement was true anyway. I did not considered Bob my friend. Sadly, he was not of the same opinion.

"Ppfff !!! Please! Isaac is the most talented person I know. He is strong as a wild bull, agile as a black panther and knows several dozens of the most useful spells. It also has a magic staff that can crush the stone as if it were butter. "Bob strutted.

I can't believe this guy. He enumerated my skills in such a proud way that anyone would think that it was he who had taught them to me. I shook my head and took another long drink of my beer while I waited for someone to shut it up. But they did not.

"I told you about that time that he saved my butt in the deep desert of Myr? Not? It's an excellent story! It all started ... "

So I had to do it myself.

"Bob."

"Yes, Isaac."

"Shut your mouth."

"Yes, Isaac. Whatever you say. I'm going to shut my mouth. I'll put a padlock on it and throw away the key. You will not know a quieter person than me in ... "

Bob was talkative even to shut up. Luckily, the skinny magician chose that moment to tell me what

was going on in his head.

"Do you really know several dozen spells? I would like to talk about the possibility of exchanging knowledge. For my part, I can make some pretty good fireballs and also have some nice illusion spells. "

It was expected. No magician who respects himself would miss the opportunity to increase his knowledge. And if as I thought, the skinny guy had cast a spell for detecting magic on me he was now probably drooling about my magical items.

"Ppff! Isaac's fireballs would make yours look like tiny sparks. And he is so strong that if he were to play an arm wrestling match with Belit, Isaac would break her arm effortlessly. We definitely need him in the group," said Bob.

He spoke animatedly and with a smiley face that made me want to strangle him. At this point I began to think that he was causing me problems deliberately. That last comment would undoubtedly provoke the muscular woman.

"If he's as good as Bob says he is, I do not mind giving him a slice of the reward," the priestess commented.

The ranger and the barbarian female named Belit looked at me with a scowl but the wizard nodded.

It was a tie. And Bob was going to be the defining vote. But because everyone knew that he was my supporter, the ranger and the barbarian exchanged a knowing look.

"He does not seem so strong to me as the kender says ..." Belit said. "... maybe, we should do a little test."

But everyone forgot to ask for my opinion.

"I'm not interested." I said and finished the last drink of my beer.

I turned around and prepared to leave.

"Yes, yes, it's best to do a test ..." said the kender as he gestured with his thumb up, "Isaac loves to demonstrate his skills."

"Hey. This is a serious and respectable establishment. I do not want problems. If they are going to fight, go out of the tavern. "The fat tavern owner intervened.

"Good. Then let's go outside the tavern. " said Belit.

"I said I'm not interested."

"We heard you the first time. But I insist! " said the muscular woman putting her hand on my shoulder.

I sighed. I just wanted to enjoy my beer and get some sleep. Why does this happen to me?