Arad sighed, sitting on the wooden table, looking at the wooden wall ahead of him, hearing the people laugh in the back of the tavern. He blinked.
"Boss! Another drink!" A tall man with white hair, an artificial arm and leg shouted, standing on top of the largest table. He waved the empty beer mug in his hand with a smile on his face.
An armored woman walked into Arad's view, grabbing the man by the face and dragging him away. He struggled like a dying worm but couldn't match her might.
Arad blinked again. A blond elf woman stared at his face, so close their noses almost touched. "Are you all right?" She touched his forehead and sniffed his breath.
She pinched her nose and stumbled back, "By the...what did you drink?" She gasped, tapping her arms on the table and glaring at his mug.
Her gazes shifted toward the bartender, dripping with rage.
The elf woman was strangling the bartender, shaking him like an old rug. "Why did you give him dwarven firewine? That thing has its name. It's only for them!" She growled.
Arad blinked again. The armored woman was trying to solve the fight as the bartender started foaming, his face ashen and his legs shaking.
Arad blinked once more, feeling a warm tingle down his throat. He pulled the mug toward his mouth, finding it empty. A sense of sadness filled him. Why is it empty?
Arad turned his head, looking at the stairs. A brown-haired woman stared at him, walking down with a smile on her face. "You lot are here," She took a step down.
The woman stared to the side, seeing Aella choking the bartender. And Lydia trying to get them apart. She cried, rushing down to help. "What is happening?"
Arad blinked, and Mira slipped. She was still in the middle of falling. Arad blinked again, the laughter behind him getting deeper and slower, and a burning sensation rushed from his chest up to his head.
VROOM! CLAP! Silence fell as a shockwave blasted across the tavern, scaring everyone. They looked toward the stairs, seeing Arad standing there, his feet digging into the wood with Mira in his arms.
"What?" Aella gasped, staring at Arad's table, seeing two holes in the ground and a shattered chair. Arad blasted right from his seat toward Mira. "Happened?"
"She slipped, and I caught her," Arad replied. Staring at Mira with a smile, "Are you okay?"
Mira looked up and down at Arad's face, "I'm fine,"
"You didn't twist an ankle or anything, did you? Let's get Lydia to look at you." Arad smiled and turned around, his feet ripping the stairs as he pulled them from the holes they made.
"Put me down, I can walk." Mira gasped, her face red as she stool glances at the full tavern.
"After Lydia checks you up." Arad ignored her and walked down the stairs, approaching Aella and Lydia.
Aella dropped the bartender, and Lydia quickly hit him with a healing spell before turning toward Mira.
Arad sat Mira on a chair and stood beside her, a smile on his face.
Aella approached him, "Weren't you drunk? Dwarves Firewine is what this idiot gave you, right?"
"That? I asked him for it, wanted to see how it feels to be drunk." Arad scratched his head. "Even with that, I had to relax myself quite a bit for it to work."
Aella looked at the chair and the stairs, "And you could still react ?"
Arad nodded, "Sady, the moment I get excited even a bit, my body erases anything the alcohol does and clears my mind on the spot."
The bartender opened his eyes, coughing like a dying man, "By the gods! I saw the heavens!" He gasped.
Arad stared at him, "You're still alive?"
The bartender shook his head, trying to wake up, "I think so. This is my old and musty tavern." He stood, glaring at Aella with an angry face, "Almost went to see my parents thanks to you." He pointed at her face, growling.
Aella frowned, "You should be thanking me then!" Seeing the bartender got her blood boiling. If Arad got too drunk and transformed, this whole capital could end up destroyed.
"I will show you!" The bartender growled, reaching to his desk.
Arad stared at him and extended claws from his fingernails, ready to strike the bartender down if he pulled a weapon.
The bartender turned toward Aella with a smile on his face, "Now you will learn to mess with me!" He produced a piece of dried meat in his hand, pointing it at Aella.
Aella gasped, taking a step back and pinching her nose.
The bartender laughed, "This a piece of dry-aged meat. To me, it smells like heaven." He rubbed the peace of meat all over his face and chest and stared at Aella.
"I know it! To you, it smells like a piece of shit rotting under the sunlight for weeks!" He laughed like a madman, "Do you dare approach me now!"
Aella hid behind Arad, her nose pinched, "Arad, can you punch him?" She pointed at the bartender.
"He will die," Arad replied.
"Haha! You hide behind your husband! Aren't you an adventurer?" The bartender laughed.
"You two! Stop it!" Lydia stared at them, "Jack is enough trouble for me to keep in check. Try to act your age."
Arad looked at her, opened his mouth, and started screaming, a poor imitation of a baby cry.
CLICK! The tavern door opened, and Eris walked in, stopping at the door and looking at the chaos.
"What is happening?" She asked with a puzzled face.
Aella pointed at the bartender, "He tried to get Arad drunk," She cried. ("Not I asked him," Arad mumbled. "He asked me," The bartender mumbled.)
Eris nodded, "I see. I will cremate him immediately," She started approaching the bartender.
The bartender stared at her long ears, "Another elf," He smiled, pointing the dried meat at her. "Get away from me! ELF!" He shouted like he was exorcising a demon.
Eris approached him, grabbed the dried meat between her fingers, and burned it to ash, "What a waste," She then conjured a ball of fire in her palm.
Arad looked at her. She can't be serious. There is no way she would kill a man just like that.
SWOHS! With a passive face, Eris tossed the ball of flames at the bartender's face, igniting his whole body.
GRWAAAAAAAAAAA! The man screamed.
"What did you do?" Arad growled at her, but she pointed at the bartender.
"HAHAHA!" The bartender started laughing, the flames around his body fading as he looked at Eris, smiling, "Cold flames. Is this all you got?"
CRACKLE! Eris conjured a lightning bolt between her fingers.
The bartender stared at her, waving his hands and urging her to stop, "Please don't do it," He started sweating, "That would kill me for real,"
Eris stopped her magic as she looked at Arad with a smile, "See? He's still alive."
"Edward Burnhill the name. A fire elemental bloodline sorcerer." He smiled, bowing down, "Nice to meet you again. Your friend Jack made told me about you. My daughter has taught you well it seems,"
"Your daughter?" Arad stared at the man for a second, "WAIT! Amber?"