It was far later than he had expected it to be when Nedoma left the building. The sun had already moved past its peak, meaning that the time for the ceremony at the church was rapidly approaching. Nedoma first headed towards the adventurer's guild, where he figured there would be somewhere nearby that he could secure a meal. With his newfound appearance, he walked through the town with the overconfident and gallant stride of every newly forged adventurer.
As he neared his destination, he spotted a building of interest. A sign with the words “Returner's Inn” surrounded by images of drinks and food could be seen hanging nearby the entrance. Despite the day still being young, a noticeable amount of noise can be heard coming from within, a testament to its popularity. He swiftly manages to avoid getting hit by the door opening as what looked like a party of adventurers left the establishment. The man leading them gave a slight chuckle along with an apology as they went on their way.
Inside, the atmosphere certainly matched the noise that could be heard from the entrance to the building. Although not completely packed, the inn was currently hosting a sizable number of groups of patrons right now, the vast majority sitting at tables in groups of five or six in count. Having not really visited such a place often back in Ayrith, Nedoma decided he would first find a seat. He picked an empty table off to the side near the back and sat down. The patrons of this inn were by and large similar to him, wearing the kind of outfits and equipment you would expect adventurers to have. At least I'm in the right place. A man wearing nicely fitted casual clothes approached his table holding some paper..
“Welcome to the Returner's Inn, where every adventurer comes home to! My name is Adran, and I'll be serving you today. Would you like me to read out some of our menu items, or would you prefer to read them yourself?” he asked in a friendly manner.
“I'd like to try reading myself, please.”
“Sure thing!” he hands Nedoma the paper he had been holding. “If you have any questions or decide on what you'd like, just wave me down.”
Nedoma looked over the menu. Rather than looking to deeply into the dishes available, he was more focused on the prices of the items instead. Most things aren't all that expensive...although you can definitely buy the ingredients and make something similar yourself for much less. He flipped the menu around and was greeted with a section on drinks. For the briefest moment Nedoma considered trying one out, before realizing it would be inappropriate based on his later commitments. As he returned to looking back at the food section, he could not help but notice the table nearby him.
“Here Michio, try this!” A fairly cute looking girl was attempting to feed the man next to her, directing his attention to the meat at the end of her fork. The man's appearance felt quite distinct from what Nedoma had been used to. The most notable having been his hair; it was dark black hair, a color that he had never seen before. His equipment was certainly that of an adventurer, and based on the residents at that table he assumed the six of them were all in the same party. Even more incredible, the other five people seated at the table with the man were all quite good looking women.
“Mmm, it's delicious!” he exclaimed with a smile on his face. “Here, try this!” he returned the favor by offering some food to the girl, who immediately jumped at the opportunity to take a bite of the food he offered.
“Yummy! It's soooooo good!” she exclaimed with a flirtatious smile. At that point, the table seemed to explode into a contest of who could offer the man food the quickest. Nedoma was staring in such disbelief, that he didn't notice when Adran had returned to take his order.
“Sir, do you need any help?” His words caught Nedoma off guard.
“Huh? Oh sorry, no I think I'm good. Could I have...” Nedoma thought for a moment. “Can I have what the man at that table over there ordered?” pointing in the direction of the one apparently called “Michio.”
“Sure thing. By the way, the meal doesn't come with the women.” said with a slight smile on his face.
Nedoma failed to suppress a laugh. “Haha, I wouldn't have the money for that many mouths anyway.”
Adran returned the laugh and left to go place the order. Nedoma returned to surveying the clientele of the inn. It seemed that he was not the only one aware of this table. He noticed quite a lot of patrons were also watching them as well. Their expressions revealing quite well the feelings of jealousy and envy that permeated throughout the building. So much so that two men walked towards the table to try their luck.
The man began with a cocky grin on his face. “Hey ladies, why don't you ditch this otherlander loser and come hang out with me and my friends?” pointing at the seated man as he spoke the word “loser”.
“Get lost scumbags, Michio's much more of a man than you two will ever be.” one of the women spoke up.
“You going to make these women defend you? What kind of man can't protect himself?” the second man jeered. “Tell you what, lets fight it out. If we beat you, you'll hand over all your girlfriends.”
Michio smirked. “Deal.” As he stood up, it was much easier to see the equipment he was wearing now. He was adorned in a suit of a dark bluish coated plate armor. In his hands were a long jeweled one handed sword and a marvelous shield. Nedoma felt inadequate looking at his own gear and wondered if he should join the two men.
Surprisingly, Michio sheathed his sword and began to chant. “Will of Forma, Construct!” No sooner than when he finished his chant did a detailed, near transparent hammer appear in his hand, whose edges glowed a light bluish color. With magical hammer in tow, he charged at the two men who readied their weapons, a sword and shield as well as a giant two handed hammer. Michio swung his hammer while simultaneously shouting “Construct!” once more. The man had attempted to raise his shield to block Michio's swing, only to be blocked by what looked like a plain, small transparent square which appeared in the way. Unable to block, Michio's swing connected with the man's face, smashing him on the side of his face and knocking him out. Wow, what an amazing skill! I wonder if he's a Demon Knight too?!
Angered by the injury his friend had sustained, the man with the two handed weapon wound up a large downward swing, narrowly missing Michio who avoided it and smashing a chair in his absence. Michio lunged at the man who had already prepared his next swing. “Construct!” A square appeared in the way of his hammer, which took the majority of the hit before shattering. Having slown the speed of the swing down, Michio was able to absorb it easily with his shield.
“Tch! Damn Mystic Knight!” the man shouted. Nedoma felt like a dream had just been shattered. Michio followed the block up with a swing, once more shouting “Construct!”. The man attempted to move backwards to avoid the blow, only to find himself unable to move any further. He realized far to late what had happened before the magical hammer smacked him across the face as it had his friend. With that one decisive blow, the man crumpled and fell to the ground as well.
A single table erupted into a shout of cheering and squeals as Michio stood victorious over his assaulters. The rest of the tavern remained silent, either looking unamused or disappointed at the outcome. As the hammer in his hand disappeared, Michio looked to one of the women who had been sitting with him. With a slight smile, he asked, “Can you cast Recover on them?”
She stood up with her staff and cast a spell, once on each of them. “Gift of Mortae, Recover!”. As each of her spells finished, the men seemed tired but were able to stand up and walked dejectedly back to their original tables.
Distracted by all the commotion, Nedoma must have not realized the waiter left a plate of food in front of him, an appetizing looking mixture of what appeared to be boar's meat covered in some sauce, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. Looking around to find Adran, Nedoma spotted him nervously approaching the chair which had been exploded during the scuffle. With an expression of “I won't hear the end of this” written on his face, he picked up a splintered leg off the ground. Michio tapped the waiter on the shoulder, who turned around to see Michio extending his hand with a few coins in his palm towards him. “For the chair,” he said with a smile.
Adran took the coins, and appeared to whisper “Thank you,” before he went to begin cleaning up the mess. Michio returned to his seat, where a gaggle of congratulations and “I knew you could do its” welcomed him with open arms. As Nedoma watched a reoccurring nightm-, familiar scene repeat, he tried out some of the food he ordered.
...Eh, I guess it's decent..
