“Are you sure it is okay to drink alcohol with that health potion?” John asked giving the swirling red drink a curious look. The strong duo was slowly making their way through the streets towards the tavern that Tezira had “recommended.”
They had both agreed if a local syndicate boss “recommends” you go somewhere it is probably a good idea to follow their “advice.”
“Duh. Why would it not be okay?” She swirled the drink in the bottle as she looked into it. “Shit is a good chunk alcohol anyway. Still tastes like shit though.”
“Well, in our world a lot of medication should not be taken with alcohol. It can change the effects or even lead to poisoning the person taking it.” John explained with a shrug, only to stop and look back at the massive gnoll woman that was staring at him in horror.
“Why the fuck would you use that kind of medicine! It sounds nightmarish!” She yelped out as she looked at her own medication. “I mean, FUCK that! When you are wounded is pretty much the best time to drink! I mean come on man! It helps with pain, forget how you got hurt, loosens you up to tell others HOW you got hurt, and fuck trying to drink this shit without something to wash the taste out of your mouth!” She shook her head as she caught up to her human companion.
“I don’t care how much more effective your medicine is now. You can keep it. I plan on drinking enough tonight a kobold could light my blood on fire!”
“And where are you sleeping tonight?”
“In bed with you.”
“So I have to share a bed tonight with a drunk gnoll warrior that could probably bench press me after she heals?” He asked as he poked one of her arms with a chuckle. “Should we request a room with the bed already on the ground?”
Zilta paused looking at John in shock. “did… did you just make a sex joke?” She asked in pure surprise. “I didn’t think you COULD make those kinda jokes.”
John shot her a glare but let out a long sigh. “Alright, fair. Just been awhile since I was around guys and girls I was comfy with.” He rubbed the back of his head as he let out a small chuckle. “Didn’t even mean to make it a sex joke! You are a tower of muscle and fur and I am not much better. If you move a bunch while drunk then I am worried for whatever bed we have!”
“I do NOT move around that much when I sleep.” She snorted back.
“I already have the claw marks to prove otherwise.”
“Oh? Want more?”
“Not like I have a choice.”
“You could always get another room.”
“And you would probably follow me there.”
“Fuck you.”
“We both know you wanna.”
“how the fuck are you so sure!?”
“I have claw marks.”
She was about to ask where, then remembered how that morning he had a weird walk towards the bathroom and quickly connected the dots. “Ahhhh fuck. Sorry about that. Are you okay?” She asked as her eyes darted between his eyes and down low.
He chuckled and gave a small shrug as they got to the tavern. “Had worse.”
With that they stepped inside the tavern “The lucky dog.” The inside of the tavern was wonderfully decorated with fine wooden furniture, a bar with huge kegs behind it, trophies of monsters slain and battles fought lining the wall, and a nice wooden staircases leading to a line of rooms on the second floor.
There was also a couple of small issues. A pair of elves were in the middle of sticking the place up. One held the bouncer at swordpoint while another was sitting at the bar with a large knife in his hands.
“Listen barkeep. Just give me your coin, a good drink, and a small bite to eat. Oh, and something to take with us so my buddy can have a nice meal too. I know this place is ran by those newt whores or whatever but I don’t give two shits about them!” The elf at the bar barked out. “They are too big for their scaly tails! I bet they won’t even learn we held up this place for days. Besides. We are part of the Snakes of syl! Sure our gang don’t have nobody here yet, but if that little lizzy group does shit to us then our gang is gunna get them back wherever we can find their sorry tails!”
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He let out a long laugh before seeing the two newcomers. “Oi! Bitch and the bastard! Get the fuck outta here. Its my tavern for now!” He called out motioning at them with his knife.
Zilta let out a low growl at the slur clearly wanting to do more, however her injuries held her back. She knew she was not fit to fight and John was unarmed and… currently walking towards the bar!? She accidentally let out a whimper watching her new friend walk towards the man with the knife, worried he would get hurt trying to be a hero.
“Hey there mister points!” John called out.
“Fucking WHAT?! POINTS!?” The elf yelled out getting up off his chair. “Did the fuckin’ lizard assholes send you?” He snarled out as he got into a low fighting position just in case. He knew humans were tough and rare so he had to be ready for anything.
“Nah. We just did a job for them is all.” He admitted still moving closer as he kept his focus on both the knife and the elf’s face.
>Target is a higher level, but still low enough that I have calculated a high chance of success. Engage at will.
John saw the text flash in his ocular implant and he gave a wide smile. It was his turn to show off. He glanced at the bouncer and nodded. The bouncer looked at John surprised, but simply nodded back understanding SOMETHING was about to happen.
“So elfy. Did the local whores find your looks, personality, or smell too bad to even bother with your gold? Or was it a mix? Fucking hell I can smell you from here!” John yelled out in as mocking of a tone as possible. “Or are you just content with a branch up your ass like I hear some elves love?”
He paused for dramatic effect before adding “nah, bet even a tree would turn your sorry ass down. I know they love fertilizer but you would be just fuckin’ worse.”
The elf let out a scream of pure rage and lunged at John. His knife gleaming in the light right before a strong hand grabbed the wrist. The elf didn’t even have time to realize that John had just grabbed his arm before John swept his legs, kicking the feet out from under the would-be thief before grabbing the elf’s head with his free hand. Momentum plus John’s own strength meant that the elf had no chance to even slow down the path John was forcing him to take. It all went so fast that the elf barely had time to let what was going on go through his head before said head was slammed onto the edge of a table followed by John tossing the dazed thief onto the floor. The elf only managed to glance upwards and get a small glimpse of John and the bottom of a boot before his head was stomped on three times ending the fight with a small crunch.
The bouncer fared well as well. The moment the insults started to fly the swordsman looked over only for his arm to be grabbed as well. However the bouncer was much more fond of brute strength and simply started to squeeze and twist with the crackling of breaking bone filling the air. The swordsman barely got out a scream before his own sword slid through his head having been taken by the bouncer while the man was in agony.
Both thieves lay on the ground with blood slowly leaving their lifeless heads. The bouncer and John calmly looked at each other and nodded before grabbing the bodies next to them and slowly dragging the dead pair out the back door. The two victors looted the bodies finding a few potions, coins, and other odds and ends before calmly tossing the corpses into the fast moving river.
Involving the guards would only cause trouble at this point.
As the bodies slipped between the waters the duo silently shook hands before going back inside.
“Glad to know the little woman is still watching after me.” The bartender let out a small sigh. “Saw them casing the place earlier so sent a message to her asking for some help.” The bartender looked John over. “You really are not with her right? Killin' those two pricks might cause her some trouble if you are.”
John shook his head. “Nope! Just was told that this would be a good place to spend the night.”
“Heh, fuckin’ hell she set ya up!”
John shrugged. “Well we are already known to have kicked some ass. I guess she figured as longa s your bouncer was still around that me and him would have been able to take them with her as backup.” He pointed his thumb at the gnoll who was now relaxing in a very comfy padded chair having opted to take a seat while the two “cleaned up.”
“Fuckin hell. Little shit always knew how to get things done.” The bartender chuckled and turned to the keys. “Well, how many bed ya need for how long? After that there is no way I can ask for anything.”
John walked up to the bar and leaned on it. “Two rooms. I don’t know for how long yet. The leader of our group is currently at the library with his girlfriend getting books for the boss so I can’t say for sure. Besides, she-“ he nods towards Zilta who gives a small nod back. “-has to rest up for awhile before anything. We are probably going to start going into the dungeons as well so I have no idea how long.”
The bartender nodded before sliding two keys to John. “These two are two rooms further down. Nicer and a bit out of the way so noise should be lower.” The bartender explained as John calmly took the keys. “Yeah, bit more walking but those rooms are used less and less people walk by em’.”
“Roger, thanks man.” He then motioned for Zilta to follow him and they went up the stairs together. A little bit slower to give her a bit more time to handle the steps one by one due to her injuries but in no time at all they were at the top.
John went a bit ahead unlocking the door that was closer and looked inside. There was a very large bed clearly made to handle multiple people no matter what species laid down on top of it. There was also a wash basin, a trunk that could lock, a window overlooking the streets below, and a decently sized wooden table with a few chairs around it. Zilta slipped in and quickly laid down on the bed with a long groan.
“Ahhh, not as good as the ones on your ship, but still pretty good for a tavern.” She groaned out as she shifted a bit in the bed. “Man, she really knows how to pick em’.”
John nodded and sat down by her. “Hey, go ahead and drink the potion. While you do that I will go get you a beer or something.”
The Gnoll nodded and let out a long sigh. “Alright alright FINE. I would prefer to wait till I have the beer, but yeah. Better get it over with.”
With that John slipped out the room to buy her an ale as she tried her hardest to chug the potion as fast as she could. The sooner it was all down the sooner it was over after all.