Goaties Tavern
Dusk was quickly approaching, and the bitterness of winter's night swept the air.
Not long after, someone carrying a straw basket entered the tavern.
She was dressed in a one piece course linen dress and a kerchief tied back her long silky black hair.
Occasionally, specks of dust and dirt littered across her hair.
Judging from appearance, she was obviously a peasant from the lower class, and a very rare appearance.
Usually those from the peasant resided in villages, the outer districts, or the rural villages and towns.
After all this tavern was in the inner district of a marquis city so usually the middle and upper class walked the streets.
As the women entered the tavern, she furtively glanced around until she spotted the tavern keeper.
Due to the unrest in the city, the tavern was mostly empty and a single host attended the place.
Dressed in casual clothing and sported a hooked nose much resembling that of a rat.
The tavern keeper gave the women a casual glance as she entered the place obviously disregarding her presence.
Ignoring the intentions of the woman, the tavern keeper simply went back to wiping the counter.
The nervous woman shuffled across the floor and meekly called out to the keeper, “Um ….”.
Tightly gripping on the basket hanging from her shoulders, she meekly called out with her head lowered in shame.
“Um… excuse me sir. Does this tavern need a hostess? I have quick hands…”
The tavern keeper simply picked his ears. “Get outta here and don't dirty my damn floors. Don't you know I just cleaned them?”
“F*ck off we dont need anyone, dont you see business is already bad?”
The tavern keeper raised his head from the counter ready to forcefully evict the woman.
Right when he was about to take action he suddenly paused as if time had stopped after getting a clear glimpse of the women
His lips slowly curled showing his repulsive bucktooth. The eyeballs on his pointy face rolled scanning the women up and down.
Clear and radiant skin. Pale and moist like a morning fresh lily. High cheekbones and a well proportioned nose. Luscious lips that brought about a natural pink reddish hue.
The only thing the tavern keeper had to pick about was the dirty face and ugly clothes.
He felt that it brought down her appearance by several grades.
Also the women's eyes were a bit…dull looking. *hint hint*
‘Heh, a pearl covered in dust,’ he mused.
For once the tavern keeper felt like a poet.
Seeing the tavernkeeper staring blankly, not responding for a while, the woman gave a slight bow and excused herself.
“Umm, apologies. Since you don't want me here I'll excuse myself.”
“Nonono wait.” The tavern keeper hurriedly stopped the women. “Yes, yes, yes, positions are open.”
Seeing that she was about to leave, the tavern keeper forcefully grabbed her wrist.
“Ah”
She yelped with a hint of surprise, almost dropping her straw basket.
The tavernkeep hurriedly smiled. “How about 5 coppers a day for now? And when you’re experienced you can earn up to a silver a day? Whatcha think? Generous aren't I?
The tavern keep hurriedly threw out a bunch of sweet dates for fear that the fat sheep will leave
The woman hesitated for a while but not long after, nodded slowly..
Upon seeing the agreement, the tavern keeper nodded and gently let go of the womens wrist.
“Follow me, ill show ya the ropes.”
The tavern keeper gradually pointed out the various menial tasks that the women would be responsible for in the tavern .
Occasionally, his eyes would linger across her bountiful assets and even gently brush over them causing the women to stiffen..
However, what the tavern keeper didn't notice was that a small rock tied to his belt let out a quick flash. A dim and noticeable light that went away as quickly as it had appeared.
That was an ether reaction rock. And apparently a magic spell had been casted nearby.
But the tavern keeper was too distracted to notice. Or rather the disturbance in ether was too light.
The tavern keeper eventually smiled. Today was his special day. It was finally his turn. A woman would finally fall for his masculine charms. Every move of the fair lady and her helpless expression as he teased up would send shivers up his spine.
It was time to make a move. He had figured out her background. Probably from a rural village with no family and seeking to jump classes. Or perhaps a widow needing support.. No threat.
But for some reason his instincts were telling him that something was wrong. But what could possibly be wrong? The tavern keeper smiled to himself and shook his head.
“ehe, follow me. i'll take you to the back kitchen and show you how things are done.
He gradually led the women to the back rooms, the figures of the two disappearing into the shadowy corridors lit by dim candles. The swaying of candlefire gave the shadows the appearance of a beast silently waiting for the prey to take bait, unsuspecting of the atrocities that were about to take place.
…
Meanwhile the tavernkeep and the women were potentially discussing “life” matters…
In a cellar somewhere under the tavern, a shadow slowly seeped through the cracks of the cellar door like liquid.
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It entered a room full of burly drunk men snoring. The shadow then hid itself in the darkness at the corners of the room.
The shadow twirled its shadowy mustache and reached into its pockets..
Taking out a stopwatch, the shadow glanced at the time. Hmm, seems about right.
‘The young master should be fine right?” The shadow gave a slight chuckle and snap his stopwatch.
Yes, the shadow was the Qiubai family’s butler using the magic cast, <
And right now he had infiltrated the underground cellar of Goaties tavern. Through his skilled use of magic, the butler didnt set off any alarms although he certainly didnt expect the antimagic materials in the wooden walls.
But the work was still quite simple work really. What did mere thieves understand about a magic caster’s abilities?
A second stage caster was able to engrave circuits in their souls through a complex process allowing complicated spell effects that first stages were not able to do. It was also at the second stage where a caster could begin to master the power of elemental affinity. And the butler’s Hayate elemental affinity was of the shadow element. The powers of the shadows or ever changing and mysterious giving birth to famous assassins.
Butler Hayate scanned across the room. Surprising enough, he didn't see any ether reaction stones. Maybe perhaps the thieves were too poor? Anyways, unprofessional.
Usually magic casters were like magnets to the ether particles in the air. Powerful magic casters would attract ether to form a formless aura around them only visible to magic casters themselves. Some sensitive animals could even detect this aura and would be instantly alert to the presence of a powerful being. Some magic casters were influential enough to set off an ether storm with a casual cast of magic. Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of ether were poisonous to mortals so came the common saying that there was a world between the ordinary and extraordinary.
Gradually the shadowy figure materialized exposing the figure of the butler, and his footsteps echoed around in the cellar.
“WHAT?” A deep voice rumbled and the burly thieves were instantly alert.
After all, even if they weren't magic casters, they were still knights with senses trained beyond human limits.
A burly man shot up from the wooden chair and his arms instantly outstretched to grab the scimitar knife resting against the wall instinctively.
“Who?” his deep voices echoed? The rest of the men also hurriedly took a stance in panic.
“Hmmm. Who I am, you do not need to know. But who you are, I should soon know.” The butler Hayate put his stopwatch in his breast pocket and clapped his hands.
Hayate opened his mouth ready to chant.
<
But before he could finish his sentence…
“He’s a caster! Quick! Get close and stop him!” the boss of the burly men holding the scimitar knife roared exasperatedly. “Yahhhh”
The caster’s chanting must be interrupted at all costs.
All he could do now was hope the unknown invading magic caster was still in the first stage. At this level he still had a chance as a titled knight. Especially since the first order’s magic casters were heavily reliant on chanting.
Fwoosh
With a growl, the muscles fibers on the boss’s legs rapidly contracted and he shot forward with the force of thunder.
Leaping across the room in a single stride and knocking over furniture in the process, the boss violently swung his scimaar forward.
The raw power generated from his thick arms left a whistling sound as it sliced through the air.
Dong
Sparks sprayed as the blade seemingly collided with another metallic object.
The sheer force from the collision sent out heavy echoes and dust blasting through the room.
The boss squinted his eyes through the dust. He had a foreboding feeling. The familiar butter cutting sensation of blades slicing through flesh and bone was the feedback he was hoping for.
But instead, it was as if…there was an impregnable mountain in front.
“Grrryahhhh” With a loud shout and a heavy breath, the boss knew he had no choice. His heartbeat rapidly accelerated, blood coursed through his veins, and his breathing quicken.
It was as if a raging horse had gone loose.
The thumping of his heart and the rapid contraction of his muscles raised his body temperature to an inhuman level.
The moisture within the boss’s body was rapidly diminishing causing steam to rise from the surface of his skin.
His muscles were literally breaking down from the exhaustion. The boss was burning his vital qi.
As a locked first order profession, knights were further subdivided into three stages. Trainee, official, and titled. The first two sublevels were more focused on physical strengthening but once a knight reached the tilted stage, he could begin to condense his essence and generate vital qi. The vital qi was precious life energy fueling them to perform moves beyond human limits.
But excessive use could consume lifespan… But the boss knew he had no other choice. As a battle weathered man, he understood a moment of hesitating could lead to death. He had no time to think.
He feared this man…was not simply a first order apprentice…
As the dust cleared. He opened his squinted eyes.
Gradually the scene unfolded causing the boss to widen his eyes in despair
It was…over. The opponent wasn’t a first order apprentice.
Butler Hayate had two fingers outstretched gently but firmly clasping the scimitar.
Hayate Ryo was indeed a second order caster. With a body forged by ether impregnable like diamond. Not the weak chicken first stage apprentice caster.
The boss felt his arm lighten as a force forcibly lifted his scimitar.
Ding!
With a crisp sound, Butler Hayate lightly snapped the scimitar blade deterring the other thieves in the cellar from approaching.
Gulp.
Absolute. Silence.
Everyone knew there was no escape. The boss was the only titled knight and if even he couldn't do it, what chance did they have?
Clack clack.
The broken half of the scimater dropped to the ground bouncing back and forth.
“You…you..what do you want?”
Butler Hayate narrowed his eyes and dusted his gloved hands.
“Surely you must know?”
“You…qiubai family?” the boss hesitantly inquired.
The butler nodded, “Indeed.” Then he turned to the rest of the people in the cellar.
“But before that…”
<
From the crevices and the dark corners of the cellar, hands painted black as the abyssal night outstretched like nightmares. They wrapped the poor helpless thieves in the cellar into dumplings and before they were able to scream, a blood curdling crunching noise sounded.
Flesh and bone bursting like bubble wrap and disintegrating into fine particles.
Blood splattered painting the walls crimson leaving an iron smell drifting across the room.
The butler Hayate Ryo calmly took out a handkerchief wiping his hands despite the fact that his gloves were still spotless and clean.
Calming putting away the handkerchief, he gave a chilling glance at the boss.
“Now, talk.”
Motivational words of the day:
The best thing I've ever heard from a therapist was to think for yourself. Know who you are. Most people dont unfortunately. Your name and your age is not you. It's part of you but also given to you. Don't just react to life. Live. Be yourself. Make the child inside you happy. Listen to your gut. Only when your genuine to yourself and others, can you tap into your intuition.
Song of the day:
Promise by Akie (Its quite sad but also nostalgic and melancholy! bittersweet and perfect for the winter. its a Japanese song but im sure there are subs versions on utube!)
Meme of the day:
[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSmHi2jaen76ae_jCNCTOGD9C42TEunYaq5kA&usqp=CAU]