Currently, inside the tavern, there seemed to be three random thuggish men surrounding a single person. Because of how the three men were blocking the view, Miri and Anne couldn’t see the person the three thugs were harassing.

  “What’s that?! You’re saying you want to participate in the Pentacle Trials as well?!” one of the thugs said to the person with an arrogant voice.

  “And what if I am? What's it to you?” that person replied. From the sound of it, it appeared to be a man in his late 20s with a somewhat suave and laidback voice. Also, there’s a hint of a slur to his speech, indicating that he may be a bit drunk at the moment.

  “You don’t look like you’re from around here,” another thug followed up.

  “No, I’m not. In fact, I’m from Aether,” the laidback man said, his appearance gradually coming into view as the three thugs shifted away.

  Overall, he had a handsome face—his eyes having a calm, steady gaze and his smirk showcasing a whimsical, carefree attitude. His long, dark hair was styled in a half-up top knot—its upper portion tied up in a short wolf tail while the lower portion draped down to his shoulders, a few loose strands hanging at the sides of his face. He wore a light adventurer’s attire comprised of a dark-green garment overlaid with sparse pieces of leather armor—all wrapped around his tall, lean frame quite nicely.

  If Miri were to describe this man, she would say that he had the general appearance of a typical wuxia heroic male character.

  “Aether?! You’re from Aether and you want to participate in a Pentacle Trial in Hemera?!” the third thug asked with slightly outraged astonishment. “You got some nerve, friend.”

  “Why? Is there any rule that says a person from outside the city cannot participate?” the laidback man asked.

  “If you’re from Aether, you should be participating in the Pentacle Trial in Aether. Why bother coming to Hemera?” the first thug asked.

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  “Well, as a matter of fact, I did participate in a Pentacle Trial in Aether,” the laidback man said. “It was just last year, actually. Got up to the fifth trial, even. But I ended up forfeiting at that last trial. If I were to win, I wouldn’t be able to participate in another trial for another five years. Winning the trials just for the money…it was never my intention to begin with. I only did it just because I thought it’ll be fun.”

  “Fun? FUN?!” the first thug bellowed, grabbing the laidback man by the collar and hoisting him up just a few inches from the floor. “500,000 gold is on the line here and you’re doing this because you thought it was fun?!”

  “Woah, woah, easy there,” the laidback man said, his voice lacking any sense of fear or urgency despite the apparent threat. Perhaps it was simply because he was drunk or perhaps it was because he really didn’t feel all that threatened by the thug to begin with. “I thought people from Hemera were supposed to be friendly. What’s with the hostility?”

  “Listen here, friend, this trial is already stacked with competition without out-of-town folks like you mucking things up for the rest of us. We don’t welcome outsiders like you here. If you want to compete, compete in your own goddamn city.”

  “What’s wrong? Afraid that an outsider like me might best you at a Pentacle Trial from your own city? So now you’re trying to thin out the competition before the trial even starts? Well, good luck with that, because I’m not going anywhere.”

  The first thug inched his face closer to the laidback man as he stared daggers at him. “I’m only going to give you one last warning…leave now, or else.”

  The laidback man maintained his carefree smile, undaunted by the thug’s threats. “Why don’t you take your warning and shove it?”

  That was the last straw. Pulling his fist backward, the thug was about to punch the laidback man in the face. However, as soon as the thug tried to do so, the laidback man stopped the punch with the palm of his hand before crushing it with his grip, causing the thug to cringe with pain as he released the man.

  Then, in one fell swoop, the laidback man grabbed hold of the thug’s arm and threw the thug over him, the thug’s body landing onto the floor in a loud thump. The ease at which he did it was remarkably fluid, almost like that of an experienced fighter.

  With the first thug down, the two other thugs simply stood there, dumbfounded at the display of fighting skill. Maintaining his calm, collected, slightly drunk demeanor, the laidback man gestured to the two remaining thugs to come at him.

  “You know what? Forget about taking you two on one at a time,” the laidback man said with a confident smirk. “Why don’t you both come at me at once? It’ll be quicker that way.”