The two thugs were initially hesitant to advance towards the laidback man, seeing as how he’d easily taken down their boss. However, they’d eventually gathered enough courage to make their first attack, figuring that being outnumbered 3 to 1 might just give them enough of an advantage to overtake him.
The two thugs began by throwing a series of punches and kicks at the laidback man. However, the laidback man was able to dodge and parry all of their attacks with relative ease, making them feel as though they were punching and kicking the wind itself. With the way the laidback man moved and swayed his body, it’s almost as if the fluidity of his movements were being enhanced by his drunkenness, similar to how drunken-style kung fu had worked.
As the fight was going on, some of the tavern patrons from nearby were startled by the violent confrontation and decided to move as far away from the fight as possible, hoping to not get caught up in the fight as potential collateral damage. With that said, tavern brawls were not exactly uncommon, with some even providing a decent source of entertainment every now and again—as was apparent from some of the patrons who were spectating the fight from the sidelines with intriguing eyes.
“Oh, cool! A tavern fight!” Miri said as she watched the fight with a sense of excitement.
“Umm, Miri. Don’t you think we should help?” Anne suggested with a mild sense of concern.
Miri scoffed. “Why bother? Just look at him. Does he look like he actually needs our help?”
After evading and parrying the two thugs for a while, the laidback man leapt into the air and performed an acrobatic kick that sent the two thugs flying back into a wall. Then, following up with that attack, the laidback man used magic to conjure a green ethereal bow into his hands before firing a couple of green ethereal arrows towards the two thugs—pinning the edges of their clothing onto the wall and trapping them in place. The level of accuracy required to perform such a feat was nothing short of phenomenal, which just goes to show how skilled of an archer this man actually was.
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Right as the laidback man deftly handled the two thugs, the first thug had just gotten up from being thrown onto the floor. Feeling his pride immensely hurt from the encounter, the thug decided to no longer pull his punches and proceeded to conjure a gray ethereal dagger in his hand before lunging towards the laidback man. Because the man’s face was turned for just a brief moment, the thug might just be able to catch him by surprise.
Realizing this, Miri had decided that it was finally time to interfere. With a cast of a single Starlight Bolt, she shot a fast trailing dot of indigo magical energy towards the thug’s knife-wielding hand, knocking the weapon out of his grasp and causing him to cry in startled pain. Then, rushing towards the thug, Miri took her staff and whacked him at the side of his head, knocking him out cold.
The laidback man turned and saw how Miri had saved him in the nick of time. Realizing this, he gave an appreciative smile.
“I could have gotten that, you know,” the laidback man said.
“Yeah, but you can never be too careful,” Miri replied. “Besides, can’t have you hogging all the fun, now can I?”
The laidback man chuckled. “Great! Now I almost certainly have to buy you a drink as a thank you. My personal code of honor will not permit me to do otherwise.”
“Just one drink?” Miri asked with a raised eyebrow. “That save there should have been worth at least several rounds of drinks, don’t you think?”
The laidback man bursted into laughter. “You are quite an interesting woman. Didn’t catch your name, by the way. I’m Idris. Idris Galehawk.”
“Miriam Caldwell. But everyone calls me Miri,” Miri introduced to the laidback man with a handshake. “And that cleric back there is my friend Anne.” Anne glanced at the man with a shy wave of her hand.
