How long have they been drinking? Arthur has never had this much alcohol. That said, he’s only had 5 mugs while Marina is well on her 8th. At least he’s aware of how much it’s affecting him, and it’s… worrying. He can feel his response time getting slower and how there’s a light spinning to his surroundings.

“Gods, you’re such a lightweight!” Marina laughs. “Your face is already red!”

So she says, but her face is getting red, too.

“S-S-Shut up.” He tries not to slur. “I’m not a lightweight! I feel fiiine.”

Shit. He can even feel how the ale is loosening his tongue.

“Sure you do, buddy.” Marina keeps laughing.

“Hey, give me a break.” Arthur sighs and rests his arms on the counter. “I’m not used to drinking this much. I just figured, ‘when’s the next time a cute girl is going to invite me to drink’?”

“There you go again, saying that stuff.” She says with a grin. “You’re totally a virgin, aren’t you?”

“I’m not! Not anymore, okay?” He says, taking another swig of ale to get rid of the embarrassment of saying that.

“Oh? Did you get lucky in the city, country boy?” She teases.

“Nah. I went to the brothel.” He admits. And if he needed any more proof that the alcohol is affecting him, there it is.

“Oh wow, you were really itching for some, weren’t you?” She chuckles.

Arthur glares at her and pouts. “What? You’re telling me you’re not a virgin?”

“I’m not” She shrugs. “But hey, it’s not like I blame you for going there. Honestly, it pisses me off that they don’t have male prostitutes there.”

“Oh? You’d go there if they did?” Arthur asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course I would! Do you know how difficult it is for a mercenary to get some?” She says, glaring at him as her face gets inches away from his. “I do all sorts of jobs for money. Nothing illegal, of course, but I know I’ve pissed off more than one person in my life. If I’m with someone, I need to know I’m going to wake up the next day, not find a dagger in my throat.”

She groans and shakes her head.

“It’s all about trust, you know? Trust!” She says, raising her voice as she pokes Arthur’s chest with her finger. “There’s very few people I can trust, and I don’t feel like taking any of them to bed! It sucks!”

“What? I don’t count as someone you can trust?” Arthur practically hears himself asking, the ale taking control of his mouth.

“Of course you don’t! Sure, sure. You’re cute and all, but I already told you, you’re a huge fucking mystery.” She says nonchalantly, drinking from her mug again.

“And what would I need to do to earn your trust?” Arthur asks with a raised eyebrow.

“As if it was that easy.” Marina grins and looks at her drinking partner directly in the eyes. “But if you’re serious, we could always have a fist fight.”

“Wha-? How does that help!?”

“You’d be surprised at how much you can learn from someone from a fist fight.” Her grin only grows wider. She turns to Anthony and asks. “We can go, right boss man?”

“Only if you promise to pay for any broken objects and if I can get the bets going.” Anthony nods firmly with a grin of his own.

“What do you say?” Marian turns to Arthur again. “You don’t strike me as the type to be afraid to hit a woman.”

“Hey, I was trained by a woman! I know full well how hard they hit!”

“Good! Now get your ass up.” Maria orders, swiftly getting up from her seat.

“Wait. Are we really doing this?”

“First step if you want to get in my pants, country boy.” She proclaims as she unfastens her swords from her belt.

“Sheesh. If you put it like that I feel like a mindless, horny bastard. I’m just trying to make friends.” Arthur says as he stands up. He starts to understand just how lightheaded he is from drinking, but he can move well enough. He also unfastens his sword.

“First step for that, too.” She grins.

They both leave their weapons at the counter and, surprisingly, people around are getting excited. They’re helping move tables away to make space while others start making bets with Anthony.

‘Why do I get the feeling this isn’t that rare of an occurrence?’

Marina and Arthur stand about two meters away from each other, and this is where he starts realizing how ridiculous this truly is. Marina takes a fighting stance with arms raised and relaxed, but he feels no hostility coming from her. The same goes for him, he feels no hostility towards her.

Why are they doing this?

Usually a brawl in a tavern is just a result of two people drinking too much and getting angry at each other. Not that he’s an expert, since he’s never gotten in a drunken fight before, but still. Here, Marina just suggested they fight like it was a greeting.

“First one to fall on the floor loses. What do you say?” Marina suggests. “And I mean a full fall. A knee on the floor doesn’t count.”

“Sure.” Arthur nods and agrees absentmindedly.

With that done, she takes her first steps towards him, and the feeling continues to be the same. No hostility. That is, until he blinks and he feels the full weight of her fist against his face, making him almost lose his balance.

He blinks several times as he stands there, feeling the sting on his check and hearing the crowd roar in excitement.

‘What the hell? I didn’t see that!’

“Come on, kid! That’s just a greeting!” Marina boasts with a smirk.

Arthur’s body still feels sluggish, yet far more awake than a moment before.

‘She’s serious. That punch hurt.’

As he realizes this, he finds himself smiling.

‘Fine. I’ll play.’

One thing he notices is that the punch was completely… normal. Marina isn’t enhancing her abilities with Prana Flow. Well, this is just a brawl, so he better respond in kind.

Arthur takes his own fighting stance with his arms raised at the level of his face. The previous punch might have woken him up, but he’s still aware of how slow his reactions are.

Seeing he’s ready again, Marina steps in with a fast jab directed at his face. Arthur sees it. He really does. It’s coming towards him and all he needs to do is pull his head back a little and he’ll dodge.

But his head doesn’t move, and he receives the full blunt of it between his check and his nose.

He grunts in pain and steps back to regain his balance. He clicks his tongue and shakes his head quickly. He saw the punch, but couldn’t react in time.

‘Fuck this. I’m never drinking again.’

Marina, not giving him much more time, does a quick step in and gives him a quick one-two. The left hit lands on his head again, closer to his forehead while he manages to stop the right with his arm mostly due to luck. She steps back the moment her attack is done, evading Arthur’s retaliating hook with little effort.

Arthur groans, not just because of the stinging pain in his face, but because of how frustrating this is. Marina doesn’t only seem experienced in a brawl, but her hand-to-hand technique is extremely solid. She’s not just swinging her arms. Those are practiced blows. What’s more, her footwork is top notch.

Her style is surprisingly clean for a tavern fight.

‘Did those 8 mugs of ale really didn’t do a thing to her? Fuck, I really am a lightweight!’

However, if there’s one positive thing about getting hit in the face, is that the pain is waking up his instincts. Taking a deep breath, he takes his stance again. His eyes sharp, he’s now very aware of every single one of Marina’s movements.

The loud crowd is completely cheering for her. Not a single one is supporting him.

‘Man, it sure is hard being the underdog.’

Marina steps in again with a one-two, but this time Arthur blocks both punches with his arms. His reactions aren’t coming back. He’s just getting used to the delay between thought and action.

He sees Marina click her tongue and step back.

No, it’s a faint! She’s coming from below with a half-upper. Arthur stops it again with both arms parallel to the ground and pressed against his upper chest. He’s the one to step back.

For what feels like an eternity, but can’t be much longer that a minute, Marina continues her assault. The punches keep coming, and Arthur keeps blocking. And he has yet to try and strike back.

When the woman’s face twists in frustration, one of her swings becomes wider. Enough to let even a drunken Arthur pull his face back to dodge. The hook cuts the air in front of his face, and a follow up blow comes to his stomach, but it’s slow enough for him to stop with his arms again.

He allows himself a smirk. This is actually quite fun. Having to watch his opponent and being able to read their moves is extremely satisfying. Sadly, it’s getting less fun as Marina gets more and more frustrated that her hits aren’t landing anymore. That’s making her blows wider and far easier to predict.

Like this one, for example. It’s a very simple right straight with a huge windup. It’s too good an opportunity, so Arthur decides to try and finish it here.

As the blow comes, he steps into it and turns his body, evading it. He grabs Marina’s arm using his left, putting his hand on her face and completely blocking her view. He hooks his right foot behind hers and pushes her down. Marina loses her balance and falls to the floor with a loud thud.

Arthur lets out a heavy sigh of relief, but soon notices the silence around him. Marina is still down on her back, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes. A nasty feeling settles on the bottom of Arthur’s stomach as he hopes she’s not mad at him for winning.

He walks up to her and offers a hand with a sheepish smile. Marina blinks up at him a few times before a huge grin settles on her face and she grabs his forearm while he helps her up.

“I lost.” She laughs. “It’s been a while since that happened.”

“So… you’re not angry?”

“What? Of course I am! I’m pissed!” She scowls. “I’m pissed at myself for getting frustrated and giving you that wide opening! That loss was completely my fault.”

The loud sounds of a single person clapping twice brings everyone’s attention to them.

“Alright, people. Fight’s over! Get the tables back in order!” Anthony says, and people get back to their seats with mostly gloomy faces.

‘Did seriously no one bet on me? I should’ve at least put a coin on myself, then.’

The two fighters get back to their seats by the counter as well, and the moment Arthur sits down, Anthony puts a glass vial with a blue liquid in front of him with a huge smirk.

“On the house. Heal those wounds up.”

“What? Why?” Arthur asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Because I always bet on Marina’s opponents and this is the first time in a very long while that I win.” He says, his smirk growing wider. “I was also the only one who bet on you, so I get all the profits.”

Healing potions are very expensive. Worth up to 100 gold pieces for the most expensive ones. How much money did he make? Arthur doesn’t really feel like rejecting this gift, considering he can’t quite afford one of these on his own right now.

“Thank you very much.” He smiles. “I’ll accept it, but I think I’m going to save it. It doesn’t hurt too bad.”

“Suit yourself.” Anthony shrugs. “It’s going to sting tomorrow, though.”

“Pay me a silver and I’ll sell you the ointment I’m carrying.” Marina tells him, casually drinking from her freshly served mug of ale.

“…fine.”

After that trade, there’s a bit of a silence between the two. Arthur doesn’t like it, so he asks.

“So? Did I get closer to earning your trust?”

Marina snorts and gives Arthur a grin. “Yes. Yes, you did.” She toasts with him, and he believes that there might be some merit to what she said before. After that, sitting and talking to her feels… easier.

“Boy, that was weird.” She laughs. “At first I thought you’d be a punching bag, then I thought you were somehow holding back against me, but then you pulled that throw out of nowhere! Where did you learn that?”

“From watching my mom. That’s how she’d usually end fights with people she didn’t want to hurt too badly.” Arthur explains. “I told you she taught me how to fight and how to use prana. Well, hand to hand was part of it.”

“Kind of makes me want to have another go when you’re sober.” She says. “I feel like I didn’t earn any of the hits I landed.”

“If you’d used Prana Flow this would’ve been different.”

“Maybe, but that’s not what this is about.” She shakes her head. “I told you. You can learn a lot about someone in a fist fight. Other than the win conditions, I never specified anything else. The fact that YOU never used prana says a lot.”

‘Huh. I guess that’s one way to see it.’

“Oh. Now that I think about it, I never asked how your visit to the castle went.” She realizes.

“It went well.” Arthur nods with an easy smile. “I managed to meet Sir Samuel Alba and I’m officially participating in the Knight Selection Tournament in a couple of days.”

At that, Marina chokes mid-drink. She coughs several times before she looks at him with eyes as wide as plates. “You WHAT!?”

For the rest of the night, Marina demands he tells her everything, leading Arthur to tell her a very simplified version of his story.