The Snowfox Tavern has been one of the prime attractions in the northern parts for over two hundred years and the place has been passed down over generations in the Reon family.
The tavern is now owned by Sally Reon, who inherited it at the age of 25 after becoming a full-fledged CAT 5 Warlock.
She has been running the business with her parents and husband for 10 years and in those 10 years, she had seen her share of interesting characters. From noisy dwarves to an elder from an Arken family.
She was sure she wouldn't be surprised by anything.
That was, until now.
It was a pretty normal day at the tavern. Her father and husband went to the capital city to get supplies and also to sell their apples. Her mother was at the orchard taking care of the trees. So Sally was holding the fort.
The tavern was only half-full with miners from the silver mines, traders, mercenaries, adventurers, and the townsfolk from many species.
Even a group of elven warlocks were sitting at a table and enjoying drinks. The miners were mostly humans and dwarves but there were a few from other species too.
Sally was chatting with her friend Oscar, a dwarf who owns the brewery where the Reons get their apple wine from.
The Reons sell Oscar half of their harvested apples and he would give half of the wine he makes to the Reons.
They were talking about Sally's previous job as a warlock when the door opened and a new customer came in.
It was a young man in a traveling cloak with the hood partially covering his face.
He came over to the counter and sat beside Oscar. He took off the hood and Sally was taken aback by how handsome he was.
His most striking features were his eyes which were a deep purple. Oscar was mesmerized by them. Even the elves, who were known for their breathtaking looks, were gawking at this heavenly beauty.
Sally noticed she was staring and quickly withdrew her gaze, "Welcome to the Snowfox Tavern. What would you like to have?", she greeted with a flushed face. The man smiled warmly, "I'll have some apple wine."
"Sure, you got it."
She filled a wooden mug with apple wine and put it in front of the young man. He took a sip and his eyes lit up, "This is amazing.", he exclaimed. "Our apple wine is the best and you can thank Mr. Oscar here for making them," Sally said with pride.
"Aye Sally. Don't give me all the credit. I wouldn't be able to make this delicious wine without your apples.", Oscar replied.
The young man nodded to Oscar and looked at Sally for a few seconds making her feel self-conscious. The young man noticed this and smiled apologetically, "Sorry for that. I was checking something. You are a Warlock, aren't you?", he said.
Sally was surprised to see that this young man could identify a Warlock. He must be one too but she felt nothing from him that would suggest he's a Warlock. But before she could say anything, Oscar piped in.
"Aye, my boy. You have good eyes. Sally here is a strong lass. She helps me get rid of beasts attacking my brewery and she even protects the town along with the guards." Sally blushed. "Stop embarrassing me, Mr. Oscar." The three of them laughed.
Suddenly the door was thrown open and a big man with a burn mark on his face stepped into the tavern.
"SALLY REON SHOW YOURSELF!", he bellowed as he took out a huge battleax. The tavern went quiet. Everybody was looking at the man and then at Sally.
Sally narrowed her eyes as she recognized the man, "Why hello there Rudy.", she said in a cold voice.
Rudy Allion is a notorious bandit known for brutally attacking innocent people and terrorizing villages and towns and getting away with it. A few months ago he attacked Snowmelt town but was defeated by Sally and was driven out. That burn mark was a parting gift from her.
Looks like he came back for revenge.
"I thought we drove you away Rudy", Sally said and held up her arm. {Fire Code: Flaming Orb}, a ball of fire formed on her hand and brightly lit up the tavern. No heat came from it as it was concentrated into the orb.
The other customers were amazed by it. The elven Warlocks were impressed by this display of magia.
But Rudy just chuckled and in the blink of an eye, he stood in front of a shocked Sally. He grabbed her arm and the fire orb dissipated.
"How?", she asked in disbelief.
He laughed, "I've become much stronger than you thanks to this!" he held up a gold amulet, "This enchanted item boosted my abilities and even gave me the Space attribute which enables me to teleport", he said as he tightened his grip.
Sally couldn't do anything. His grip was too strong. The elves and the others got up but they wouldn't be able to reach in time. Rudy laughed as he swung the ax at her head. She has no time to defend herself.
What happened next was unbelievably fast.
Rudy's battleax was sliced in half, the blade embedded into the counter. He found himself staring at the blade of a black sword that came out of nowhere.
A single drop of blood came out of a cut on his cheek. It fell on the blade. The blade glowed faintly as the blood came in contact with it.
"I suggest you do the smart thing and leave the woman alone. If you don't. Well..... my sword is thirsty for more.", the purple-eyed young man said in an icy tone while keeping the blade at Rudy's throat.
Rudy absolutely did not see that coming. The sword appeared from nowhere and cleanly sliced his battleax in half faster than he could teleport. A bead of sweat flowed down his back making him shiver.
This was something he didn't feel before. Now he knows what it feels like. For the first time, Rudy Allion felt fear. All his instincts are telling him to get away from this man.
He let go of Sally's hand and stepped away from the counter. He slowly walked back to the doors, "I.... I'll remember this, boy!", he said and left the tavern.
The tavern was quiet with shocked silence. Everyone there couldn't believe what they just saw. Sally was speechless. She just saw the battleax rushing towards her face get cut in half in a split second.
She has never seen a sword like that. It had a curved single-edged blade. She looked at the young man,
"Uh. Thank you for saving my life", she said when she found her voice. "Don't mention it. That guy was annoying", the young man smiled and placed 2 gold on the counter.
"Sorry for ruining the counter. Here is the payment for the wine and to fix the counter. If this isn't enough you can say"
Sally shook her head, "No. It is enough. Truly you didn't have to pay since you saved my life." "It's okay, please treat me as another customer", he said rising and walked to the door, and stopped. Every eye was on him. He looked back.
"Uh. How do I get to Crystalia?", he asked rubbing his head.
"You want to reach Crystalia?", Sally asked. He nodded.
"Well, it will take a month if you go on foot and half that time if you go by horse. The warp gate in our town changes destination every two days and unfortunately for you it will only connect to Crystalia next week. But if you are a Warlock with the wind and beast attribute, you can reach there much faster", Sally explained.
Warp gates connect different places in Arken with the help of Space enchantments. They can be set to connect to a place permanently or periodically.
"Oh. Thank you, the apple wine was amazing." The young man said and left.
The other customers started to snap out of their shock and pondered over what they saw. Oscar looked back at the door.
"Who in blazes was that?"