As Gabriel was finally about to sit down and enjoy the first hot meal he would have had in days. the door to the Tavern flew open in spectacular fanfare. Immediately, Gabriel's astute senses detected the smell of alcohol, indicating to him that whoever had come in through the door had as much alcohol in their system as they did blood. Though it didn't take a genius or a particularly observant individual to tell that the woman that walked through the door was drunk. She was even having a hard time standing up.
Though every man in the room, including Gabriel, could see the womans, erm, rather voloptuous features and her unusually beautiful face (despite it having some serious amounts of makeup on). While her look would have normally indicated like that of some kind of cheap prostitute, something about the woman give Gabriel and the other men she was hot stuff. Especially considering most of the men were drunk aside from Gabriel. Well, luckily for him he could stay out of this encounter and enjoy his meal. As nice as the idea of sharing a bed with the woman seemed, Gabriel wasn't willing to cause more trouble that could come back to bite him later. as he saw the men (including the bars owner and the bouncers) begin to move their tables and chairs aside to set up a mock "Brawl" room, however, Gabriel realized every man in the room had their eyes square on him.
Dammit.
"Hey, Knight, take off that armor and get in here. Your fighting in this tourney one way or another. If you do it peacefully, I won't talk to the local knights bout this, and meal, drink as well as lodging is free if you win. Deal?" the tavern owner offered.
Gabriel pondered the deal for a moment, but realized it was simply too good to pass up. Regardless of what happened with the woman. Gabriel would probably just rent a second room and let her sleep there. God knows she looked like she was about to pass out in his opinion, and as much of a ladies man Gabriel tried to be despite his unusual circumstances, he wasn't exactly keen on taking advantage of the young lady no matter how attractive he was...Though the thoughts were there. With a woman like that, how couldn't they be?
Gabriel begrudgingly stood up, his helm and the armor covering his upper body vanishing quickly, as if they were some kind of mist. That would make things more fair by the tiniest bit. Moving toward the center of the room in the small "brawl" area that had been set up, the man whose body was covered in runic writing and scars watched, his muscular form calm as he waited. Gabriel and seven other men were rounded up as they watched the bar manager etch up a quick tournament bracket on a wooden plate.
"Alright, Knight, otherwise known as eight, your up first against one, my bouncer. Good luck to both of ya."
Gabriel stepped into the center of the mock brawl arena, half dressed down to his lower armor, the runic symbols on his body glowing gently as he looked into the eyes of his opponent, who, despite their hesitation, looked ready for a brawl.
"Okay then, lets dance. Five minutes is all I need to take you down." The Bouncer sneered as the other patrons cheered.
"Five minutes? I'll be enjoying a snack by then. I will end this in two." Gabriel responded flatly, losing none of his composure as he prepared to engage in hand to hand combat.
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The Fights were interesting between the other brawlers as the sudden mock-up tournament progressed, but Gabriel's encounters were always the same: short, swift, with his opponent unconcious on the floor. The bouncer went down to a single heavy jab from the knight to the head. The next opponent had his shoulder dislocated in a grab after Gabriel blocked the man's punch with the tip of his index finger, a feat that got the crowd going wild. The third man was a big one with surprising stamina and durability, but Gabriel's inhuman speed and blurring punches to the abdominal combined with a rather surprising suplex demonstrated that the knight, even in hand to hand, combat, was no joke. It was so one sided that the bets were not on Gabriel or his opponent, but on how long the opponent would last against Gabriel.
As the short tournament drew to a close, the obvious winner was Gabriel, who remained relatively calm yet festive. As the fanfare celebrating his victory came to a close, Gabriel quickly called over to the tavern's owner.
"Another roast please, and some mead to wash it down." Gabriel mused. Okay, maybe now that the risk of fighting was over he could enjoy some form of a drink. After all, he just won a battle and didn't even have to use any of his somewhat dark magic or his sword to do it. Going back to his table in the reclusive and somewhat quiet candle-lit corner of the Tavern, Gabriel hoped to enjoy the meal he was about to receive.
"And give the room and free drinks to the fine lady, as well as a nice breakfast. Shes gonna need it when she wakes up in the morning from drinking whatever it is in her system now." Gabriel joked. Well, hopefully that set everything right. Yeah, he was down a room, but he got a free meal, and he could just rent a room for himself as well.
Again, that may not have been what the woman who started this whole thing had in mind though...
