The blade was intercepted by another, an azure blade erupting a clash of sparks in the air.
Michael stumbled to the floor, gripping his sword in desperation.
"Relax, kid," Stefan said. "And stay down."
The man staggered back, gritting his teeth. "Why do you always show up every time?"
"You were going to kill him?" Stefan asked. "Really, Rowe, a child?"
Rowe pointed his sword. "If you have a problem, then you can just take his place—"
They clashed blades again, following into a head-on fight in the middle of the tavern. The nearby adventurers backed away, scattering off as the fight moved closer to them.
Michael couldn't take his eyes off the fight. They moved so fast to the point where their arms became a blur and their swords were invisible. He initially thought Rowe's attacks were heavy and slow, defined to just break through his defenses.
But the way they moved now, Rowe had to move twice as fast just to keep the attacks against Stefan. It was amazing to watch, even if Michael considered Rowe nothing but pathetic.
The sounds of clangor could have echoed into the outside on how loud it really was. Michael thought he would have really gone deaf.
Stefan didn't break his gaze on Rowe as they fought. He caught every attack, landing perfect parries, and transitioning his state of offense. Stefan's face looked so focused, so immersed in the fight as if he cared nothing about what happened around him. This didn't even look like the same person that was so eager to drink.
Rowe's face was more than afraid. Sweat dripped from his head as he carefully moved his steps around. He would switch onto the offense just to fall right back trying to fend off Stefan's attacks.
Michael stared in awe even if he already knew who would win. Stefan never fought like this against Mave either, it was like seeing a different side to him. Michael admitted it sort of scared him watching him overpower Rowe so effortlessly.
Stefan swung his azure blade across, slashing a deep cut on Rowe's hand and forcing him to unhand his blade.
Rowe dropped to the floor, clutching his bleeding hand.
The crowd was silent, watching the one-sided fight play through. They murmured Stefan's name as if it was some curse among them.
Stefan sighed, sheathing his sword on his waist.
"God dammit…" Rowe groaned angrily. "You bastard—"
"Apologize to the kid."
"What—"
"You heard me."
Rowe turned back to Stefan and laughed. "Kiss my ass—"
Stefan drove his knee to his face. He pulled him back and struck his fist across. He grabbed his hair and slammed his head to the floor. He flipped him over and struck again and again, even if his fists were coated in blood.
The crowd was silent as they had to endure the ruthless beating in front of them. Michael shared their same expression, even hoping in his head that Stefan would stop. The amount of blood was gruesome as if Stefan was trying to paint red across the floor.
Rowe flailed his arms just trying to fend away Stefan's fists that pounded him in the face over and over. The nearby adventurers even winced in response to how the clot of blood pulled away with Stefan's knuckles.
Michael couldn't even justify this anymore. None of this matched the works of an adventurer. They were supposed to be on the same team, on the same quest, hoping to protect this town from evil. But right now, Stefan is mercilessly beating away another adventurer.
"Apologize," Stefan raised his bloodied fist again. "Or do I have to make you sound it out yourself."
Rowe croaked small words in the air. His voice was congested with blood. His face was beaten, abrased, and swollen deeply. There was no possible way he could even understand simple speech anymore.
Stefan stood off the ground. "Good enough."
Michael watched him wipe away the blood off his knuckles like it was some normal occasion.
"Get up," Stefan said to him. "Let's go."
Michael felt a sudden rush of energy flow into his legs. He followed behind Stefan as the crowd parted a way for them to move. He could feel their eyes stabbing through his back as he walked past.
"As for you all," Stefan turned around. "Get back to your duties. I don't want to fight along hungover men that'll die the moment we're attacked. For Xander's sake, we're fighting Falden soldiers. Get a hold of yourselves—"
A croaking laugh interrupted him. "You…you think you have any say against us? Stefan Jaegen, the child prodigy—give me a break."
Stefan watched him sit over, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"You're nothing better than us, you damned bastard," Rowe groaned. "Do us a favor and shut the hell up before you give everybody else a headache."
"Fine. But if you have anything else to say to me, then you all know where to find me."
Michael glanced at the crowd's faces as they left. They were just pitiful on the way they looked at Stefan. It was as if this emotional outburst was always normal to them whenever Stefan was included in a quest. Michael figured out he didn't get along with other adventurers but if this would happen every time, then it was obvious that they hated him.
When Michael first met Stefan, he thought he was flippant and arrogant. Apart from his addiction with drinking, he was still someone that Michael could depend on.
Stefan would help Michael try to understand the concept of mana and even give him a few pointers on how to defeat Mave at her own game. He always wore a smile on his face and laughed the loudest out of all of them. But when they fought, it was a different facade he had shown. His eyes looked cold, devoid of any emotion, and only had one goal.
To make that man apologize to Michael if it meant beating him half to death.
"He's fine," Stefan said. "He has a mage in his party that knows healing magic. Something like that won't kill him that easily, trust me, I know."
Michael thought Stefan was hiding something from him.
"If I didn't step in, you would have definitely gotten hurt. Did you remember what I told you earlier, to not talk to strangers?"
Michael nodded.
"What about the other times when we talked alone?"
"Sorry."
Stefan knocked on Michael's head. "You really don't listen, do you?"
Michael pushed away his arm. "I said I was sorry."
"You act like you're invincible, that's what pisses me off. Even if you have that magical sword, you can still bleed and get tired like the rest of us."
Michael was still holding his sword. Though, there was no voice in his head but that must have meant she's too scared to speak. He had come close to death for the second time. She was probably itching to hug him again, sobbing away apologies about how she dragged him into another danger. He was definitely losing that fight yet he still provoked the man. He just couldn't watch someone get hurt in front of him and do nothing about it.
"Listen, kid," Stefan said. "You have to learn to back down. I know that you're hard on the head but there's just some fights that you absolutely cannot win. Did you really think you could've beat that guy back there?"
"No…not really."
"Then why would you fight him?"
"He spilled my soup."
Stefan bursted into laughter, smacking Michael's shoulder over and over.
Michael pushed his arm away again. His shoulders were starting to get sore.
"I was right bringing you into the party," he chuckled. "You're hilarious."
Stefan walked them through town towards what looked like a more refined house than all of them. The house had its own garden, its own row of fences, and a front porch so rich that Michael would have never guessed this was the entrance.
This must have been where the leader lived inside, Michael didn't really know, but Ellis and Mave were already waiting at the door.
Mave folded her arms. "It took you that long? Did you stop by and have a short drink too?"
"No, I stopped drinking," Stefan pushed Michael forward. "Where'd you get that idea anyways?"
Ellis sighed. "What happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"You fought somebody, didn't you?"
Stefan looked confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Look at his face," Ellis pointed at Michael. "We've been here for less than an hour and you've already managed to get into a fight."
Michael thought his face didn't even look that different. Maybe because it was the swollen bump on his cheek that was starting to form?
Mave scoffed. "Who'd you beat up this time?"
Stefan shrugged. "Nobody."
"Now it sounds like someone you definitely shouldn't have beaten up."
Ellis turned to Michael. "Who did you get into a fight with?"
Michael tried to ignore Stefan's cold stare. "Uhh…"
Mave groaned. "Oh, now the boy won't tell us."
"Okay!" Stefan clapped his hands loudly. "How about we meet this chief and his family, right? He's probably dying to know what we're doing in his town unannounced."
Ellis sighed again, walking over the steps and knocking the door.
There was silence. The curtains from the windows didn't move, nor was there any noise from the inside. It felt like the entire town was advised to avoid them when adventurers started moving through.
Michael mustered some courage. "They're scared of us."
"Yeah, obviously," Ellis said back. "What makes you think the only people walking around are just adventurers."
"Then why would they answer the door to us?"
"Because they have to. And if they don't, I'm going to BLOW IT UP—"