"Full house!"  The Ydra declared, flashing her cards before she pulled the coin to herself from the table.  Her teeth were a brilliant white as she smiled, "Next round on me, guys, c'mon."

It was like a harem of drunken men sat around the table with her, scratching their heads.  They were all doing so well earlier!  What happened?  One of them stared at her skeptically, like the gears in his head were turning.  "Aha!  I figured it out..."

Asta blinked, raising an eyebrow, "E-eh?  Figured what out, my good man?"

"We started out doing really good tonight...  And now you're winning.  I know you're secret!"  He grinned, proud of himself, his words holding a light slur as he looked to his mates.  "She thinks 'cuz we're drinkin' that we ain't gonna focus!"

The nomad had to keep herself from sighing in relief and opted to feign guilt.  "Oh, drat...  Guess my game is up, fellas.  One more round, now that you've figured me out?"  They all laughed a bit too loudly at her teasing before collectively declining her offer.  No, they'd lost enough money tonight.  Asta heard the barmaid call after some young man who was leaving before feeling the giantess's eyes on her.  Oh, crap.  She tried to shovel the coin into her bag in a hurry as the woman came from around the bar.  Asta could [i]almost[/i] swear she felt the ground shaking as she was approached.

"Oi, little Ydra rat," She snarled, "Thought I told ye that [i]you[/i] weren't allowed to be gamblin' with them stakes anymore?"

Asta shook her head, "N-no, you misunderstand!  [i]They[/i] wanted to play with that much!"

The woman crossed her arms, "They're drunk.  And by taking coin from their hands, you're stealing drinks from their mouths, and so that's coin you're stealing from [i]me[/i]," She argued gruffly.  "I told you max buy-in was a few copper pieces - a pot no higher than a silver at a time, and here you are, taking every ounce of metal they could've carried.  Besides, I'm tired of seeing this little act...  Every night it's 'oh, how am I ever going to win my money back?' and then suddenly you're in the most expensive inn we have in town...  You've a bit more than luck on your side, missy.  Now take your buy-in and stop harassing my customers," She threatened.

Asta was a Magi, she didn't have to take this.  On the other hand, the barmaid was big... and the girl wanted to keep her profile low.  She gave an annoyed "hmph!" And pulled her share from the bag before giving the rest of the coin back.  "I cheated anyway," She confessed, grabbing her bow from the ground beside her and slinging it over her back.

The maid was far from surprised, "Duh."  The rest of the men at the table, however, were appalled.  Void magic made cheating at cards the easiest thing in the world, so long as you knew how it worked.  She started poorly, but gradually saved good cards and traded them out in her hands.  Took a bit of finagling, but patience was a virtue when it came to nabbing coin off of drunken gamblers.  Too bad, she was excited for them to go home to angry wives who begged the question 'why weren't you at [i]work?![/i]'

Collecting her things, she left the tavern with an ounce of dignity, only to feel an animal dart between her legs, barking.  "Myria!"  She shouted as the Cobra Fox took off after a little girl and a moorcat tearing through the crowd.  Her eyes shifted over, wasn't that the kid who was sitting in the bar staring at a map for the past half hour?  Did he even figure it out, or did he leave after getting too frustrated?  It didn't particularly matter.  Asta put her fingers to her lips and whistled sharply; the sound was almost ear-piercing.  Myria stopped in her tracks, "Get back here.  You know better."

She didn't even have to look to know that the fox was at her side once again, a small twinge in her heart as she felt the scolded animal's shame.  However, without acknowledging the white-haired boy from the inn, she went on her own way.  At first, she'd thought he was Ydran - but a closer look revealed her was an awkward, disproportionate human.  Euch.  A better question was where she would stay tonight; she certainly didn't want to stay in this village much longer?  It was starting to feel stuffy anyway.

A few blocks and turns later, she saw a crowd parting and opening itself up.  Weaseling her way to the front, she laid eyes on an unfamiliar scene.  It wasn't uncommon that Divined would be harassed anymore, there was once a time when people were respectfully at their beckoning call;  the world was changing so quickly, however.  Distrust even filled the eyes of those that faced Asta, but she also held an air of superiority about her.  The part that was unfamiliar was how proud of her heritage this Divined was.  In fact, she didn't cover up out of shame or to hide herself, she wore her identity proudly.  Admirable, but foolish.  Asta pulled her hood up and pulled her cloak around her shoulders...  This was going to be interesting.