"...!!"

The immediate shock from having his knees kicked in cause Aaron to crumple to the ground, biting his lower lip in pain as the pain began to bounce around his body.

Mostly on the point of impact, though. Damn, who knew little elves could hurt so much?

"...Okay. Okay. That one was on me-ow. Hahahahaowohgeezthatsmarts. Though, uh..." Aaron apologized through the pain, raising one arm to his neck and motioning to cut it out. "...It just me, or did your speech patterns change too, man? I've never heard you say such a tsun line in your life, and that was the epitome of tsun right there. Oh geez okay no no no please don't swing again I swear this body has lower pain tolerance than my original one."

Sucking in air through his gritted teeth, the young man grabbed the nearest wall to hoist himself up, his legs still shaking a little from the kick.

[i]"Note to self: learn mana barrier ASAP, or I'm going to be so screwed in the future."[/i]

"But, uh... Yeah. I guess we should... Head inside...?"

[hr]
As requested, the bartender handed the priest a drink in exchange for those coins, though with a slightly judgmental look as he did so. The man said nothing in the end, though, and returned to his business as usual. The merchant, on the other hand, stared into Sophia's eyes for a good few moments before nodding his head.

"...Hmph. Well, you don't seem to be the cowardly type, at least. How about thi-"

Before he could finish his statement, though, the sudden appearance of another young woman threw off the flow of the conversation. THe merchant took a moment to process the spontaneity of the incident before writing it off as the naivety of the young. It wasn't as if he couldn't understand that much, but... Couldn't they at least have a little sense about the flow of conversation?

"...Ahem. As I was saying... How about this? If you and your... 'Friends' manage to safely escort my goods from here to my destination, I'll give you 25 silver to split among yourselves. Not too bad a deal, right? Most fresh adventurers only get a few coppers a day gathering herbs or hunting kulas for food or whatever, so I'd say this should be fine. If you think you can handle it, that is."