The bar had just opened for afternoon business, and already the regulars were shambling in. The bartender was happy with his little place in the world, and loved to serve the customers and listen to gossip. Sularia was a wonderful place to settle down, and he loved the customer base. With the first rounds poured, the tall man took around and smiled.

He was a handsome man in his late thirties, with a rough beard and stern gaze. He wouldn’t exactly call himself athletic, but he looked out for his body, so when women and men came in and started hitting on him, it wasn’t unusual. While he enjoyed the attention, he was happily married, and always pushed off their advances.

Today would be a strange day, though, as a girl walked in. Well, walking in wasn’t exactly right.

Izori slammed the door open, and looked around. Her crimson hair danced lightly as the door slammed behind her. She was barely half the height of most of the patrons, and obviously didn’t belong. She was getting stares from everyone, mostly in shock, but some in annoyance at her presence. She was ruining the mood.

Izzy sat on one of the bar stools, and scooted up. It took her a moment to size up the bartender, and she smiled. “Hey good lookin’. When do you get off today?”

The bartender wasn’t sure how to react. Someone was putting him up to this, right? A prank? This kid couldn’t be more than sixteen at best. At worst…

“Uh…kid? Where’s your parents? I’m sure they don’t want their girl in a bar like this.” She was far too young.

“I uh…” She seemed surprised that her line didn’t work. “I mean…you come here often?”

“Kid, your probably the same age as my daughter. Maybe try…looking in your own age range?”

At that statement, Izzy seemed to deflate. She had seen that line work a thousand times with others. Was it her hair? Then it dawned on her. She looked back up, “Oh? A daughter? I bet I could show her a good time?” She tried her hardest for a suave smile.

“Kid…I’m gonna have to ask you to leave…”

Dala had been visiting the bars in Sularia, mostly to check out the other warriors and maybe pick a fight with somebody. Though, for Sularia it was relatively dangerous to go around picking fights when most of the population were strong warrior women who were taller than her. Still, the drinks were fun and the atmosphere was lively. Yet it became even more lively when a redheaded short girl burst into the tavern, immediately going up to the bar and taking her seat. Dala couldn't help but watch the funny looking kid and almost burst out in laughter when she give a shoddy pickup line to the poor bartender. Immediately the bartender turned her down and when the girl started asking about her daughter, the bartender's agitation grew and he started making signs of someone who was going to kick the kid out. 

"Hey, sorry about her! She's just new." Dala said, trying to calm the man as fast as she could, "She's like a cousin or something." 

The woman turns over to the kid. 

"You know you'd be better off hitting on someone who's your age." Dala said, "And you're going about it all wrong. You can't rely on a single pick up line to work!" 

Despite having no real romantic experience, she was determined to help this other kid out. The bartender left them both alone, likely avoiding the redheaded girl since he didn't want to get accused of anything. Meanwhile, Dala was talking like a wise experienced elder, despite the fact that the two were both closer in age than they were to the bartender. 

"Take it from me kid, you got a lotta work to do before you are able to win anybody over." Dala said with absolute unfounded confidence as she sips her drink. 

Izzy was surprised when someone came to her rescue. Furthermore, it was a girl who couldn’t have been much older than her, spouting on about how they were cousins.

“Ohh yeah, I get it. Cousins,” she said, picking up on it a little too slowly and almost outing them immediately. Izzy took a moment to take in the girl. She was clearly well traveled, and despite the age difference, only the slightest bit taller than Izzy. Already, she was going on and on about how single targeted pick up lines wouldn’t work.

The woman seemed confident enough when she said Izzy needed a lot of work, which was mostly true. Izori had been trained to deal with certain situations by her mentor, Toya, but these kinds of situations…well…it was obvious she had been taught nothing.

She’s kind of cute. Seems like she knows her stuff. Izzy smiled, “You can work on me all you want.” She was trying to be suave, but failed to realize that she had just been told to drop the pick up lines. “You look like you know your way around a sword…” The pick up line that she had read a thousand times in a cheap, knock off romance novel she had ‘borrowed’ from a friend. She wasn’t entirely sure what ‘sword’ was being referenced, but it tended to get results (in the novel.)

Dala thought she was safe. She expected the fact that she eighteen to have saved her from this predicament. And the fact that nobody had ever flirted with her before in her life. The young woman lets out a disappointed sigh as she heard the horrible pick up line. She shakes her head after hearing it and takes another sip from her drink. Then she looks back over at Izzy. 

"Aren't you like twelve? I said go after folks your age!" Dala said with a sigh. "I'm too old for you. Besides you gotta do more than just a few sleezy pick up lines. When you find them, you gotta go all duel on it. Here lemme show you something." 

Dala pulls out one of Simone's many famous books series that was loosely based off of Xeix and Lewis. She flips to a chapter where the two boys were doing their rivalry flirting and fighting scene. Handing the book over to Izzy, she lets the girl read the scene, completely oblivious to how this would make the situation worse. The main characters of the scene were locked in combat, sweat dripping from their faces as they threw out flirty lines as they fight with their swords. It was a great scene and really showed Dala what flirting really was all about. 

"Now THAT is how you flirt. But you're going straight out with the pick up lines which just makes the whole thing boring." Dala explains, "There's gotta be character. Danger. Excitement. And risk! I mean if your crush isn't trying to fight you at the same time as flirting with you then what's the point?!"

The fact that this woman was immediately turning her down because of an assumed age was rather infuriating. “Excuse me, I’m fifteen, I’m practically an experienced adult!” The fact that she had to say it was more than enough proof at her actual level of maturity in this situation. She huffed and turned her head away in a light tantrum. It was when Dala pulled out a book that Izzy turned back to her with interest.

At once, she devoured the words on the page. This was leagues better than what she had read from the few romance novels she had ‘procured’, and the level of detail was enough to immediately set her off. “Is it just me or is it hot in here?” she said, ironically missing the fact that this was also a cheesy pick up line. “So all I have to do is fight someone I find cute?” She briefly considered asking for a fight with Dala, but realized she probably would win too easily against her. After all, there was no way this Dala chick could wrestle a dragon like she could.

“Hmm…what about him?” Izzy asked, pointing to a boy around their age. He seemed to be with a group of hunters, and was definitely the youngest one there. He could be considered handsome, but was in his lanky stage, and had a weapon far too big for his build. “He’s… not my type, but a date is a date…” Without waiting for Dala’s input, she stood up and walked over.

Within moments of talking to the boy, the two were settled at a table, their arms outstretched.

“So let me get this straight,” Izzy said with a blank stare. “You want me to do whatever you say if I lose?”

He nodded, “And if I lose, I go out on a date with you.” It was a win-win for him. This girl was crazy cute. What he didn’t realized was that there was a massive emphasis on the crazy part.

“Ready?” Izzy asked with a wild smile.

Dala was surprised to hear the girl was fifteen but let it go fairly quickly. Perhaps Izzy was just short for her age? The girl read up the book faster than most scholars and had taken to it fairly quickly. Pushing aside her pride for guiding the young one to help her find a partner, she focuses on keeping an eye on the situation. Izzy pointed out a boy and Dala shrugged. He was the youngest one there and was fairly handsome but didn't seem like the best of fighters, since he seemed to skip out on leg day. 

"Sure. He'll do, at least for a practice." Dala said. 

Dala kept an eye on the two as Izzy walked over and got up a discussion with the boy. It seemed to be going well and they even had a deal arranged. Dala quickly took a sip of her drink, finishing it up before handing the empty glass over to a barmaid. Then she took a seat, giving them both enough room to brawl. Little did she know of the can of worms she may have just opened. 

"Yeah go Izzy! Beat the crap out of him!" Dala cheered as she sat at the bar. 

Even if it didn't work out, at the very least she'd get to watch a fight. Teaching was so great. Dala, in her arrogance, began wondering if she should become a love counselor. After all, she was clearly so good at it. 

At ‘go’ the contest started. The boy let out a loud grunt as he put his full force into his arm. Izzy seemed surprised at the sudden force behind his arm, and she started to slowly go down. She appeared almost worried as her hand slowly got closer to her side. The men on the boy’s team were cheering him on.

“Is that all?” Izzy asked as her hand neared the table. “Is that really everything you have?” She sounded almost disappointed. “This is nothing like a flirtatious battle…” A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

“Wha-” the boy started to ask.

Izzy flexed her muscle, and slammed the boy’s hand to the other side in one swift motion. The wooden table splintered under the weight, and the sounds of cracking bones ripped through the air, forcing a silence at the table. The boy was staring in shock, looking down at his obviously broken hand.

“YOU BITCH!” One of the men said, taking a step forward.

“So about that date,” Izzy asked, giving the boy a wink.

“Y-you…you broke my…” The boy seemed in shock.

“Sooo…maybe after we get your hand fixed?” she asked. The men were starting to surround her now, putting a barrier between her and the boy. “Ok…so no date.” She frowned and stood up, walking over to Dala. “Well that didn’t work out at all.” She crossed her arms and pouted. “He was too weak…are all boys that weak? Maybe I should try for older men. Though Auntie Toya is ripped…maybe women…”

Dala watches with a bit of surprise as Izzy slams the boy's hand to the other side in a swift motion. Perhaps this twel- fifteen year old was far stronger than what she was expecting. She saw how the situation escalated as the poor girl got rejected. For the life of her, Dala couldn't understand why the men were so upset. Izzy was just a gal who was trying to flirt with a boy. Perhaps these men had never had a woman flirt with them before? That was the only thing Dala could reason as everything Izzy did was right to her. As Izzy came over Dala shrugged. 

"Yeah you might wanna find a girl to challenge then." She said. "But don't worry, you beating him so easily is a sign that he just wasn't able to take the flirting. Move on and find someone else. Oh but if you run into a magical woman then you might wanna not fuck with her since they might turn you into a frog." 

Dala remembered a story about a man who flirted with a sorceress and got his ass handed to him, so she decided to give Izzy a fair warning about that one. As the mentor who was guiding this young one, it was her duty to steer her away from the serious dangers. Or at least give her a fair warning about them. Dala also had seen the type of magic that could be performed in the world and no amount of physical strength would compete with a fireball headed towards one's face. 

"The important part is that you get up and try again. Love takes persistence, determination and self control. Like any sort of training or battle." Dala explained, continuing to give out her horrid advice.