Donis went out and looked for Jimmy, as per Strigas instructions. He was a little lost, uncertain as to where to go on this dreary day. Every day was dreary here in Grimbay, but today felt a little extra dark. Too much weighing on his mind.
Walking through the headquarters felt akin to walking through a fantasy tavern rather than any semblance of an official building. The crew members were always strewn about as if they were ragdolls, the alcohol that was served was plentiful with it's own barman, who clearly had different boundaries and restrictions for what was too much alcohol for a human.
Jimmy was always found amongst the rowdiest members there. His laugh was easy to pick out amongst the incoherent ramblings, so Donis wasted no time in making his way down.
"Hey, uh, Jimmy. Striga told me to come find you," said Donis with a hint of awkwardness in his voice, this time it wasn't put on for an act to fool someone, it was real. He had no idea how to act right now, the walls of the illusory world he'd created for himself were slowly crashing around him.
It started with the kidnapping, it should have been his wake up call right then and there, but it wasn't. He was still naive in thinking that this world isn't that bad, that he can be the hero he's always idolized. That he can be a dragonslayer, or a king, or whatever it is he dreamt about late at night as a child.
Yet this world keeps proving to him that to be strong here you have to have that sort of mindset. That you have to be okay with taking lives, that you have to be okay with atrocities that would make normal people shiver in fear and disgust. His Will, though, has been set and he knew the path would be long. Maybe it was the already strengthened Will he's developed, or maybe it was some corrupted memory, he wasn't sure anymore what was making him continue forward. He was slowly losing control of who he was.
"Erazar to Donis, are you there with me?" said Jimmy with a playful slap on Donis's face.
"Oh yeah, sorry Jimmy, there's a lot on my mind right now," half laughed Donis.
"Of course there is, come, lemme take you outta here, you must be starved. Lets get some food, you need something different than the sub-human food we're fed here haha," laughed Jimmy when turning his head towards Gonra.
"I heard that you drunk moron," shouted back Gonra.
With a slight smile, Donis agreed to get some food. It was true, the food by this "chef" was definitely edible, but it felt closer to pig slop. Some market stalled food would do him a good change in pace.
As they walked through town, Donis realised that the people here, while depressed, still had some sort of life to them. It was subtle, and maybe far too easily missed if you're from a big town or city, but it was there. Yet as much as it intrigued him, Donis had more important questions for Jimmy right now.
"Jimmy, did you and Striga.. uh.. you know?" said Donis as he gestured with his hands while trying to stifle a small laugh.
"Oh yeah lad, oh yeah," said Jimmy with severe pride.
"But, I thought you little Jimmy and jewels were.. gone…" said Donis as he finally cracked.
The two turned into a stall which was frying some vague looking meat, but it looked good. It was browned beautifully with slightly burned edges that gave it a crispy look. The meat was stacked up vertically so all the juices and fat would dribble down from the top to the bottom giving it an extra layer of flavour.
Ordering some bread and fried meat called "Grubber", Donis and Jimmy found a seat in the town square. It was a surprisingly sunny day, the fog had somehow cleared up a little. It was enough to let some rays of sunshine through, clearly lifting the spirits of the pale people. Donis thought that maybe they'll finally gain some colour to those deathly cheeks.
"Firstly, ouch. He ain't little lad, he ain't little. Second of all, yeah they were gone. Feckers taking what ain't theirs. If they weren't already dead, I'd kill em. My boys are back to full, peak condition. Our chief [Alchemist] whipped me up a concoction that set me back a years worth of wages, but it was worth it. It regrew a lost limb like it was nothin!" beamed back Jimmy.
"Wait we have a chief [Alchemist]?" jumped Donis in his seat. Why wasn't he told about this?
"Uh yeah, of course. How could we possibly fund, supply, and transport the medicine required for missions. Those bad boys have a serious mortality rate, and we need every advantage we can get!" said Jimmy in a tone that suggested Donis was an idiot for ever mentioning something like this.
"I thought I was introduced to everyone though Jimmy? Also the WHOLE thing grew back?" said Donis, only realising now that it's possible to regrow limbs using [Alchemy].
"How could you possibly be introduced to everyone here? You've been here at most a few days Donis. Your life here has barely begun, and most people are out on week long jobs, or month long jobs. We're just the crew that had to stay back. There are hundreds of us! Of course the whole thing grew back, otherwise [Alchemy] would be feckin useless to me! Though we're nicely shaved though," said Jimmy as he struck a thinking pose.
"Okay stop, I get it, you're happy as hell. So this place is less like a headquarters, and more like a hub where people come in to pick up quests for the swamps around here?" said Donis.
"Yeah lad, the swamps are massive, but we's only got the one headquarters. Most [Monster Specialists] are either solo type people, or they're groups of people – they tend to form mini-guilds of their own. I don't subscribe to their way of thinking though, I just enjoy doing my missions my way," said Jimmy as he led the two of them down a series of narrow paths through the town.
The floors were wooden inside the town, with the odd sidewalk being made out of cobblestone or even the ever luxurious smooth stone. It had no cohesion, and the buildings themselves were weirdly stacked on top of each other, clearly no one gave a shit how the initial planning of the city went through.
They had entered a cobblestone alleyway, and Jimmy told Donis to just hold on for a moment. The two waited in this alleyway, standing around and feeling a bit shifty, Donis was about to ask Jimmy what was going on, but a hidden door within the cobblestone opened up.
Jimmy walked through first, signaling for Donis to follow behind him. They were greeted by a well dressed man, who seemed to be wearing some sort of black uniform. It was nice seeing black rather than grey in this odd town.
They were seated eventually at a seemingly normal couch. That is until the well dressed man came back with a large chest hoisted easily in his arms. The man put down the chest and walked back out.
Donis was mesmerized by the whole even so he didn't speak a word.
Jimmy cracked open the chest, and all Donis saw in there was incredibly fancy looking bottles that were being chilled by ice. Even the chest had some intricate designs on it, with a velvet looking lining on the inside. Clearly from royalty.
"What is that?" asked Donis. Eventually getting sick of waiting for Jimmy to explain everything.
"That my friend, is the bet that one of the royals lost hahaha!" laughed Jimmy heartily.
"What do you mean? One of the royals lost a bet? With you?" asked Donis in such a shocked way that Jimmies laugh was immediately cut.
"Yes, with me! Why is that hard to believe?" Jimmy was shocked.
"You lost your balls the day I met you."
"Fair point," conceded Jimmy.
"Anyway, it's cause I beat a royal in a bet. Something to do with the fact that she thought she could out drink me, and that I was already plastered. She still lost, and she nearly killed me, but she lost," laughed Jimmy with a slightly evil grin.
"So what was the royal like?" asked Donis as Jimmy poured him a glass of honey coloured liquid. It was called Gleamblow, and it smelled just like a cinnamon stick roasted over a fire.
"She was gorgeous, and I had the absolute hots for her. Cheated her out of that victory entirely. If she didn't see me cheat, I didn't, so keep that on the hush hush haha. Seriously though. She was powerful, gorgeous, and I felt like maybe I had a chance, so I powered through using my one talent in life. Drinking," said Jimmy as he smelled the Gleamblow, before lightly sipping it, and aerating it further.
Donis had never seen Jimmy so invested in a drink before, so he did the same. Oh lord did it burn. It made contact with Donis's tongue and it felt like it immediately evaporated but left a stinging residue that only heated up and continued to burn down his throat. Needless to say, he wasn't a fan.
"She belonged to a noble family, but she wasn't strong enough to inherit any real titles, nor lands. So she spent most of her time in the tavern I was in, and eventually I got the pre-bitten balls to talk to her. We hit it off, I drank, she drank, we had a merry time. She bet me a lifetimes supply of Gleamblow, and it being my favourite drink, I couldn't say no," said Jimmy as he sat back, looking like he was reminiscing about the past.
"She sounds nice. Are all royals nice, or is it just a fairy tale in thinking that they're all righteous and "noble"?" said Donis.
"You'd be deluding yourself lad into thinking they're mostly nice. They're not. They got there by being born powerful, becoming powerful, or being the family members of someone powerful. They're usually dickheads, not her though. Anyway, lets get back, I want you to meet our chief [Alchemist] since you seemed so excited. His name is Yyrthrub," said Jimmy.
"Are you having a stroke?"
"What the fuck's a stroke?"