Chapter 12 - 12. A familiar smell

The old man scratched his beard, before turning toward his passenger."I need to do some business; don't move from the cart," He mumbled, his mouth barely moving. The driver slowly stepped down from the cart, safely stashing the blue stone in his pocket. He moved with measured steps behind the nearest tree, getting slightly away from the road.The young man in the cart sighed in relief. Glenn learned the hard way to be scared of anything weird that could happen, his previous encounters leaving him with a slight trauma. He wondered if he hadn't become a little paranoid thanks to these experiences. Well, what wrong would it do to him, besides making him more careful?He slightly raised his head, staring at the two white moons in the starry sky. The night had completely fallen, the sounds of his surroundings calming his mind. In the relative comfort of the cart, Glenn quickly fell asleep despite himself. Feeling himself letting go, he jerked himself up, blinking multiple times. He couldn't let his guard down. Until now, this world never forgave him for doing so. Sitting himself up, he looked at his surroundings.The first thing he saw was the twin celestial spheres, one glowing an ominous red and the other normal. The sight made him widen his eyes, and he stood in the cart, swearing. He threw a gaze around, to find out that the old man that was driving him had completely disappeared, alongside their surroundings. The green plain separating the forest from the city was gone, replaced by a black desert, with a gentle wind raising small sand clouds. The silence was particularly disturbing, and Glenn noticed that he was shivering, the temperature extremely cold wherever he was.The young man stood on the cart for a few seconds, confusion painted on his face."What...Where the hell am I?" He wrapped his arms around his body, trying to warm himself up. Suddenly, a movement appeared in the sky, drawing his eyes in. The Moon Rift was opening once again.Glenn gritted his teeth, trying to see if things were going to fall from the rift. And soon enough, his guesses were confirmed. There was nowhere to hide in the desert, but the cart. He threw himself under it, raising a cloud of sand as he crawled under it. Whatever protection he would get from his makeshift shelter would probably be better than just running aimlessly in the sand. Looking at the rift from his cover, lying on his stomach in the black sand, he saw something slipping from the dark hole, directly heading toward him.It made a weird sound like someone screaming while falling. Listening to it more, Glenn thought he could recognize the voice from somewhere, but he wasn't able to tell at all. What he could tell from staring at the object was the point of fall would be exactly where he was hiding! This was no time to be twiddling his thumbs, he had to get out of there!Hurrying to get out from under his provisional cover, he started to run away. Looking back, he saw that the unidentified object was falling towards him! Cursing, he accelerated with all his strength.Shit, shit, shit!Even though he knew it was useless, he kept on running, when he heard the sound just behind him. Throwing a look back, he saw his worst nightmare."HIGH FIVE!!!!""ARGHHHHHH!!!"Glenn brusquely sat up, looking around in panic, his chest rising with each breath he drew. It took a few seconds for him to understand that he had just dreamed of this. He was still in the cart, and the old man was looking at him as if he were an animal in a zoo. Rubbing his eyes, he couldn't believe that all that was just a nightmare. It seemed so...real. He could still feel the cold sand under his feet. What a peculiar experience.While he was struggling with his psyche, the old man resumed his route, driving them closer to King's Rise. Glenn rubbed his eyes, staring at the Frozen Gate from his position. They would probably arrive in a matter of minutes. Having regained his composure, he looked at his bandage-strapped left hand.'Was that you?' He asked in his mind, wondering if it was a prank from his unwanted companion.Diamanes' bored voice answered, annoyed.'What did I do? For once, I'm not saying anything, I've even let you sleep.'Still suspicious, Glenn turned towards the driver inquisitively. He should try to familiarize himself with this place."Do you know this part of town, sir?"The old man nodded, scratching his head."Absolutely. I've been makin' deals in the Sewers forever. There are always folks in need of fresh… merchandise in the Fifth Circle." His smile had a weird feeling to it.Glenn gulped, thinking of his words. Fresh merchandise? He couldn't see anything but himself in the cart, so was he the merchandise in question? Diamanes was strangely silent, (perhaps muffling him with bandages made him unwilling to talk), the young man was left alone with his thoughts. The time passed relatively quickly, and the cart arrived in front of the Frozen Gate. A strange chill traversed Glenn, the whole structure releasing cold air. A certain sense of pressure pressed on Glenn's shoulders when he stared at it. Be it because of how absurdly high the walls were, or how well made the Gate was, but there certainly was something disturbing him.It wasn't as easily noticeable from far away, but now that he was so close to it, awe was inscribed on his face. What a marvel of architecture.The old man turned back toward him, having stopped the cart, and held out his hand. Glenn took out a copper, as promised, and gave it to him. The driver said something unintelligible and pushed him out of the cart. He then resumed his route, unperturbed, going who knows where. The young man jumped a few times, getting the blood going through his sore legs. He had no idea how much time he spent in the cart sleeping, but it was certainly quite a while, from what his sore body was telling him.'Approximately 6 hours.'Diamanes seemed a bit less annoyed and gave Glenn an answer to his thoughts.'You were out really deep. I hope it was a nice dream if you know what I mean.'With the salacious voice of the devil in his ears, he tried to figure out what to do now. He could see the entrance to the town, but guards were inspecting the people coming in, asking for something each time.He started by looking around the area surrounding the Gate. It was reasonably clean, and there were quite a few people. The majority of them traveled in similar carts to the old man, while a few wagons, likely belonging to merchants, and even rarer carriages, exuding an air of distinction, hinted at the presence of nobles within. Most carriages were pulled by horses or donkeys, but some moved by themselves, similar to how his driver was doing.There were only a few people on horses, all armed and ready, probably either guards or sell-swords. Glenn was impressed by the diversity of people there, and even more by the fact that pulling vehicles magically was a common way of driving. He thought that it was maybe a kind of transport reserved for powerful mages or something, but it didn't seem like it.With his hands on his waist, Glenn then observed the surroundings. He first glanced toward the gate, noticing a guard post on its left side. A few armored soldiers holding halberds were patrolling around it, assuring the security, probably. Closer to him, on the same side, was an inn called the Iced Beer. An old stable was leaning on the building, sheltering a few horses inside.He turned his head right, staring at the other side of the road. A long queue of all kinds of people was waiting there, advancing slowly. They waited to enter a building named The Magic Identification Bureau, from what he could tell from the tag above the entry. Placed beside it was an old, run-down church, a strange feeling of unease creeping up Glenn's spine when he looked at it. It didn't look like any of the religions he was used to, not that it was really surprising.The front door of the church was made of a strange wood, dark with hints of deep red, making it seem eerie and unsettling. One thing was for sure; even if Glenn had never been a religious man, he had no intention of praying in this ruin of a place. He wasn't the only one having such thoughts on the strange church. Most people avoided the building as if it contained the plague itself, besides some rare cloaked figures who pushed the door open, entering the darkness inside.Besides those four buildings, there was only the road and the people traversing it. No shops, blacksmiths, or whatever you could usually find in a fantasy novel's town.'Actually, when I think about it, it's not a town yet, just a checkpoint before it,' Glenn remarked, understanding the lack of facilities.At least there was the familiar inn. Talking about that, he felt an urge to go in there and drink something that wasn't water in a bottle. Determined to make good use of the money in his pouch, he pushed open the two saloon doors.A… fruity smell that he had smelled before at parties back in his world assaulted his nose. People of all ages and kinds were smoking and drinking around circular tables. He walked over to the counter, sitting on one of the chairs that were lined up in front of it.On Glenn's left was a woman in her thirties, smoking something with a glass of alcohol in hand. She was dressed in a very revealing way and had a certain charm. On the other hand, on his right, was a man sleeping on the counter, a shot glass in his hand.The bartender came to take care of him, cleaning a glass at the same time. He had a friendly look on his face, even if he was currently staring at the young man with an amused gaze."What can I serve you, kid?"Ignoring the latter part of the phrase, he looked straight into the eyes of the bartender. He needed something to forget all the past atrocities he lived through."Something strong."Nodding, the bartender took out a bottle of deep red alcohol and a shot glass. He was about to pour but stopped at the last second. He raised his eyes and asked, in an attempt to sound innocent:"Can you pay for it?"Glenn sighed and put his hand in his pouch. Did he look that poor? Weren't those clothes worn by a noble before? The old man who thought Glenn would swindle him—why not?—but even the bartender?"How much?""Two coppers."Glenn took out the money and paid it upfront, his anger slightly showing in his gestures. Without any consideration for the bartender, he took the bottle from his hand and served himself, filling the shot to the brink. He then emptied his glass in one gulp.The first of many mistakes. Always drink moderately.There was nothing that he could feel for the first three seconds, but once this period of grace passed, the fire came. A burning sensation ignited his insides, like a dragon breath that he would have ingested some way or another. The young man could feel the liquid going up and down in his stomach as if it had a consciousness of its own, and that it only wished for one thing: burning.Glenn winced, before gently putting down his glass. He took one long, deep breath, surprised. If there was one thing that he was proud of, it was that he could handle alcohol. But never had he felt something hit him so hard in the gut before.He picked up the bottle, looking at the tag glued onto it. It was written in red color: "Fiery Spirit - Fire crystal infusion - Southern variety".He whistled at the strong alcohol, nodding approvingly. That was a man's drink!"Not bad."As soon as those words left his mouth, he felt something was wrong. A silence had taken place in the inn, where before laughter and the sounds of clinging glasses filled his ears. He looked around, returning the puzzled gaze of every client of the inn that was staring at him, their jaws on the floor. Confused, he turned back to the bartender, who had the same bewildered expression."What's wrong?" He asked, feeling as if he had done something illegal.A strange, hoarse, and powerful sound came from the bartender's mouth, turning into a bewildered laugh. Following him, the whole inn burst into laughter."I can't believe it; he drank some Fiery Spirit as if it were water!""That kid had balls!"The kid in question looked at the bartender with question marks in his eyes. The man poured a second glass, his hands shaking from his laughter. He wiped off his tears, nodding toward Glenn's side."You see that dead guy?"Glenn nodded."He drank the same thing as you. Just a single glass.""What?"He let out a bewildered gaze. It was strong alcohol, but not to the point of putting a man down with one drink. Were they less tolerant of alcohol in this world? His thoughts were interrupted when the bartender pushed a filled glass shot toward Glenn."On the house, for the laugh."Glenn thanked him and took the glass. He wasn't going to drink it yet, but he safely kept it in his hand.'Oh, why do I feel like things are going to go very, very wrong?' Diamanes stated in Glenn's mind, a tint of mockery in his voice. The young man ignored his parasite, heading toward one of the tables that waved at him, inviting him to join their group.There were all kinds of persons, men, women, young and older ones. Their common point was that they all had weapons resting on the sides of their chairs, indicating that they probably were mercenaries or something along those lines.They were in the middle of playing something that looked like a standard 52-card deck. The slight difference was in the figures on the cards. It wasn't a Jack, a Queen, or a King, but a Wyvern, a Phenix, and a Dragon. Maybe they were under other names in this world, but it looked like this to Glenn.The mercenaries looked at him, their gazes amused and expectant."What's up, kiddo? Up for a quick game?"Glenn looked at them, smiling like a wolf in a pack of sheep. Drinking! Gambling! Partying! That's the way to live—not encountering monsters and losing himself in ruins with demons in them!"Sure, but what do I get from it?"They smiled and called the bartender, ordering a few bottles of Fiery Spirit. A cute girl hurried herself to bring the bottles, welcomed with a roar of laughter and satisfaction. One of the male mercenaries was about to slap her on her bottom but was quickly restrained by his female companion who hit him exactly where one didn't want to be hit.Most of the mercenaries around the table seemed habituated to this spectacle. Their chief leaned toward Glenn, smiling with all of his yellow teeth."You seem to like drinking. If you lose, you get a shot. If you win, we'll all take one! The last one standing at the end is the winner!"Glenn made the biggest grin possible, downed his glass, and cracked his neck."Why would I refuse when I'm offered free drinks?"The people at the table roared once more in satisfaction, and the game started.That was the sole and last thing he remembered.