Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Endra woke up the next morning with drool coming out of his mouth. Wincing from his throbbing head, he looked around himself. He was a bit confused at first, seeing the unfamiliar room, but the collection of half-finished food and alcohol reminded him of the past night.

"Good, I'm still at the inn…" he said with a groan. 

'And I didn't die in my sleep too…' he thought and grabbed at his head.

He really shouldn't have drunk so much. 

Pulling out a lodestone, he turned it into Life energy and started circulating it through his head. It wasn't a cure, but it did help. After lying in his spot for a few seconds, he got up and opened the wooden window. The sunlight burned his eyes, but he forced himself to stay in it for a few seconds. 

Thirsty, he looked around the room for water. The closest thing he found was the bottle of sweet gin. 

'Should've at least asked for fruits…' thinking so, he nibbled at the vegetables on the remaining dish.

At that point, it dawned on him to ask the owner for water.

His nose wrinkled as he gave himself a sniff, but he did not have the luxury to look become presentable.

Some time later, he was lying on the inn's bed, slowly sipping on a jug of water. The barmaid from yesterday was gathering the remaining food on a large metal plate. She did not bother to hide the displeasure from her face.

Endra paid her no heed and focused on cleaning his body. A handful of water was running through his body, collecting his sweat and dirt. 

'Hail magic.'

The barmaid soon finished with the pile of food.

"I'm done with the food," she said curtly. 

"Ah, sure. You can keep the unopened alcohol to yourselves," Endra replied. "If you don't mind, you can keep the half-finished ones too."

He then got up from his bed and cast a Weight-reducing spell on the pile of food. He then made the thing float behind him and walked out.

"Lord Mage, your fee," the girl spoke up from behind him. 

"Oh, sure," Endra said and pulled out a gold coin from his pocket. "Is this enough?"

"Ah- I'll get you your change," the girl's tone of voice seemed different somehow.

Endra shook his head. "Keep the change."

He probably wasn't rich enough to act like this all the time, but he didn't plan to drink that much in the first place. Getting wasted was more of a monthly thing. If you do it every day, you were just alcoholic. 

"Bah," Endra cleared away his thoughts and walked out of the inn. 

Carrying the pile of food, he headed towards Heralt's address.

He had classes at the Academy today, but he figured it was okay for him to skip one more day.

As he neared the address, he passed through the border that separated the 2nd grades and the 3rd grades. The atmosphere changed almost immediately. Before, people would look at him and the pile of food with varying levels of curiosity; but here, Endra could feel fear and desperation around him. 

Some almost seemed eager to jump on him, but their survival instincts would remind them that they were dealing with a mage. 

Although 3rd grades could live a comfortable enough life in the rural areas, that usually wasn't the case for the 3rd grades of cities. In the city, they lived a life worse than most slaves.

Endra found a relatively open space among the many streets and put the food down. 

"Don't kill each other for it, bastards," he shouted to no one in particular and moved on to his destination. 

He didn't bother picking a lucky child among the crowd to give the food. After he left, the kid would only have his newfound food stolen by the adults. Perhaps they'd get punched in the gut a few times in the process. Endra didn't want to complicate the process any further. 

"Fat fucker, that's mine!"

"Eat my shit, you boney whore!"

He looked behind and saw some scrawny men and women pulling at each other's dirty clothes. Someone was even biting another in the shin. The smaller kids around were quickly diving in towards the pile of food like hyenas. 

Some paused their fight when they saw Endra turning back, but continued soon after when they saw him shrugging and moving away.

Endra could not care less for what those people would do. In fact, it raised his mood a bit, seeing the ugliness of man. With this, he wouldn't have to feel so bad acting like an asshole.

Shaking his head, he eyed the street signs and moved forward.

Heralt's address turned out to be a tavern called 'The Bottom Barrel'. 

It did not stand out much from the surrounding buildings, with its worn-down wood, messy porch, and overall gloomy look. There was an open door on the front, with two wooden windows places symmetrically next to it. 

Endra walked around the building once, and did not find any more windows or doors. He did realize that the building gave off a rather confusing vibe. He couldn't tell what it was exactly, but he didn't like the feeling.

'Well, if I need to, I'll just break through the wall,' he decided and walked into the tavern.

A muscular man with a long, white mane was idly sitting behind a counter, sewing something. A ragged kid was standing next to him, wolfing down a meal. The kid then noticed someone coming in and saw Endra.

"Oh, that's the rich kid who brought the food!" the kid exclaimed.

The man glanced at Endra and asked. "Endra?"

"Sure," Endra nodded. "You're Heralt, then?"

The man nodded, lifted up a part of the counter, and walked into what Endra thought was the kitchen. Behind him, his hands beckoned Endra to follow behind. 

Deciding to trust Twelve, Endra entered the kitchen. Among the utensils and ingredients usually found in a kitchen, Endra saw Heralt next to a floating stove. Underneath it was a stairway that lead underground. 

'This fucking world and its fascination with underground areas,' Endra cursed, reminded of the Island and its many trials.

Heralt lit a lantern and walked down. Reluctantly, Endra followed. 

Soon he realized why the building was giving off such an odd vibe. The underground floor was made entirely of ketricite. 

Reaching the edge of it, Endra stopped, wondering if he really should be so trusting of this stranger.

"It's to make sure of your identity and make sure no one's around to listen," Heralt said.

Endra sighed and stepped onto the ketricite floor. He made sure to keep a good eye on the man in front of him. 

"If you're so wary of others, then why did you make such a commotion outside?"

"This place just doesn't feel good."

"Whatever," Heralt replied and opened a door. "Come inside this room. You'll get to use your precious magic in it."

Indeed, the room was safe from the ketricite's effects. And surprisingly, it was also arranged similarly to a tavern, expect there were a variety of alcohols on the shelves. The interior was also much cleaner than the tavern above.

But what got Endra's attention most was the large board filled with four lists of various names. Above them were two categories: 'Confirmed Otherworlders, 'Potential Otherworlders', 'Confirmed Turncoats', and finally, 'Potential Turncoats'.

Glancing through the list, Endra saw many familiar names. In the Potential Turncoat section, almost every teacher in the Academy was listed, while others were famous scholars or mages in Ankelite city.

'What's the point of a list if you're literally going to suspect everyone?' Endra complained as he noticed his name in the 'Confirmed Otherworlders' list. 

"Twelve explained anything to you about this place?" Heralt asked.

"Nothing.. But I'm guessing this is part of Alvox's Border Control."