Jun opened his eyes to a brightly lit wooden ceiling.
He quickly sat up and looked around frantically. Sámávad was squatting next to him, with the snake draped around his neck.
They both were reading some book, but stopped when Jun started to speak.
"What did—" Jun looked over at his left arm and pulled up the sleeve. The wound was completely healed with no signs of scarring, "—how did you?"
"Thank Mälándi," Sámávad petted the top of the snake's head, "but shoo already. You've overstayed your welcome."
With that, Jun was dismissed with a wave as Sámávad stood up and walked back to his table.
Jun took a few seconds to process what just happened before standing up as well. He moved his newly healed arm around and it felt absolutely amazing.
Plus all of the fatigue he had accumulated on his journey thus far was gone as well.
"Thank you so much, Sámávad," Jun then looked at the snake while he did a small bow of his head, "and Mälandí."
"Yeah off with you." And air of irritation was heard in his voice as he sat down in his chair. Jun looked at him and the snake before awkwardly making his way to the stairs.
"Wait!" Jun said as he stopped climbing the stairs.
A deep breath came from Sámávad as he didn't bother to turn around. "What do you want now?!"
Jun nervously messed with his bowstring. "You said that there was an Easterner here earlier. Wh-where is he?"
"He's probably dead by now. He had already looked like he was about to keel over when I had met him. So leave!"
Though Sámávad sounded like he was about ready to beat the daylights out of him, Jun was determined to meet this Easterner. To figure out why in the world an Easterner would decide to live out here.
And to talk to a likeminded person.
"Please, sir, at least tell me where he lives." He expected to be turned down as there was a long pause. But Jun was surprised when Sámávad eventually gestured for him to come over. He abided and quickly made his way next to the cynical Northerner.
"I don't remember much. Okay. It's been a little over half a century already." Sámávad pointed near the border of Kordegórmuni and Kordebławaznesco. "But the man did say something about heading up North. Wanting to reside in the boonies or some shit. So he should be around the border of the two kingdoms here. As there's very few villages near the mountains."
"Thank you so much!" Jun thanked happily as he did a small bow of his head.
"You sound a little too happy." Sámávad and Mälándi gave him a concerned look. Jun didn't even know how a snake could give a concerned look.
"What...do you mean by that?"
"You know that that particular mountain pass, Drake's Mouth, is called that for a reason." Jun bit his lip as he looked down.
"Because?" Sámávad pinched the bridge of his nose. He seemed to have gotten quickly irritated once again.
"Because it's infested by—you know what. Find out yourself." Jun guessed that he really overstayed his visit and went to leave once again. Plus Arkshan was also known to have very little patience.
"Oh by the way," Sámávad suddenly said, causing Jun to turn around, "Where you from?"
Jun didn't know how he was going to even respond to this sudden question. But it was the most he could do to repay Sámávad for irritating him. "Huaza...why?"
"Damn, how the fuck did you even get over here?" He turned around to walk up next to Jun.
Jun just shrugged his shoulders in response. He honestly didn't know how he made it out of Huaza as well.
"Well kid, amuse me about the mine if you come back. I'm as curious as you are." Sámávad's mood seemed to lighten up at Jun telling him that he was from Huaza.
"I'm not a kid." Jun told him plainly.
"Then how much of an old man are you?" Sámávad then gestured to his own face. "Are you a well preserved centenarian like me?"
Jun felt uncomfortable about telling him his age. He shuffled in his place a little before answering nervously. "Um...n-nineteen..." Sámávad's eyes widened to where Jun thought they were going to fall out.
"Aw you're a baby!" He felt as Sámávad ruffled his hair. "Now off with you!"
Jun was pushed towards the stairs as he tried to fix his ruffled up hair. He walked up the stairs and noticed that Sámávad did a small wave at him before going back to his map.
His face was blasted with a wave of humidity as he opened the trapdoor back into the main room of the building.
Jun saw the dark skinned woman, that he now knew was named Salamin, was still behind the counter along with Arkshan drinking from a tall glass.
"...and the sailors I used to work alongside with in Leviathan Bay used to have this game..."
The pungent smell of alcohol hung in the air which wafted up into Jun's nose.
Salamin turned around and noticed Jun as he walked to the front of the counter. "Oh you're finally out of the dungeons. For a moment I thought that his snake had eaten you!"
Jun shrugged his shoulders at her as he also didn't know what happened before talking to Sámávad.
One second he was in excruciating pain. The next, he was laying on the stone cold floor healed. And apparently the snake had healed him as well.
Wasn't Arkshan injured too?
It seemed odd that Mälándi only noticed his injury. Curiosity started to take over him as he looked over at Arkshan's side.
But there was nothing.
He looked all around his torso as discreetly as he could to see if it wasn't somewhere he didn't think of.
But there was absolutely no scar or injury on Arkshan. Jun didn't know if Mälándi also healed him. Though the half-dragon wasn't nearly as injured as he was.
Arkshan stood up from leaning on the counter and downed the entirety of his glass, slamming it down loudly afterwards.
Jun stared with thinned lips at what he just witnessed. And it wasn't no normal sized glass either.
"By the way Jun, since you're here. I was just talking to Arkshan here earlier about the newest Falin shop that had opened up recently. It carries all types of Falin foods and preserves, perfect for an adventure that's ready to set sail! And it's close by!"
Salamin seemed very enthusiastic about this new shop, but to Jun it was all Western to him.
"Where's Falin?" Jun questioned nervously, he noticed Arkshan staring down at him.
As if daring him to ask another question.
"It just refers to the United Western Kingdoms as a whole." Salamin took a bite of something while Jun felt himself getting pulled backwards.
"Thank you!" Jun said as he walked alongside Arkshan to go outside.
"Stay on good winds! By the way, Vareauxa pastries are the best!" Salamin shouted out to them while they left the building.
The empty plaza was once again filled with the hustle and bustle of various people. Arkshan stayed silent as he began walking down the street to their right.
Jun forced himself to follow behind the half-dragon who he had committed to following on an adventure with. And was one of the very last things that Jun ever thought he would be doing.
Committing himself to something, or the heavens forbid, someone.
Jun silently groaned as he looked up to the clear, blue skies. He wanted to run away from this situation, from Arkshan again, and this whole demonic awakening of sorts happening in the West.
Being born to save the world, if this was the situation, was not what Jun was nor ever will be.
The only "special" thing about him was his magic, but the almost anybody could control magic in someway. Jun continued to stay resided in his self deprecating thoughts the entirety of their excursion.
The two of them stopped in front of a quaint building that was strangely made out of brick and wood.
The first story was red and white bricks while the second story was a white wood with black supports. A pointed roof finished off the top of the building.
But what caught Jun's attention first was the large display window that had sweets and pastries he had never seen before. Cakes that seemed too tall were laid atop wooden plates alongside fancily decorated breads.
The wooden sign that hung above the door read in fancy, looping letters in Common, "Falin Delights".
A woman carrying a paper bag filled with bread came out of the store, followed by the smell of sugar and baked goods. Even though it smelled heavenly, Jun's heart sank at the pungent smell of sugar.
Sugar is, and never will be, his lure when it comes to food.
Jun heard a low hiss above him and looked up to see Arkshan flickering his tongue while he briskly made his way inside the bakery.
I wonder if they have any other foods in here, a twinge of hope was still inside Jun as he followed behind the half-dragon.
The smell of sweets was even stronger in the shop along with a mix of cooked meats. It was the strangest, and slightly unappetizing, combination of scents.
"Anything bought, you carry," Arkshan suddenly spoke as he didn't bother to look down at Jun.
"A-anything...?" Jun gapped while he looked all around him. Though Arkshan didn't seem to hear him as he was already looking at a large selection of pastries.
With this revelation, Jun felt like he was a child again. Able to get whatever he wanted in shops, no matter how expensive they were.
The counter in front of him was absolutely crowded with different breads of various shapes and decorations. A woman behind the counter was putting more breads to fill the empty spaces. Another woman was dealing with the people who stood in line to pay for their goods.
They all looked to be dressed like nobility or people who had money to spare at least.
The more Jun looked around though, it looked more like a small market than a bakery from what was being sold.
On the left side there were cured meats, eggs, and all types of foods that could be either pickled or preserved. While the right contained extravagantly decorated cakes and pastries that seemed like they took hours upon hours to finish.
Jun opted to go to the left and scan the shelves for something that sounded appetizing.
Cured meats hung on the wall that varied from sausages all the way to full thighs of animals. Jars that contained pickled cabbage to beets lined the tops of the wooden shelves. Followed by other, strange and foreign foods.
As he continued to look through the section something caught his eye.
They were preserved eggs called Lion's Eye. It sounded oddly similar to the preserved eggs in the East which made Jun grab one. The egg was fairly big and still had its white shell on.
A devious smile came to his face as he took the whole carton of a dozen of Lion's Eyes.
He also grabbed a few dried meats and made his way towards the back of the line.
Eventually when Jun made it to the middle of the line he saw Arkshan waving for him to come over. Jun went over to Arkshan and realized that he just cut the entirety of the line as Arkshan was at the front of the counter.
His face blushed a light pink as he heard the irritated grumbles in foreign languages. Even a few mutterings of "kotlana" made their way to Jun's ears.
Jun looked down at the wooden floor as he put his stuff on the counter.
The woman behind the counter took a look at the price tags on their items, with slightly trembling hands.
Jun glanced over and saw a plate of small little pastries that had some light bouncing off of their rocky surfaces. The fragrance of vanilla and rhum emanated from them. A bundle of dried noodles was also placed on the counter.
The woman wrote down things on a nearby notebook before speaking.
"All of this is um..." She looked down at the notebook again, looking as though she had written down something incorrectly. "tw-two thousand fifty maila..."
Murmuring from the line behind them grew louder at the price she just mentioned. Jun didn't know what the currency exchange was between Mang and this maila money.
But from the reactions of the woman and others in the room, it was a lot of money.
Jun nervously looked up at Arkshan and noticed that his face was as blank as a stone wall.
It doesn't faze him one bit?!
Jun watched as Arkshan dug deep within his pockets and grabbed a large, black leather pouch. He untied its string and pulled out a large handful of shimmering gold coins and placed them on the counter.
The woman looked down at the money with wide eyes and a gapped mouth before quickly putting it away.
How deep are those pockets? His greed must've made him extremely wealthy.
Jun grinned at this realization.
They waited for a few moments as the woman wrapped all of their food in paper and put it all in a bag. Arkshan swiftly grabbed the bag and made his way out of the store.
Immediately after they left the store, Arkshan plopped the bag in Jun arms which was suprisingly heavy.
Jun watched as the half dragon pulled out a small bag which contained the small pastries that he saw earlier. He grabbed one with his long nails and popped it into his mouth. A delighted sigh came out of Arkshan's lips as he grabbed another one.
Jun swore that he saw the corner of Arksan's mouth turn up as he ate the small pastries.
He likes sweets? I would've never thought. Jun mused as he watched Arkshan eat.
For some reason it was sort of endearing to Jun. To think that someone who was so stone cold and hostile would melt from the taste of sweets.
Even though Jun didn't like very sweet things, the small pastries looked sort of appetizing.
He guessed that food really does taste better in good company.
Though Arkshan was kind enough to pay for everything, Jun soon realized that he probably used up all the kindness he had in him.
As now he had to carry the large bag of food the entirety of their journey. So he stuffed everything in his small backpack and went down the bustling streets of Perenykisk.
And up North to Ten Claw Range.