venturer

ch8 snowfall

Bruto looked around the bustling city in awe. This city was a new whole type of chaos that he hadn't even dreamed of being stunning- in a good way. The lively cities were illuminated by neon street signs and lanterns pointing the way to large shops. Citizens would stand in front of their shops and advertise, and their children next to them would sit at a table and offer free samples of whatever they had to offer.

"Boy, am I famished!" stated Molt. "Where should we go first? The fish grill, the noodle shop, the candy store?"

"I haven't even heard of half of this stuff before." Bruto read an arrow-shaped sign pointing into a crowded intersection. "What the heck even is.. monocuse?"

"It's pronounced Monukkyusei. We could maybe have dinner there tonight." Gathac sat up from the sword and said to Dicroet and Askati, "Thank you, but I think I can walk now." They both nodded as he slipped off the swords.

Gathac reached into his cloak's pocket and pulled out a vial of emerald green powder. "This is eidolon. It's a material that this city goes nuts for. You only need to pay each person about half a pinch."

"Half a pinch? Is that not a bit stingy?" Molt said, looking around them. There were now bystanders gazing and pointing at the vile, whispering to their partners.

"I'd say it's just about enough." Gathac tucked the vile into Bruto's cloak pocket. "Go crazy, I'm gonna go get my ankle healed."

"Where should we go? We only have so much eidolon." Molt climbed into Bruto's coat pocket and perched on the cork of the vial of eidolon.

"We only need to give each person half of a pinch." Bruto walked over to a stand selling a drink advertised as 'sikoli' that had a large crowd gathered around it.

Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a thick, pale white drink, with aquamarine haze engulfing the crystal glass.

One of the bystanders whispered to their friends, "It's a Venturer!" but it came out loud enough for a few people to hear. They whispered the same to their friends, and soon enough, everyone at the stand got the message and stopped talking, watching Bruto.

"I hate being looked at like this," Molt said to Bruto, shirking back.

"Not my favorite look, but I can live with it," replied Bruto. He waited for a few seconds, then people returned to normal, talking to their friends and family.

When Bruto squirmed his way into the front of the crowd, the man at the front of the stand welcomed him with a wave, and said, "Is there anything that you would like?"

"I'll have a tall glass of sikoli," Bruto said, pulling out the vile of eidolon and tapping a small amount onto the counter.

The man's eight eyes stared at the counter for a few seconds, and said, "Sir, you

are paying almost fifty times the price! Are you sure you want to tip so graciously?"

Molt looked at Bruto in confusement, who nodded.

The vender reached through the stand, rested his hand on Bruto's shoulder, looked him in the eyes and said, with wholeheartedness, "Thank you, good sir."

After Bruto had been given his order, he walked around town and down alleyways. Molt took in the freezing drink, how the greenish-blue ice fog radiated from the glass, the viscosity of the white liquid, the lime drizzle that seeped into it, and the black, metal marbles that bobbed around at the bottom.

"This isn't half bad. It's really sweet, though." Bruto slowly drank the sikoli, admiring the neon signs illuminating the dusk and snow along the polished brick road.