Chương 95: A Bad Crowd

Healer Melon and Skullcrusher went to the bar to get a drink, while Xyon and I sat in a side alcove. Fast-paced music played in the background in the dimly lit establishment. A scantily clad woman walked up to our table.

"What can I get you two gentlemen today?"

"We are connoisseurs. So, get some of the top-shelf stuff, sweet, Cossuer if you have it, and a nice selection," Xyon said while putting a gold coin on her tray while ordering some food. Remaining silent, I felt uncomfortable with her undress. I was aware of such places, but I'd never visited one. I couldn't wait to try whatever the chef had cooked up. I hoped that I would find local delicacies.

"Of course. And if you want some company, don't hesitate to ask," the woman said before walking away.

"Don't worry, this is going to be great." Xyon leaned back and grinned at me.

"It's nice to finally relax." I leaned back as well. There was no need to be tense, and it was important not to let the assassination attempts disrupt my mindset. Being able to relax was just as important as training hard in my mind.

"The College flying stresses me out. I am always worried it will fall," I said to generate some conversation, not knowing what else to talk about.

"Exactly! Cities and Colleges aren't supposed to fly. Scary to think one mistake and we are doomed." The server came back.

"Your drinks and the bottle. Cossuer Sparkling Wine, twenty years old."

"Ah, the good stuff. You have to try this," Xyon said as two glasses were poured. I had never drunk alcohol before. I wasn't too worried, since I had Poison Resistance and the drunken effect from alcohol counted as a very light poison. We both picked up our glasses and drank.

"Sweet. Nice selection."

"I know the best wines. Don't worry." I felt my Healing Points decrease a bit, but wasn't too concerned. If they didn't go below half, I would not worry.

"Don't worry, it is going to get even better." The server then returned with a silver tray featuring small crystals in a range of colors. My nervousness increased. This wasn't food.

"Perfect! Genoa really lives up to its reputation." The crystals had Mana in them.

"The trick is to boost some useless but fun skill." This was Pic, or power-infused crystals. For a long moment, I wasn't sure what to do. My etiquette warred with my common sense. I had been an idiot thinking this place served food. There were so many obvious clues in hindsight. I was a super idiot. I fell back on my Adventurer training. When the danger was too great or the situation too complicated, sometimes the best answer was to leave.

"Pic isn't for me. Thank you for your time," I said and pulled out a gold coin.

"What?" Xyon looked at me in surprise as I put the gold coin down on the table and left.

"Let's go," I told Healer Melon. He gave me a nod, and we walked out.

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"Your mother couldn't change your mind about your choices, and you wanted me to change her mind? You made the right decision to walk out, by the way," he said. It wasn't just about Xyon using Pic, it was also about how the people I tried to make friends with turned out to have hidden issues. I knew I wasn't perfect, but someone who used Pic was not someone I wanted to be around. That wasn't even counting the risk of Alchemical Toxicity.

After all the suffering I had endured, I wasn't about to ruin my body and soul for no reason.

"My healing points are still dropping from some wine," I said.

"What kind?"

"Cossuer Sparkling Wine, twenty years old, but only half a glass."

"It has Alchemical agents to suppress Poison Resistance. It is triggering your Alchemical Toxicity. You should be fine with just half a glass. But watch out for high-end drinks like that."

"No one told me." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Most people your age don't drink Cossuer Sparkling Wine. It's half a gold coin per bottle."

"Sorry," I muttered as I kept wandering through the city on a main road. Other people were going by us in a riot of color. I ignored them, frustrated and dejected. Poor judgment, not Experience Siphon, was my curse.

"Don't be. You made a good choice to leave that kind of place."

"But Xyon…he seemed so capable."

"For now. Pic will damage his soul. I bet he said something about focusing only on useless skills."

"He said exactly that. Were you listening in?"

"No. But it is a common excuse for addicts to use. Pic might not seem bad at the start, but it is highly addictive. What happens when you run out of junk skills? You will focus on others, and your soul will progressively decay. Your lifespan would be reduced to a quarter."

"Then why do people use it to begin with?"

"Because it makes them feel amazing. But it is all lies. I have seen addicts when they finally realize there is no hope. It gets ugly every single time. They try to look for solutions while taking more Pic, hoping to outrun the collapse of their soul, until they are nothing but a hollowed-out husk that then dies in excruciating pain."

"And it is legal?"

"No, but most cities and nations turn a blind eye to it."

"Why? That makes little sense."

"Welcome to the adult world, Justin, where money is power. There is a lot of money in selling Pic. And since it is addictive, the money doesn't stop flowing. Some of that money finds its way into the pockets of various officials and nobles, ensuring they look the other way, even if their own family members might get addicted." We kept walking for another couple of minutes in silence until we reached the shoreline. Wooden ships filled the port, no magical carriages for the open ocean. The waves made it impossible.

I let the sea breeze wash over me as I looked out over the water. My mind jumped to thinking about how people had tried to flood the dungeon in the past. That action caused the dungeon to close the surface passage to the first layer. It did not enjoy being flooded. Even with the distracting thought, I was still depressed, upset, and frustrated. I had trusted Xyon, and he had turned into a drug addict.

"Are there fun classes or activities at the College of Advancement?"

"Perhaps a lesser skill? I don't know. I will ask around." That was nice of him. I would find other people who had the same interests as me. Getting stronger, sweets, good food, fun skills, and adventuring. There must be other people out there who weren't messed up. Maybe to other people, having Sweet Tooth would make them look down on me instead. But there was a difference between candy and drugs. At least I thought so. One was slightly bad for your health, the other ruined your soul.

You couldn't take Pic in moderation. I felt some regret about stocking up on sweets now.

"It is getting late. We should head back to the College or find an inn to stay at."

"Let's find an inn. I still want to look around the city. This is my vacation, and I won't let it be ruined," I replied and turned away from the coast and the port.

"Why don't you pick a place? I really don't feel like deciding something right now." After the disaster with Xyon, I didn't want to make any more decisions today.

"Then the city center would be for the best," Healer Melon said as we began walking back.

"Don't worry about the sweets."

"What?"

"I can tell you are worried about them. They aren't soul-damaging drugs. A little won't hurt you, and your consumption of them isn't that high. If you were eating a lot more, then I would say something. But at your age and with the physical skills you are working on, more sugar won't kill you. It is just slightly bad."

"Slightly still doesn't sound good."

"I have a bad habit myself."

"What? No way. How did you get that past my mother?"

"I read romance thrillers in my spare time. The Sultry Maid series is quite popular.

""What…no way," I muttered.

"Wait! Do you want to stop by a bookstore?"

"Don't worry about it. If I let you read something like that, your mother would skin me alive and then bake me," he joked. Maybe? It was hard to tell with my mother where she sometimes drew the line.

"I won't. I guess even healers have a dark side."

"Indeed. Everyone has a way to relax, but it is often private."

"Even Supreme Warlady Elena?" I asked in a slightly joking tone.

"There are always exceptions to every rule. And for her, killing monsters is probably relaxing."

"I hope she is doing all right."

"If anyone returned from the bottom of the dungeon, it would be her. But I am sure she would be happy that you are thinking of her."

"Hmm, it would be interesting if she had a bad habit in her spare time. Like secretly enjoying fine wines. Do you think one has to follow their passion to become a Supreme Legend?"

"Maybe. I know that the route is incredibly long and difficult. While it might seem hard now, you are building a foundation that will make things much easier later. If anyone is going to get a Tier 7 skill, it will be you."

"That is nice of you to say. You know nothing about the Dark Cabal?"

"They are a secretive terrorist organization. The Five Star Institute of Healing directly opposes them. It's one of the few groups we actively condemn but won't go after at all."

"There are others?"

"Mainly criminal organizations that deal with slavery or children. The Five Star Institute has always believed in protecting children. After we opposed the Eternal Emperor, this became a core philosophy of the institution. Even though it can be difficult sometimes, we try our best."

"You do that while having a monopoly on healing? Why do you have that anyway?"

"This is before the Eldarin Empire, but healing was much more widespread and mixed with flesh crafting. There were a lot of accidents, and there was offensive healing. They clamped down on that heavily. There hasn't been a Dark Healer in over 1, 500 years, thankfully."

"Huh, Dark Healing? Now I am curious."

"Mutated growths and deforming people into monstrosities, twisting healing skills for nefarious purposes. Very few records exist, and access to the known skills is heavily restricted. If there ever were a Dark Healer, the entire Five Star Institute would mobilize everything to kill that individual. Even the Dark Cabal hesitates to train a person in such skills, even if they know of them."

"But not for other things?"

"Fighting all the evil in the world is impossible. Healing is the sole purview of the Five Star Institute of Healing for good reason, to prevent misuse and frauds from scamming people."