I woke up before dawn, even the moon had disappeared from the sky and the room was in a total state of darkness. Something warm squirmed next to me and suddenly all that happened yesterday night came back to my mind like a flash; I inched closer and inhaled the fragrance of her hair. 'mmmhhh smell like morning dew.'

As much as I wanted to lay in bed with a beautiful woman and enjoy her some more, I had work to do, as thanks for the great night, I took an experimental concoction from my bag and, opening her tiny lips with my fingers, poured it in, she coughed a little but ended up swallowing it.

I waited a few minutes while checking her pulse, her rhythmic heartbeat skipped a beat, then another and then finally stopped; she didn't even wake up, her expression upon death was as peaceful as a newlywed bride.

I crossed the daily good action off my mental list and dressed up, brown from the shoes to my jacket and then a white shirt beneath. I walked downstairs while everyone was sleeping, the floor creaked at each of my steps, the sound reverberating in the silent hall.

Approaching the bar counter I located the barrels full of ale and added a special ingredient to the mix; my mother always said to show your gratitude to people who treat you well. I would have spiced up some food stuff too, however, I heard footsteps coming from upstairs, I grabbed my belongings and went out of the inn, shame I won't see the effects of "Frenzy".

As the sun hadn't still made an appearance I was forced to walk the first kilometre totally in the dark, luckily I had a flashlight and could at least see where I was placing my feet.

Beastly roars and preys' laments echoed amongst the woods but I continued marching forward, the sensations from the night before still on my lips and skin, I indulged my memories until the sun finally came out in all his majesty sending the shadows back to whence they came from.

Hours later I found a merchant's caravan and asked for directions towards the closest city, after that, I suggested them to try the ale in the inn I had spent the night and then wished them safe travels.

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“Ahhhh, finally here,” I exclaimed in a relieved tone, from the inn p it had taken me three whole days to find the fucking city in front of me, thankfully I had found small villages on the way where to spend the night and try some of my toys.

Giant walls made from white marble surrounded the city like the arms of a guardian deity intersecting in a gate wide enough for three carriages to pass through side by side. The archers on top of the gate slacked off, laughing and pointing to the people passing below while their colleagues on the ground were seriously checking the people's belongings.

A merchant I met while coming here told me it was illegal to bring any kind of weapon inside the city without registering it at the gates; luckily for me, I had no such things nor I needed them.

I approached the gate and as expected one of the guards stopped me. “Your name and the reason for coming here?” He spoke in the monotone voice of someone who asked the same thing too many times, I felt a little pity for him. He wore a uniform made of tanned leather with a circle sewed on his chest, probably the city guard's emblem here.

“Hello milord, my name is Adrian and I'm here to sell a batch of potions in the market.” The guard straightened his back upon hearing my mention of potions, apparently, even around here alchemists were treated like Vip, “What kind of potions? If I'm allowed to inquire.” his tone already getting more respectful after realizing I was no poor farmer.

“Oh, nothing much, some low tier healing potions, with a nasty side effect of causing impotence,” I added the last line as a joke, but I could see he was affected by the way his grip on the spear tightened.

“W-what kind of side effect is that?” He asked in a slightly upset voice. Chuckling inside I answered, “Just a precaution in case of theft. My potions are meant for women, and if a man tries to steal any of them... hehehe.” I could see his face pale as he took a step back, he even had to cough once to regain his composure. "Do you have any weapons on yourself or in your bag?" Naturally, he ended up checking my belongings, naturally finding nothing he gave it back to me and stepped aside.

“You are free to come inside, as long as you can pay the toll of four grindias or 5% of your merchandise, also remember to pay your share of the sales to the city administration.” I took out 4 middle-sized coins from the bandit leader's pouch and placed them on the guard's hands, from the way he smiled I understood I had given him more than the actually required toll, and that he was gonna keep the change as a tip.

He wished me a nice stay and I finally walked inside while winking at him; the sight of marble roads and buildings immediately caught my eyes. I had imagined a more standard medieval city with dirt roads and people throwing poop from the windows, but I wasn't that disappointed in being wrong for once.

People were busily walking around hanging decorations and setting up stalls, I found them to be actually amusing, the only thing missing now was music and we could have shot "High city musical". Then inspiration hit me, lots of people interacting with each other in close space? This is one of the most important ingredients when cooking a mass pandemic!

Ok, priorities; first, find a place to stay. After walking around aimlessly I finally found an inn with a nice name: “the drunk cow”, the first floor was basically a tavern with people drinking away their problems or spitting on the ground, a fireplace in the middle of the room gave illumination to the room while also providing the means for a nice barbeque.

On the second and third floor, I found rooms to sleep in. Paying the owner, a middle-aged man named Horace, with all the money I had stolen from the bandits I had managed to rent the room for a week, no meals or mead included, tch, cheapskate.

I finally entered my room, the barrenness of the interior left me kinda disappointed, no pictures hanging on the walls, no windows and a simple candle on the side of the bed as illumination. I felt kinda tired after walking for three days, however, instead of going to rest it was time to work, as the saying goes “Evil never rests.”, I placed all my vials on the ground building a nice little castle of crystal. “Time to work,” I said with a toothy grin.

As I raised the first vial to my face I suddenly wondered how the villages I had 'visited' were holding up.