With his mind made up Festus got dressed, he wore three cheap suit alongside some leather shoes. Once that was done he picked up the silver inlaid cane Festus had inherited from his father.
Time waits for no man, and neither does corruption. All set he headed out and took a public carriage straight to the Harbor once there he gazed upon the bar and gathered his courage and walked straight for it.
The brawny guard at the door silently looked at him as he approached, his gaze caused Festus to gulp involuntarily as he tried to remember if the guard was a beyonder as well.
Before he obtained the answer to his question, he was already inches away from the door with the guards heavy gaze upon himself, he turned and gave the guard a nod as well as a small smile which the guard did not bother to respond to.
His rampaging heart did calm down however once the guard did nothing to stop him entering.
The inside of the bar was a stark contrast to the silent streets outside as a rowdy bunch of men were shouting obscenities as well as cheers at two men in a ring situated smack dab in the middle of the bar. The two half naked men exchanged heavy blows causing their opponent to bruise and bleed.
Having no interest in this brawl, he moved to the billiards room at the back where his arrival was met with the scrutinizing gazes of the players.
Festus had decided he was going to act like he belonged until someone decided otherwise, he simply gave another nod as he moved towards the door hidden behind the men. The players spared him another look before returning to their game.
And just like that, Festus had arrived at the Beyonder market, the place was as busy as he imagined it to be with all sorts of people moving up and down either asking for certain materials or haggling prices.
With the materials he needed in mind Festus began to walk around. However due to the fact that he honestly did not know how the materials he was looking for looked like, he was forced to stop and ask each vendor who looked like they sold potion materials.
As he asked around though, Festus almost had a mental breakdown when the vendors kept giving him strange looks once he asked about one of the main ingredients of his 'empath' potion. He had even started to wonder if the materials even existed at all.
Luckily just as his luck was about to run out someone called out to him, "hello young man, I couldn't help but hear you ask about the 'Tears of Compassion' " turning around Festus saw the one who had spoken was a man garbed in a black robe with a felt black hat with a rounded edge.
The man gave Festus a smile before continuing, "I'll be honest you are the first person, I have seen after it as it is after all normally used as a substitute for many things but never the first choice".
"I'm sorry it's personal but if you have some for sale I am interested".
The man gave him an intrigued look before parting his lips once more "100 pounds", 'why don't you just rob me' was what almost left Festus mouth once he heard the price. After checking himself he realized he was 30 pounds short, "can the price be any lower, I mean a hundred pounds is a bit much"
"100 pounds take it or leave it" the man spoke in a calm passive tone but Festus could swear the guy was most definitely messing with him, "fine but we will have to do the transaction tomorrow as I don't have enough on me".
"Fair enough we can meet tomorrow at noon" the man responded after a second of thought, "here?" Festus questioned to be sure. "Oh no I know a nice coffee place lets meet there." after giving him the name the man turned to leave only stopping for a moment to turn back towards him, "oh yeah, just incase when you get there tomorrow and you don't see me, ask for Old Neil."
******
Festus had barely caught a wick of sleep the last night, his journey to the 'Evil Dragon Bar' had allowed for him to obtain the necessary ingredients for his supplementary potion but his main potion however was missing one of its main ingredients. This missing ingredient had led to him meeting one of the memorable characters in volume one, Old Neil.
He didn't look infected yet... who was Festus kidding he didn't have spirit vision just yet, neither had he obtained the abilities of the 'empath' potion so he had no way to determine is Old Neil was in the right state of mind. 'Heh one mad man trying to ascertain the sanity of another' Festus let out a laugh at that thought, with that out of the way Festus began to consider if he should really meet up with Old Neil.
When he accepted he was in this world, and Tingen no less he had developed an unspoken rule, to avoid all the important characters so as to avoid Ince Zangwill and that annoying quill of his. But on the other hand his main material was not normal and could only be obtained from Beyonder circles, he could try his luck looking for other beyonder circles but he was on a clock. He had determined that he had a few weeks but who was to say that was certain, for all he knew today could be his last day sane.
*sigh*
He went about his business until noon where he closed his shop and headed for the address Old Neil had given him, he was garbed in fine clothes due to the fact that the place he was going to was located in one of the upper districts. As a way to familiarize himself with the city, Festus decided to walk.
Taking in the sights that looked like they were plucked straight from Victorian England, he soon arrived before a water fountain. The fountain had a statue of what seemed to be a kind maiden pouring out water from a pot, he took a moment to appreciate the art before, he made a gesture to ask for some luck.
He didn't throw any coins into the fountain however, he was about to loose a hundred pounds which was a sizeable percent of his savings so the gestures alone would have to do. Festus rationalized to himself.
Arriving at the café which seemed to have almost all its tables occupied, Festus mentioned Old Neil's name to the lady in front who was kind enough to direct him to the man who was enjoying a cup of coffee. "Ah my young friend, you came. Here sit, have a cup of coffee. Its home grown the owner is kind enough to let me bring it in, the Desi pies though are from here and one of the best in this city".
Not one to refuse free food, Festus took a cup of the coffee as well as some Desi pies.
"Thank you, I just realized I still don't have your name."
"Festus"
"Ah Festus, a nice name. No need to be worried, here's what you want" Old Neil said the last sentence after a pause, the grin on his face told Festus all he wanted to know. The frown that formed on his face caused Old Neil's grin to widen even further.
"*sigh* young people of today are all in some sort of a hurry." Old Neil sighed before letting go of the box he held at his hand. After checking its contents, Festus handed over the money with obvious reluctance.
"It was nice doing business with you, I included a card with my details in there. If you ever want to do business don't hesitate to send a letter."
Festus shot Old Neil a dirty look before downing his cup of coffee, and stuffing his mouth with the Desi pie. Watching him leave, Old Neil let out a chuckle "What an interesting kid". Stewing in his loss of a 100 pounds Festus arrived at the fountain once again, where he heard someone call out his name.
Standing some distance away was Thomas and the lady who was clearly the recipient of his flowers, the two approached him and exchanged some pleasantries before inviting him to join them for lunch. Festus however politely refused as he was in a hurry before rushing back to his store.
Today Festus would become a beyonder.
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