The sound coming from within the bar was chaotic as it was hectic, with dozens of customers rushing in and out of the bar at any given moment. Voices of several men and women alike, telling their own life story.
"Hey! Tabs are on me today, alright?"
"Geez, you're drinking that much again, Kenza? No wonder your wife's always complaining."
"Have you heard what Lady Changing Star said last night? It was so inspirational!"
Stories upon stories could be heard in here, like songs that were told by a bard of the distant past.
Sitting in a distant corner of the pub, a man of medium stature and short black hair put down his half-drunk glass.
'It's always the same story here, nothing new. Quite disappointing really.'
With a sigh, he looked up at the ceiling, scratching his notepad before a voice interrupted this train of thought.
"It's quite busy today, isn't it Barga?"
In an instant, Barga turns his head towards the shopkeeper, before replying to the man.
"Yes, it seems so. It's quite interesting to come here and listen to all these stories that people are talking about."
The shopkeeper has a warm and bright smile pasted on his face. Complimenting his cheekbone quite well, if it wasn't for the thick and bushy beard hiding it.
"Lady Changing Star's speech from yesterday was something else, wasn't it? I have never seen so many people come here in such a good mood before."
The black haired man went silent for a moment before replying.
"I guess so?"
"Oh, by the way, you told me that you're planning to publish a book soon. How is it right now?"
"Oh, it's coming out fine, no need to worry about it."
Hearing that, the shopkeeper let out a sigh of relief as he continued to clean the dirty glasses.
"Ah, by the way, what's the genre going to be this time?"
Barga went silent for a second before opening his mouth in a nervous tone.
"Hor— Horror, I suppose."
The shopkeeper's eyes widen as he lowers his head in intrigue.
"Oh? Have you written any horror novels before, Barga?"
Looking down at his empty notepad, the Awakened awkwardly scratches his head before letting out a nervous chuckle.
"I guess I've written a few small mini-stories before."
"Is that so? Tell me the title at a later date, then, Barga! Now, if you would excuse me, I still need to take care of all of the other customers' orders. It was nice talking to a loyal customer every once in a while."
The shopkeeper then straightened his back before heading over to the kitchen.
In the past, coming to pubs like this has been somewhat of a hobby for him, to gain motivation or inspiration for his own writing.
'Though lately all these stories have been the same, getting duller and duller by the day.'
After paying for his drink, the man stood up and walked towards the entrance of the building. After all, it was time to get back; he had a job to report back to after all.
"Make sure to come back soon!"
Barga turned his head around to look back at the shopkeeper with a smile on his face.
"Will do!"
With that, he stepped out of the building and took in the breathtaking view of the Great Citadel of Valor.
Today is an important day; he's supposed to report back to the clan soon about new information he has gathered from his time at Bastion.
'I should head back to the motel to gather the necessary materials now.'
Though at that moment, something caught his attention. The empty notepad that he was holding had a new word inscribed upon the white pages that wasn't there before.
'Someone is following me? Who?'
Barga gulped on his own saliva before heading towards the direction of the crowd. Due to the recent wave of mass migration from the waking world to the Dream Realm, the streets of Bastion are always busy, no matter the time of day.
'Maybe I can lose them in the crowd….'
Barga thought to himself, before letting out a small sigh as he blended into the sea of people.
Several thoughts were rushing through his mind currently. Mainly, 'who is following me' and 'why are they following me'. He had thought he kept his track pretty clean and hands off ever since he joined the Pandavar clan two years ago.
'Crap! Crap! This is very bad…. But who is it? Someone from the government? A valor agent?'
A drop of sweat ran down from his forehead as he looked back, over his shoulder.
He could feel his legs and arms trembling as he continued to walk. The dread of being caught forced him to slowly increase his pace.
Even though he's currently surrounded by people, he feels isolated and alone. It felt like a sheep being hunted by a wolf in a damp and thick forest.
No, he should keep his thoughts calm; panicking and losing his composure here could mean certain death. That is a principal rule that all Awakened know.
Awakened Barga continued to walk through the tides of civilians and wakened alike in an attempt to shake off his pursuer.
After a while, the Awakened halted as he looked down at his notepad.
'No new words have shown up so far…. Have I truly lost him?'
He took a deep breath of relief before turning his head to face the motel where he had been staying for the last few weeks.
Although it is quite busted up and barely functional, with few customers, its location is quite convenient for the kind of 'job' Barga takes.
Being at the border of the Great Citadel of Bastion means there's less chance of running into a Knight of Valor or one of those pesky Government agents.
He looked around one last time to make sure that there was no one following him before opening the door of his motel room.
"Finally, I'm back. That was quite a stressful evening, I guess.'
Tossing his notepad onto his bed, he began to walk over to the shelf at the corner of the room.
It was then that an arm suddenly burst through the wall next to him and grabbed his neck, lifting Barga up from the ground.
The arm squeezed his throat firmly as he struggled to breathe, before slamming him down into the floor with a force that shook the entire room.