He woke up feeling a specially horrendous headache. Not only his head hurt but even his eyes hurt from whatever pain he was feeling.

Luckily for him he had the perfect distraction. Finding his teammates was a goal beyond pain so whilst he got dressed he planned out a reasonable course of action to find his friends.

First he would search their old village, try and find family or friends alike. Then go from there.

It was a simple easy plan, perfect for him as it meant he didn’t have to stress his brain to think up another one.

Easing of the braincells, he turned to action as he walked downstairs to get prepared for the journey ahead. He regretted sending the horse back but that just meant he had to find another.

Money wise, he was good to hire another one as long as he got a good sale on the potion he had cooked up before. It wasn’t anything to rare but it should fetch him some good silver if he found the right buyer.

He headed towards the market to see what other similar goods were going for and to check out the market in general.

Potions were expensive goods, reserved for nobility and merchants. Peasants like Malum had little chance of getting themselves the money to afford a good one and even then, it could come with some serious side effects.

Lose of limbs, lose of senses and even death could come from the consumption of poorly made potions so people tended to avoid them anyway. If it wasn’t for their miraculous effects then nobody would buy them at all.

Looking around the market and he saw a few mixtures here and there. Some looked okay-ish but others looked like a mishmash of herbs and water mixed together.

Fakes plagued the industry and gave it a pretty bad reputation. Nobody dare scammed the wealthy as they could fight back but a poor peasant who had nothing but a few bronzes to their name. They were easy pickings.

He was looking for someone with a keen eye, perhaps a good potion marker themself as they could better distinguish his good product from a bad one.

The one he found was at the centre of the market. A wealthy looking woman with the smell of herbs permeating from her hut.

She sold herbs and medicinal teas, but Malum could see a potions in the back. Nothing to fantastic but unlike the other he had seen they were in glass containers which spoke well of their quality.

Malum pulled her aside and whilst she was resistant, once she saw the product she calmed down considerably.

After a few tests, feeding it to an animal, checking its purity, then a small taste herself, she gave turned to Malum with a wrinkled smile.

“You have talent child, better than my own spawn that’s for sure. Next time you should peal the Yutra berries, the skin does nothing but worsen the quality. I’ll give you 8 silver for the potion. That with your promising to sell to nobody else but me when you come back to this city.”

Malum shook her hand and left with a smile on his face. The potion itself would go to a gold and a bit for the right buyer as it was one that effected performance in bed. For Nobles that was an area of particular interest as heirs played a large role in their duties and honour.

He was expecting slightly less for the potion as he didn’t have time to spare to get the right price but with his promise he had a gotten a deal better than expected. Now he had the money to rent the horse and pack his back with decent food.

He also decided to pick himself up a weapon, sword and shield with a spare version of each. That and a sharpener would do him well.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

It came to the time of departure and whilst Malum had packed his bags he found he hadn’t the right amount to hire a horse properly. Instead he would forced to get it back himself but that wasn’t too large of a deal, just an annoyance.

Speaking off, his headache still had yet to let up. He had taken a few drinks to take the edge off but it continued to annoy him to no end. He was beginning to think it wasn’t to do with his bad drinking habits and instead something to do with his death.

He searched his soul for anything out of the ordinary but with it still asleep it didn’t seem related.

The pain seemed to come from his head and his eyes so he tried to sense their but couldn’t sense that area well enough to come to any proper answer.

He left the city with haste. Finding his friends came first then he could deal with whatever ill health he was being plagued by.

At least it wasn’t anything to do with his teeth. Dentists were more feared then any other man in the mortal world. At least reapers would send you to the other side.

He shivered as he got his horse to go into stride. His goals clear, now all it would take was time.

Time would soon pass. Village after village, Malum made potion after potion.

Some were pretty bad; some were better than alright. He drank a few himself, once he was sure the effects were good and other he sold for coin.

His health was his priority, now more than ever. That headache managed to ease up with a few mind-numbing ones but it never quite went away. He searched his books but found nothing like it. Thankfully his body was growing used to its annoyance so as long as it didn’t flare up he could ignore it.

Along the way, he had sent a few letter so his old Team Leader. The corporation of the man had given Malum a much better idea of what the future was going to hold and his help would be invaluable.

As he rested his horse and entered the village. Malum hoped his friends were well.

First, he asked around with some of the local villagers. He had asked the same questions again and again because he had asked about the duo every village he had visited.

It didn’t hurt and whilst he didn’t get any answers he liked to be sure he wasn’t going to miss them as he moved.

Immediately, he saw results.

“Alicia, that poor woman. What do you want with here?”

Malum panicked slightly and asked frantically.

“Is she alright? Did Jake get hurt?”

“Calm yourself boy!” he got a whack on his stomach. “Young’uns these days are so impatient. She got taken away months ago for an army enlistment. Her family got caught doing somethin with bandits and whilst the parents got off easy with the noose, she got sent off with the Knight. There was that boy who went with her as well. Daren’s child I think.”

Malum asked for where Daron lived and went there to find out more. Hearing Alcia’s family had been doing business with bandits was a surprise and a half, never had she come off as the scummy type but he didn’t judge her for the actions of her guardians.

Malum like the fact he was nothing like his Uncle. That miserable old man was one of a kind, in both good and bad ways.

Getting him out of his thoughts was the pain and so he stopped thinking back and instead focused on finding his friends.

The old man she was talking about was found always in the tavern and today wasn’t an anomaly.

He was drooling on the rotting wood table, and whilst his old and ragged appearance may made him pitiable to some Malum couldn’t care less.

“Rise and shine old man.”

Malum patted him on the back and continued untill he woke up. The fact he was in the tavern 24 hours of the day and the fact that Jake wasn’t here helping him told Malum that he wasn’t a very good father so respect was out of the window.

“Ough, why u pokin me!” Finally he got a reaction and it was the old man slowly rising and trying to tackle Malum to the ground. He didn’t take into consideration the table in the way and so instead whacked the table with his legs.

“Bastard, my toe!”

“Where is Jake?” He asked simply.

“Him, that traitor. I raised him and this is what I get. Like my family, he casts me away.”

Malum interrupted him and asked again, “Where is he?”

The old man stopped his rant and looked at Malum. “You his friend or his enemy?”

Should he lie. Considering what he said before Malum was tempted to say enemy but said friend because worse come worse he could beat the answer out the old man.

“Lucky boy has a strong friend. I could’ve used some of those, teach those heirs whose really a shrimp.” He spat out every word, his gums already free of his teeth.

Malum was about to ask again, but got an answer instead. “Check Avery Town, the boy used to talk about it when he was a smaller boy. He talked about it later when he planned ahead in life.”

With that Malum left the tavern. The old man looked at Malum hesitantly before he looked back at the bar. As Malum went through the door, the old man shrugged himself back up and headed for some more of the good stuff.

Malum followed the mans words as he seemed a bitter but good man. Not a good father, he was sure but perhaps it was because he was sober but the words he said seemed genuine.

He packed a small amount more of food and ate them as he rode. He checked his map and found the Avery Town not far from his current location.

A week or two and he would finally arrive. The long journey looked like it would soon come to an end.