Late Morning - Late Fall : The Eastern Oasis

"Haha, a tavern er bar? This is the alcohol capital of the east, the Eastern Oasis! There's one on every corner!" The man's voice was drowned in drunken happiness.

But oddly enough, the guys playing cards with him did not carry the same joy. "Hey, dumb*ss. What are you thinking?!" They looked at the man like he was insane.

"Come on you two, use ya brains. Ya think someone that came here for alcohol would rat us out to Sinder, er somethin'? They're in shambles from what's happened recently, and Toria can't touch us after Captain Lassar cleaned ou’ their Navy."

My ears twitched a bit as he spoke. -She's gotten that strong?-

"In any case..." He slowly turned back to me as he put another smile on his face. "Since ya came here looking for somethin’ good, I'll just say that the Crystal Tavern by the lake has the highest quality stuff. Just don't hit on the ladies servin’ food n' drinks there. The crew they are a part of is one of the strongest in this place..." I could see beads of cold sweat forming on his head as he spoke.

"Hm, alright. Good to know." -Well.. I guess I know where my next stop is.-

I continued talking with the man for another while after that, simply trying to see how far Lassar's colony had come, which, to my surprise, greatly exceeded expectations.

The settlement now had an active population of about 12 thousand, with 2 thousand of them being pirates that either used the settlement as their trade hub or worked directly under Captain Lassar. -But that still leaves 10 thousand regular folks that have decided to live here… Isn’t that a lot to just stumble across?-

At first, I found that number quite astonishing, but things started to make a bit more sense after hearing the man explain that a considerable number of those people were refugees fleeing from an internal war in Sinder.

Supposedly, there was a war among the people because of an oracle received by their god that had been silent for over the past thousand years, but sadly he didn't know many details. "I just know it has something to do with some sort of impending disaster and the death of their god itself."

-How ominous...- Although at first, I thought it could possibly be connected to the gods Siratha worships, that possibility didn't really make much sense after a bit of thought. "Do you know what god they worship there?"

"Ah, they call her the Goddess o’ Oracles er Fate er somethin'. I can't remember 'er exact name."

-The Goddess of Oracles, huh...- The name didn't ring a bell at all. "Hm.. alright. Well, I think that's all I need to know for now, thanks." -Maybe this place is a better place to get information than I thought...-

As I casually flicked the man a gold coin, I turned back towards the stilted town and spent the next several minutes figuring out my way around before eventually finding the tavern I was told about.

-This must be The Crystal Tavern.- From the outside, it didn't look like anything special, but it was the largest building in the area by a decent amount. -There's quite a lot of chatter inside as well...-

*Creakk* Pushing open the door, Ilios and I finally made our way inside.

Although I wasn't sure what to expect, it was just like any other tavern, with the only differences being the number of people and the number of barrels behind the bar. -The bar looks just like Emelia's back in Elynnor... I wonder how she and Adrian are doing.-

Slowly weaving my way through tables to get to the bar, I found a place to sit down and made room for Ilios to lay down at my feet.

While I was leaning down to make sure Ilios was comfortable, I heard a somewhat familiar voice come from across the bar. "It's not often we see new faces around here."

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-Huh? Is that..- "Mary?" Sitting back up, I looked across the bar to see a familiar woman in her late 20s. -What is someone in Adrian's crew doing here?- [1]

"Hm? Who ar-Wait, Vasilias?!" She seemed just as shocked as I was. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were exploring the Western Continent."

"I finished doing that a while ago, but that aside, what are you, someone in Adrian's crew, doing here?"

As those words left my mouth, everyone in earshot turned and looked at me like I was crazy.

It even made Mary start to clam up. "Ah, w..we arrived here about a year and a half ago." She spoke with a bit of nervousness. "Cap’ said this was a place you told him about. Was that not the case?"

-He actually came all the way out here because of that?- Immediately thinking back to when I chatted with him off the coast of Nerrania, I remembered telling him he could come here if he ever wanted things to do, but at the time, it was meant to be a joke. "I did tell him, but that doesn't mean I told him he had to stay here." -Pirates staying in one place for a year and a half is really unusual, unless...-

"Oh, getting settled here was just how things happened to turn out. When we first arrived, we were met with some hostility, but after a while, the Cap’ found himself being the top in command alongside Captain Lassar." She spoke as she awkwardly cleaned a wooden mug from someone else at the bar. "Cap’ was actually the one to suggest we settle down here."

-Adrian was?- I struggled to believe it. "So where is the ship? I didn't see it at the docks."

"Ah, the Cap’ and Lassar left just recently to discuss some trade route-related things with the Kaelallan Empire."

-What? Kaelallan Empire?- "Since when were they known as an empire?"

"It's only been a few years. Although I'm not sure how they have managed to take over nearly a dozen countries on the eastern half of the main continent with both insane efficiency and almost no resistance."

-Damn... Oliver must be on a rampage.-

Before I could say anything, someone next to us at the bar chimed in. "I heard they had some mage there that had some kind of epiphany and broke through some big bottleneck. A mage buddy of mine went crazy when he heard it, so it must be something impressive."

But that man wasn’t the only one to chime in. "I also heard that a young girl was traveling around and destroying S and Nation rank dungeons in that part of the continent as well. I'm sure that helped Kaelallan since they could move their soldiers away from the dungeons."

"You think that's real? Ain't the rumors saying she's like 13? How could someone be strong enough to do that, let alone someone that young?"

"I don't know, man. I have seen stranger things in my lifetime."

-Is she a dragon?- "What is the girl's name?" I asked it simply out of curiosity at the time.

"Ah, I think people are calling her either Snow White or The Blizzard. No one knows her actual name."

"Hm..." -She must be a dragon... If I didn't know better, I would have thought it could be Krystallo...- Immediately slipping into the rabbit hole and thinking about paying the family a visit, I zoned out for a moment until a mug was set in front of me.

"So what is our great savior doing here?" Mary wore a thankful smile as she pushed the mug filled with amber liquid towards me.

-It smells like beer...- Casually taking a sip, I quickly noticed that I didn't hate it. -Hm.. not bad.- "I'm here to get some alcohol to share with a friend. Do you have any recommendations?"

"Hmm, what kind and what price range?"

Taking a moment to think back to what Amara usually drank, I was quick to answer. "Anything strong with a bit of sour or sweetness, and price doesn't matter."

"Hmm, for top-quality drinks like that, we have Viliwyr, Turtleshell, Blue Wake, or Piótita. Do you want to try any of them?"

Almost immediately, one of the names caught my attention. -Piótita… That sounds awfully similar to 'Poiótita'... (meaning 'Quality' in Draconic) There's no way it's a dragon-made drink, right?- "Could I try some Piótita?"

"Yeah, just keep in mind that it is really hit and miss with people. Most people find it kind of bitter, but then I'll have people like the guy last week who bought the entire stock." With a casual nod, she turned around and picked up a small, shot glass-like cup that she filled with a bit of clear liquid. *Tap*

As she set it in front of me, I immediately smelled a sweet rose-like fragrance and noticed that the liquid had a bit of mana infused into it, almost like an elixir. -This must be made with a similar method to elixirs, I can't be crazy for thinking it's not human-made...- Gently picking up the glass and setting it to my lips, I took a sip.

Almost immediately, a warm but cold, sweet but sour mix of flavors permeated my mouth. "Wow..."

"Are there any others you want to try?" Mary spoke with a happy smile, but I didn't notice nor care.

I was simply entranced by the taste. -There's no way a mere human could make something like this...- "I'm not sure I need to try any others... Can I have a full glass of this one first, please?"