Metem: The Blind Chemist

CHAPTER 22

The two men sat across from each other, Kopius nursing his injured throat while Cici sat there with an indomitable grin, enjoying his drink.

“Drink up, my boy,” Cici said, then took a sip. ”It will soothe both the pain in your neck and the worries in your mind.” Reluctantly, Kopius brought the mug to his nose and sniffed at the drink. To his relief, it had a soft aroma of something that reminded him of honey and freshly cut apples. Forgoing his “will this kill me or make me stronger” testing method, Kopius took a long swig of the surprisingly cold beverage and relished the comfort it brought his aching throat. It tasted just as it smelled; Kopius wondered what the ragged old lady was talking about when she said these drinks would burn his nose hairs.

“Slow down there, killer,” Cici said with a laugh, ”can’t have you stumbling into another squabble so soon!” Though Kopius could finish the whole mug, he opted to heed Cici’s advice and put the drink down. He used his forearm as a napkin and took in some deep breaths, then cleared his throat a few times before speaking.

“I thought this was going to taste like shit,” Kopius said with less strain in his voice than he would have guessed. “My throat only feels partially strangled now,” Kopius finished with a slight grin.

“I’ll be honest, Kopius, that there is my special brew,” Cici said with a wink. “The drinks here taste like fermented assholes otherwise!” he said loud enough to get a sideways glance from Sloan. “I take some dried doobie and roll it with waxed honey,” Cici was saying, using hand gestures as though he was making it. “Let that sit in the sun for a day before wrapping it all in the skin from a winesap. Drop that ball into a cask of your local tavern’s swill and it makes for a fine drink, if I do say so myself!”

Cici looked very proud of himself as he pulled out a reddish ball the size of a large marble and placed it in front of Kopius. He looked back and forth at his invention until Kopius got the hint and picked it up. The reddish object looked like the skin from an apple and smelled like tart honey. “Keep it,” Cici said with another wink and drink of his ale. Kopius instinctively named the thing Applewax and summoned it into his ring. Cici’s eyes narrowed a bit before he put his mug down, shaking his head.

“I thought so,” Cici said, nodding at Kopius’s hand.

“Thought what?” Kopius replied.

“That you had a trick up your sleeve or, in this case, on your finger.” Cici said in a more hushed tone. “Might want to learn some discretion with that little trick. That healing potion was enough to get you roughed up–what do you think would happen if someone was wise to a ring with inventory space?” Kopius looked at his hand and then out at the rest of the bar occupants. Cici spoke the same way Sloan had about the potion bottle just before Brizzl had joined the conversation.

“I was being discrete,” Kopius said defensively. “I reached into my sack before I brought out that potion.”

“True… but not when you broke it across his face! Ha, ha–that was quite the move, by the way!”

“Wait a minute, were you here the whole time?”

Cici nodded as he sipped from his mug.

“And you just watched the whole thing?” Kopius said with a bit of ire.

“I did.”

“If you saw me come in, why didn’t you say something?”

“I saw a disheveled man, looking as though the universe had puked him out of a swamp. It wasn’t until I heard you speak that I made the stars align.”

“Okay, then why not help me out with pig-boy over there?”

“Kopius,” Cici said in all seriousness, leaning in, ”we are not friends–yet. We shared a lovely night together, but you cannot tell what a man is made of from firelight stories. You showed real tenacity, my boy. And besides, I stepped in before you got yourself truly hurt.”

“Before I–” Kopius responded, confused. “Before I smashed that chair on him? I think I had the situation handled,” he finished smugly.

“True enough,” Cici mollified. “Though his people wouldn’t have taken kindly to you killing him, even if it was justified. That–what did call him? Pig boy, ha, they do resemble a farm hog, don’t they. Anyhow, they call themselves the Cob Rollers, but we just say the Cob. They like to think they run this shit town and would have needed to make an example of you.”

“Let me guess, Brizzl is the brother of the leader or something?”

Cici laughed before replying.

“Brizzl there is the shit I wipe off my ass in the morning. He’s an enforcer in name only and wouldn’t be missed in the slightest. No need to give him a second thought. See, here are his boys now,” Cici said, gesturing toward the tavern entrance.

Kopius glanced over and saw four similarly-pig-faced men enter the tavern. When they saw their brethren laying on the floor, they quickly rushed to his aid. After they'd lifted Brizzl to a sitting position and slapped the man to wake up, Kopus could tell an explanation was taking place that ended with Brizzl pointing directly at Kopius.

All four men stood up and stomped over in his direction. The tallest of the four slammed his hands down on the wooden table and glared at the two of them. Kopius, trying his best to not let his fear show, sat stoically while Cici had his customary grin plastered to his face. Kopius–and Cory for that matter–had never been fearful of a one-on-one fight as those often came down skill and luck. A four-on-one fight was a different scenario altogether, given that he did not expect Cici to get involved here either.

“Want to try your luck with one of us?” the taller of the four snarled, a drunk lisp evident as though it were a racial trait instead of alcohol addiction. Kopius was more surprised by another blank window popping into his field of vision than by the threat. I guess that wasn’t just a rhetorical question, he thought

“Come now, Trilic,” Cici interjected, ”speak your piece in Common. You know damn well none of us speak whatever drivel you people call a language.”

Kopius shot a confused look at Cici–he had understood the man clearly. Trilic glared at Cici and snorted at him.

“I was asking your level 3 princess here if she wanted to dance,” Trilic growled at Cici.

Cici’s face lit up and he clapped his hands together.

“You leveled up!” Cici said gleefully to Kopius. “That is great news indeed!”

“But no,” he said, shifting his focus back to Trilic,” my boy, Kopius here, has danced enough for the night. Brizzl was kind enough to see to that.”

“What do you say, boy,” Trilic said pointedly to Kopius. “You had enough for the night?” His fist balled up and firmly pressed to the tabletop. Kopius looked back and forth between the snarling, pig-faced man and the smiling portrait that was Cici. He couldn’t help but notice the stark difference between the two men.

“What’ll it be!” Trilic said, pounding his hands on the table, startling Kopius.

“I think I have had my fill for one night, but thanks,” Kopius finally replied, lifting his mug with a slight toast to Cici and taking a sip. The angry pig men huffed but made no other threatening moves or gestures. Trilic stood up and addressed his companions.

“Follow these two!” he said to them with irritation. “I want to know how a level 3 nobody bested our level 19 enforcer!” The three other Cobs nodded in agreement. “And find out where Cici lays his head–it’s high time we show him who we are.” The Cob’s all laughed at that statement.

“Have a great night, boys!” Cici said with his mug held high after hearing his name.

The two men watched the Cob gather up Brizzl and head out of the tavern. Sloan left his place behind the bar to clean up the mess that had been left from the fight. Once that was done, the tavern returned to its usual noises, volumes and odors; leaving Kopius and Cici alone in their private booth.

“Now that was the brother of the Cob leader,” Cici said with a smirk.

“You’re not worried about them following us?” Kopius asked.

“Why would they follow us?”

“That dude Trilic literally told those other three to follow us. Weren’t you listening?” Kopius asked, confused.

“I only understand two languages, my boy: Common and Astral. Nobody speaks Astral, at least not anyone I’ve heard in a very long time. When those Cob-gobblers start talking their tongue, nobody understands a thing.”

“I clearly heard them say, follow these two,” Kopius said, gesturing to the both of them.

“You understood them?” Cici said with a look of surprise.

“Yes, I did. I have this Skill that allows me to understand different languages. I just can’t tell when they are speaking a different language and when they are speaking Common… unless I am staring directly at their lips.”

“That is a very useful Skill indeed,” Cici replied, rubbing his chin. “You should keep that to yourself… my friend,” he finished, using Astral to say the last part.

“Oh, we're friends now?”

“You do understand,” Cici said in amazement. “Can you speak the languages too?”

“No, I don’t think so. LIke I said, I don’t hear the actual language, it all sounds like Common to me.”

“That is too bad. Astral is a beautiful language, enough to swoon the coldest of hearts. So do tell, what else did the Cob have to say?”

“He wants to know how a level 3 defeated a level 19 and where you sleep at night. Something about you needing to be shown who they are.” Cici sat there and took in the information in silence. Kopius could tell the large man was considering his next move.

“I too would like to know that first part,” Cici finally said. “But before we get to that, we should probably leave while those boys are dressing down Brizzl. To be safe, we will head out through the back.” The two men finished what was left of their drinks and Cici led the way.