A Bloodied Drink Makes A Story

'That was fun.' I think to myself whilst looking at the corpse of the pale orc before me.

"He was supposed to be the leader of the undead marauders?" I ask out loud, not impressed by his resistance.

Well, at least they won't pose a problem anymore. If this guy could become their leader, I would be surprised if their entire gang could take me down. Let's just stay and rest here until this preselection is finished. A body count of 62 seems good enough, and I can't be bothered to chase anymore.

"Unless, of course, you're going to fight me!" I yell out to the demon at the end of the street. He isn't really hiding, but he also doesn't seem eager to announce his presence.

The demon that I called out walks towards me, weapons not drawn, as I don't notice any fighting intent.

"Hello there." I say towards the demon as I use some blood magic to clean my clothes.

"Greetings, it seems you don't wish to continue fighting." He says in this solemn and defeated tone.

Taking a closer look, I see a man in some sort of reptilian armor mixed with obsidian. It looks enchanted as I can see little runes carved across them. The gray-skinned man has black eyes and the same color hair. Both seem unnaturally dark, however, almost like you can get swallowed by them. Red markings are prominent on his face, but I don't sense any magical essence coming from it. At first glance, you wouldn't think that he would be some sort of knight. He's rather skinny and doesn't have any scarring that I'm aware of. Then again, the 2 swords in their hilts do beg to differ.

"I guess, but exceptions can always be made." I answer the stranger, giving him a glance that shows my wariness and intent to fight if things go south.

The demon clearly notices my intent as he sits himself down next to me. Showing that he truly doesn't intend to fight.

"I'm Uzarai, what's your name?" He asks me in a bid to try to start a conversation.

"Don't really have one." I respond whilst struggling to get the bloodstains off my clothes.

'This is why I don't wear expensive clothes.' I complain in my head.

"Seems complicated to live without a name." The demon responds, making himself rather comfortable, as he seems to be making a mattress of the opponents I killed.

"People tend to call me whatever they like anyway." I say thinking about a certain person wearing a top hat.

"Do you have a preference in what they call you?" He asks, whilst seemingly looking for a softer body to use as a pillow.

"Not really." I answer as I point out one of the larger opponents I killed, aiding in his dilemma.

"You use a spear, right?" He asks whilst making his way towards the corpse I pointed out. Seemingly satisfies, he manages to complete his "bed".

"I do." I answer, figuring out that he probably already saw me use it.

"I'm going to call you spear bearer then if that's alright." He announces and asks at the same time.

"That's fine by me." I answer, satisfied with the chosen title.

"You've been busy." He says, pointing out all my fallen opponents.

"No of them were really that strong. You shouldn't be impressed." I answer whilst grabbing some "wicked blossom" from my shadow. Uzarai seems also eager to have a drink as he tries to look at me with puppy dog eyes. This doesn't really work, as his pitch-black still seems capable of devouring me. Ignoring his "innocent" attempt, I decided to throw him a bottle anyway.

"So why are you participating?" He asks me in a satisfied, curious tone.

"Two reasons, I'm obligated under contract and two it's the best way to get what I want." I say, feeling surprisingly comfortable talking with this unknown demon.

'I didn't really expect that I would be drinking with some demon surrounded by people I killed.' I think to myself, seeing that a lot of surprises have happened to me.

"What about you?" I ask, trying to know more about my new drinking buddy.

"I'm also under contract, just not voluntarily." he answers in a careless and bitter tone. Uzarai turns away as he shows me the backside of his neck. A marking of a chain and a lock could be seen. It seems to be a ritualistic marking, probably aiding in this involuntary contract.

"What's that supposed to be?" I ask, hoping for clarification.

"It's an enslavement seal." He answers surprisingly nonchalantly.

"Seems like a big deal," I reply, not really sure what to say.

"I got tricked into it. I was mortally wounded in battle, and a devil used that chance to bend my will and force me to sign it." He says after he chugged his entire bottle of wine.

"That sucks, but you seem to be stronger than your master. Can't you just kill him?" I ask, remembering that Eli killed her "master."

"That could have been a possibility if he didn't use my sister's blood in the contract." He says his emotions getting clearer because of the alcohol he consumed.

"wow." I mutter under my breath as I didn't expect to hear such personal issues.

'We have only known each other for like 5 minutes.' I think to myself, not sure how to respond to this almost complete stranger's traumatic past.

"My sister was also wounded in the battle. Thus, he used my blood to seal her contract and her blood to seal mine. Now if one of us kills our enslaver, the other one dies." He says whilst beckoning me to give him more alcohol. I decided to oblige, thinking that he knows his own limit better than I. This time giving him "Golden tongue", it's more of a whiskey than a wine.

I'm perplexed as I see him down it in one go. His cheeks turn red, which makes me realize something.

'This guy is a total lightweight, isn't he.' I think to myself, noticing that he's struggling to keep himself sitting straight.

"yo-yo-you-you-yo-you kn-know-kn-kno....." are the only things he manages to mumble out of his mouth before falling asleep.

"Is it even possible for alcohol to get someone drunk so quickly?" I ask out loud as I wait next to this drunk mess of trauma for the preselection to finally end.