Sever stood on the Briss Kingdom docks and took in a deep breath of the salty air.The saline bits stuck in his nostrils and tingled slightly as he shook himself off and stretched a bit after sitting in a rowboat for so long. Sea travel was not one of his particular favorite things, and it was a rather new occurrence for him. He hadn’t left the Lvneel kingdom in all his years of living until just a few months ago, and the crew he was now a part of had yet to procure an adequate ship for himself, nor a slew of subordinates to sail it for them. Sever wondered often if it had truly been a good idea to leave the comforts of his home turf, but the lure of more exorbitant wealth was too tempting for him, so he now found himself here nonetheless. Now he had found himself joining a pirate crew as well, something that he certainly hadn't planned on when setting out from the North Blue. Sever didn't have any intention of giving up on expanding his business however, and he would continue to make a side profit as he traveled with his new crew mates.

He was feeling both nervous and excited about the new prospects available to him, but first he needed to rest a bit. His body still ached from stress, and he envied the energy of his two more youthful crew mates. The recent excitement regarding the fish men had left him quite exhausted, and a long rest was just what was necessary for him. He started off down the cobble paved road, his head hanging low between his shoulders and his hands jammed into his jacket pockets as he pushed past the bustling crowds of people in his way. Sever had no interest in sharing common courtesy with these fools unless absolutely necessary, and he only wanted to find an inn where he could rest for the day and through the night. After that, he’d be able to begin preparations for starting his operations.

It didn’t take Sever long to find a place to rest for the evening, and he quickly paid his tab while signing in under the name “Sebastian Lewitz”, for no particular reason other than to write someone’s name that wasn’t his own. There were people in this world who lie for a purpose, and those who lie for no reason but to lie, and Sever was a bit of both. He proceeded up to his room with his black suitcase in hand and the Ruhig Dorn adorned on his waist, ready to relax and let his aching muscles rest for a short while. He dropped everything he was holding, his blade, before locking the door and turning back to the bed. The enticing layers of pillows called to him, and he dove in without a second thought. Several hours later he awoke to the sound of squeaky wheels rolling outside his room, and he assumed the maid must be outside. Feeling more rested, and seeing that the sun was just about to set, Sever rose up out of bed and brushed himself off. He then picked up his suitcase and opened it up, taking out a much longer black coat than the one he had been wearing earlier. Donning that, and then concealing the Ruhig Dorn beneath it, Sever headed out to gather some information.

The sun was just setting, and Sever could see a portion of the sky turning a tinge of violet, signaling the coming of night. That was perfect for him, as not only could he move without much notice, the type of people he was trying to get into contact with would be out as well. Having been part of this world for a great deal of time in his own homeland, he was fairly certain he knew of good avenues to start with. Shady places of business like gambling parlors and taverns were often fronts for the drug trade, and if they weren’t, there were likely those who knew where to obtain some narcotics among those in such establishments. With that in mind, he headed towards the less savory parts of town where he could conduct his investigation more easily. As he started to get into the more impoverished neighborhoods of the town, he spotted a group of shady looking characters in the alley that were chatting in a hushed tone. Sever didn’t approach them immediately for fear of scaring them off, and instead he chose to hang back and wait for them to split apart.

It was only a few minutes before the rest of the group split off from one man and they went their separate ways. Sever concluded that that one man might very well be a distributor for someone, and it would likely be very valuable to hear what he had to say. With that in mind, the tall man in the inky black coat walked silently along the opposite side of the street several meters back, careful not to alert the other man to his presence. He didn’t want him tipped off to quickly, or he might find some assistance before Sever caught up. As a rather cowardly yet competent fighter, Sever didn’t want to be faced with fighting multiple opponents at once, and he’d rather corner the seemingly weaker man alone where he could be intimidating. Sever didn’t want to tail him for long though and, after the man turned a corner, he started to close the distance between them without hesitation. The streets seemed to be rather empty in this area, and it was only himself and his target as far as Sever could tell. Doing his best to conceal his presence and darted into an alleyway that would allow him to cut off the supposed dealer.

Using his superior agility, Sever sprinted down the alleyways and stopped as he was about to come out on the street that the man was still heading down. He waited for a moment, until the unsuspecting man came right up to the alley way. Sever then popped out suddenly, facing the man with a sinister smile on his face. The pursued man was visibly surprised when Sever popped out in front of him, and he looked behind him nervously when the tall and pale man approached. “Hello there.” Sever said warmly, sauntering up a bit closer to the shorter and younger man. “Who the fuck are you?” The man asked, backing away and seemingly reaching into his pocket for something. “I’m nobody you need to worry about, I just wanted to know a bit more about you actually.” Sever replied calmly, edging closer and closer to the man. As he drew near, the other man pulled a flintlock pistol out of his jacket and pointed it at Sever. “I asked you a fucking question, man.” He answered shaking, the barrel of the gun stuttering back and forth with his hand.

Sever was hardly afraid of such a gesture, and rather than backing away or giving an answer, he quickly drew his own blade and immediately lodged it in the barrel of the man’s gun. Sever could see the frightened man try to jerk back in surprise, but it was to no avail. With a simple flick of his wrist, Sever sent the gun flying off to the other edge of the street, and he then closed in once again, this time with the tip of his blade at the other man’s chest. “I find your question irrelevant. As the one who holds your life in his hands, I believe I have the honor of choosing what is relevant to the conversation. Now why don’t you tell me who you work for? I would find that, incredibly relevant.” Sever said, uttering the last two words as if they gave him some sort of sadistic pleasure. The man was visibly shaken from the quick turn of events, and in some sort of survivalist panic, he turned and started to run. Sever sighed as he noticed that, and with a quick thrust he gouged the man’s ankle before twisting his blade and letting the blood run freely from the wound. “Now if you hadn’t run, I wouldn’t have had to do that.” Sever said in a disappointed tone, flicking the blood from his blade as the man writhed in pain on the ground. “You better start talking, you’ll need medical attention quickly.” He said matter of factly, causing the man on the ground to scramble to a seated position facing Sever as quickly as he could.

“You got it man, just don’t hurt me anymore. Please.” The man said desperately, holding his wound closed with his grip as he started to answer Sever’s question. “I dunno the name of who I work for, she just has some thug bring me the stuff to sell every couple weeks. All I know is that they call her “The Young Miss”, and that the word is she lives in some posh place uptown. That’s it, I swear. They don’t tell the street guys like me nothing.” He said, trying desperately to convince Sever that his words were true. Luckily for him, Sever was inclined to believe him, and in hopes of keeping a good relationship with this Young Miss, he decided it would be better not to kill the random thug he’d just incapacitated. “Alright, that’s enough. Start crawling now and you might find someone to bandage you up before you bleed to death.” Sever said, sheathing his blade and turning around. He walked calmly down the street to the sound of a dying man scrambling to his feet and limping along the walls of the buildings lining the street. It sounded quite humorous, and he gave a slight chuckle as he continued on his way.

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