Spoiler:

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"Baltigo, the land of white soil. It certainly doesn’t look as nice as it sounds," Dezzy said as he hauled his dinghy onshore. Prior to his arrival, he envisioned a majestic land filled with dandelions. To his dismay, what stood before him was a massive wasteland that gave off a rather nasty aura. That alone was enough for Dezrai to be on edge. Exhausted, he tossed a thin sheet over his dinghy so that he wouldn’t attract too much attention. He then peered at the autumn lit sky, and noticed a flock of birds circling above him. "I guess that’s my cue," Dezrai said as he started to walk in the general direction of the nearest attraction. He had gone three days without a decent meal, so one could imagine how hungry he might be.

After an hour or so of walking around aimlessly, Dezrai encountered a small town. It wasn’t the liveliest and it wasn’t the best looking, but it was a start. As he walked along the broken pavement, several people stared at him with a sour expression. "Jeez, what the hell is your problem? Haven’t you people seen another human being before? Fucking weirdos," Dezzy said in an irritated voice. Immediately, everyone around him continued to act as they were as if nothing had happened. With his hands in his pocket, Dezrai continued to walk along the pavement until he was stopped by a man in all black. "Hey, kid." the man in all black said with a deep, raspy voice. Confused, Dezzy looked around him thinking the man was talking to someone else. "Hey kid, over here." he said again. Dezrai followed the source of the voice into a dark alleyway.

"L-look kid, I-I-I’ll sell you this energy steroid for a low price. A-a-all it costs is a m-measly thousand beli," the man in all black said all gibberish like. "Thanks, but no thanks. All I’m really looking for is a nice place to eat and rest up for the night," Dezzy responded as he made his way back to the pavement. Desperately, the man in all black grabbed Dezrai by the arm and fell to his knees. "P-please, I need the cash. I-I’ll make it a hundred beli," he continued in the same gibberish voice. "For fuck sakes..here," Dezzy said as he pulled out his sac of coins. "Before I pay you, I need you to answer some questions. Why is everyone in this shitty town so weird? And where’s Red City?," he continued. "Y-y-you’re not from around these parts, n-no one likes an outsider. A-a-nd Red City is that way, you can’t miss it," the man in all black quickly responded as he pointed up ahead.

Dezrai continued onward to Red City, but before he hit the alley corner the man in all black yelled out from behind, "Hey, kid! A word of advice, don’t trust anyone," he hollered as he held up Dezzy’s sac of coins. "Fucking..when did you?!," Dezrai retorted. The man in black was long gone.

WC: 505