Roger and Lucas meet up at a bar to talk and drink.

Leap of Faith
Chapter 1, Part 2


The Slinky Rat is an old bar, built in the early 1980s, and somehow still running even today. Despite being a simple bar, a bouncer was standing out front, ready to allow or deny entry into the bar. When it is far easier to gain superhuman strength, bar fights tend to become far more hairy than ever before, especially if magic gets involved. It’s generally a bad idea to not hire a bouncer these days.

The bouncer in mind was a tall, muscular rhino man, easily 7’ tall, with a bodybuilder’s body. He’s the kind of man that men everywhere dream of becoming. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt, with black jeans and black boots. He had scars along his arms and torso, suggesting years of fights. On his left pec, he had a tattoo of a military insignia, showing that he used to be a gunnery sergeant. This man meant business.

Roger and Lucas arrive at the bar, walking up to the front door. The two ready their IDs for the bouncer to check. Lucas throws on a smile for the bartender. “Heya Rex!”

Rex nods to Lucas, and takes his ID, as well as Roger’s. After examining them, he hands them back and opens the door. The two smile and enter the bar.

The bar’s interior could be described as rustic, with wooden walls and flooring. The place didn’t have proper AC, thanks to its cheap owners, and instead they opted for ceiling fans and windows. Due to the winter weather, those weren’t running, and instead a few gas heaters were running to keep the place heated. No higher than 68 degrees, however. There was a radio, playing the local classic country station. Johnny Cash’s A Boy Named Sue was blaring for the umpteemth time, much to the dismay of Roger. The man did not enjoy country music in the slightest. The only other patron in the bar other than them was a tall, red scaled dragon, off in a corner watching sports on the television.

Roger and Lucas walk up to the counter up front and stand around, awaiting the barkeep. The wolf turns to face Lucas and asks, “So why the Slinky? There are better bars up north, man.”

Lucas shrugs. “Close by, and plus the drinks are cheap.”

Roger couldn’t argue with that. He wasn’t a drinking man, himself, but a decent wine would help him forget about the pain in his chest.

The bartender came up shortly after. Darrell Dawson was a short, sketchy looking rat man, with deep brown fur, wide eyes and an unforgiving stare. The shyster meant well, but he was undeniably sleazy. He was wearing a simple white button up, with a black vest over it, and khaki pants below. Darrell also had a cheap pair of dress shoes, beat up and worn from years of wear and tear.

“How can I help ya?” His voice was rough, thanks to being a heavy smoker since he was 13.

Lucas speaks up first. “I’ll take a couple shots of bourbon.”

Roger thinks a bit, before asking, “How about a bit of blueberry wine, if you got any?”

Darrell turns around to grab a bottle of bourbon and another of wine. He turns around and pours a couple shots for Lucas, and then a small glass of wine for the wolf. Once the drinks are poured Lucas hands Darrell some cash for the drinks. “Don’t worry Roger, it’s on me.” Roger and Lucas take their drinks and head over to a nearby table to drink. Big Iron by Marty Robbins starts to play on the radio. Roger internally groans, having heard that tune more times than necessary on one of his shooter games.

Roger takes a sip of his wine, wincing at the strong alcohol taste. He hated the taste of alcohol, but he didn’t want to be rude to Lucas. “Thanks for saving me back in the Southern Plains, by the way. What were you doing in the area anyway?”

Lucas gulps down his first shot, groaning. “Well I was needing Chimera teeth for a new potion recipe I recently discovered, so I figured I’d head down and take a few down. The trick is to use ice spells on them, they can’t handle ice well.”

The wolf smiles at that tip. “Huh, alright! Thanks for the tip.” Another swig of wine and Roger can already feel that warm feeling around his ears.

“And what about you, wolf? Those beasts are mighty strong for a newbie adventurer.” Lucas starts to purr lowly as the alcohol starts to kick in.

Roger decides to wait a bit before drinking the rest of his wine. “Well, I’ve been participating on an online forum for adventurers, FreeRoam.net. The guys there suggest that to prove yourself, a fight with a chimera is the perfect test for newbies like me. They’re tough, but can be brought down if you think smartly, or are just a mad powerhouse.”

Lucas chuckles. “Ahh, those forums can be a great bastion of information. Though do be careful, sometimes people put misleading information on them.”

The grey wolf nods his head. “Doesn’t surprise me, it’s like that pretty much anywhere on the Internet. Pretty despicable, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so I try to browse smart.”

The leopard nods his head, grabbing his other shot and drinking it down in one quick gulp. He sets the glass down. “Mhm. Just try to be careful out there, buddy. Adventurin’ is a hard lifestyle to pick up. Lotta guys like you go out there underprepared and wind up hurt or killed.”

Roger grabs at his chest, which had by now scarred up. “I owe you one though. I’d probably be lunch by now if it weren’t for you.”

Lucas smiles wide, shrugging. “Don’t mention it. Though if you insist, perhaps you could do something for me.”

Roger perks up, his tail starting to wag. “Oh? What is it?”

The large leopard sets his shot glasses to the edge of the table. “Well simply put, there’s a dungeon I’d like to explore. Supposedly it’s got some relics inside, specifically a mythril sword. Shit’s harder than any other metal on the planet. I’m taking up sword-fighting classes, trying to learn how to use a sword in combat. If you help me get that sword, I’ll let you have any of the relics inside that temple, and we can consider ourselves even.” He holds a paw out, grinning wide. He uses his other paw to brush a few strands of hair out of his eyes. “Deal?”

“Sure, why the hell not?” He grabs Lucas’ paw with his own and shakes it, then grabs his wine and chugs the rest down. This is exactly what he had wanted to do! The dungeons were always very tempting to him, but he was scared that he would wind up too badly hurt to return to adventuring.

Roger stands up and stretches gently. “When do you wanna do this?”

Lucas follows suit, grabbing the shot glasses, and Roger’s glass, and walking up to the bartender, handing them over. “How about next Saturday? Should give you enough time to rest up and get prepared.” The leopard walks over to the wolf and pulls out a pen, grabbing a napkin and writing his phone number onto it before handing it to Roger. “Here’s my number, text me if you have any questions. See ya later, Roger!”

The wolf takes the napkin and quickly pulls his phone out to save it into his contacts. “Take it easy, Lucas!” Deep down, Roger knew that he had made the right decision to get out of bed that morning.