Stefan deeply sighed, walking over to a nearby tree and planted his head against it. He had never done any of this before in their previous shifts.
Michael thought about his secret alternative. He reached deep in his backpack and pulled out something shiny. A bottle labeled with markings to indicate that it was not for child consumption.
Stefan hugged the tree and mumbled words that didn't make any sense.
Michael handed him the booze. "Look."
He slowly turned over, trying to figure out what was in Michael's hand. After watching the sunlight reflect off the bottle, he let out a small chuckle.
"It took a while to sneak this in," Michael admitted. "I managed to get it past Ellis when he wasn't looking. I know he's trying to punish you for fighting that guy but you saved my life, so, here's my thanks to you."
Stefan chuckled again almost like he was relieved. "You little rascal."
"It's the least I can do, right?"
"That's right, kid," he grabbed the booze as he slid down the tree. "Don't you think I'll ever forget this."
Michael watched him pop open the bottle and drink away. Although this was morally wrong in all the ways, it was at least comforting to watch Stefan return back to his old self. His withdrawals were definitely the reason why he was acting so differently.
He wiped his mouth, happily chuckling to himself.
Michael sat slightly across from him.
"You got the cheap kind," he showed the bottle. "This is one of the worst."
"I didn't know, sorry—"
"Don't mind it, kid, I imagine you were on the tip of your toes walking past Ellis with this inside your bag."
Michael nervously laughed.
He looked up to the sky. "I could've gone a few more days. Any more than that then I might've killed someone."
"Wait, so it wasn't the booze that was making you weird?"
"Making me weird?" he scoffed. "What are you talking about? I was starting to think you were enjoying the silence. I don't talk to you and all of a sudden you think I'm weird."
Michael felt guilty. "Sorry—"
"Stop apologizing, kid, you're making yourself look weak. I don't want you apologizing to me in the first place anyways."
Michael watched him finish the bottle within less than a minute. Normally, he would move onto the second one but Michael wasn't that brave enough to sneak in another. It was already suspicious how heavy his backpack was limping, he wasn't even sure if he could fit another bottle.
Stefan tossed the bottle aside. "Should keep me going from now."
"Could I ask you something?"
He looked at him.
"Why does everyone have to hate you? Ellis and Mave, even if they're in the party, they only talk to you because you're strong—"
He made a buzzing sound. "Wrong, Ellis and Mave only talk to me because they tolerate me. I imagine if I was in some other party they would try to drown me alive or kill me in my sleep."
"But…didn't you start adventuring with Ellis? When you two met, did he also hate you at first?"
"Did you hate me when you first met me?"
"Umm…kind of?"
He snorted. "Then, what do you think of me now?"
"I think you're my friend. You got me inside your party and helped me learn lots of things. You also saved me from that drunk guy that tried to kill me too."
Stefan smiled. "What about Mave?"
"She's strong."
"You don't like anything about her?"
"No—I didn't," Michael stammered. "Are you going to tell her about this?"
"I'm kidding," Stefan chuckled. "She's not the type of woman to give a damn about what other people think of her."
Michael remembered what people said about Stefan. "But, what about you?"
"About me?" he stared off. "I used to. Back then, yeah, it was terrible. It's not a great feeling, believe me."
"What happened?"
Stefan looked at him as if he was warning Michael into prying into something sensitive.
Michael knew there was some past between Stefan and the other adventurers. They didn't hate him because of how he acted or how easily drunk he became, it was because of something that happened before. Michael knew it was wrong for him to ask for secrets when he had one of his own but he felt that these adventurers hated him for the most senseless reason.
If they hated Stefan because of his drinking habits, then the entire Adventuring guild should have their license revoked.
Stefan had talents greater than any adventurer. He was already a formidable sword fighter and could blast away foes with his sword which Michael didn't even know was possible until now. It was just screwed up that people thought he was something lower than a noisy adventurer.
Michael just wanted to understand the situation between the guild and Stefan's reputation. If it was so bad, neither Mave or Ellis didn't even bother to tell Michael.
Stefan propped his head against the tree. "You want to know this badly?"
Michael noticed his dreary face again. "You…don't have to tell me—"
"No, you should know. I assume you're the only person in the guild that doesn't know her."
"Her?"
"We aren't the only guild that specializes in adventuring, kid, there's more than you can count. The Adventuring guild is just one of them that's more welcome and friendly."
Michael thought that was a blatant lie.
"Right now, there's the top five that's been ruling across Wilmere. People in those guilds are the ones you don't wanna mess with."
"Are they stronger than you?"
"Who knows," he snorted. "They're definitely strong, but I'd like to think we're on the same level."
"Where's the Adventuring guild ranked then?"
"We're ranked eighth place, out of ten guilds that currently exist inside Wilmere. The Adventuring guild is just nothing but people looking to break away from their boring commercial life."
Michael frowned. "Do we really suck that much?"
Stefan's face washed with uncertainty. "No, we never sucked this much. We were never meant to suck."
"Really?"
He looked at Michael. "You sure you've never heard of her? Cerra Harper, does the name not ring any bells?"
Michael thought the name sounded familiar. "No, not really."
"I guess I really do have to explain everything to you."
Michael decided to stay quiet for time Stefan talked.
"She was the captain of the Adventuring guild," he said. "We used to be ranked third place out of everyone just because of her. The people admired her, she was famous through Wilmere, and was even recognized by some of the officials. She was the shining beacon of hope that everybody wanted to be, a hero, and she was my teacher."