" Hey, you don't have to be so gloomy about it, I was just joking. I didn't mean to offend you....I'm Faust by the way. Faust , son of Daniel." said the young man as he extended his hand toward Vali. Vali also reluctantly extended his hand and introduced himself.

"My name is  Vali, son of Thomas."

"Hah, nice to meet you, Vali. Say, why are you so out of it? Did you eat something bad before commig here, or is there something else on your mind?"

Vali looked at the eager face of the young man and contemplated if he should say he was from another world and maybe get some answers,  but he quickly stopped himself. The residents of this world weren't as scientifically inclined as those of his previous world,  and the act of possessing another body was heretical. So he went with the next best option.

"No, it's just that it's been a while since I've had a drink. Say,  do you know where I can can get some alcohol around here?"

"Uhhh...." Faust paused for a second as he looked at the slightly trembling hand of Vali and internally shook his head. Still as reluctant as he was he showed Vali the way to the nearest stall. Running it was a thin and tall man with a goatee whipping a copper cup. Several bottles and some kegs were displayed on a shelf to his back, on the front a couple of stools.  Vali and Faust sat on one of then, and the man immediately put a cup in front of them.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Uhh, none for myself, but some honey mead for my friend here. "

"Understood."

The man poured something frangrant on the cup and Vali immediately gulped it down without even looking at it. The man raised an eyebrow as he turned towards Faust, and the later nodded. Another drink was poured and it was once again gulped down by Vali.

"Ahhhhh...that hits the spot. Thank you for that...I really needed a drink. " 

"Yeah I can see that. " smiled Faust " Still , I don't suggest you drink to much today as tomorrow is the day we delve into the dungeon,  and beeing drunk is not a good state to be in. "

Vali froze for a second , and then he slowly spoke up "Tomorrow is the delve!?" 

".......

Faust looked at Vali like he would at an ignorant  child." Don't tell me you didn't know that.  You're joking....right?" Vali shook his head and Faust sighed once again. " The delve is definitely tomorrow, how could you not know that? If you failed to show up tomorrow,  you would definitely have been imprisoned."

"I know...

"Yeah,  better not forget it then! "

".........

"Sigh....I'm sorry if I sounded rude, it's just that for someone to survive the dungeon, there is needed more than strength and skill. One of the most easiest ways to survive is to cooperate with someone else and survive until the time for 'expulsion' comes. Strength in numbers...."

Vali nodded as he looked at the empty cup in front of him and then at the bottle of mead behind the man. He wanted another one , but he was to ashamed to ask.

"If we cross paths on the dungeon we should definitely work with each other. Say, this is your first time going inside a dungeon isn't it?"

"How do you know?" 

"Instinct, or maybe intuition? Something like that, but the important thing is that you haven't received your first 'blessing of the gods' have you?"

Vali shook his head as the memories of what Faust was talking came rushing to his mind. This magical world was house to beings called God's  , but it was somewhat different from the gods of his old world. If on his world God's were often omnipotent and omnipresent,  the ones here were mostly a representation of an emotion, profession , or maybe a state of being. Most of them didn't have a physical representation on the world, but their impact was real. One of the things that was impacted was the rewards one got for daring to delve into the unknown.  A dungeon was dangerous,  but the ' blessing of the gods ' was something everyone wanted. It was simple, for entering a dungeon for the first time the gods bestowed upon you a skill. It could be as mundane as the knowledge of a farmer,  to something like predicting the future to a certain extent,  or even some esoteric knowledge. 

"Great,  then that means that you still have a chance. " said Faust as he looked towards Vali. He seemed to be examining him from top to bottom. From his perspective Vali was a naive young man around his age with a drinking problem , but his skill told him something was different. His skill was specific and had sometimes even led him to failure,  but life was a gamble, and he was taking one right now. " If you get a good skill then you may even get rich and famous,  but I suggest that you stay  safe on your first delve.

Anything can happen in there."