It was only when the fall of tears and the rise of smoke both came to pass that Nedoma stirred from his position at the edge of the street. Rubbing his eyes clear, his body attempts to resist as he slowly rose to his feet. Staring at the figure of the setting sun, Nedoma decided he wanted today to end sooner. He asked a passing stranger where he might find somewhere to rest, specifically asking for somewhere cheap. The stranger responded with two places, “Returner's Inn” and “Stone's Barracks”. Based on how loud the former had been when Nedoma ate there, he opted for the latter and began to head in the direction the stranger mentioned.
The complex seemed impressively large to Nedoma as he arrived. It seemed to be built completely out of stone, looking two levels high. Apparent from the front, there appeared to be a separate side for men and women. In the middle separating them was a small protruding building which shared more resemblance with a small guard post than the front desk for an inn. On three of its sides it had windows, each manned by a single person. The windows on the sides faced each of the entrances, while the middle one faced outwards towards the street.
Nedoma headed toward the middle window. As Nedoma approached, the man continued to glare at him until he was right in front of the counter
“Hello..” Nedoma said, sounding much more tired than he had expected. “Is this the, um, Stone's Barracks?” he asked. The man stood silent, his only movement was the nodding of his head in affirmation after a brief moment. “Ah, good.” Nedoma mustered a smile as best as he could. “Do you have any rooms available? Just for tonight.”
The man replied with a simple “Hmmm...” as he appeared to think. Nedoma watched as he flipped through a book that sat beneath his gaze, occasionally casting glances at Nedoma. Nedoma could feel himself getting sleepier just watching this man. After some time, the man flipped back to the beginning of the book. “Sorry kid, looks like all the spots are full. You'll have to go find some other place that has room for you.”
Nedoma's exhausted eyes briefly widened to signify his surprise. With a reluctant nod of his head, he said “Alright. Thank you for checking. Have a nice night.” before departing. Nedoma, now feeling tired after yet another disappointment, resigned himself to just occupying some corner inside his guild hall. He wondered what sort of consequences he would face were the guild master to return while he was sleeping there. Just as he was leaving the vicinity of the barracks, he spotted what looked like a fellow adventurer heading towards his previous destination. Nedoma caught his attention and said “If you're going to Stone's don't bother, they've got no rooms left.” The man furrowed his brows as his head recoiled back in disbelief as Nedoma continued to shuffle his feet past him, not waiting for any further reaction or response.
At the guild hall, Nedoma searched around for things he could use to make something that could at least pass as a distant relative of a bed. In the lowest floor, he found some satchels hidden away beneath some of the armor. He took one as an accessory for himself, and then stacked the remainder next to each other to make something resembling a pillow. After removing his equipment, he leaves on only his shirt and undergarments. Finding nothing particularly good enough to cover himself with, he settles his head down on the satchels and does his best to relax. Releasing a drawn out sigh, he is done with today.
Nedoma rubs his back as he mumbles to himself about the hard floor. After putting his equipment back on, he heads up to the second floor, where it remains unchanging and unoccupied barring him. His lifeless eyes stare at the book in front of him, questioning whether reading what the priest would likely call “The Manual of Sin,” would help him. It's not like I had any say in the matter... Nedoma thought to himself as he began to practice his writing once more. After a few hours of this, he would head to the inn to grab a meal. Nedoma became profoundly aware of additional attention and glances being thrown at him as he silently ate alone. Even the waiter, who seemed to have been friendly during his first visit, seemed much more distant now. Nedoma did his best to avoid pursuing the topic. Maybe I look sad or something. I certainly am...
After his meal around lunch time, Nedoma would return to his temporary home. After reading through the book a bit more, he would then take a short nap. When he woke up, he would try practicing swinging his sword while using his shield based on exercises and training outlined in the beginner book. The tiring and monotonous swinging was only bearable thanks to the imagination of a certain holy figure obstructing those hits. Once he was physically tired from all his training, he would then return to practicing writing with whatever energy he had recovered over the period of time. By this point he would be both sufficiently drained in mana and physically, and he would then head out for dinner, returning to the same inn. Finally, he would come back to the guild where he would read a little more before going to sleep. This schedule quickly became Nedoma's daily routine.
And Nedoma was content with this daily routine, until a trivial comment awakened him to the possibility something was wrong. He had been finishing his dinner at the inn one night when he overheard what should have been a mundane conversation between a man and a woman.
“Mmm, sweety, do you know what day it is tomorrow?” the woman slyly asked.
“Uhh, our party's day off?” The man replied.
“Hmm, don't tell me you've forgotten..”
The man chuckled. “I know, I know. It's the nineteenth, our one month anniversary! I was saving it for tomorrow, but I guess I can give it to you now...”
“Ooh, a necklace!”
Nedoma tried to tune out the rest of the couples flirting as he waited for the waiter to collect his payment. He started counting the remainder of his money. That five silver won't last forever huh? Tomorrow's the nineteenth, so based on how many days it's been, I have enough money fo-...wait a minute. Nedoma felt like something was amiss. Nineteenth...why does that feel strange...!!! Nedoma nearly jumped up from his seat as the waiter arrived, who flinched back at Nedoma's sudden energy.
“Sorry.” Nedoma quickly apologized. “Five coppers like always, right?” The waiter slowly nodded his head. Nedoma placed five coppers in the waiter's hand and began to run back towards the guild. Nedoma kept trying to remember the exact day which the letter he had been greeted with upon his arrival promised the guild master's return. When he arrived and reread the letter, his suspicions were affirmed. It does say the eighteenth. Nedoma was now worried. Where is that Pardi person? Where is Zin? I should have at least seen one of them by now.. Despite being fairly proficient with his writing now, Nedoma had been delaying learning any actual magic or skills. The book had mentioned that learning by repeated example, meaning watching someone use a skill repeatedly, appeared to be the most efficient way of learning magic.
Now, Nedoma was wondering if that would even be possible. Could something have happened to them? If they're both missing, what am I supposed to do? Nedoma leaned back in his usual chair, trying to think of what to do. “Maybe the Adventurer's Guild will have more information?” he thought aloud. Nedoma decided that since it was late, he would head there tomorrow morning to see if they have any insight. I guess I needed to go there anyway. Nedoma took off his equipment and laid his head on the makeshift pillow, feeling slightly annoyed as his head barely sank in. As he stared at the ceiling while trying to fall asleep, he worried whether he had what it takes to be a true adventurer.
