Lodging

The man at the desk held a gentle smile. Greeting me he dipped his head down and started writing something. He looked like a foreigner—pale-skinned, with striking black hair and matching eyes. Not a common combination around here. 

He wore a black button-up shirt, though that was all I could make out with the desk obscuring the rest of him. 

"So you're the other new roommate huh." 

He suddenly stopped writing and stood up. He then neatly placed the sheet of paper atop of a stack of papers and placed his pen in a cup. 

"Hi, I'm Sakase Iseijin, looks like we're going to be roommates for a while." 

He extended his hand for a shake. I waited a second or two before shaking his hand. 

"I'm Brian Brigade."

"Nice to meet you Brian. Now if you would follow me."

The man named Sakase which had an odd ring to it led me back through the hallway to the other end. There were two doors, one at the end of the hall and another to my left. 

"You can choose the room you want. We'll be rooming with three total but since you're the second one here you get first dibs. You should settle in, then attend the orientation in the main assembly hall. It starts in a hour."

He checked his watch while telling me of the orientation time. After informing me of that he turned on his heel and went back to his room. I turned towards the doors and thought carefully. I wondered which of them had a window. 

Opening the door to my left I peeked inside. It was spacious, a typical four wall box. On the wall to my left stood a desk. Almost directly infont of me stood a chest of drawers. On it was neatly folded white linen on top of a white pillow. A little to the right of the chest was a bed. And not to far from the bed stood a heater.

I walked into the room taking it in. To my right was another door, curious I checked it out. Opening it showed something different my expectations. At first I thought it was a closet but opening it revealed that there was a small walk-in shower, a toilet and a sink. 

Above the sink hung a mirror. Compared to the bedroom the washroom was significantly smaller. After looking through the room I walked out and towards the other room. Opening the door I took a look inside. 

In it I found a room slightly smaller than the previous. But it had the same furniture. There was another door to my right of which I could only assume was another bathroom. And, to my pleasant surprise there was a window. Returning to the hall way I stood in thought. 

And after a second or two I grabbed my luggage from the hall walked in a room and closed the door. I chose the room with the window. 

Then I decided to make myself at home. I gathering my clothes from my bag and folded them into a neat pile and placing them in an organized manner on the various drawers in the chest.

Then I laid on the bed my whole body sprawled and stretching which felt nice and reviving. But I also felt drowsy. Before sleeping I should shower.

I pushed myself off the bed and opened the door leading to the washroom. Upon inspection, it was just like the other one.

Stripping down I stepped inside.

Three knobs were mounted on the wall. After a bit of trial and error, I quickly figured out how to use them—though their setup was quite different from what I was used to.

When I turned the knobs, the water started cold, then gradually warmed until it reached hotter temperatures. I adjusted them carefully until the heat and cold balanced just right.

Instinctively I tried reaching for something a thing that all washrooms should have. But soon after not finding it I realized.

"I need soap."

Without soap I couldn't properly clean myself. But for now this will have to do. After five minutes or so I stepped out of the shower.

I grabbed a piece of cloth one I took into the washroom with me and dried myself. While I was out traveling I often used this towel to dry myself.

After I finished wiping the last areas of my body that were wet I got dressed. And when I finished wearing my shirt a thought came to mind. Should I wash my clothes? 

Thinking about it, I still don't have any clothes that fit this school's requirements. I have another set in my bag and it's been about two days since I switched between the two. 

Currently I was wearing a sandy color shirt and black pants with some frays here and there. My other set was a bit nicer, a dark gray button up and another set of black pants but this pair was in better condition.

After careful thought I washed the dirty set of clothes. Even just washing them with water would be better than nothing, but I really need soap to thoroughly get rid of the grim and dirt. 

Soon I finished washing my clothes, so I set them to dry. Then I walked over to my bag, gathered a notepad and a pen and started jotting things down. 

"Ahh, let's see." 

I knew I needed to make a list of the things I needed. I started it off with soap. Then added 

"I need at least two new pairs of clothes matching the school's colors."

I thought of more things I would need. 

"Ahh thats right" 

I wrote down a large piece of white cloth. I will definitely need this later. After more deliberation I stopped there. If anything else came to mind I would just add it later.

I placed the pen down and went over my list. Soap, two sets of clothes, and a large piece of cloth looks good. I'll go out either later today or tomorrow to gather the needed items. 

I placed the notepad on the desk and walked past my bed to my bag lying against the wall. Going through it I found a hand sized pouch. I opened the poach and lifted it over my other hand. Coins feel down. 

A total of three Tyro. 

Two flipped on heads while the third was on tails. They had a outer ring colored green with a bronze center. The image of three swords crossing was the heads side and a tree on the tails. 

On my travels to the Bartholomew kingdom I came across a group of explorers. During my travels with them as well as some work back home, I manage to get a decent amount of Tyro.

In my hometown I would often see these coins along with Pyni.

Pyni, Tyro, and especially Telos from at least from what I've been told are the most prominent form of currency. It's even used on other lands far away.

Right now I have three, one Tyro is enough to last me a month. Splitting it into twenty five Pyni I can make cheap meals such as sandwiches, soups and such. 

After counting and verifying the amount I stood up but something fell to the floor with a loud thud. Looking at the source of the noise I was a pole wrapped in a white cloth. Picking up the heavy pole as it always has been, I paused. Then signed inwardly and started to unwrap the pole. 

A brilliant silver luster caught my eye, though patches of ordinary rock clung to it here and there. Standing about six feet tall, a surprisingly thin yet clunky pole rested before me.

It was formed from a raw material called Abzand—a rough piece of metal, riddled with bits of rock and other impurities.

I picked it up during my travels with that group of explorers. The leader of that lot—that bastard—destroyed my spear while "testing" it, breaking it in the process.

As some sort of apology, they handed me this clunky thing, as if it could make up for the loss. Now it's on me to figure out how to forge it into a proper weapon. Ha, it would have been better had they given me a proper replacement but alas.

I placed the pole down and took another deep sigh. I could already feel my respectable yet meager wealth disappearing.