I needed to get stronger in order to protect my mother, I didn't want to face the same situation as Miudard. Not able to do anything but watch people die, not able to save them or fight back without certain death. The way to do that, was to become a paladin.

The most renowned force of humanity, feared by the demons and devils of the Demon Continent. In many of the wars, they, blessed with the flames of Helios, vanquished all evil that opposed them. One of them could easily wipe out an entire legion of the demon army.

My mother and I stayed at a local inn not too far from the main district, where most of the trade happened at. As she was a retired adventurer, a B class at that, we weren't charged for the stay.

Adventurers had many benefits. Ranging from F all the way to A, the Alligned Kingdom would provide freedoms such as not having to pay to enter areas, free to stay at certain-ranked inns, (inns are ranked from 1-star to 5-star) and even being up to requesting an audience with one of the kings of the Alliance.

When my mom and I entered the 3-star Falling Leaf Inn, the first thing that we were greeted by a warm, soft fragrance of nature.

"Smells nice in here, Selius! What do you think?"

"I think it's fine, mom."

She smiled and we walked over to the registration counter. I looked around at our surroundings.

It was about a 80 by 200 feet open, spacious room with many tables and chairs inhabiting it. People sat in them, laughing and drinking, and telling stories of different events that occured in their lives. It was lively here.

There was a man at the reception desk, and when we came to him, he smiled.

"Hello, it seems you are new here! Are you here to stay for the night?"

"Yes, indeed -- we'll be here for a while, can you tell me what rooms are available?"

My mother flashed her silver adventurer card at the receptionist. His eyes sparkled for a moment, and his smile seemingly became more lively.

"Of course! For you, we have a special room solely designed for adventurers like yourself. We have a two-bed room with magic-installed showers in the bathroom. With an open balcony, one is able to see the entire city and more from the view. This is the best open room we have as of now. There are others, but they are taken."

When I heard him describe the room we would be staying in, I was pleased. I couldn't wait to take a shower! I haven't stayed at a inn as well as this for a while, and cleaning yourself with cold water in a tub in Miudard just can't be compared with the warm water of a clean shower!

"That will suffice, thank you very much."

"My pleasure! We have food ready to be cooked anytime, so if you want to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner, just come down and our cooks will make you something to eat!"

We started to walk towards the stairs, and headed to the 3rd floor. The key have the number 36 on it, and the receptionist told us that the first digit (3) indicated the floor, while the second one (6) was the room number on that floor.

We walked down the hallway, reading the numbers on various wooden doors.

"1...2...3...4.."

We finally stopped at the number 6, and my mom inserted the key, turned the knob, and pulled it. She walked in, and I followed her.

The polished floor shined at us, reflecting the sunlight coming from the glass door that blocked the entrance to the open balcony. Silver-colored carpets covered most of it, and in the corner, a large, king-sized bed layed there. The room was about 30 by 50 feet, and magic-induced lights came to life as we walked inside. I closed the door on the way in.

"You can have this bed, I'll take the other one."

There was a wooden door engraved with silver on the opposite side of the bed, and my mom walked in it. I fell on the bed on my back.

I needed to rest my body for the upcoming day tomorrow, examinations would be held for the youths that aspired to join the Paladin Order of the Holy Temple. I also needed to tell my mom that I was going.

Time passed, and it was getting dark. We walked down to the lobby to get something to eat.

There were waiters that served us a dish that had cooked boar meat. The smell alone made my mouth water. There were two plates, for the both of us.

On them, nicely cut boar meat with a sauce poured over it. Herbs were sprinkled on top. I quickly finished my plate, and asked for seconds. My mother laughed, and knowing that I would be staying here for a while, told me that she would take the first shower and headed to our room.

After another five servings, I was finally stuffed to the brim. One of the cooks came out from the kitchen behind the reception desk and talked to a group of waiters standing near the reception something, and one of the waiters smirked and looked in my direction.

The chef followed his gaze and locked eyes with me.

"I am a chef of this fine establishment my good sir, Jorneuse Horduni! May I know your name?"

He walked up to me and asked, with his hands behind his back in an imposing manner. The waiter who pointed, and also served my food, stood behind him.

"The name's Selius, Selius Prax."

"Mr. Prax, if you may please do the honor, I request that you not order anymore than two servings; the supplies needed to entertain our other guests will be insufficient if everyone were to order more than enough amount of food for each person. Please understand, if you are to eat so much, other gluttonous people will follow suit and the entire supply will be gone before the rest of the people that wish to eat have their fill!"

He talked very quickly, spit flying everywhere.

I grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped my face with it. I looked around and saw many other people still eating their food, tables filled to the brim with plates of various sizes. He was obviously lying to me, and humiliating me infront of these people. Some glanced towards me, laughed, and turned back to what they were doing. My face slowly got hotter from my rising anger.

This cook, I am guessing is the one that cooked the food we were served.

It was good, but it wasn't even what we first ordered! We didn't pay it any attention, for we didn't want to make drama out of a situation that didn't really matter, the food was good anyways. Yet the plates that held the meal were but a third of the size of the same plate of the same dish that other people at other tables had!

My mother had a small appetite in the first place, so it didn't bother her much, but the only reason why I ordered five servings was because it was so small to barely fill in my teeth! I have a more than average sized appetite.

He was clearly and openly not giving me or my mother any face, and my hands began to shake in the anger that I felt towards this scrawny old man.

"If you would give us the same sized plate as other guests, I would not have to ask for more servings."

I barely managely to not scream in his face and surprisingly forged a sentence in a calm demeanor, but my eyes showed the frustration I was feeling.

"Same sized plate? Mr Prax, surely you jest!"

He made a look of surprise, and said to me:

"We only have one sized plate for our guests, and they are all the same! The only smaller plates we have are served to the pets that guests sometimes bring to our establishment. Surely that wasn't the case?"

He turned around, with a grin on his face, towards the waiter.

"I might have mixed them up, oh kind sir, do forgive this incompetent waiter. I will try my best for it not to happen again."

He emphasized the last word, clearly hinting that I would be given dog-plates to eat on every time I ordered food. He smiled and laughed with the chef, and he wasn't finished.

"There is another matter you should know, oh kind sir, I seem to have just now rembered that the cleaners forgot to wash the pet-plates for tonight! AHAHAHAHA!"

Their laughs became harder. They started to walk back towards the reception desk.

I instantly got up from my seat, knocking the chair down and pushing the table a bit away. My entire body felt like it was on fire, I could barely contain the rage I felt. 

This was going to be a long night.