A golden hue shone through the shades of the room’s window, onto Kyran’s sleeping face. It was morning. A particularly bright morning, in Kyran’s eyes. Well, his now half-opened, absolutely hungover eyes with photophobia.

“Ugh, go away sun,” he whined.

The festivities had gone on well into the night, the two eventually having joined a bonfire and drinking ale for the first time as legal adults. That was a fun new experience at first, but Kyran was now regretting the sixth round of drinks. Or was it the seventh? Either way, Kyran was in no mood to be productive for the day. Nor were his eyes in any mood to adjust to the bright early morning. Neil on the other hand…

“Rise and shine, K! We’ve got a big day ahead of us! Well, maybe not as big a day as yesterday but arguably more important.”

Kyran had a throbbing headache, which Neil’s excitement definitely didn’t help to calm down. He threw his hand back in a dismissive motion, saying, “That’s bullshit. This is bullshit. Don’t give me that ‘every new day is the most important day’ crap.” He planted his face into his pillow, muffling his voice. “My head hurts, give me, I dunno… 3 hours?”

“Be that as it may, you’re still getting up. We’ve got to be on the train home in an hour. Now that we know we’re going to be adventuring, we need to start preparing. And telling our families. That one’s more for you, though. My folks kind of expect it.”

“Do I have to go, though? You can just pretend I’m there with you. Talk with your hand and say something gloomy about how the forge doesn’t resonate with you like it does with your dad. No one will be able to tell the difference,” Kyran replied, having not budged.

“We both know that won’t work, if only because you actually do like smithing.” Then, after a pause, “Fine, have it your way, do whatever you want,” Neil conceded. He started to gather his things and walk for the door. “I wonder if that pork belly vendor is still there,” he said to nobody in particular.

Kyran turned and gave Neil an unamused look and narrowed his eyes.

Sly dog. How could he use my one weakness against me so casually like that?

Kyran relaxed his face, took a deep breath and sighed.

“Fiiiine, I’m up. But if there’s no pork belly, you owe me big time.”

He started to gather his own stuff, realizing now would be the perfect time to assess the extent of his [Medium Inventory] ability. At first glance, the number of items that inventory abilities could hold seemed very limiting. After all, a paltry sum of 10 items could barely even hold all the materials required to set up a tent. Not to mention this was just for [Medium Inventory], which was a much less common ability than even the [Small Inventory] that an {Explorer} had access to. So, with such a small amount of storage, how could it possibly be useful?

Well for one, it could store sufficiently large or heavy items that couldn’t reliably be carried over long distances. For example, while someone could wear their plate mail through 30 miles of forest trail, why would they if they had the option not to? The ability to lighten the load for long distance travel even a little bit was extremely handy.

On a similar note, an inventory was particularly useful for storing items of great value that the owner didn’t want transported out in the open. It was common for those of nobility or high wealth to hire a porter to transport paintings, vases, jewels, or other high-value items. The relative anonymity of the service made it a reliable option. Unless someone already knew what was being transported, and by whom, they’d have no idea what was in a given person’s inventory.

The most important caveat about inventory abilities, though, was that the number of items it could hold acted more like a number of slots that items could be stored in. If [Medium Inventory] could truly only hold 10 items, then Kyran would only have ten 10-credit coins stored in his inventory, and would have to carry a bag of their remaining 90 credits somewhere along his belt. However, since it worked more like a slot to store items in, it could hold a bag that contained similar items within it. This meant that all 190 Imperial Credits and the coin pouch itself could be stored using only one space within the inventory.

This, however, begged the question: what was the limitation on putting items in bags? If the inventory recognized any bag and its contents as one item, then couldn’t Kyran just get a huge bag to store a majority of the stuff they needed on their travels and only take up one slot? Or did the items in the bag have to be similar enough or have a similar theme in order to be stored? Luckily, he didn’t have to ponder for long, as he could just test his knapsack with various necessities. A change of clothes, a hair comb, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. A map of the Muller Kingdom and greater Morgan Empire. Not necessarily similar items, or at least dissimilar enough that the inventory ability could distinguish them if it had the capability to. Kyran attempted to store the whole bag and was pleasantly surprised when it worked without a problem.

With that out of the way, there was one last thing he wanted to test, but that required some food.

Kyran and Neil sat down across from each other in a train compartment, others beginning to shuffle onto the train after them.

“I can’t believe you spent 40 credits on pork belly,” Neil started, exasperated.

“I need to test whether or not the inventory preserves the temperature of food,” Kyran answered back, not at all concerned.

“Okay, but that’s 10 POUNDS of meat. If it doesn’t actually keep it hot, you just wasted two nights of sleep at the average inn.” He sighed, “The moment we find someone else with an inventory, they control the funds.”

Kyran just smiled back at him.

It didn’t take long for the train to fill up with people, many of them returning back to their villages after having awakened their systems. And yet, many of those still would return to the capital in six days to undergo their apprenticeships.

The train quickly became rowdy as people took their seats. While the night before was for celebration, the day after was when everything really settled in for most of the newly awakened. Many found a need to discuss their new system with others; communication being a way to release some of the excitement bubbling up within them. The world was now filled with exciting new possibilities for each and every one of them. Even if they didn’t get the system they were dreaming of, just having one was enough for the most of them. Most of the general public didn’t usually have delusions of grandeur, after all.

While everyone else was absorbed in conversation, Kyran was lost in thought yet again. He was anxious, and he found that amusing in a way. Twenty-four hours earlier, he was sitting in a train car, uncertain about his future and worrying about the system he would receive. That problem had been solved, as he had not only received a non-craftsman system, but a Unique one at that. One that he didn’t truly even comprehend the power of right now. So all his worries should be gone, right?

Unfortunately, his concerns had simply shifted focus. Now he was sitting in a similar train car, apprehensive about actually taking the leap into adventuring. He’d told himself he was ready for months. He had felt ready, prepared to leave everything behind and begin a new chapter of his life. But now that it was right in front of him, he felt uncertain. Was this truly what he wanted? Or was it what he was telling himself was right? That he needed to venture out in search of his brother. Did he actually desire to be an adventurer? He had thought so, but then why was he feeling so dodgy about it now?

It’s Dad.

He realized the root of the problem. It came down to actually delivering the news to his father and leaving him and Raynee behind. The thought of actually committing to that idea scared him. How could he just walk up and tell his dad that he was leaving to do the same thing that had taken his other son away from him? His dad certainly already knew about and feared Kyran’s and Neil’s intentions, but actually affirming those suspicions was a frightening prospect to Kyran.

Neil picked up on Kyran’s trepidation fairly early on in the ride, but decided to leave him be for the time being. Kyran would have to sort out his thoughts on his own, and Neil knew he was enough support just by being with him.

By the time the train had reached their stop, Kyran had made up his mind. He would go through with it. He knew it would be a difficult path, and that his father wouldn’t be fond of the decision, but he had just told Kyran, right? That whatever decision he made, his dad would support it. Remembering their conversation the day before had lifted some of the unease in Kyran’s mind. He knew his dad would never feel secure with his decision, but that was okay. This was what he wanted to do, and what he felt he was meant to do. All he needed was to convey those thoughts to his dad.

So he didn’t waste any time, heading straight home from the station platform.

“Let me know how it goes,” Neil said before heading to his own house.

Kyran made his way across town and arrived at his front door. For one reason or another, he subconsciously felt the need to knock. Like he was a stranger in his own home. He held that instinct back, though, and let himself in.

He was greeted by the smell of grilled chicken and a hint of lemon.

Just in time for lunch, huh.

He shut the door behind him, the click getting his father’s attention from the kitchen.

“Kyran, you’re back! Good. Just in time for lunch. Chicken salad, it’s almost ready. Go get your sister, she’s out at the forge. I’ll get your plate ready.”

With a nod and an appreciative smile, Kyran made his way through the house and out through the back door in the mud room. The forge was a good 60 feet from the back patio, connected to the back of the shop his father owned. It was definitely convenient to live a literal stone’s throw away from work, and yet it was still disconnected enough for his father to not feel like he couldn’t get away from it. That said, most of his father and sister’s time was spent working in the shop or forge anyways.

Kyran spotted Raynee sitting at the grindstone, sharpening what appeared to be an iron hatchet. A process that luckily could be interrupted halfway through. Had she been actually using the forge, she’d be skipping lunch.

Kyran called out to her from a good 15 feet away. He’d learned the hard way not to sneak up on a woman literally sharpening an axe. He may not have had the scars to prove it, but the support beam directly behind the grindstone certainly did.

“Hey sis, lunch is ready. Also I’m back so that’s cool.”

Raynee stopped using the foot pedal and rolled her eyes. She set the hatchet aside and pulled the stopper on the grindstone’s trough, emptying the water. Taking off the leather apron she was wearing and hanging it on the outside wall, she gave Kyran a mocking glance and retorted.

“I’m following you for the food, not for you.”

“Glad to see we’re on the same page as always,” Kyran shot back.

Raynee gave him a light punch on the arm. “So, you gonna beat around the bush or show me your status?”

Kyran formed a mischievous smile. “After lunch maybe. Have to keep you on your toes for the grand reveal.”

She snickered at that. Grand reveal my ass. His exaggerations weren’t an uncommon occurrence, and as such weren’t going to fool her. He usually only resorted to these theatrics when dealing with mundane topics as a sort of deflection mechanism. In Raynee’s mind, this meant he’d received something very uninspiring. Probably common, and likely proletariat. Truthfully, she just wanted him to get it over with and show her so they could move on. Though she supposed it could at least wait until their dad could see it too.

And so, the two of them arrived in the kitchen. Their father gave Kyran a smile, saying, “It’s good to have you back, son. I remember you leaving like it was just yesterday.”

The sound of two facepalms rang out.