The warm room provides a cozy atmosphere conducive to a long talk. Alpha and I sit next to each other with him occasionally scampering off to explore what he can see. O'Lam laughs at his antics and informs me that he can be left free, all the Beasts here are domestic and will not attack unless told to and Alpha is too small to cause harm on his own.

"Do I have to feed him anything specific?" I ask O'Lam.

"Not really, a Beast usually eats any kind of meat and plants as long as they aren't poisonous. As long as there are monster corpses around, your Beast will be fine," she answers decisively.

"What about anything I have to keep in mind while raising a Beast,"

"Well, it depends on the type of Beast so as soon as I determine the species of your Beast, I will be able to give you more information," her tone sounding cautious.

"How do you determine something like that?," I question.

"We take a sample of blood from the Beast and compare the blood to samples of blood from various species, your Beast will most certainly be a wolf but just to be sure we can always check."

"Thanks for all the help, I will explore the city for a bit and I will be back tomorrow to give you an answer."

"Sure, come back whenever. Do you have a place to stay for the night?," O'Lam asks.

"No, do you recommend any place in particular?" I respond.

"Stay at the Twilight Inn, tell them I sent you, they will give you a couple nights for free, " she says proudly

I thank her wholeheartedly and assure her that I will stay safe.

I walk out of the Sanctuary waving adieu to the guard, he smiles at me in acknowledgement. First, I head back to the market I saw in the morning, where the Dragon was. After browsing through some stores, I chance upon a bag that supposedly reduces the weight of items in them. That sounds amazing!

"How much are they?" I question the shopkeeper.

Looking at my clueless appearance, a trace of cunning flashes in his eyes.

"Usually 50 EP, but for you I give at 25 EP."

25 EP for a bag sounds like a great deal to me but I try bargaining to see if I can reduce the price further

"I will give you 15 EP," I respond with.

"Deal," he says immediately.

Now I am very nervous, I know that I just agreed to a very bad deal, but if the man pressures I wont be able to do anything but cave in. I am not very good at fighting back or holding my position.

Nervously I counter with 10 EP. The mans face turns red and he explodes with anger, "I thought 15 EP, you said 15 EP."

"Ok, ok," I say placatingly, "I will give you 15 EP."

Suddenly he is back to normal and he smiles at me and says," Which colour?"

An hour later I am done with all my shopping, I don't regret purchasing the bag as it reduces weight by 50 percent, that is awesome. I bought some food for Alpha for him to eat over the next few days while we stay at the city. My Soul Crystal has a lot less EP in it than a couple hours back and I can almost feel that it is lighter, which isn't possible.

I wonder what happened to all the notifications I used to get, they must have been some sort of tutorial as I no longer receive them. Its almost night now, the blazing sun slowly being replaced by the coolness of the moon. I look up to see splendid sight, the numerous stars laid out like splatters of paint on the canvas of life. Taking in a deep breath, I breathe in the fresh air of the world. The city seems beautiful at night, it seems to have come alive, things that weren't there when I was walking around in the morning were now omnipresent.

I ask a passerby where the Twilight Inn is located, she points me in the direction and takes off, walking faster than before. It seems like she is running out of time and needs to be somewhere, shrugging my shoulders I walk in the direction she pointed me in. Alpha seems to not minds being carried anymore but to give myself some respite, I place him in the bag with only his face sticking out of the top.

I see the sign before I see the door, it seems like an unassuming little inn and doesn't look very special. The words Twilight Inn are printed on a block of wood placed above the entrance. Even the sign does not seem to stand out, the whole place looks like it doesn't want to draw attention. Pushing through the unadorned door, I walk into a lively inn, the shouts of the drunk and angry is deafening. I walk over to the plump man at the front of the bar, "Howdy! What can i do you for?" he asks pleasantly. "The name is Bjorn," he says immediately after.

"I would like to stay here for a night or two," I reply.

"The cost depends on the room, but looking at you, I think the bare minimum is fine," he says without a trace of derisiveness.

"And why do I look like I have no money?" I ask genuinely wondering how he can tell.

"The absence of armour or weapons can tell a lot," he replies matter of fact.

I nod in acquiescence , "O'Lam sent me here, she told me I could get a couple of nights for free."

"She did, did she, well I guess I could give you a couple nights off," he says reluctantly.

"Thanks a lot," I say in happiness.

He grunts in acknowledgement, "Yuri, take him to his room," he says while throwing the young girl a set of keys. I greet the girl and she tells me to follow her. Leading me to a modest room, she hand me the keys and tells me that breakfast is free of charge, I don't tell her that I have no need for eating yet I nod in understanding. The door closes behind me with a low thud and I survey the room. Not bad I think to myself, it is adequately clean and I am grateful for the free room. Gently removing Alpha from the backpack I place him on the ground for him to explore the place on his own.

I collapse on the very soft bed and fall asleep in mere seconds, I have massively underestimated how tired I was. I fall asleep to the feeling of a warm, furry body next to me.