“What? No reward?!” Alex yelled. He was furious.

Not only did this “town council” get the job info wrong, they also weren’t even going to PAY him!

“There was an entire orc camp there! You’re lucky I’m the one that picked up that job!”

“Well, sir, to be fair, we didn’t-” the council representative started saying before Alex cut him off.

“I’m a rank THREE adventurer! Most people in my rank are only there because they’re in a full party! And that job was listed under rank four!”

“Well, sir, we only thought it would be a few gob-”

“Even if it were only a few goblins, you should have prepared a reward! Adventurers like me go out and risk our lives to do these jobs! We don’t just do this for the thrill, you know! It took me half a day to get here, and now I have to spend the night going back. You can’t spare me some coin for fighting an army of monsters!?”

There were a few moments of silence. Alex took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.

“You’re lucky that orc chieftain had good loot. At least this’ll be a little worth my time.” Alex said in a huff, before storming out.

That was just great. Now Alex would either have to pawn off one of the rings to get enough to pay for an inn or just tough it out and walk back. He’d seen orc rings sell for quite a lot before, but there’s no way in hell a shop in this little town could spend this much on one item.

Now that he thought about it, Alex had no idea what enchantments these rings had. There were 6 of them, and they each had different engravings. While he didn't understand what they said, he recognized they were in orcish. He knew one was a regeneration ring, one was a speed ring, and another was a strength ring. The rest were a mystery. He didn’t have the energy to test them that night. Since he already knew a hastening spell, the speed ring would be the least valuable to him, so he decided to sell that one. Even in a place like this, the ring would sell for more than enough for a night at a small-town inn.

Before he had the chance to look for a pawn shop, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“What is it?” Alex snapped with disdain.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I was just wondering if you’re the one who took out that monster camp.” The man replied.

The man was short, barely over five and a half feet. He had light gray hair and was nearing total baldness. He was also quite heavyset, with his thin vest nearly bursting at the buttons. From the looks of his clothes, he was pretty well-off.

“Yeah, that was me. You know, that lousy council didn’t even reward me for that!” Alex said bitterly.

“Oh, I heard,” the man reassured. “Those monster’s next target was undoubtedly going to be our town! And when I heard there was no reward for the hero who saved us from certain destruction, I thought I needed to find him and reward him myself!”

“Thank you! Finally, someone with some dignity around here!” This man proved to Alex it was the right choice not to leave this town to the monsters

“Well, as a thank you, I would like to invite you to stay at my inn just out of town. I’m sure it would’ve been the monster’s first target, with it being outside the walls.” The man asked.

“Actually, that would be perfect. I was looking for a place to stay. I used up all my mana in the camp, so it would be a long hike back to the guildhall.”

What a lucky break! Now Alex could keep all the rings, and he had a nice place to stay for the night. By the time he woke up tomorrow, he would be full of energy, and making it back to the guildhall would be trivial.

“All right, I’ll show you the way there.”

The inn was… Quaint. There was one floor with six rooms. A kitchen, a place for the innkeeper, a common area with a couch and a fireplace, and three bedrooms for guests. The rooms were filled to the brim with trinkets, carvings, and decorative furniture. Alex had no right to judge, though; he was getting a night here for free.

“Would you like anything to eat?” The innkeeper asked.

“I’ll just take some bread and smoked meat,” Alex replied.

It was no use getting any kind of complicated meal from any restaurants or inns anymore. Alex’s scored top of his class in alchemy, and the first step to becoming an alchemist is learning how to cook. After all, if you can’t get the right amount of salt into a soup, how are you supposed to get all the ingredients right in a complicated potion? He had yet to find anyone who could match his cooking talent, and anything not made by him was always a let-down.

“So, I heard there was an orc chieftain at that monster camp.” The innkeeper asked.

“Yeah. Those guys can be tough if you don’t know what you’re doing. But I did. The thing was too busy buffing up his guard to protect himself from my sword.” Alex boasted to the innkeeper.

“Buffing magic?” The innkeeper asked. “I’ve heard that it is quite complex to use on others. How did it manage to do such a thing?”

“Oh, you’re gonna love this part!” Alex declared while reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the six enchanted rings and showed them to the innkeeper.

“Orc chieftains use these things instead of magic on their own. That way, they can easily funnel their magic through them rather than learning any complex spells.”

“Well, do you mind giving a demonstration?” The innkeeper inquired.

“Oh, well, uh, I’m… Not entirely sure what all of them do.” Alex admitted sheepishly. “You can take a look at them, though.” Alex handed the rings over to the innkeeper, confident he wouldn’t try to steal them. The innkeeper knew not to cross someone of Alex’s background.

“These are very interesting. I don’t know the language on these,”

“Orcish.” Alex declared.

“Very rustic.” The innkeeper replied. He handed the rings back to Alex.

“So, are you any closer to getting that food?” Alex grumbled.

The sun had set while the two were walking to the inn, and Alex had a long day of hiking tomorrow. After finishing his meal, he decided to hit the hay. Once he reached his room, he removed his leather armor and replaced his dirty undershirt with a much cleaner tunic from his bag. The instant Alex got under the sheets of the bed, he passed out.

That night, Alex had a strange dream. He was still lying down on the bed at the inn. Even though it was pitch black, he could see everything around him. When he tried to get up to see what was going on, he realized he couldn’t move. It wasn’t that he was paralyzed, it was that he moved, but his body didn’t follow. He still felt like he was moving, and when he sat up, his sight followed him. He looked back down to where he was just lying and saw his own body sleeping. That sent a shiver down his incorporeal spine. His real body did not share this reflex. A few moments later, he noticed the door creak open slowly and light washed into the room. The instant it hit his body, he dropped back into unconsciousness.