9 The Morning After

As the night faded away and the early morning light shone over Littlefeather, people started to appear on the road. People could be seen weaving in and out of each other, gather ingredients, preparing for hunting or setting up stalls, everyone had their own task.

Renard started to wake up, his senses were being disturbed. Light speckled in through his window, the smell of fresh bread being baked drifted in from the bakery next door and the activity outside could be heard through the walls.

Renard's eyes slowly opened and he felt relaxed. He had recovered most of his energy and had a good dream last night, there was nothing for him to be stressed about at this moment.

Unfortunately, that's when he remembered his actions last night. The feeling of peace shattered as he jolted upright. 'Why did I do that?! Am I crazy? I wasn't kicked out during the night, so Amanda must not have told the bar keep. Wait, I have come to a fantasy world, maybe it isn't a problem. Still I shouldn't have done that, I must keep my morals if I want to become powerful, public opinion is everything. I will have to watch how she reacts to me later.'

Renard had wanted to go back to sleep earlier but there was no chance of that now, his momentary peace had been shattered. Reflecting on his actions, Renard came up with a less panic stricken response to what he had done.

'I let my fears from "Lucy" effect my judgement. I just want to be an upright guy, why do I keep messing up?' He sighed, this time it couldn't be blamed on the system, it was just his fault.

Renard slumped back down onto the bed, defeated. All the energy he had gained from his nights sleep was gone, lost to his stupidity.

~~~

The afternoon sun shone across Renard's room, the bustle from the street below had calmed leaving only the occasional sounds of haggling and clops of hooves to be heard. Many of the other guests in the inn were experiencing the pleasant atmosphere, however, Renard's pale skin and hollow looking eyes made the room feel dark and gloomy.

As if a dead person had risen from their grave, Renard sat up, is joints creaked from lying down for hours. Renard placed his head in his hands, 'For some reason, I have been given a new life in this world. I mustn't let this stop me. I want to be powerful, I knew it wasn't going to be easy but with this system it will become a lot easier, even with all its flaws.'

Renard's confidence had finally returned, he walked over to his window and looked down onto the street below him. As he watched people carry on their lives without any help from a magical system colour and energy filled his face.

Renard relaxed and drifted into thought, 'What can I do to be more powerful right now? My current weapon is that dagger although it seems quite powerful its reach is short and against more intelligent enemies it would be troublesome to get that close to them.'

'Although I haven't been hit by an attack yet, I think that these clothes aren't going to be worth much defence. It's decided, before I go any further with this I need to get myself a sword and some armour.' Renard opened his eyes and walked straight towards the door, he had an objective now, he knew what he had to do.

*DING*

[New Objective Created]

[Purchase new armour and a sword]

[Reward: 5 XP]

'Wow, this system really knows how to motivate me, if I complete the objective I will become stronger in two ways. I'm starting to enjoy this. I wonder what else this system has in store for me.'

In that moment, Renard had just placed his hand on his door to leave the room and it was as if the system had heard him.

[##ERROR##]

[Object is in an invalid position]

[Object ID invalid]

[Object unresponsive]

[Removing Object]

'It's fine, I know how to deal with this. I must adapt to this system.' Renard sighed as he thought this.

He stood still for a moment and collected himself. 'I understand you are broken, but did you really have to remove my door!'

~~~

The barkeep usually had a long arduous work shift, from early in the morning till late at night. This would leave him in an unpleasant mood during the day. However, on this particular day he was unusually happy. That was all down to the fool he managed to scam the day before.

The barkeep was idling around at the bar as it had been a slow day when he saw the source of his joy walk down the stairs. 'What a fool.' The barkeep thought.

He kept his mouth closed not wanting the customer to ask for a refund however, it seemed that the customer was determined to talk to him. 'What a shame, I bet he is going to ask for his money back. Like I am going to give it to him though, he is a tiny weakling.' The barkeep kept making assumptions.

Renard walked up the the bar trying to keep an angry look on his face, he thought he had a perfect plan. He placed his hand on the side of the bar, looking towards the barkeep, a stern look was in Renard's eyes. After a brief pause, he started to talk.

"Mr. Barkeep, it seems that the door to my room has been stolen, I woke up this afternoon and it is now gone. Before you start to think this is a joke, I am totally serious, how are you going to reimburse me."