Chapter 2: Level up!

I woke up to some unknown bird tweeting very rudely and loudly near the window.

<You better not let me know where you live bird. Or you and me will have a nice fireside chat.>

I got up, out of my very comfy bed, though very slowly, and checked the wooden clock I'd seen yesterday. It read 9:17 so if the note I found yesterday was genuine, I had about 13 minutes to get ready and figure out where to go.

I walked to the foot of my bed and snatched my clothes from the old chest and put them on, noticing that they needed to be washed at some point in the near future, the very near future. I walked across the rough wood floor that was splintering in some places and opened the door to the hallway. I could hear noises from what I assumed were people having breakfast although thankfully in this world they didn't seem crazy enough to get drunk in the morning.

Reaching the main area I saw people eating what looked to be some sort of meat as well as something that looked suspiciously similar to the oatmeal I'd been familiar with due to me rationing my money back on Earth. I never really liked oatmeal because I thought it was too tasteless and mushy but I liked wasting money even less.

I saw Stella behind the bar/reception area in the exact same place as yesterday, taking breakfast orders from the people that were crowded around her. She saw me and waved me over with an inviting smile part happy to see me and part happy to see me part with my money. I started walking over due to my body's reliance on food.

<Hopefully it won't cost too much because having no money at all is a very hard ditch to get out of.>

"Hello, James! Good morning. Breakfast is 2 coppers if you want it."

I smiled at the thought of a nice breakfast.

"I very much would like breakfast!"

I cautiously handed my silver coin to Stella, not even blinking lest it disappear in front of my eyes.

"Ok, here's your food and your change", said Stella handing me a plate of the mystery meat and oatmeal-like substance along with 8 copper coins.

"Thanks!", I said putting my coins into my pants pocket and heading to an empty table with my food.

So a silver coin is worth 10 copper coins I thought to myself, proud of my math skills. I placed the meat of unknown origin into my mouth and bit down. I was surprised at how succulent the meat was. It seemed to melt in my mouth and I could practically hear my tastebuds screaming with happiness in my mouth and I myself also ended up screaming in bliss.

"WOO! This is some good food!".

I immediately regretted it however as having the whole room turn quiet and all the people looking at me was kind of embarrassing although I could see that some people were extremely amused by my outburst. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Stella laughing silently and giving me a thumbs up which made me feel a lot better. I didn't exactly know how to handle it so I just filled my mouth with more of the delicious food, trying to ignore all the eyes pointed in my direction.

Some people seemed to be amused while others seemed a bit less amused. After a short amount of time, however, everyone seemed to decide the free entertainment was over and turned back to their meals and tablemates. What an interesting but mildly terrifying breakfast.

After finishing my fantastic breakfast I stood up to find Harry there waiting for me.

"What the heck are you doing Harry?"

<Is he here with another bucket of cold water? What does he want from me!>

"Me?", he said as if questioning his own name, "I was just waiting for you to be done eating so I could show you where the Guild is".

"Oh", I said, slightly mollified, "Thanks then. I'm ready to go".

"Yeah I can see that", said Harry in his typical sarcastic fashion, already turning to lead me to the Guild.

I quickly put my plate back at the bar-ception area.

I mouthed a quick, "thanks!" to Stella because I didn't want to attract more attention after the breakfast fiasco.

Then I rushed after Harry, who seemed very intent on leaving me in the dust considering the pace he was moving at. I caught up with him although he didn't seem to want to slow down so we continued our speedy walk to the Guild, leaving some passerby's confused and others who seemed to be familiar with Harry's style smiling in amusement. After 'walking' for a few minutes we arrived at the Guild building.

It was the most impressive building I'd seen so far. It seemed to be made out of white marble and had this sort of mystical aura about it. Strong-looking columns lined the front and glittered, probably enchanted with some runes to help strengthen the support they provided to the mammoth building. It felt like what would happen if you took Roman architecture and combined it with magic which seemed apt due to this being a magic world. I could tell that it took an enormous amount of resources to construct and maintain it in this pristine state.

Harry didn't seem fazed by it though and came up to the door pulled out a card of some sort and went inside seeming to forget that I was there. I scrambled to try to get to the door before it closed but I was too late. So I tried knocking on it to see if maybe I just needed to be polite for it to open. After all, being polite can get you lots of places. But alas it turned out either I wasn't polite enough to the door or it didn't care as it seemed just as stuck as before and may have even gotten a bit tighter.

[New rune discovered: Observe]

[+15 System Experience]

[Scanned new device: Complex]

[+50 System Experience]

[Experience: 140/100]

[You are now level 2!]

[You have unlocked Rune Programming]

[You have unlocked Rune Manipulation]

[New rune discovered: Parameter]

Awash with excitement about all these new skills I had I tried knocking on the door again.

[Rune Manipulation level: Simple]

[Simple < Complex]

[Unable to Manipulate Runes]

Ah well, that's a bummer I thought to myself, my excitement going down a notch. It makes sense though, I can't just manipulate everything willy-nilly that would be overpowered. Hopefully, I can get it to a higher level in the future. Then we'll see if this stupid Complex door can withstand me. As I was complaining about the door it opened again and I was met with the face of a very cheeky Harry.

"Sorry I forgot about you", Harry smacked my back.

"Ow! That hurts man!"

<Couldn't he hold back on his strength and words?>

"Oi I said I'm sorry, are you coming or not".

<I'll just get him back later somehow and ignore it for now.>

My mind now clear, I stepped through the affronting door and into the Guild.