Chapter 8 – Gnolls and Elves and Batman

Stepping inside the inn, Mason was greeted by the warm, inviting glow of dozens of flickering lanterns that cast a soft light over the spacious interior. The walls were lined with portraits depicting various people Mason didn't recognise, but a few caught his eye due to their striking resemblance to Mayry. The main entrance hall was furnished with plush sofas and armchairs arranged in a very homely manner. On the floor, he saw beautifully crafted rugs with a design that he had never seen before.

The air was heavy with the aroma of freshly baked bread and roasted meats. Suddenly overwhelmed with hunger, his stomach moved him forward without consulting his brain. He followed his nose to a room almost full of other patrons. He sat at a table and willed someone to come over and offer him food.

It didn’t take long for his prayers to be answered as he felt someone standing over him. Turning around, he came face to face with a towering figure, its entire face covered in fur. Mason struggled to contain his fear but managed to speak up using his go-to strategy: talking without thinking. "Woof?" he blurted out, hoping to establish some kind of communication with the dog-like creature.

The furry face looked down at him and raised an eyebrow, although it was difficult to tell where the eyebrows started and the fur began.

Thankfully choosing to ignore Mason’s attempt at communication. In a deep growling voice, the hairy man said, ”Do you know what you want, or would you like a menu?”

As he spoke, Mason could see razor-sharp teeth that could rip him to shreds without even trying. Ever so slightly intimidated, Mason said, “I’ll just have whatever you recommend.” With a growl of what Mason hoped was confirmation, the Wookie-looking man walked off.

With his back turned, Mason used ‘Identify’ on him.

Gnoll - Waiter Level 11 - Gnolls are one of the many sapient races of this world. While they may look like werewolves, their bite won’t do anything to you but hurt like a bitch. They were the most feared warriors, and many still are!

This Gnoll, however, was born the runt of the litter and works as a waiter to earn money to contribute to his pack. He also was not impressed by your ‘woof’ comment.

Mason sat there, hoping that the Gnoll wouldn't spit in his food there while he pondered over what he had just read. According to Mayry, She didn’t have stats or levels. He had assumed that went for everyone else too. So why did the description include that the Gnoll was level 11… was it just a way of describing the strength disparity between him and the Gnoll? He would have to see if Mayry had any theories later.

Also concerning was that the system had commented on him saying ‘woof’ suggesting that achievements at least weren’t predetermined.

The wait for the food didn’t take long, when it arrived he realised why. The waiter placed a plate of very rare meat in front of him, the size of Mason’s leg.

“This… looks… yummy. Thank you so much” he picked up the knife before him and unsuccessfully attempted to stab the meat. The blade with the meal bounced off as if the meat was made from iron. He could feel that the Gnoll still stood behind him.

Without thinking, Mason took his Drake bone dagger out of his inventory. Its appearance in his hand prompted the Gnoll to approach again hurriedly.

“My apologies, sir. I wasn’t aware that you were gifted. Please, allow me to take this back and return with something more to your tastes. On the house, of course.”

Thrown off entirely by the sudden change of attitude, Mason tried to protest, but the waiter insisted. He returned only minutes later with a much more reasonable portion of perfectly cooked steak with odd-looking green potatoes; he also poured Mason a huge glass of wine before leaving the table without a word.

Wanting to meet up with Mayry as soon as possible, Mason ate as fast as he could but could help slow down when he tasted the incredible food.

When he did finish the delicious food, he left the 3 bronze coins he had gotten from Viv on the table as a tip for the odd waiter. He felt slightly guilty, somehow scaring the guy.

He left the dining area and found the reception desk in front of the stairs. Approaching, he saw with absolute delight the Inn’s receptionist smiling up at him. The reason for Mason’s delight wasn’t the smile but the ears of the person the smile belonged to. She was an Elf! A real-life Elf. He was fangirling so hard on the inside, but as he approached, he acted cool. He had a plan. He would walk up to her, smile and say something charming.

Walking up to the Elf woman, he looked down at where she sat, smiled, and said excitedly, “Elf?” Mentally slapping himself, he cringed.

Not missing a beat, she looked up at him, imitating his tone and said, “Human?”

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He could feel his face heating up as he stared at her frozen with embarrassment, until she asked, “Not seen an elf before?”

Mason shook his head.

“Well, let me save you some trouble,” she said with a smile.”Yes, we tend to be good at magic. We have pointy ears, and no, you can’t touch them unless you take me to dinner first.” She ended with a wink.

Recovering his speech slowly, Mason nodded, turning an even brighter shade of pink.

“Thanks, I’m sorry, I’m not from around here, and I’ve read so many stories about elves, and it was just a bit of a shock to see one in front of me. I wasn’t going to ask to touch your ears, though, though even I know that’s rude.” He had totally planned on asking just that.

Pouting slightly as if disappointed, she said playfully. “No problem, sir. How may I help you today?” Mason wasn’t sure if it was magic or natural, but everything she said sounded incredibly seductive.

“Um, we need a room…” he said before his eyes widened, and he corrected, “I mean, I need a room!”

“Well, now you’re just teasing me.”

“No, not at all. I’m just… is it hot in here? Um, I need to book your best room for the next month if it’s available?”

“For the full month?” she said with doubt. “Now I know you’re just trying to impress me; our best room costs an Iron a night.”.

Oblivious to how much that was, he replied, “Okay, great! I need privacy wards set up as well. If that’s something you can do?” Looking up, Mason saw she was making a pretty good impression of him from moments ago. Pink face sputtering slightly.

“You’re serious?” She said sceptically, “You heard me say Iron, right? An Iron a night? For 32 nights? With the privacy wards, that will be around 40 iron coins… that’s almost half a silver! Who are you?”

Her attitude at how much he was spending was doing wonders for his confidence. Withdrawing a silver coin from his inventory and holding it up, he said, “I’ll tell you your name if you tell me mine.” He winked at her before he realised what he had said. “Shit, never mind. My name is Mason. What’s yours?” he handed over the coin.

The elf girl’s face was a jumble of emotions, he could see that she found his failed attempt at flirting hilarious, but he also saw awe at the amount of money in his hand and what he thought was fear at his use of his storage power. Ultimately, his flirting was terrible enough that she just burst into laughter.

In between the giggling, she said, “My name is Nays. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mason.” She bowed her head slightly.

Mason, wondering how pink his face could go, said, “Yeah, nice meeting you too! Can I please go up to my room now before I say something else dumb?”

“Of course, I will take you up in just a moment and will activate the wards myself. Let me just get you your change.” She walked off and returned a moment later with a small bag of iron coins. “Here you go.”

Reaching into the bag, Mason pulled out a single coin and handed it to Nays, “Here, take this for the trouble.”

She hesitated before whispering, “Are you sure? I know I said I would show you to your room, but I can’t… you know, ‘come in’ with you.”

“Umm, yeah, take it; it’s yours; you earned it by putting up with me,” Mason said, very confused. Why would he want her to come into his room? An iron couldn’t be that much, could it? He had given Mayry an iron coin to cover the cost of his clothes, so he assumed an Iron was roughly equivalent to £10 or £15 back home, but that did seem like a very cheap price for an Inn this nice. He really needed to have that chat with Mayry as soon as possible.

Still staring at his wide eyes, Nays slipped the Iron into her pocket, jumped out of her seat and came around the desk, eagerly leading him up the stairs to the top. Stopping outside a large door that had dozens of runes carved into it, she placed her hand in the centre, making the door glow for an instant.

Mason stared at the runes and found he could feel what each individual rune meant and what they meant when together. He got a sense of secrecy, protection and safety from the largest runes, with the smaller ones giving off a feeling of heat, water and comfort.

Leaning in closer to inspect the runes, appreciating the effort that must have gone into making them. “These are impressive.” He said, making an observation.

“Oh, thank you, they are some of my best work. For the next 32 days, no one that doesn’t have your express permission will be able to get through this door. You should always feel the perfect temperature, and no magic should be able to listen in.” Nays sounded very proud as she spoke, pointing out runes and mentioning what they did.

“Wow, that’s pretty OP.”

“OP? Huh?” She looked at him, confused.

Mason mentally scolded himself for using slang from his world, “Err, never mind… how do I get in?

“I’ve keyed the wards to you, so place your hand on the door, and it should open right up.” He did as she had said, and the door swung open.

They both stood there awkwardly for a moment, both not sure whether they should be the first to say goodbye.

Eventually, Nays broke the silence, “I should get back to work before I get in trouble….” She hesitated a moment before hugging Mason and saying, “Thank you again for the coin.”

Before Mason could say anything else, she had turned and ran down the stair.

Shaking his head at the weird Elf, he walked into the room.

“What was that all about? Making friends already, are we?” As the lanterns automatically flickered on, he saw, with a start, that Mayry was already sitting in one of the plush armchairs waiting for him.

She sat there with an odd expression on her face, which, if Mason didn't know better, he might have described as jealousy.

“Fuck! You scared the shit out of me. How did you get in here? The wards on the door are supposed to keep people out!”

“I came through the window, duh, and I’ve been waiting ages, so thanks for that.”

"Well, I was starving, and you could have just come in with me instead of trying to be batman and appearing out of nowhere all mysteriously.”

“Who is Batman?” Mayry said, trying to decide whether to be offended or not.

“Never mind...” Rolling his eyes, annoyed that all of his references were useless in this world.

“So… who was the elf?” She said, trying to appear unbothered.

“Just the receptionist.” He said simply before adding, “I’m sure she was flirting with me, then she suddenly got all weird when I gave her a tip.”

A smile appeared on Mayry’s face. “Wait, how much did you tip her?”

“Just an Iron… why?”

“Oh wow”, she said, starting to laugh. “You really have no idea how much that is?” laughing harder, she continued “She probably thought you were trying to proposition her. I’m amazed she didn’t kick you out.” Her amused expression dropped slightly, and she added, “She must have liked you.”

Replaying the interactions he had with Nays in his head, everything fell into place and made far more sense “Dammit, Mayry, we really need to have this damn money talk!”