JJ realized something that she completely forgot about up until this point. She didn't have any money, nor even any knowledge of how the monetary system worked in this fantasy world. This came a bit too late as she was talking to an innkeeper about renting a room.
"Miss? Miss? Hello?" The innkeeper said as she waved her hands at JJ who was apparently staring into oblivion.
"Uh, yes mom... I mean, what?" JJ said as she snapped out of her thinking state.
"As I was saying, miss, you will need 1 A coin in order to rent a room from us."
"... Is there any way I would be able to sell you this sword in my hand in exchange for a room tonight?"
"Oh heavens no. Go down to the weapon shop and sell it to the owner. If I knew anything about swords, I would do an exchange with you."
"Oh, so that's it. Where is this weapon shop, innkeeper?"
"Head out our front door and take a left, you will see his shop eventually."
"Thank you," JJ said as she took off running in the directions that the innkeeper had told her to go. Even though this was more strenuous than any past day that she could remember, her body did not really feel all that fatigued. Now that she had time to think without that annoying M by her side, she had come to miss his presence, just a little bit.
As soon as she entered the tiny shop, she was met with a gaze that penetrated deep into her soul from the man behind the counter. This gaze continued as JJ made her way to the counter, each step felt like an eternity of punishments with the terrible gaze that constantly studied her.
"What do you want, little girl? Are you here for my daughter? One of her classmates I presume?" The man said without ever looking away from her. "ASH! One of your friends is here."
"Wait, wait, no, no. I'm just here to sell you this weapon for some money."
"Oh, well, forgive me for my stare, I've been told of how nerve-racking it is, but if you're a customer, then you are always welcome here. ASH! Don't come down, it isn't one of your friends." The old man said as he stopped looking at her as if he was a wolf. "Show me your sword."
"Here it is," JJ said as she handed the sword over.
"Let's see, the craftsmanship of this sword ain't half bad. Let me check it out on the information orb and see how much it is worth." He took the blade and walked down the counter a little way so that he was standing right behind an orb that was glowing a dim shade of pink. The shopkeeper set it down right next to the orb, chanted a short verse under his breath, and for a brief moment, the orb turned blue and a pop-up sprang open.
"So what do you think?" JJ asked as she was starting to get annoyed at how slow this entire process was going.
"It is definitely one of the finer blades I have seen. If you had a hundred of these, I could make quite a selling to a group of mercenaries or to the count or some other local force. I'm willing to pay you 5 A coins for this, do you accept?"
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"Screw it, I'm done with all this nonsense for today, I accept."
"Great, here you go, 5 A coins. If you are in store for another weapon or just have something to sell, please don't hesitate to come back. Where did you manage to get by this sword anyhow?"
"My... guide, uh, handed this to me."
"Must not be a very good guide if he let you do this by yourself. Heh, well, stay safe out there kiddo, make sure you find a good place to sleep tonight."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." She said as she took half a step out the door.
"And don't forget to come back if you get another one of these swords."
"Sure, I'll come back once I get more from my...dealer... Ok, goodbye."
JJ ran back to the inn that she had been at earlier, talked to the lady once more, paid her rent forward, and got into bed early. She had done her nightly routine of washing herself as she was pretty much covered in guts and mud from fighting and digging all those times. Finally, she lay on the bed that was in her room to think about all of the crazy things that had happened on this one day. For all she knew, it could have all been a dream and she would wake up any minute now.
As the candles flickered on the nightstand beside her bed, all she could think about now was the life she left behind. Several friends, parents that, mostly, loved her, but was certainly disappointed by all of the wrong paths they believe she chose. The fantasy part of her day was now filled with a different kind of fantasy altogether so she didn't feel too bad for her current situation.
JJ just sat on her bed looking off into the distance, but instead of daydreaming about fantasy as she did on Earth, she was daydreaming about Earth in a fantasy world. Something she never thought possible. The life she left behind was full of regrets, not necessarily because she missed the people who had been there throughout her life, but that she wasn't able to accomplish more. In her mind, she vowed to really rise to the occasion on this planet and become the strongest.
That goal all starts with one thing, getting a good night’s sleep. So she shut off all thoughts of anything else and focused on just relaxing and letting the quiet night and gentle breeze rock her into sleep. As fate would have it, that night was a sleepless one as nothing she did to try to sleep worked. Tossing and turning and turning and tossing all night long.
By the morning, she had as much energy as she did before she went to bed. Which was not supposed to be how a human body was supposed to work, very far from it in fact. It was already sunrise so there wasn’t much use in trying to sleep anymore. She got up to wash her face.
“Heyo.”
A voice that somehow brought both loathing and a strange sense of wonder entered into her mind, it was the voice of M.
“Oh, is there some weird magic on this planet that allows me to feel refreshed while I’m in a town or something?”
“Didn’t get much sleep, did you? I can see you have some pretty lifeless eyes.”
“No, not at all.”
“That reminds me, I kinda forgot to tell you yesterday that one of my default passive skills that transfer into my projects is boundless energy.”
“? Meaning?”
“You don’t have to sleep, or rest as you will have infinite energy.”
“Motherf-”
“Though you still do need sustenance.”
“You know what, I’m not even going to argue with you over this. It is more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Aw, too bad. I was really hoping to go one round with you before we went to go monster hunting. Too bad you’re so cranky right from the get-go, you must not be a morning person.”
“Yea, no kidding, I used to sleep from midnight to noon so I would avoid mornings altogether.”
“Hoh, impressive for a human.”
“Yea, I guess,” JJ said as she finished washing up her face and proceeded to change into another outfit until she realized that she didn’t have anything else to wear, and even if she did, she surely wouldn’t do it in front of M.
“By the way, how did you get the money to pay for this room?”
“I sold one of your swords to a weapon shop down the road for 5 A coins.”
“What? 5?”
“Is that bad?”
“I... actually have no idea. Those weapons are pretty basic weapons even for beginners so it doesn’t really matter. Plus, if you are ever in need of some money, just conjure up a few weapons and sell them.”
“I think I will. But first, I will need to go shopping for another outfit. This one that I have already smells pretty funky already.”
“I think it is a good idea for you to buy a few weapons and maybe armour as well. If you grind enough today, you might be able to leave the training area and go onto an actual dungeon that will be good for experience.”
“Alright, we’ll do it your way, but should I even bother with a weapon? In every game that I have played, the beginner weapons always become useless a few levels down.”
“See, this is why you don’t think with that brain you were given. You have a source of almost unlimited wealth, what exactly do you have to lose by buying a few weapons and selling them later? A few minutes of your time?”
“Alright, no need to get so snappy with me. We’ll go after I get some “sustenance” as you call it.”