Chapter 23
I just want to lie down
What the fuck was that? You crazy motherfucker, you could have killed me.” I shouted at Eikman once we found him.
“Look, look, see, it's not my fault. I was rushed and may have had the power level up a bit too high. It's rated up to level fifty, but you were rushing me. I fixed it now, so there should be no more beating you into the literal ground this time. I swear. Eikman said all this rather quickly, then shot me a brilliant smile of fucked up teeth. I grimaced at the smile he gave me. His teeth were honestly disgusting.
“Fine, but if you fuck me over again, I am actually going to punch you in the face.” Eikman's smile faltered a bit, and I swear I heard him say “rude” under his breath, but I let it go. It was time to train. We would have to trust Eikman for now. That sentence made me cringe. Trust Eikman, but that's what I had been doing until now, and I think I was becoming a better fighter. So, we might as well stay the course.
Janet decided to go first since I was still pulling myself together after being soundly stomped. So, I sat on the edge of Eikman’s porch with Eikman as we watched on, waiting for the match to start. Janet seemed nervous about facing the Array man, and I didn’t blame her. Getting beat up so easily wasn’t something you forgot quickly. Eikman had been chosen to start the fight for some fucking reason I still didn’t quite understand.
Once Janet looked as ready as she was going to be, she called over to us.
“Okay, let’s do this. Come on.” As Janet said this, she slashed her axe through the air, then took a ready stance. I held my breath as Eikman said the magic word,
“fight!” The match went about as expected. Eikman had set the power level somewhere around level 30. We knew we wouldn’t beat the Array man on the first try, but I still couldn’t hold back cringe as Janet missed a block five minutes into the fight and got punished with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head. The hit sent Janet flying, and that's when the Array man preceded to slam Janet out of the air and into the ground, knocking her unconscious and ending the fight.
The Array man retreated to the center of the training field and went into sleep mode.
“Fuck that was brutal. Does it have to be such a hard ass? It didn’t need to knock her out, shit,” I asked Eikman as we headed over to check on Janet.
“I know it’s a bit much, but Travis, can I give you some perspective? Your lives before the integration may have held troubles and harshnesses, but it will be nothing compared to the world you are now a part of. Travis, whole planets, species, and entire factions have been purged from the multiverse with less thought effort than it takes to sneeze if the truly powerful choice to act. You will be forever held responsible to someone more powerful than you till you take the power to decide your own destiny.Power is true freedom in the multiverse, and the stronger you get, the more you will find this to be true. Take my advice and advance yourself. Never stop pushing or learn to be happy, letting those more powerful guide your life.”
Eikman finished his little speech as we reached Janet, and we got caught up in helping her recover. Eikmans words stuck with me as I prepared myself for my match as Eikman fed Janet some healing potion. I thought about Eikmans words more and more. He was right. I was nothing. I was a speck of dust compared to the monsters of my new reality, but that wouldn’t always be the case, and this was the first step.
Yeah, I got the shit beaten out of me again, and I’d rather not get into it. Let’s just say the Array man broke my arm and then my jaw. Even after being healed from my match, I still needed a few hours to pull myself together mentally. It was hard on the ego to get soundly thrashed repeatedly.
Janet fought the Array four times that day, and I only managed to get in three. We left Eikman and the Array around six, as usual, but we decided it was time to find a new place to stay. We both wanted to shower with some privacy and sleep in a comfy bed. We were both mentally exhausted, and a good night's sleep was at the top of my to-do list.
We returned to the inn where we were staying, collected anything we had left in the room, and checked out of the establishment. We walked around for about two hours looking for a place to stay before we got discouraged. Everywhere seemed to either have no rooms available or looked to run down for Janet. So we decided to stop our search momentarily to get a bite to eat, but that was where we got a bit of a lucky break.
Janet and I had stopped in what reminded me of a ramen shop from an anime. It was a little hole in the wall with a few stools at a small bar and a short curtain that only hid the backs of the customers' heads as they ate. I had picked the place based on the look if I was being totally honest. I didn’t even know what kind of food it was when we walked in, but there were two seats open at the bar, so we sat down and picked up a menu.
If this restaurant had been around before the integration, it would have been called Fusion Food, but it sort of reminded me of Bibimbap. Most of the dishes came in a bowl about halfway filled with rice, and then there was a mix of raw and barbecued meats on top with a variety of vegetables.
Everything was spiced, and there were a bunch of sauces that you could add to the dish that would change the flavor in subtle ways. I was initially nervous about trying the food and even told Janet as much, but she just laughed at me and told me to live a little. I had rolled my eyes at her, but I was too stubborn to back down, so I just told her that I was making sure she was okay but that I was fine with it. That’s when Janet rolled her eyes at me and said,
“Sure, Travis, sure.” Instead of responding, I started looking at the menu to figure out what I would order. I ended up being pretty glad we stayed because the food was amazing. The spices were out of this world, I think, literally, and the sauces you could add were a whole other element that I didn’t feel like I got to fully explore in one visit.
When I was done, I took a piece of rice and wiped the bowl clean. The owner of the little establishment saw me do this and let out a chuckle. He was a short man, maybe four feet five inches, with what looked like gills on the side of his neck. He had no hair, just a single fin slicked back and held tight to his scalp. He wore loose-fitting clothing that draped off him and looked incredibly comfortable. Other than that, he looked like a regular human from Earth.
“Man, that food was good. I mean, really good. Thank you for the meal.” I told the man. He let out another chortle of laughter.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“I’m glad you liked it, young local. Please come again anytime. It makes me truly happy to see people enjoying my food.”
“Oh, don't you worry about that. I’ll definitely be back. I still haven’t tried all the different sauces yet.” That got another laugh out of the man, and he introduced himself.
“The name is Malin, Doogleg Malin. It's nice to meet two who like my food as much as you two seem to.”
“I’m Travis, and this is Janet. Thanks again for the good food, but I think we better get going. We still need to find a place to stay for the night.” I told Doogleg Malin as we got ready to head out. Doogleg stopped what he was doing and looked off into the air for a second. Then, it looked like he had thought of something.
“Ah, Travis, was it? If you need a place to stay, my cousin owns an inn just around the corner. You might be able to get a room there. Just tell him Doogleg sent you his way. It might not be to your taste, but it's something, right?” We thanked Malin for the recommendation, paid, and left the restaurant.
“So what do you think? Nice guy. Maybe we should go check out his cousin's place. If it’s right around the corner, it's not like it's a huge detour.” I asked Janet.
“Yeah, we might as well. It's getting later, so the faster we find something, the better. After that meal and the day we had, I just need to pass out.” Janet responded. She was right, and I felt the same way. So we headed to where Doogleg had told us his cousin’s place was. It only took a few minutes until we were almost positive we had found it. It was only a block and a half away from Doogleg’s restaurant and had a similar vibe. The Inn seemed to have a Japanese ascetic, but there were also slight touches and furnishes that were clearly alien, not resembling any culture I knew of from Earth.
It was a five-story building that took up a good fifty feet of the one-hundred-and-fifty-foot block. We walked up to the front door, well, doors, really. The entrance of the building was a pair of eight-foot-tall double doors made of dark hardwood. There was a large brass knocker in the shape of what looked like a carp on one door, and we figured that was a good place to start.
Once we stood before the doors, I reached out, grabbed the large knocker, and slammed it against the door a few times. The sound rang out, and about twenty seconds later, the door began to open. I expected a person standing there who would have been responsible for the door opening, but there was no one, and the door seemed to have opened by magic, which I thought was probably the case.
We walked inside and entered what looked like the lobby of any fancy hotel you could have found pre-integration. Across from the door was a desk with an attendant sitting behind it.
“Welcome to the Malin’s Inn and Tavern. Can I help you?” The attendant asked us once we had walked over to the check-in desk. The attendant was a young woman looking to be somewhere in her late twenties but with alien races who really new anymore. She looked to be the same race as Dooglog Malin. So I assumed they were either related or something like that.
“Yeah, I think you might be able to help us. We got a recommendation from Doogleg Malin to come here. We were looking for a place to stay, and he said you might have something available and to tell you he sent us.” The woman looked confused for a minute, and then it looked as if everything made sense.
“Ah, yes, that is my uncle, actually. We are at capacity right now, but since my uncle sent you to us, I think we could find something. How long would you be looking to stay with us for?” I was starting to feel relieved that our search for a place to stay that lived up to Janet's standards might finally be over.
“We really don’t know how long. We’re currently training and plan to spend time fighting in the Coliseum. So would a month be okay to start?”
“A month? I’m sorry, sir, I don’t believe I know that measurement of time.”
“Oh, my apologies. Would thirty days work?” I clarified.
“Ah, yes, sir, that will be fine. We actually offer a long-stay package. It is forty gold for a forty-five-day stay, and that includes breakfast. If you want dinner added, it is an extra ten silver a night, which comes out to an extra four gold and fifty silver total. You can also get dinner in the Tavern. Dinner is served between the hours of five and nine-thirty. The regular rate for a night is one gold and twenty silver, so with the long-stay package, you’ll save a good amount of gold. Does this sound like something you’d be interested in?”
I looked at Janet. She was so tired that she just said,
“Well? Pay the woman, Travis.” I rolled my eyes.
“That sounds perfect. Thank you.” I handed over the gold, and we were led to our room. As soon as we got there, even before we opened the door, Janet stopped the young woman, whose name turned out to be Mille, and asked her if there was a bathroom and show attached to the room. Mille looked confused for a second, but she answered Janet.
“Yes, all the rooms have a bathroom, including a sink, toilet, bathtub and shower.” Janet breathed an audible sigh of relief and let Mille unlock the room. We walked to a comfortable sitting room with two doors leading off the space. Mille pointed to one door and indicated it was the bathroom, then pointed at the other and told us it led to the bedroom. She hoped one bed was okay, but Janet was done listening to the woman and was already heading towards the bathroom, undressing as she went.
When I noticed what Janet was doing, she was already half-naked, and Mille was starting to blush.
“Well, thank you for your help, Mille. I’m sure we’ll be fine. Have a good evening.” I started trying to block Mille’s view of Janet with my body, which seemed to snap Mille out of her daze.
“Yes, of course… um, breakfast will be dropped at your door at nine tomorrow morning, and thank you for choosing Malin’s.” I thanked Mille once more and then shut the door as she left. I looked for Janet, but she was already in the bathroom. I was a bit annoyed with her, but that all fell away when I decided to join Janet in the shower.
That shower was terrific, a little longer than usual, and definitely needed. After we were good and clean, we dried off and crawled into bed. We christened the bed and found out that it was well-built. Then, with my arm around Janet, we passed out, genuinely exhausted.
Janet and I awoke to a knock on the door the following morning. I put on my pants to see who it was, but when I opened the door, instead of a person, I found a tray of food waiting on a cart. I rolled the cart into the room and told Janet that there was food. I ducked into the bathroom, and when I got out, Janet was sitting at a small table by a window wrapped in a sheet, popping the covers off the dishes that had been delivered.
It was an interesting breakfast of meats, soups, and vegetables, but it was all delicious and more than filling. I hadn’t really paid attention to the details of the room we had rented last night. We had been so tired and happy to find somewhere willing to rent us a room that all I had wanted to do was curl up with Janet and fall asleep, but as I ate, I looked around our sweet we had rented, and it was simple but elegant.
Nothing in the sweet looked gaudy or extravagant, but everything was comfortable and set up to make the room enjoyable. By that, I mean it wasn’t cluttered or full of random expensive knick-knacks. It had simple, well-made, comfortable furniture, and I appreciated it. The sweet looked more like Scandinavian design, simple and elegant. It was an odd contrast to the building's exterior.
I hated staying in a place that felt like a museum. If I moved wrong, you could destroy someone's great-grandmother’s favorite statue from that one trip she went on where she blah blah blah. Fuck that shit. I couldn’t handle that shit. That’s when I decided I liked the place, and I thought I could see us staying here for a while as long as we didn’t get kicked out.
Once we finished eating and taking showers, we dressed and headed to Eikman’s. The nice thing about this new place we were staying was that they had a vault, and if you asked the front desk, they would store stuff in the vault for you as a courtesy for staying at the establishment. I decided to leave a bag of holdings in the vault, and Janet did likewise. After getting jumped, it felt like a bad idea to keep all the wealth we had accumulated on us at all times. We thanked the attendant at the desk, not Mille this time, and off to Eikman’s it was.