Ryan walked out of the castle with a sigh. He looked back at the castle then continued down into the town. When he returned to the town, he could feel eyes on him. He looked around him and the people around him quickly turned away. He sighed.
“I guess the princess made a scene. I can’t blame them. It seems like they were surprised that I came back so soon.”
Ryan turned his head and saw what looked like a tavern. Ryan smirked.
“I wonder what the legal age to drink is…”
His mind ran wild about the possibilities of drinking a beer or ale in this world. He walked into the tavern.
The tavern wasn’t too full, but it wasn’t that empty as well. It was about what Ryan suspected how many would be in the tavern. He walked up to the bar.
“Can I have a beer.”
“We don’t serve ‘beer’ whatever it is. We serve ale.” The burly man said to Ryan. He looked up at Ryan.
“Aren’t you a little young to be drinking?”
“I don’t know, am I?” Ryan smirked as he looked at the burly man.
The burly man sighed and ducked under the counter. He came back up with a book and dropped it on the bar’s counter with a thud. Ryan looked at the book and back at the burly man to point at the book. The burly man was that of the Bear Beastkin. He wasn’t obsessed but he was toned. Ryan could see his well defined muscles even though his fur made him look husky.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a book that would tell me if you are of legal age to drink.” The burly man explained.
“Why do you need that?” Ryan asked.
“Because each race has different ages for legal drinking. Like the Elves, they maybe the legal age for humans but they aren’t within their culture.” The burly man explained to Ryan. Ryan nodded.
“That makes sense to me.”
The burly man slammed his hand on the book and looked at Ryan.
“Put your hand on the book, boy.”
Ryan jumped a little when the burly man slammed his hand on the book. Ryan placed his hand on the book. The book jerked open knocking Ryan’s hand off the book. The book’s pages started flipping wildly. The book stopped on “Human Race” and displayed the age “19” but it was in red lettering. The burly man sighed.
“Sorry, boy. You’re not-“
The burly man was interrupted by the book’s pages flipping over to a page. He looked at the page.
The Hero is permitted one (1) ale per day. Due to the stress of being a Hero, he or she is permitted to have an ale to help alleviate the stress.
The burly man’s mouth swung open and looked up at Ryan. Ryan gave him a confused look.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“What is it?” Ryan asked.
The burly man leans in and whispered to Ryan.
“Are you the Hero?”
Ryan nodded and showed him his “Hero Sigil”. The burly man quickly poured Ryan an ale and gave it to him.
“I apologize. Here is your ale. My name is Bear. And yes, I know it is weird to be named after my Beastkin race. My father wasn’t all that creative.”
Ryan took the ale and took a sip of it. Ryan’s eyes grew wide as he savored the taste of the ale. It wasn’t bitter. It was sweet and had a tang to it. Ryan slowly put down his ale and looked at the amber liquid. He looked back at Bear in awe.
“What is it boy?” Bear asked. He was worried that the Hero hated his homebrew ale.
“This…. This is the best drink I ever had!” Ryan took a huge gulp.
“Woah there. Don’t drink it too fast. I’m glad you liked the ale. It was homebrewed.”
“Sorry, it’s just so good.” Ryan told Bear which made him chuckle.
“Thank you. You only get one of those a day according to the book.”
“Oh, that sucks. I was going to ask for another one after this one.” Ryan pouted a little.
Bear laughed.
“You can have another one tomorrow if you’re still in town.”
Ryan smiled and took another drink.
“I might just have to-“
Ryan was interrupted by a Quest Window.
Quest:
Come back to Katt and add her to your party after investigating the town.
Quest completion Reward:
+10 gold pieces
+5 renown
Quest failure:
-15 renown
New title – Oath Breaker
“Shit…”
Bear looked at Ryan with a head tilt.
“What is it?”
“I have something to do. I can’t stay.” Ryan explained.
Bear took a sniff and smiled a little.
“Oh? Girl problems?”
“Kinda. I told a Beastkin girl that I would come back to get her.” Ryan said.
Bear laughed at Ryan’s explanation.
“Yeah, I can smell them on you. You said one but I can smell another one on you. It smells like Freya.”
Ryan nodded at Bear.
“Yeah, I ran into her, and she acted like a spoiled brat. Luckily, her father was understanding.”
“Oh, you survived Freya’s wraith huh?” Bear teased.
“You can say that…”
A bard clasps a hand on Ryan’s hand.
“Girl problems, huh? I know the perfect solution to your problems.”
Bear looked at Ryan.
“Whatever you do, don’t-“
“And what is that?” Ryan asked the bard.
The bard smirked as Bear facepalmed himself. The bard pulled at a lyre and strummed it.
“Let me sing you a song. A lovely song about love!”
“Wait… Love? I said nothing about…”
Ryan was interrupted by the bard going into a full bard mode. He sang to his full capacity to which his magic flowed out of his mouth and lyre. Ryan watched the bard with a blank expression on his face. As the bard continues to sing, Ryan could see the magical notes go into other patrons of the tavern. They got up and joined in on the song and dance. This is starting to remind Ryan of the musicals that his little sister loved to watch. He hated musicals because of how unrealistic they were. No one would break into song and dance. Well, it seems like a bard can make people break into song and dance. Ryan continued to watch them until they finally stopped singing and dancing. Ryan sighed and the patrons of the tavern shook out of their stooper and glared at the bard. They ganged up on the bard and beat him to a pulp.
“I tried to warn you.” Bear told Ryan.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all. I didn’t realize that people would go into a musical.” Ryan explained himself.
Bear slapped the back of Ryan and smiled.
“And now you know. You shouldn’t tell a bard your troubles unless you want a song.”
“I’ll pass.” Ryan finished his drink. He slides the tankard towards Bear.
“That will be five copper.” Bear told Ryan.
Ryan gave a surprised look. He forgot he didn’t have any money. Did the System not give him any starting money? He quickly looked at his inventory.
Inventory:
Short sword
Starter chain mail
100 gold
Ryan sighed in relief. It seems like he does have money but no copper. He reached over to the 100 gold and clinched his fist. The gold was automatically converted.
Inventory:
Short sword
Starter chain mail
99 Gold, 9 Silver, 5 copper
Ryan pulled back his hand and turned it over and opened his hand. Five copper falls out of his hand and clatters on the counter. Ryan smirked.
“There you go, five copper.”
Bear smiled at Ryan.
“Indeed it is.”