The town of Kris was well lit with lanterns that were hung on metal poles throughout the town. The streets were made of cobblestone and there were a few dozen huts and stone buildings that composed the town. The main street ran north and south through the town with a fork in the middle. The fork split the two southern paths into one north path that led back towards Aegis. Where the road forked, there stood a tall building that had a dim neon sign that read, "Pigtail Inn" in multiple colors.
Pebble was surprised to notice that there was a road that the team could have traveled on, but they all missed it during their skydive. The team approached the road so they could enter the town from a main path rather than coming in from the woods. There were a few people still walking about on the streets even though it was later in the evening now.
"Kris used to be a nightlife hotspot back in the day." Puffy divulged, "The Hero that ran that scene ended up kicking the bucket. The crowd seemed to disperse into several cliques before fading into obscurity." Puffy was still riding Pebble's shoulders as the crew walked on the cobblestone road into town.
A couple glances were cast in their direction from the locals. Pebble noticed a man holding his hand over his sheath as they passed, "People are antsy here, huh?" He reached up and poked Puffy.
"Don't poke me, I'm antsy too. Just get to the inn and get us a room." Puffy looked around at the townsfolk and smiled awkwardly.
Pebble sighed and continued walking. Each step was still a manual task, as his mind was still spinning after finding out about his viewership. "Say, Puffy, have you ever offended anyone with a high standing?" Pebble questioned.
"Why would you ask that?" Puffy replied seriously.
Pebble was thinking about that 150,000 CP bounty that was placed by a Donor in his Divine Favor tab, "I just had a feeling, I don't know." Pebble scratched his head and Puffy gave him a scrutinizing stare, but did not reply. "Sorry, forget I mentioned it." Pebble backed down.
They had arrived at the entrance of the Pigtail Inn, after walking past the fork in the road. Pebble reached out and rested a hand on the door, "Alright, I think Bard should do the talking. Thoughts?"
"Agreed," Said Bard.
"Yeah, can't argue." Phil replied and Fred simply nodded.
"Okay, let's do it." Pebble pushed the door open to the inn and was met with a warm welcome as the Dwarf behind the counter cheered. The room was well lit as it had a blazing fire going in the fireplace, which a few people were reading next to. There were a couple tables with patrons who had tall glasses of beer and mead.
"Ah ho! Welcome! Come in, come in. Wow, look at those impressive muscles!" The Dwarf flexed at Pebble and raised his eyebrows expectantly. Pebble looked at him with a lost expression and Puffy smacked him on the back of the head.
"Don't be rude. Flex back, you dingus! It's a Dwarvish greeting." Puffy grumbled in Pebble's ear.
"Oh, my bad!" Pebble said as he quickly began to flex back at the Dwarf with both of his massive arms. He brought his fists together in front of his abs and tightened his chest and back, creating quite the imposing posture.
"Ah ah ah ah!" The Dwarf responded by taking off his shirt and flexing while he reached his arms upwards and backwards to reveal his equally impressive back muscles. His eyebrows once again gave a wiggle at Pebble.
"Okay, I see you! If you would excuse me." Pebble picked Puffy up and put him on the ground before untying the top of his white robe and flexing his back at the Dwarf.
The Dwarf laughed heartily and ran over to touch Pebble's muscles. "These are finely honed. They are firm like stones. Do you have Dwarvish blood running in those veins, boy? I've never seen a human with more muscles than…" He coughed, "That particular gentleman."
Pebble was unsure how to proceed now that the Dwarf was feeling him up, "Uhh, excuse me, sir. I'm not familiar with Dwarvish culture. Is this another greeting or are you making a move?"
The Dwarf removed his hands quickly, "Sorry, lad! I figured with muscles like yours, you must have at least had a Dwarf uncle." He hobbled his way back behind the counter, "My name's Dink. Welcome to the Pigtail Inn! How can I help you guys today?"
"Uh, should I still do the talking?" Bard questioned with his finger in the air. Pebble shrugged, "Alright, I'll just proceed then. Hello, good sir, my name is Bard and I believe you've already met our beloved big brute, Pebble. This little one is Puffy."
"F*ck you." Puffy said.
Bard ignored him and continued, "That old man is Fred and the snake is Phil. We'd like to purchase a room for the night please!"
"I didn't need your names, son." Dink rolled his eyes and looked back at Pebble. "You get in for free, they have to pay 8 copper each."
"Okay, I'll butt out." Bard said defeatedly as he backed down and stood behind Pebble.
Pebble shrugged and held out a gold coin, "They only gave us gold, does a gold coin cover…"
"YES!" The Dwarf snatched the coin out of Pebble's hands at lightning speeds and began furiously writing in his business records. Puffy scowled at Pebble like he would at a bad dog.
"Are you stupid? You don't go waving around gold like that!" Puffy whispered aggressively, "This is not the type of town to flaunt what you have on you unless you're looking to get mugged. Are you ready to kill, pretty boy? Keep it up!" Puffy shook his head in annoyance.
Pebble looked around at the dining area and realized that a few people were indeed watching him, "Sh*t, I didn't think about that." He was not looking forward to the idea of an altercation.
Puffy sighed, "It's not your fault. I know of your condition." Pebble felt helpless in his current situation.
"We've got your back, bro. If someone tries something, I'll stab 'em. Nice and simple." Phil said in an effort to comfort both Pebble and Puffy. Pebble gave Phil a fist bump.
"Please do not stab any patrons. Anyone who isn't a customer is fair game." Dink said, "I've placed you guys in room 101, you're right around the corner over there." He pointed over the dining area at a brightly lit hall. "It's the safest room in the house considering yours truly gets to watch your door all night." He nodded at Pebble, "One gold coin will get you two weeks. Here's your keys. Breakfast is every morning from five to ten. Let me know if you have any questions." He put 5 plastic key cards on the table, "By the way, you might want to get some gear in the morning. That's a nice looking robe, but it won't protect you from anything." Dink said as he eyed Pebble's white robe up and down.
Pebble took the cards and started passing them out to the team, "Thank you, Dink." Dink nodded in response and the team walked through the dining room to approach room 101. Pebble noticed a few gazes following them across the room and did his best to remember the details of the people who were watching them. They got to the room and Puffy jumped up with his card and unlocked the door. Bard opened it up and the party entered the room.
The room had four twin sized beds and a sofa. There was a table positioned in one corner and the opposite corner had a little bathroom with just a toilet in it. There was no shower and no sink. Above the couch was a window that had a view of the back alley behind Pigtail Inn.
"Oh wow, we got our own room! It only cost us a gold coin which would equate to 100 copper." Puffy shrugged, "Can't be too mad honestly. It's not our money in the first place. Pebble, give the coin purse to Fred. The person with an actual intellect should be the teams' treasurer."
Pebble shrugged and tossed the coin bag to Fred. Fred struggled to move his arms and accepted his fate as the coins came barreling towards his face, but Phil caught the bag and handed it back to Fred.
"Be careful, Fred isn't 30 anymore." Phil half joked.
"Oops." Pebble walked over to the table and took a roasted chicken leg and a plate out of his inventory. "Anyone hungry?"
The team gathered around the table and Pebble pulled out a plate and a meal for everyone. They began to eat their first meal in the town of Kris, "Are you actually going to buy some armor tomorrow?" Fred made eye contact with Pebble as he asked.
"Eh, I wish I could, but I actually can't," Pebble said while taking another bite of chicken.
"What do you mean?" Phil stopped eating and looked at Pebble.
"My challenge mode says I can't loot," Pebble shrugged, "I'm only allowed to equip items obtained via the challenge menu. I don't know if I'm allowed to purchase anything."
"Oh damn, I forgot about that." Bard took a bite out of an apple and continued, "Maybe you can still purchase items, you just can't equip them?"
"I guess it's worth a shot. We can take a look at the Shoppes tomorrow after we visit the adventurer's guild. Are we really going to be okay with staying here for a while?" Pebble asked Puffy.
"We honestly do not have much of a choice. If we keep going south, we'll eventually reach the scorched lands. There are monsters there that would be a hard press for me, and I'm level 25." Pebble looked down at his plate and contemplated, but Puffy continued, "So, with that in mind, I say we stay here until you guys are almost level 20 or so!"
"What the hell? How much work is that going to take?" Phil griped.
"Quit your whining, it's not going to be hard at all! I've spent years thinking about leveling. It took me a while to reach level 25 but that's because I was a p*ssy." Puffy hung his head momentarily before regaining his composure, "I didn't want to participate. I just wanted to relax in the afterlife. However, now I am ready. I'm going to take you guys and run you through what I should have done. We're going to clear out any issues in this area and be true Heroes.
"You really want to get it right the second time around, huh?" Pebble probed.
"Yes, Pebble. I do."
"How long do you think it'll take us to make it to level 20?" Pebble ate his last bite and restored his dirty dish in his inventory.
"I think we could clear it in just under two weeks. We are just going to have to work hard and coordinate as a team." Puffy insisted, and the team nodded along.
Not too long after the meal, the team each took a bed, Puffy ended up with the couch, and they all fell asleep except for Pebble. Pebble stared at the ceiling and occasionally checked his Divine Favor menu.
'The viewers went up again. Why are you creeps watching us sleep?' Pebble thought as he stared at the ceiling. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw movement in the window above Puffy. Pebble stared at the window intently for a long time.
"Oh sh*t." Pebble muttered.