The man at the desk held a gentle smile. Greeting me he dipped his head down and started writing something. He looked like a foreigner—pale-skinned, with striking black hair and matching eyes. Not a common combination around here.
He wore a black button-up shirt, though that was all I could make out with the desk obscuring the rest of him.
"So you're the other new roommate huh."
He suddenly stopped writing and stood up. He then neatly placed the sheet of paper atop of a stack of papers and placed his pen in a cup.
"Hi, I'm Sakase Iseijin, looks like we're going to be roommates for a while."
He extended his hand for a shake. I waited a second or two before shaking his hand.
"I'm Brian Brigade."
"Nice to meet you Brian. Now if you would follow me."
The man named Sakase, which had an odd ring to it, led me back through the hallway to the other end. There were two doors, one at the end of the hall and another to my left.
"You can choose the room you want. We'll be rooming with three total but since you're the second one here you get first dibs. You should settle in, then attend the orientation in the main assembly hall. It starts in an hour."
He pulled out a pocket watch and checked it while telling me the time of the orientation. After informing me of that he turned on his heel and walked back to his room. I turned towards the doors and thought carefully. I wondered which of them had a window.
Opening the door to my left I peeked inside. It was spacious, a typical four wall box. On the wall to my left stood a desk. Almost directly in front of me stood a chest of drawers. On it was a puffy pillow on top of neatly folded white linen. A little to the right of the chest was a bed. And not too far from the bed stood a heater.
I walked into the room taking it in. To my right not far from the heater was another door, curious I checked it out. Opening it showed something different from my expectations. At first I thought it was a closet but opening it revealed a small walk-in shower, a toilet and a sink.
Above the sink hung a mirror. Compared to the bedroom the washroom was significantly smaller. After looking through the room I walked out and towards the other room. Opening the door I took a look inside.
In it I saw a room slightly smaller than the previous one. But it had the same furniture. There was another door to my right of which I could only assume was another bathroom. And, to my pleasant surprise there was a window. Returning to the hall way I stood in thought.
And after a second or two I grabbed my luggage from the hall, walked in a room and closed the door. I chose the room with the window.
Since I would be staying here for an extended period of time I decided to make myself at home. I gathering my clothes from my bag and folded them into a neat pile, placing them in an organized manner on the various drawers in the chest.
Then I laid on the bed, my whole body sprawled and stretching which felt nice and reviving. But I also felt drowsy. Before sleeping I should shower.
I pushed myself off the bed and opened the door leading to the washroom. Upon inspection, it was just like the other one.
Stripping down I stepped inside.
Three knobs were mounted on the wall. After a bit of trial and error, I quickly figured out how to use them—though their setup was quite different from what I was used to.
When I turned the knobs, the water started cold, then gradually warmed until it reached hotter temperatures. I adjusted them carefully until the heat and cold balanced just right.
After a while of soaking, instinctively I tried reaching for something, a thing that all washrooms should have. But soon after not finding it I realized.
"I need soap."
Without soap I couldn't properly clean myself. But for now this will have to do. After what felt like five minutes or so I stepped out of the shower.
I grabbed a piece of cloth, one I took into the washroom with me and dried myself. While I was out traveling I often used this towel to dry myself.
Having I finished wiping the last areas of my body that were wet I got dressed. And when I finished wearing my shirt a thought came to mind. Should I wash my clothes?
Thinking about it, I still don't have any clothes that fit this school's requirements. I have another set in my bag and it's been about two days since I switched between the two.
Currently I was wearing a sandy color shirt and black pants with some frays here and there. My other set was a bit nicer, a dark gray button up and another set of black pants.
After careful thought I washed the dirty set of clothes. Even just washing them with water would be better than nothing, but I really need soap to thoroughly get rid of the grim and dirt.
Not long after starting I finished washing my clothes and hung set them to dry. Then I walked over to my bag, gathered a notepad and a pen and started jotting things down.
"Ahh, let's see."
I knew I needed to make a list of the things I needed. I started it off with soap, then added.
"I need at least two new pairs of clothes matching the school's colors."
I thought of more things I would need.
"Ahh thats right"
I wrote down a large piece of white cloth. I will definitely need this later. After more deliberation I stopped there. If anything else came to mind I would just add it later.
I placed the pen down and went over my list. Soap, two sets of clothes, and a large piece of cloth looks good. I'll go out either later today or tomorrow to gather the needed items.
I placed the notepad on the desk and walked past my bed to my bag lying against the wall. Going through it I found a hand sized pouch. Opening the poach I lifted it over my other hand. Coins and notes began to fall.
Having organized it and calculating the total, my personal savings amounted to two steel Tyros, one bronze Tyro and three five Pyni notes. The Tyros just about covered the first part of my pinky finger. While the Pyni were of a smaller size than that.
The edge of the steel Tyro was steel, while the center was made of a green material. The bronze Tyro was similar, the edge being bronze while the center was the same green material. Another difference was that the edge of the steel Tyros was a bit larger while the green was a bit smaller.
All of them had intricate and meaningful engravings within them. Some of them even had figures on them, like one of my steel Tyros. On it was a man, not far past his prime.
He looked stern or displeased, facing directly towards the admirer of the coin. He rested his face on one hand in a thoughtful expression. Focusing my attention onto the Pyni notes I rubbed my fingers against the old but crisp surface.
They had a defined crease at the center where they were folded. One one side revealed a women's side profile. Dressed elegantly she looked poised and regal with a natural smile that seemed to be looking at something precious.
Flipping the note showed an animal's hide flayed and displayed in all of its glory. Next to it was a man kneeling next to it as if showing off their prize after a successful hunt.
On my travels to the Bartholomew kingdom I came across a group of travelers. And during my travels with them, as well as my years of work back home along with a farewell gift, I manage to save a decent amount of money.
Taking a Pyni coin I laid down on my bed flipping it. In my hometown I would often see these coins along with Tyro. From my cashier and accounting experience back at the inn I know that the currency within the kingdom and neighboring lands should be categorized like this.
Pyni, Tyro and Telos. These are, at least from what I've heard, the most prominent forms of currency. It's even used on other lands far away.
Pyni come in the form of notes in denominations of one, five, ten, twenty-five, fifty, and one hundred. Then there's Tyro, these are coins. The categorization of these use to confuse me seeing how there are three different forms of Tyro.
Bronze edge Tyro, steel edge Tyro and gold edge Tyro. Back home I've seldom seen gold Tyro and I've never laid eyes upon Telos. Telos much like Tyro comes in coin form. If I had ever come across one it would have been lucky for me that they only have one form.
Cold hard gold in the shape of a small circle. I hear that just one could buy a family half a year's worth of food and lodging. I often fantasized owning one and the things I'd spend it on.
Right now with the amount I have, two steel Tyro, one bronze Tyro and a fifty Pyni note is enough to last me about a month. I can purchase cheap meals such as soups or sandwiches, and other meals such as that.
And since I'm attending Prism I don't have to worry about lodging, otherwise I'd be spending four bronze Tyro a night, and that's for a cheap inn.
After counting and verifying the amount I placed my savings back into my pouch and stored it into my back. I stood up ready to take a shower but something fell to the floor with a loud thud.
Looking at the source of the noise I saw a pole wrapped in a white cloth. Picking up the heavy pole as it always has been, I paused. Then signed inwardly and started to unwrap it.
A brilliant silver luster caught my eye, though patches of ordinary rock clung to it here and there. Standing about six feet tall, a surprisingly thin yet clunky pole rested before me.
It was formed from a raw material called Abzand—a rough piece of metal, riddled with bits of rock and other impurities.
I picked it up during my travels with that peculiar group of travelers. The leader of that lot—that bastard—destroyed my spear while "testing" it, breaking it in the process.
As some sort of apology, they handed me this clunky thing, as if it could make up for the loss. Now it's on me to figure out how to forge it into a proper weapon. Ha, it would have been better had they given me a proper replacement but alas.
The cost to forge this is going to run me dry.
"Hah"
I placed the pole down and took another deep sigh. I could already feel my respectable yet meager wealth disappearing.