Eldridge Academy wasn't the worst place in the world to be on a Monday morning. Technically. Renn Blackwood kept telling himself that as he shuffled down the main hall, dodging groups of students talking about their latest conquests in the Endless World.
"It's just six hours," he muttered to himself, adjusting his backpack strap. "Six hours and I can go home to feed Mr. Whiskers."
Mr. Whiskers was the last cat left to sell in his tiny pet shop. A fat orange cat with a permanent look of judgment that reflected pretty well how Renn felt about his own life.
"Blackwood!"
Renn froze. He knew that voice.
Marcus Veldren walked toward him with overflowing confidence. His academy uniform was perfectly ironed, his blond hair slicked back, and his smile was the kind Renn associated with imminent trouble. Three of his friends appeared behind him with the same predatory look.
"Good morning, Marcus," Renn said, trying to sound casual while calculating if he could fake a heart attack and escape to the nurse's office.
"Good morning?" Marcus laughed. "Today is resource presentation day, Blackwood. Did you bring anything this semester or are you going to do your magic trick where you disappear all your credibility again?"
Marcus's friends laughed loudly. Renn considered the joke mediocre, but popularity made people laugh at anything.
"I have a different plan this year," Renn lied. The truth, that he had spent the last six months selling rescued pets and avoiding thinking about the Endless World, sounded worse.
"A different plan?" Marcus crossed his arms. "Like your plan from last semester to take a permanent nap in a swamp?"
"It was a strategic resting territory," Renn corrected, though he knew it sounded ridiculous. "I was recharging energy."
"For six months."
"It is a very strategic nap."
Marcus shook his head, widening his smile.
"This is going to be entertaining. See you in class, Swamp Lord."
He walked away laughing with his friends and Renn felt the weight of shame on his shoulders.
"Swamp Lord," he repeated quietly. "Great. That's new."
He had fifteen minutes before class started. Fifteen minutes to consider if faking his own death and moving to another country was viable.
"Renn!"
He turned and saw Lily running toward him. Lily was one of the few people at the academy who didn't treat him like a joke, mainly because she was too kind.
"Hey, Lily," he greeted, trying to cheer up.
"I heard what Marcus said," she gasped as she stopped. "Don't pay attention to him, he is an idiot."
"An idiot with an army of twenty kobolds and resources to maintain his position in the Northern Alliance," Renn pointed out. "I have a swamp and a cat that judges all my decisions."
Lily frowned.
"You still haven't unlocked your troop tower?"
"Nope." Renn emphasized the word. "Two years in this academy and my bracelet decided I don't deserve even a common slime."
"That doesn't make sense." Lily touched her own bracelet, a silver band that glowed softly with blue runes. "Everyone unlocks their tower in the first week, it is automatic."
"Well, apparently my bracelet didn't get the memo." Renn lifted his wrist, showing the opaque gold bracelet. "This baby is decorative, just like me in this academy."
"Don't say that."
"It is true, I am the human equivalent of a plastic plant, I take up space but I am useless."
Lily punched him on the arm.
"You are going to find out what is wrong with your tower, you just need time."
"I have had two years, Lily, at this point I think the universe is trying to tell me something."
"What is it telling you?"
"That I should have studied accounting."
Lily laughed and Renn felt a small victory. If he was going to be a disappointment, at least he could be an entertaining one.
"Come on," she said taking his arm. "Let's go to class before Marcus finds more ways to be insufferable."
Classroom 3-A housed thirty students with various levels of confidence based on how many troops they had managed to summon. Professor Aldric was reviewing papers at his desk at the front.
Renn headed to his usual seat in the back, hoping to become invisible. Unfortunately, he was famous for all the wrong reasons.
"Silence, please," called Professor Aldric. He was an older man with gray hair and a beard, capable of summoning minor dragons. "As you know, today is the semester evaluation day and each of you will present the resources you managed to collect over the last six months."
Renn sank into his seat, wishing the floor would absorb him.
"We will start alphabetically," Aldric continued. "Anderson, Blake, you are first."
Blake Anderson stood up with confidence, walked to the front, and activated his bracelet. A blue holographic screen appeared in the air.
"Territory: Northern Pine Forest. Troops: fifteen elven archers, Uncommon level. Resources collected: twelve tons of fertile soil, six thousand liters of pure water, twelve hundred kilos of crops, six hundred cubic meters of wood."
The class murmured with approval. They were solid numbers.
"Excellent work, Anderson," said Aldric making notes. "Next, Blackwood, Renn."
Renn's stomach shrank.
"Here we go," he muttered, standing up while feeling the eyes of the whole class on his back.
He walked to the front, activated his bracelet, and the holographic screen showed the numbers that silenced the room.
"Territory: Rotten Woods Swamp. Troops: zero. Resources collected: zero tons of fertile soil, zero liters of water, zero kilos of crops, zero cubic meters of wood."
The silence was total.
"Blackwood," Aldric's tone of paternal disappointment was evident, "can you explain these numbers?"
"Can I? Technically yes, although I probably shouldn't."
"Blackwood."
"Okay," Renn sighed. "The truth is that my troop tower still hasn't unlocked, so I can't summon anything to collect resources, and when I tried to do it personally..."
He stopped as he remembered the incident.
"What happened when you tried personally?" asked Aldric.
"A raccoon beat me up."
The class exploded in laughter. Marcus Veldren pounded his desk while laughing.
"A RACCOON!" someone shouted.
"You lost to a RACCOON?"
"It was a very large raccoon," Renn defended himself, feeling the heat in his cheeks. "And technically it was a Common level Beast Raccoon, which counts as a legitimate combat creature."
"Beast Raccoons are what first-year kids use to practice!" Marcus wiped his tears. "My seven-year-old little sister has one as a pet!"
"Well, your little sister is clearly stronger than me," admitted Renn. "I should hire a trainer or go to therapy, probably therapy."
"SILENCE!" Professor Aldric's voice cut the laughter short. "Blackwood, this is serious. Without resources you cannot meet your quota to the alliance."
"I know."
"And do you understand the consequences?"
Renn nodded.
"The Eastern Alliance already expelled me last semester, technically I am not affiliated with any faction right now."
The room went silent again, but this time the atmosphere was heavier. Being expelled from an alliance was the mark of social death for a Lord.
"I see." Aldric cleaned his glasses. "Blackwood, have you considered that perhaps being a Lord is not your path?"
"Every day," Renn answered honestly. "Usually around three in the morning when I can't sleep and I question my life decisions."
Some nervous laughter erupted from the class.
"I don't say it as an insult," Aldric continued with a softer voice. "But not everyone is cut out for this world and there is no shame in recognizing your limitations to look for another path."
"I know." Renn had thought about quitting hundreds of times. "But I feel like I should try at least one more time before throwing in the towel."
"With what army?" asked Marcus. "Are you going to recruit more raccoons?"
The class laughed again and Renn felt the mix of shame and frustration.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I still don't have a plan, but something is going to change."
Aldric sighed.
"Very well, you may sit. But Blackwood, if you don't present resources next semester I will have to fail you, understood?"
"Understood."
Renn returned to his seat under looks of pity and amusement, sinking into his chair.
"Hey," whispered Lily. "Don't pay attention to them."
"It's hard not to pay attention to them when they are right," muttered Renn. "I am a disaster."
"You are a work in progress."
"I am a work that needs to be canceled and rewritten from scratch."
Lily gave him another affectionate punch on the arm.
The rest of the class continued. Marcus presented twenty-three tons of resources and troops that included kobolds and a minor golem. Sarah had an army of fairies. Even Tommy Rodriguez, considered mediocre, had more than Renn.
Everyone knows I am a joke, Renn thought. The Lord without troops, the guy who lost against a raccoon.
When the bell rang, Renn was the first to leave.
"Renn, wait!"
"I need to go home," he said without stopping. "Mr. Whiskers needs to eat."
"Renn..."
"I'm fine, Lily, I just need some time."
He went out into the cold afternoon air. The sun was starting to set, but Renn barely noticed it.
His pet shop, "Renn's Rescues," was a twenty-minute walk away. It was a small place with windows that needed cleaning.
"Home sweet home," he muttered taking out his keys.
The inside smelled of cat food. The cages were empty except for one. Mr. Whiskers looked at him with those orange eyes claiming his late dinner.
"Sorry, boss," said Renn opening the cage. The cat stepped out with a haughty air. "Tough day at work."
Mr. Whiskers meowed.
"You know what is the worst?" Renn sat on the floor and the cat jumped into his lap. "That everyone is right, I am terrible at this. Two years and I haven't unlocked even a basic troop."
The cat purred, kneading Renn's legs.
"Marcus is right, I should give up. Close the shop and look for a normal job, like an accountant or barista."
The cat looked at him offended.
"You're right, that was dumb." Renn petted him. "But seriously, I need to make a decision."
He sat there, considering his options. He could give up and look for a career where raccoons wouldn't beat him up, try one more time and probably fail, or become a hermit.
"The hermit option sounds tempting," he admitted.
Mr. Whiskers meowed in disagreement.
"Do you think I should try again?"
Another meow.
"Okay, but when I fail again and end up living under a bridge, it will be your fault."
The cat purred louder.
Renn stood up, carried the cat, and walked to the small apartment attached. It was barely bigger than a closet, with a single bed and a rickety desk.
"Luxury palace," he muttered leaving Mr. Whiskers on the bed.
His bracelet glowed softly, reminding him that he had a complete territory in another dimension. A horrible swamp, yes, but bigger than this apartment.
"Okay," he said aloud. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow I am going to go to the Endless World, I am going to find some way to unlock that damn tower and I am going to... probably I am going to fail again, but at least I tried."
Mr. Whiskers yawned showing his teeth.
"Your support is overwhelming."
Renn flopped onto the bed staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow would be different. It had to be. Because the alternative, admitting defeat and giving up completely, was something his pride simply could not accept yet.
"One last chance," he whispered. "That is all I ask. One damn chance to prove I am not completely useless."