3. Inizio

As a town Inizio was smaller than average and thus it was a great town for beginner adventurers. In the game Waldina had known Inizio like the back of her hands. As a starter town it held a special place in her heart. Returning there felt like going home: the familiar vendors and guards, small streets and the cute small shops. All these things made Inizio feel like a warm place, which always welcomed its visitors.

Seeing Inizio right in front of her eyes and not through the computer screen, was a whole new experience to Waldina. The townspeople felt so much more alive and real. The buildings exuded a medieval atmosphere and a hint of homely warmth. Waldina was filled with nostalgia as she leisurely strolled around the streets while looking for an inn by the main street. As much as she wanted to get a good look around at Inizio, she knew it would be better left for tomorrow morning. After all, inns normally didn’t welcome new guests in the middle of the night.

For Waldina Inizio was both overly familiar and strange. NPCs, as usual citizens, were more active and alive. They had their own lives to live, their own schedules to follow. Yet most of the shops in main street were in the places they had been in the game. That included lots of everyday shops, funstores and different guild buildings, including Adventurer’s guild.

In the middle of Inizio there was a huge plaza. Main streets fused into it. The Plaza's center was adorned with a beautiful fountain. Behind the plaza, from Waldina’s viewpoint, the plaza went back into being a road which led to the mayor's house. It was more than a regular house or apartment, yet it was far from being a real mansion. In the game Inizio was depicted as a poor backwater town, which didn’t hold much riches. This was also seen in the mayor’s house. Funnily enough, Waldina felt that poorness made Inizio more homely as the town rather invested in small niceties instead of big shiny accessories.

After walking for a while the purple haired ninja found the inn she was looking for. It looked nearly identical to the game version: the inn’s sign was slightly tilted to the side and clearly handmade. The building itself was a two-story wooden complex.

Even the inn’s interior design was familiar, wooden and adorned with a couple of paintings. At the front desk there was a young, rosy cheeked girl waiting for customers with a wide smile. She was clearly nervous which softened Waldina’s heart as she walked to the desk. With a gentle voice she said:

“Hello. Do you have space for one traveling adventurer?”

“Y-y-y-y-yes”, the girl stuttered heavily and turned around to see the keys to the rooms. She grabbed one completely randomly and hands shaking gave it to Waldina.

“Thank you. Do I pay now or later?” An amused ninja took the key and kept her gentle look on the uncertain girl. Then a door located next to the desk opened and an older version of the girl walked in the room. The woman looked exactly like Waldina remembered from the game. Suddenly it made so much sense why she didn’t instantly recognize the inn’s worker girl. She did however have a certain feeling about her but she wasn’t entirely sure.

“Welcome, welcome. Sorry about my daughter, she’s still only practicing the whole innkeeping job”, the woman gave a small laugh and an apologetic smile.

“No worries. It went quite well”, Waldina nodded with understanding, “So how’s the payment around here?”

“You can pay first if you want so. One night or more?” the woman asked while looking at the ninja. She was clearly trying to form an impression of the guest but didn’t quite reach a conclusion.

“I could take two nights for now.”

“Right. That’s four silver coins”, the innkeeper lady told as Waldina went through the coins in her pocket. After seeing how the guards reacted to her bracelet she had transferred a small amount of money to her pocket. It would save her time and most importantly energy. She didn’t want people to look at her like she was some mystical being. She might be one, but she just didn’t want others to find out about it.

Waldina placed one gold coin on the desk: “Can you change this one?”

Both the innkeeper and her daughter looked pleasantly surprised. The innkeeper clapped her hands as she said: “We can also pay you back from this amount as you leave in which case you can stay with us longer without having to pay more.”

Waldina frowned a little, but didn’t say a word to object. Instead she thanked the innkeeper and her daughter and headed to the second floor with the key in her hands.

From both sides of the lobby there was a staircase leading upstairs. Waldina took the stairs on the right as the number on her keys stated. The inn wasn’t necessarily big, but staircases still led to different corridors and thus to different rooms. It ensured that an extra room could be built on both sides next to the stairs. Every free space had been used and it really showed. The corridors were so small if someone walked by, one would have to wait in one of the few niches of the corridor.

The room itself, however, didn’t feel cramped at all, though it didn’t have much extra empty space. On the room’s left side there was a small table and chair. Behind them, closer to the door was a tiny shower tray and empty spaces where to clean up before and after shower. If she was able to use water magic, she could easily fill the tray with water and bathe whenever. But as luck would have it water magic wasn’t one of ninja’s basic skills. The annoyance was real.

After a long sigh Waldina went down the stairs, paid for water on the front desk and carried the water to her room. After a long and eventful day bathing felt absolutely wonderful. Though she didn’t bathe for long as she was drawn to bed and dreamland.