Chapter 13

  Wes woke up more sore than he ever had been in his life. His indication that he had been exhausted, being that he woke up the same way he had lain down. Grunting to turn over, he checked his status.

  Name: Wesley of 29744C

  Race: Human

  Age: 27

  Unique abilities: Imperial over Metric, Back in My Day

  Abilities: Deposit, Eternal Spark

  Skills: N/A

  Achievement(s): Bloody Soul, Pragmatic Savant

  Trait(s): 3

  Current Status: Blessed

  Savings: 2,483,047.64

  Next Level: 207.36

  Level 1 Exp Per Sec: .0024

  Current Exp: 198.46

  So close to a level up, and I didn’t do anything but talk and sleep. I really don’t know what I did to deserve this good fortune, but I can say for sure that I’ll take advantage of this to live a really good life.

  Wes closed his status and lifted himself out of bed. His back reminded him again that he was achy. He first wanted to find his personal quarters. The room around him was bigger than any house in his old village. And it looked like it had its own rooms attached to it as well. Everything was so extravagant around him. The metals would shine back any light that would hit them. What he thought looked like wood was a bunch of different colors. The bed had at least ten different colors on it as well. Different shades of red and blue all throughout the bedding. A sitting area by some curtains off in a corner by a door led him to believe this room was meant to offer a sanctuary from the outside world. Aside from food, which he could not immediately spot, he could really stay comfortable here forever.

  Wes looked up to track the light shining throughout the room and found five smaller glass windows on the ceiling, evenly spaced out. One in a corner and a slightly larger one in the middle of the room. They had some type of cloth hanging from them that allowed only a modest amount of light through.

  He thought, if this room is this awesome, how the hell will my room look?

  Wes ventured out of his current room to find his actual room. Based on Coren’s description, he would know it when he saw it. Upon exiting the room, he looked to his right and saw the entrance to the personal quarters. He chuckled to himself. He had made it no more than 3 doors over before he gave up and crashed. Looking to his left, he saw that there were still a dozen more doors on either side. Sighing to himself, he ventured forth.

  The last door stood before him. It was a grand double door like the entryway to the main atrium, but this one had so many designs carved into it. He raised his hand to the door and found that it offered tactile feedback to his sense of touch. Sliding his hand to the handle, he pushed the door open.

  After seeing all the rooms he had just passed, he found that there were 10 bedrooms on each side. A small kitchen like the one he had seen off the main atrium. A room similar to the shiny floor room with lines and even a small pool again. Everything had been copied on a smaller scale. What looked like a library and an office were present as well. Well, two offices actually. They opposed each other; one was bright in color and design, while the other was more subdued in its appearance.

  What greeted him in his own personal quarters made him rethink what extravagant was. Wes had no words to describe what he was seeing; the floor changed from stone to wood. The room was surprisingly only slightly larger than what he had seen in the main atrium. It had four doors, two to a wall opposite each other. Each near its own corner. A single door was directly in front of him all the way on the other side of the room. In the middle was an elevated platform no more than a couple of feet higher than the rest of the ground. The seating offered four exact seating arrangements. Surrounding a circular table. A large decorated chair with two of its lesser versions on each side. With four of the large decorative chairs, he looked toward the doors in the corners. They were positioned nearly identically to the doors. With two doors each on the side walls, they couldn’t match up perfectly, but the chairs were directly facing the corner closest to each other.

  Along the platform on each side were stretched living areas, minus the kitchens that he had seen in his servant quarters. A small table with fewer chairs. Only eight to a side were in the middle of the living area. A long chair on each side, with two single chairs bookending them. A slate of dark glass was directly in front of each long chair.

  After taking in the main portion of his personal quarters, he hurriedly went toward what had to be his own. The only door covered in gold keyed him into it being his. Upon entering, he was a little disappointed that it was nearly identical to the room he had slept in. Only a little fluffier and shinier here and there. He went off to what he suspected was a bathroom, but found long poles of wood and drawers everywhere. There was attire similar to what he had seen Coren change into. He grabbed what was closest to his size and headed to the only other door in his room.

  Finally, the bathroom was in front of him. He used to dream about the room in front of him after he had dreamt about his awakening. All his friends and acquaintances would only ever mention this room as an afterthought or not at all. But to him, this was one of the main benefits of leveling. Wes stripped his clothes off and walked into his dream.

  Turning the handle activated the water just like he had read about. The Water was freezing cold at first, but after fiddling with its adjustment, he dialed it in and stood in utter happiness. This was the God's heaven’s. He found a liquid version of the bars they used at home and scrubbed his body as best he could.

  Wes exited the shower after taking his time. He did not want to get out of the shower, but Rocen said that Coren would be coming to get him, and he probably slept a long time, so he exited his happy spot. He found a fluffy piece of cloth that he used to dry himself off, and he put on the clothes he had found earlier, minus the jacket that was a bit too big. In fact, all the clothes were too big, but they were the closest to his thin frame. The socks he put on were way too nice to put into his old, beat-up shoes, but he didn’t see any shoes in the small room, so he had to make do.

  Looking toward the door, he said, “Such a long ass walk just to get back to the main atrium.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  ___

  The walk turned out not to be as long as Wes bemoaned. A lot faster when you weren’t looking in every room on the way. Upon entering the main atrium, Wes found a small army of people all lined up in rows in front of the doors that he suspected they decided would be their homes. Doing a quick evaluation, Wes saw that there were way more people than beds in the rooms. Even four to a bed would not work for Dozel’s party.

  Walking up to the groups lined up beside their new homes, he found Orthol in the largest servant living quarters, even though he had the smallest group. Behind him were two lines of people. Nine total.

  “Orthol, how are you doing? All sorted out?” Wes asked.

  Orthol offered a deep bow along with everyone behind him. “Yes, Master Wesley, we were able to figure it out.”

  Wes took in those behind him in greater detail. Two adult women and a couple of teenagers, and two small boys. Another man who looked to be around Wes’s age stood behind Orthol. Two very old women were in the back of each line, attempting a deep bow themselves. Wes took a step past Orthol. “Hi there, everyone. I do not have the time right now to greet all of you individually, but it is a pleasure to meet you all. I really would appreciate it if you all stopped bowing. You may all go about what you were doing before I got here.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Wes had the realization. He turned back to Orthol. “How did you know I was coming. No, how long have you all been standing here for?”

  “Not long, Master Wesley. My family only just got here. After getting settled, we came out to present ourselves for inspection.” Orthol bowed only his head this time while answering.

  “I like how you didn’t answer my question,” Wes said.

  Orthol smiled, “I am sorry Master Wesley. We have been waiting nine hours for your arrival.”

  “Ooph . Sorry about that, I tend to sleep for a very long time.” Wes felt terrible. His guilt overtaking his brain's thoughts. He turned back to the nine and said. “You are all dismissed for the next few days. Get adjusted to your new homes, and you are free to use anything in the common areas.”

  Wes did not know if they were all his servants but they all lived with him now. He did not want to treat them bad or take advantage of the contracts that Orthol, Mordune, or Dozel had signed up for.

  They all hesitated before leaving. Wes had to look at Orthol, “You all heard Master Wesley, you are dismissed.”

  They all said as one, “By his grace we thank thee.”

  Wes cringed at the way they spoke. Only offering a nod. Looking at Orthol, “you stick around.”

  “Of course, Master Wesley.” Orthol replied.

  Wes walked over to Mordune. “Hi Mordune. I am sure you heard what I told Orthol.” He took a step to the side of Mordune. “You are all free to go as well. I only need our great Mordune right now.”

  As one again they all said, “By his grace we thank thee.”

  While they all got up from their bows, he looked over them. Four adult women and the rest were all children. 14 total. Three lines total.

  Mordune said, “I will wait with Orthol, Master Wesley.”

  Wes nodded while walking over to the largest group. He took inventory. They had the most adults, with six, excluding Dozel. The rest were kids and teenagers. No one old in the group. Wes made the same statement to them. Followed by the same response, “By his grace we thank thee.”

  After the families cleared out, Wes waved over to the other two. He Said aloud, “Follow me.”

  Wes wanted to take in one more room, so he walked over to the large body of water in the adjoining atrium. When he got to the threshold of the room he asked. “Do any of you know why so much water is in this room?”

  Mordune was quick to answer. “It is for exercise and relaxation, Master Wesley.”

  “Awwwe I see. I may seem stupid when it comes to some things. No doubt you three know a lot more than me about the republic. I come from a pretty poor world. This much water was unheard of for us. What do you call it when it's made for exercise and relaxation?”

  Orthol jumped in this time. “It is referred to as a pool, Master Wesley.”

  Wes nodded to Orthol before motioning to a long row of chairs with tilted backs along the wall off to his left, facing the pool. They followed him over. “Please let’s sit and relax. I have a few questions.”

  They all followed. With Wes intentionally sitting on the third chair from the end, he wanted to see how they filled out the chairs around him. Orthol was quick to take the chair directly to his right, followed by Mordune on the end. Wes noted that Dozel slowed her walk over to let them choose first before taking the chair to his left.

  Sitting back in a huff, Wes sighed while looking to his right, “Look, I don’t wanna accuse you guys of being messed up. As I said, I do not know much about the Republic. So the politics of the universe are far beyond me. I have just noticed some things. To be frank, I have gone into all three living quarters. I have seen the number of rooms being offered in each. Orthol, I know that the quarters your family is in has five more bedrooms than Dozel’s. How do you account for the discrepancy when you have the smallest family?”

  Wes heard the chair move to his left, but he did not take his eyes from Orthol. He even saw Mordune’s body tense behind Orthol’s own.

  To his credit, Orthol offered his reasoning smoothly. “It is accustomed in the republic for humans to get preference over non-natives. We treat all with respect, but when it comes to choice. The preference always goes to the human in the republic. If our situations were reversed, it would be the same. Just with Dozel getting preference. It has always been an unwritten rule in the universe.”

  “And how did you and Mordune come to a decision amongst yourselves?” Wes asked.

  “We did a level reveal. For having a superior level, I have, of course, taken the main servant quarters for my family.” Orthol finished.

  Wes nodded at his reasoning. He was happy they had not been total assholes while deciding the rooms. But that left him with the question of exactly how high a level they were.

  “And who has the higher level, you or Dozel?” Wes asked.

  “I do not know Master Wesley.” Orthol responded.

  “To be honest, I am curious as to your levels but..” before Wes had a chance to finish, three separate screens presented themselves in his vision. They stacked one after the other.

  He turned back and forth. “I didn’t, I mean, I wasn’t going to ask you to show me.”

  Dozel answered for the first time, “It is in our contracts. It is meant so that you will be able to use us to the best of our abilities.”

  Wes agreed with the logic. But he still wanted to ask. “Are you three sure? It is not a requirement for me. So you do not have to.”

  Dozel and Orthol both nodded yes. Only Mordune took a second to contemplate, but eventually even he signaled yes.

  “Very well.” Wes went to look at the first before pausing in astonishment. He flipped through the other two in rapid succession. He laughed, “Man, you are all so much stronger than me.”