The next morning, the bright sunlight of the lecture hall felt like a personal attack. Maddy sat in the middle of the Newbie Orientation, her eyes half-closed. She was trying her best to listen to the facilitator explain guild insurance and quest protocols, but her focus was shattered by a heavy weight suddenly thumping onto her shoulder.
It was Johnn.
He was fast asleep, snoring loudly enough to rival a mountain troll. He smelled like a brewery, the scent of last night's celebration still clinging to his garment.
"Mother... just five more minutes, Mother..." Johnn muttered in his sleep, his head nuzzling into her cloak.
Maddy's eye twitched. Her patience, already thin from a lack of sleep, snapped like a dry twig.
"This is the seventy-seventh time!" she hissed, though there were only fifty people in the room. She violently shoved his head away. "Wake up, you drunk brat!"
