ch5: The talk

"You see,today is a special day..."

That special got fixed by an arrow in my mind.

"Oh, where are my manners, please have a sit."Leo said,whilst giving a quick flick of his finger pointing at the chair.

I sat in the chair leo indicated and looked around. It was a pretty comfortable private office, with these torches burning mid orange almost yellow types of flames, and a pretty decent wooden desk. Leo sat in his chair that almost looked like a throne, and started talking.

"I haven't seen you before, so i must assume you are green ,right?"

"If by green you mean not remembering anything before waking up in this tower than yes i am green."

"I imagine you must have a lot of questions..."

I nodded. Leo seemed to be the kind of person who always had this beaming smile, not because he found anything particularly funny or because he was mocking the person, but simply because he wanted to be as courteous and as pleasant as possible. Some might call it an act, but i have the impression that for leo, it's more of a matter of respect and well manners than anything else. Hopefully i am right.

"Well, where do i begin," Leo paused for a second before continuing, "The truth is we don't know much more than you. I think i was one of the first ones to wake up. At least one of the first ones to get down to the ground floor. There were only 3 other people when i got down. Me and those three all talked and found out that we had all awaken on the same day. Since the day i woke up, about 7 days have gone by. Every single day more and more greenies pop up, so we have been getting new people everyday."

"Does no one here really remember anything that happened before we got here?" i asked in a serious tone.

"Unfortunately, no." Leo said with downcast eyes before continuing,"Every single greenie that appears, we ask them the same questions, so we can better judge just what is happening, but unfortunately it seems that everyone is just as clueless about this place as everyone else. But, something very strange happened yesterday." leo remarked

"Strange?" i inquisitively asked and budged the chair nearer to leo desk.

"You see, Warden and raiden,which i am sure you have met,"i guess raiden is the one who held a dagger up my neck, pleasant fella for sure." brought down this greenie, who seemed to have gone insane. He was speaking in riddles, and talked of a "tower",and it's "levels". One of our most prestigious generals held a solo interview session with him, and he got the impression that the man spoke of an exit out of this "world" located not far from here. In fact, you can see the hut from where we stand. The most worrying part is that he believes it, and is now gathering a party to go there."

"Have any of the people here ever been outside?" i asked.

"No.We thought it best to grind, and gather as many people as possible, before we decide to travel. I do not wish to abandon any of the people here. Plus, it's always better to be safe than reckless."

Suddenly, the door got kicked down and this tall man,with pushed back long hair came bursting in laughing. His name was Jack

"AHAHAHAHAHA,wewei,those stupid motherfuckers still haven't got the message. I give it 10 minutes outside before they kick the bucket."

Leo smile crumbled, and his brows furrowed, and his eyes squinted.

"Jack, i have new people here."Leo pronounced.

"So what? Kid has to listen to it.The sooner he gets the memo the better." Jack continued laughing full heartedly, as if the world was a circus and he the audience.

Suddendly, leo hatched a knife and slammed it right down on his desk.

THUD!

The knifed slammed with such force that it got stuck in the wooden desk.

"You get out right now,Jack,or we gonna have a problem."

Spike chuckled halted into a smile and he said,"Okay, i get it bucko. Gotta play the leader. Gotta be the big Man. Talk to ya later." Jack turned back and waved with a hand behind his back ,before closing the door.

I looked at leo and he immediately already had his courteous smile.

"i am sorry for the interruption.You see,Jack is one of our more...problematic members."

I gave a half smile back and said,"i understand."

Jack seemed like trouble,but that remains to be seen.

"Do you have any more questions,mister,"leo paused for half a second before pronouncing my name,"Flames?"

"Yes,so many,but for now i just want to ask this one small question. What happens next? What do the people of the ground floor want to do next?"

"I am afraid that all depends on today's little excursion."

A trumpet started being sung.

"Oh, talking about excursions, I guess it is about to happen. Sorry ,but i have to go. I am sure you understand my hurry. If you have any other questions, come to my office later. We always need fine, willing people to help the group"leo smiled.

"I understand, i understand."

"Let me show you to the door. I will gather one or two things before going."

I followed leo to the door and we both said our goodbyes.

I suppose the giants outside are scary enough on their own, so i understand the general reticence of the entire group towards heading out there.

If the giants are in any way shape or form hostile, it could turn sour quick. Plus, i guess no one knows if they have any abilities or how they behave in combat,or what their level of intelligence is, so this "excursion" is all up for grabs.

I forgot to ask leo,what he meant by warden having a "sister". I guess the answer doesn't matter much ,but it piqued my curiosity. Also, i forgot to ask just who this strange man that appeared yesterday is, and if he is still here. He sounded a lot like the stranger i met on the balcony. i wonder if something links those two together.

In fact, i still have a million questions.What stats to invest in, the best place to grind, if i can get new weapons,if i can enhance them...So many questions that are important for my survival. All i have met so far have been rats, but i don't know what else i might find.

The trumpet sounded once again.Well, that's my warning. I will head to the balcony. I wager that's where most are going.