ch6: Meet and greets

The balcony was loaded with people. There were about 300 people, and i wondered if these were most of the people who lived on the ground floor. Only 20 percent of them were armoured up which made me wonder, if these are the only ones willing to fight, or if the rest simply didn't bother to equip their armour. I have been trying to gauge up the dynamics of the group so far, but considering everything ,the setup seems to be pretty nice so far. I barely know any of the politics at hand here, but at least i haven't seen anything eyebrow raising yet.

I tried to find a spot where i could get a good look ,but all of the front row was occupied and all i could find are spots where i could only see just a tiny bit of the field and the hut. At least i think that's the hut they are heading to. I could see one or two other huts, but they look much further away, so i doubt that's the one leo was talking about. I am surprised the giants haven't destroyed the huts yet .Maybe the crazy guy has a point. Maybe there really is something there.

"HEY KID,OVER HERE!"

The voice sounded like it was coming from the birds above, but clearly that couldn't have been it. I looked up and saw Jack standing alone at this platform supported by a few tall stone pillar, which for your normal person is impossible to climb up to.

I got closer to Jack and he shouted,"I WILL THROW YOU A ROPE!"

And down the pillar a rope came, and i grabbed onto it. I started climbing it without a single issue.The strength increase ,upped my body quite a bit, so i guess i shouldn't be surprised much. But it does. The entire levelling system feels unnatural to me. It doesn't feel real.

"Here,kid, i will throw you a hand" Jack said while stretching his arm and helping me climb up,"There,there" he started wiping the dust off my shoulders, and grabbed my arm as if i was a friend he hadn't seen in a long time.

"The view up here is pretty good kiddo. Unfortunately, the royalty down there don't appreciate up here much."

There was still quite a lot of space up here, and getting up here clearly isn't the issue, so i am guess Jack is the problem to the equation at hand.

"Let me guess,kiddo. Leo sold you the whole bullshit we need good men shtick didn't he? Lemme tell you something; Leo is a good kid. But he is way to fucking naive for the job. Most of the schmucks under him would throw him in a fire, if the chance came up. He thinks of himself as the leader of the boyscotts, issue is he hasn't got boys under him. He got men.Which is why the buckos about to ride out, told leo to go fuck himself pretty quick, when they got the information from that poor guy."

I didn't know what to say, but i looked at him. He looked at me back and said,"I am just telling you kid how things work around here. Cliques are being born quick ,and you have to adjust.Heck,you might even be forced to pick sides. No one knows what is happening, and everyone is running like headless chicken, so it's only a matter of time before shit hits the fan."

"Why are you telling me all of this? Aren't you afraid of getting enemies?

"Enemies?" Jack laughed,"Everyone that could be my enemy is already my enemy." Jack continued laughing.

"Even the normal people are your enemies?" i asked.

"What makes you think that?" Jack looked at me and than looked at the people. He got the memo."you mean them not being here?" He blared, "They are just pissed i told the truth. A bunch of fucking cowards the whole lot of them. They don't want to risk their lives and explore this place, so they just cower on the ground floor and gossip like little girls. Heck, i just need to buy them a dress for them to be like one."

Jack didn't laugh when he said that. He got pretty heated up. He took out a cigarette and started puffing it. I wonder where he got one.

"I can be many things ,but one thing i am not is a liar or a put it behind a smile and smile all day type like Leo. I say what i wanna say, and people don't like that. If they die ,it ain't my fault. I warn people when they are about to fuck up. Just like i warned those dumb motherfuckers downstairs."

I started wondering by what jack meant by "warned".Did he know much more then i?

"Just what it is that you mean by warned?

"You see the giants up there?" he pointed with the same hand as he held a cigarette at the giants,"What if i told you ,that i personally saw a flaming giant? It's not just the regular ones walking out there.There's more of them." He looked at me and saw that my expression was one of confusion, "Oh,right you are green. You see,kid,most here think the giants might as well be walking towers.What they don't want to acknowledge, is that the giants are alive. And that they have various types. To them what i say is all conjecture, but i actually saw one. Who knows what the giants will do when they see them on their horses. We simply don't know what they are capable of . For all i know,they might be able to communicate,and some of them might have specific spells that we don't know about. The shitstains down there don't care though. They don't want to accept reality. I told them to find ways to fight the giants at least. They thought it redundant .They could just run away on their little horses they said. If they get butchered, it ain't my fault, it's all i am saying."

"Did you tell them about the flaming giant?" i asked.

"Sure i did,kid. But only I saw it. So that's enough for those fuck wits to dismiss it. Not that it matters much .One normal one might be enough to squash them in an instant.

All of a sudden,The trumpets started blasting and i could see those 15 people heading out in horses...