"So how did you manage to defeat Clover?" Arpo asked as he applied some strange water on my wounds. He then took a long orange leave and wrapped it around my leg. "Don't worry these are Tangy Leaves. They have the best healing properties."
"Can I look at them?" Jade asked.
She carefully took a leaf from his hand and examined it. "Wow. It really is sticky."
"Don't touch the dark orange side," Arpo said. "That'll stick to your skin faster than glue."
"It was weird," I finally said. "It was as if he was telling me what he was going to do."
The King and Jade looked at me with confusion. The king then continued applying water and covering it up with Tangy leaves.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"It is I," an unfamiliar voice called.
Arpo looked at Jade and nodded for her to go open the door. She opened it and standing there was a tall muscular man with a pointy beard and a shiny bald head. He arched his eyebrow as he looked at Jade then side-stepped and walked forward.
"My king is that the strange boy who defeated Clover?" the man asked in a deep voice. He was wearing red sandals with sand brown harem pants and a red vest with no shirt on. He also had on a red cloak with the letters RA on the button.
He looked at me then shook his head in disgust. "So what are your plans? You plan on making them generals of the Royal Army?"
Arpo thought of this for a minute, "That is what I had in mind."
He snarled and handed Arpo a purple parchment. "We need to do something about that prince Rayvis. He's planning on waging war with Aurora again and if that happens we'll be caught in it. Should I summon the other three Generals?"
Arpo let go of my wound then sat down. He thought about it for a second before scratching his head. "Clover is usually the one making these decisions," Arpo sighed. "Do you think he's awake and feeling well by now to come up with a strategy?"
The man shook his head and muttered something under his breath. "Let me and my soldiers go to Ronan!"
Arpo thought about this for a minute then shook his head. "No that won't do. We need someone like Clover to go to the front lines and talk to prince Rayvis or King Ronan himself."
I stood up and put on my shirt. It was a little bit dirty but looked wearable. "Jade I think it's time we do what we came here to do. That stupid shadow said we would feel it and so far I don't feel anything in this City."
"That's it!" Arpo cheered. He looked at me like a kid who just got a new high score on his favorite video game. "You two can go ahead to Ronan and talk to the king for me. I will prepare an army that should arrive approximately five days after you reached the city."
I thought this over for a minute then looked at Jade. I was about to say something but she beat me to the point. "First tell us what's going on in this world," she begged.
I must have looked confused, because I wasn't expecting Jade to ask that question. I thought she was going to ask what was in it for us or something like that. Arpo too didn't expect this, and the guy that just came in looked even more confused.
"What does she mean by 'this world'?" the man asked. He eyed us more closely.
"I'll tell you and the rest of the Generals later" Arpo said. He then looked at Jade and cleared his throat. He opened his mouth a few times then closed it unsure of what he was going to say. "Well to know a world you first must learn about its history --"
"I'm out," I said as I cut him off from his speech. I picked up the gloves and put them on. For some reason I was very interested in them.
"Where are you going?" Jade asked.
"Anywhere but here. You know I can't stand history," I opened the door and took a step out before an arm grabbed me by the shoulders. It was the general that just walked in.
"You mind if I show him around?" the man asked.
"Go ahead Zeral," Arpo replied back.
He bowed his head then walked out the door a long with me.
"Did you know that this city was once a beautiful place?" Zeral asked me as we walked the long hall of the Coliseum.
"Yes," I sighed wondering where we were going. I looked at him intently with a straight face to see if I could hear his voice in my head. "Clover already told me."
"Did he also tell you that we was the strongest nation in this continent?" He said excitedly.
"No, but I don't care."
"This nation is in the center of three nations. The Ronan Empire, Aurora Empire, and Fluxe Kingdom. We were the center of trades and thanks to our famous army, and the Royal Army which consists the Five Generals -- me being one of them of course-" He kept on blabbing his mouth.
He stopped at a door and looked at it for a second before pushing it open. I really thought he was going to do his dumb knock and say "It is I", but instead he walked right in.
Inside the room was a U-shape table. There was nine seats in all including the one at the head table. Out of those nine, only three of them was occupied. Levi was in one of the seats along with two other men. They all had on the same red cloak.
The room walls were completely covered with shields and weapons. There was a huge map covering an entire wall. This must have been the war room or something around that corner. The chairs were made out of marble and looked as if they were stuck to the floor.
They eyed me as I entered the room. Zeral made a gesture for me to take one of the seats so I decided to sit at the head seat. An old man around his late fifties or sixties started laughing out of nowhere. He was bald with a silver goatee and looked like he was about six foot something if he stood up. He also had an "X" shape scar at right in the middle of his forehead and a hearty laugh that told everyone he was still full of life.
Levi, Zeral, and the other man looked at me with anger. Levi stood up and pulled out a short blade from his waist and aimed it at me.
"Don't think I won't hesitate to kill you," he snarled. The last time I remember him pulling a weapon on me was when we first met. I guess this was his way of greeting people.
"He sure reminds me of a young Clover," the old man said. "Arrogant in so many ways. Speaking of the lad, weren't you the one that defeated him?"
"Yeah," I said.
I looked at Levi and smirked. "Last I remember you said Clover was smarter and stronger than you, and I was barely trying when I took him down. So watch yourself."
The old man couldn't help but laugh again. I could tell Levi was angrier than ever now by the way he was gripping his blade. Any second now I thought steam would've erupted from his hands. The other guy stood up and place his hand on Levi chest. Levi took a deep breath and sat down.
I guess everyone in the Royal Army knew just how to calm Levi down. For some reason seeing the veins on Levi forehead pop out didn't scare me anymore. Maybe I was cocky from beating Clover—who claimed to be the strongest out of all five of them.
Zeral cleared his throat. "You sure have a talent for making a name for yourself don't you little one?" he looked at me. "First you defeated Clover now you're mocking the Five Generals."
"Why did you bring me here?" I asked. I only mocked Levi because I was bored, and it looked like we were getting nowhere being stuck in this city. I need to get Jade and head out to find that scroll.
"Quite the impatient one aren't ya?" the old man smiled.
"Yeah well I'm bored of this town," I said.
The old man looked at my hands and started laughing. "Did you really beat Clover with that weapon?"
"Yeah," I replied. I couldn't help but wonder how much life this old man had in him. I started to smile at the thought of fighting him. He must had been a general for a reason.
"Do you know how to use that?" The old man asked.
I looked at it suspiciously. It looked like a normal glove, the only thing strange about it was the metal. It had an ability of spandex and it seemed like it's stronger than iron. But the strange thing is, it was probably the one thing in this world I understood the most.
"Those are fire-dancing gloves," the old man said. "They are used in beautiful Ceremonies in the Ronan Empire. They also figured it would do good in a fight, but not much help in a battle. King Ronan is a smart one indeed, he used the materials of the gloves to make special suits of armor. That's how they have gotten so strong over the last year." The old man stopped for a second and leaned in. "But I think there's more to those gloves than armory and entertainment."
"Good to know," I said a little bit uninterested. "Now can someone tell me what we're doing in this room?"
Zeral thought about it for a minute. "Simple," he said. "We're going to get you ready for your adventure ahead young General."
He tossed a red cloak at me.