"The game itself is the most important event to happen in the entire history of Aoera. It's called: Game of Era," Dimos explained as he leaned forward. Adrian noticed that some of the strange man's madness had disappeared now that Dimos had something to focus on. His speech was still filled with erratic tones and sudden shouts, but his phrasing was no longer insane and repetitive, "10,000 players are pitted against each other in a battle of gore and guts until only one hundred remain. It's rather simple, honestly, yet so complicated at the same time."
Adrian felt his stomach drop as his worries about this game were confirmed. The punishment for failure was indeed death. Hell, it was worse than he thought. To play the game, he would have to kill other players as often as he could. Yet, nothing about the game scared him more than the win condition. He had to be one of one hundred out of 10,000. He and Amber would make up two percent of that population alone. A fear began to rise in his heart as his breathing quickened. How could he possibly survive such a condition?
However, before his nerves grew too hot, Adrian felt a hand touch his own. He looked to his side and watched as Amber tried to calm her breathing. He realized, then, that she needed comfort with the other as much as he did. The knowledge calmed him and allowed him the luxury of a clear mind. He gripped Amber's hand, then smiled in her direction.
He turned back to Dimos and continued to listen to his explanation.
"It's called so because of the intervals between each game. Exactly one thousand years will pass between when the game ends and the next one begins, regardless of when the players- or Artists as some call them- enter the world."
"Artists? Aren't you an Artist as well?" Adrian asked. His eyes slowly widened as a horrifying revelation began to dawn on him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Dimos quickly interrupted him.
"I am a fake Artist. My power is from the same source, but it isn't mine to own. Instead, I took this power from the corpses of ancient Artists of past games," Dimos interrupted, his voice filled with sadness and regret. He looked to his shoulder, then lifted one of his wooden wings, "but I am not a real Artist. I do not have the canvas that is upon your backs. As a result, my powers gained an ugly and terrible manifestation. I was supposed to become a Dryad- a tree spirit, yet this was what awaited me."
"What does the canvas do?" Amber asked. Dimos turned to her, then smiled. The sadness from before suddenly disappeared as his wing dropped back to the ground. He leaned forward once more as he put one leg over his opposite lap.
"Balance. With the canvas, your power will grow- but never become unstable like mine. The marks upon your skin will take the burden for you and allow you to grow. All true Artists have these markings, though their appearances will differ from some groups of Artists to others," Dimos explained, "As your power grows, so does your canvas. It will never extend past the boundaries of the posterior side of your torso, but you may see flickers of it along your neck or hips in the future."
"How do we grow our power?" Adrian asked. Dimos turned his gaze, then shrugged.
"What part? There are many ways to grow stronger. Three- in particular. With you, you should have a book- a Record- that shows your progress to you in a form familiar to you," Dimos replied. Adrian nodded, then quickly pulled his leather-bound book from his bag, then turned it to Dimos, "Yes. This is it. This is the first way to grow in strength. Your level- a physical manifestation of your power. You must kill to gain experience. For every kill, you will grow stronger."
"Like an MMO," Amber told Adrian as she nudged his arm.
"The second way, you must find and house a Rune. Currently, you have housed a rune already, yes? That rune was a Lesser Feeble rune, the weakest of its kind. With it, you can reach a minimum level threshold. With better runes, that level threshold will increase- raising the so-called limit. First, you must find all of the Lesser Runes. Simple, Advanced, and Elite. Once you've done so, you must find a Shard. A Lesser Shard- the Shard of Divinity. Once then, and only then, may you graduate from Lesser Runes to Intermediate Runes. The cycle begins anew. Intermediate Feeble, Intermediate Simple- so on."
"These runes, how do we find them?" Adrian asked.
"The spines of monsters. The stronger the monster, the stronger the rune. Some monsters will have different runes. You must be specific, very specific. Only follow your specific track, only your destiny. You may choose your destiny only upon your first graduation," Dimos continued, "Intellect Runes. You only can have Intellect Runes- as your canvas states. You will become a Scholar, naturally. After you've found a Lesser Intellect Shard, you may choose any other Intermediate Rune- doesn't have to be Intellect, but choose wisely."
Adrian nodded in confirmation. Most of this information was passing through one ear and out the other, but he knew Amber had a good memory. He could rely on her if he needed to. However, before he could stand up and bid Dimos farewell, he had one more question.
"Where do we find these Shards?" Adrian asked. Dimos froze, then quickly shrugged.
"A secret of the Artists, I suppose. I was never able to find one, so I tried to skip that step. This is what happened," Dimos rose his wing once more as his voice fell back into a depressive tone. After a moment, his wing dropped back to the ground as he turned to Adrian with a smile, "The third way, I forget. You must train your mind to familiarize yourself with your capabilities. No monster blood is required, unfortunately. Understood everything?"
"Everything that is needed, I think," Adrian said. He glanced at Amber, then sighed in relief as he saw her give him a quick nod. The two of them quickly stood up and then turned to the Captain waiting behind them.
"Artists are very rare. Much rarer than I thought, it seems," The Captain muttered in disbelief. She looked at Adrian and Amber, then said, "I see no problems letting you into the city. It's clear that you're not from Stonehold, and though I have some questions, It'll have to wait for another day."
The Captain reached into her uniform and pulled two silver coins from a coin purse hidden behind her leather. She stretched out her hand and gave the coins to Amber.
"Search near the center of the city, where the streets meet together. There, you will find an Inn by the name of 'The Blue Mimic'. This will be enough to pay for a night's lodgings. I will meet you two tomorrow- at noon- in the same inn. We'll talk more then."