Dion walked back to his room and found Alfred, his brown eyes fixated on the black book in his hand.
"Got it? What's the verdict?" Alfred asked, referring to Gina's eatery he had directed Dion to earlier.
"Not bad, thanks," Dion replied as he made his way to his bed and laid down.
Closing his eyes, Dion hoped to rest or perhaps sleep, but the thought of Xalvador's promotion to general continued to swirl in his mind, disrupting any chance of peace.
"Fuck!" The expletive escaped Dion's lips involuntarily, jolting Alfred once more.
"You seem troubled. Here's a little saying I came up with: 'A problem shared is a problem halved.' With my smarts and your... whatever you've got, we might just crack it before you know it," Alfred suggested, setting aside his book and moving to the edge of his bed, facing Dion.
"Believe me, you can't help," Dion replied without even looking at him.
Alfred remained silent, staring at Dion as if trying to see through him.
"I dunno what beef you've got with the General, but the only way you'll get an audience with him is if you pull off something remarkable in battle. He's all about recognising courage and graft. No shortcuts, mate," Alfred explained.
"Have you ever met him?" Dion asked.
Alfred chuckled and said, "Meet him? I can barely hold my own in a scrap, let alone pull off something remarkable."
"How then are you certain that he will reward an outstanding warrior?" Dion questioned.
"Because I've seen one. Ava, the battle..." Alfred began, but Dion cut him off.
"...princess. So she's good?" Dion interjected.
"Yeah, you know her?" Alfred asked.
"Not really, just met her a few hours ago," Dion replied.
"One of the top Lieutenants in this division," Alfred praised.
"So she's a lieutenant?" Dion mused.
"And you? What's your rank?" Dion inquired.
Alfred coughed before replying, "I'm a Corporal."
"Corporal? How is that even possible? I just arrived, and I'm already a Sergeant, a rank higher than yours. How long have you been here?" Dion questioned, rising from his bed.
"Long enough," Alfred replied, before adding, "You don't get to pick your gig here. Everyone takes on the role handed to 'em. Your gig and rank ain't set in stone. Some rock up as locals, others as waitstaff, some as Extinguishers, like us. Your starting rank ain't always set either. Some kick off as Privates, Captains, Majors, or Sergeants like you, but your rank can shift based on how consistent and hardworking you are." Alfred explained how the system worked in their environment.
"Then I guess you haven't put in any work to level up, have you?" Dion asked.
"I couldn't give a toss about ranks. All I want is to cram my noggin with knowledge, so when I shuffle off this world, a bit of knowledge sticks around. Though, that's never happened. No one in the past four centuries has kept their memories intact, 'cept the cursed ones," Alfred replied.
"Cursed ones? Who are they?"
"They're a bunch of blokes sent by some Mistress. No one knows what they're after, but General Xalvador took 'em out. I reckon he's still on the trail after 'em," Alfred said.
"Well, well, well. So the hunter is getting hunted. Quite ironic. Telling the world I'm Cursed will definitely lead me to Xalvador, but that will be a huge risk. My best shot is to excel in battle. Maybe I can finally get his attention," Dion thought.
"What book is that, that you've been reading?" Dion asked, trying to change the topic of discussion, lest Alfred might become suspicious of him.
"This is where I get all my knowledge from," he said, tapping the cover of the book gently.
Suddenly, Dion remembered what Viza told him about the people not having an idea about sexual activities. He wanted to ask Alfred to confirm that, but it was a bit risky.
"What if Alfred finds out I'm also Cursed?" Dion thought. "I need to be smart about it!"
"Sex!" Dion said abruptly.
"What?" Alfred asked, taken aback.
"I think I heard someone say 'sex.' Might be the name of a person down here or something," Dion replied, feigning ignorance.
"I didn't catch that. 'Sex'? Is that even a word? Might be your ears playing tricks," Alfred replied, completely unaware of its meaning.
[Not very smart, but a good way to verify what I had given isn't false information] Viza commented.
"Had to verify, since the Mistress that sent you to me has left this realm for a while now, some things might have changed, like in the case of Xalvador," Dion replied to Viza.
As he was still speaking with Viza, the screen above their door, known as The Box, started beeping rapidly. Dion knew something was up.
"Oh, bollocks," Alfred cursed.
"What's that?" Dion asked, feeling a little tense.
"There's a sighting of the Odds, I reckon. Not much luck for you, eh? Less than a day in and you're already facing off with an enemy," Alfred said as he jumped to his feet, rummaging through his shelf.
"What the fuck are the Odds they keep yanking about?" Dion asked Viza.
[The Odds are the Extinguishers belonging to the non-registered Hell. They're considered here as enemies, and so are you to them] Viza explained.
"You might wanna dig out a sharper suit from your wardrobe, mate. The one you've got on looks a bit shabby," Alfred said, pointing at the closet behind him.
Dion barely noticed the closet, which was well-lined with the wall, blending in with the same red color. There was a small yellow button that he pressed, and the closet opened wide, displaying the available clothes for him.
Inside were numerous clothes, mostly black suits, his favorite. He stretched forth his hand to grab one of the suits he saw, feeling a slight shock as soon as he touched it.
In a flash, the clothes disappeared from the closet, reappearing on him, and the one he wore before replaced the previous one.
He glanced at a small mirror nearby to see how he looked in the suit. Upon seeing his reflection, he was shocked. There were tattoos around his neck and some on his hand. He didn't have any tattoos on Earth, so why were they appearing here? Or was that part of their identification here? He didn't know.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Ava made her way through. "Hey Dion, buckle up, 'cause things are about to get wild!" she said.