Talbot felt his mind stir and slowly, he opened his eyes. The first thing he registered was a ceiling, high and wide; painted a bluish-green blend he had never seen. He remained flat on his back as his thoughts refreshed and his heartbeat seeked a rhythm.
{Host has rested for 9 hours.}
The automatic voice he had gotten used to greeted him and Talbot's eyes glided to his left, where the green model was stretching and probably yawning? It did not have features but it was a lively little man to say the least. As Talbot watched the green pipsqueak rub at its nonexistent eyes, another voice addressed him.
"A fine morning to you sir," the soothing voice made the man sit up. A few feet from the massive bed stood Raven, his royal blue eyes staring at Talbot through an owl mask.
"Hope you are well rested sir," Talbot turned to his right and met a pair of red eyes that reminded him of cooling lava, gazing at him through a fox mask.
The duo opted for formal attire; seemingly their signature style. Talbot swung his feet off the energy-draining mattress and touched the cool gray tiles. The room was bigger than any of the ones he had been to in floor 40. Looking around, the waking man did some light stretching while appreciating the decor, once enough blood warmed up his limbs, he made for the door.
"A good morning to you too, Swan, Raven."
He passed by, nodding toward them in greeting. The duo fell into step behind him, following Talbot as he toured the 65th floor. It generally resembled floor 40...but, more grandiose in beauty and size.
'There's a damn pool?' Talbot widened his eyes as he stepped into yet another room that extended to the outer premises of the glass wall. He could see the city below, people tending to their lives like the ants they were.
Talbot massaged his brows, he had no height phobia mind you, but swimming in waters contained in see-through glass is a nerve wracking experience he was not willing to slap under his belt. A 60 storey fall to inevitable death is not something he was about to risk, good thing the majority of the pool was indoors. Talbot vowed to himself; never to test his luck, life might be watching, stalking patiently for him to mess up and snuff him out.
Hence, he would rather stick his rich ass to much more mundane forms of recreation. The cautious man always lived to tell a tale after all.
Moving on, he realized he now had a gym within his floor. This solved the issue on his workout plans as he now did not have to literally apply for a public one. Deciding to grab a meal first before attempting his daily quest, Talbot made a beeline towards the hall, Swan and Raven in tow; gazing amusedly at the silent man and his antics while familiarizing himself with his new home.
Throughout the tour, the trio had met teams of staff assigned to handling the floor. Talbot internally sighed, the thought of even cleaning 10% of this floor ushered in a headache. Now that that was settled, he emerged into an expanse the size of someone's yard. Judging by the setting, the man assumed it to be a living room, though it contained facilities he had not seen in his life.
Luckily, the dining section was close by, so was the kitchen. It was good to know that he would not be needing to work through a maze just to grab a midnight snack. Talbot found three chefs already preparing a dish, when they spotted him, the culinarians stopped what they were doing and lined up before their new employer.
Taking a slight bow, the trio greeted in unison.
"We greet the Master of 65th! We hope to be of service to you from here henceforth sir!" The cooks consisted a team of 2 men and 1 lady, their white hats tipping over as they prostated themselves.
They had no clue of the man before them as they had suddenly been called in for duty, this floor had been set aside for the master of Stragenah, and they hoped against hope that he would be a benevolent man. Having to serve someone narcissistic would be intolerable for the chefs.
"Ah~the pleasure is all mine,"Talbot nodded their way and the three raised their heads, their expressions guarded.
Talbot sighed at this,"No need to be so stiff, I'll not be getting in your hair anytime soon if your duties are acomplished as expected," he saw apples on a plate and reached out for one,"Hope we get along from now on. That aside, is there anything set? I am starving," he took a bite of the green fruit.
The staff took a while to recover, surprisingly, their new master was an easy-going individual. With relieved expressions, they served breakfast to Talbot.
"You two take your seats and dig in," Talbot addressed the duo flanking his dining chair.
The chefs had gone all out, this was outright a buffet and the young man would feel uncomfortable if he were the only one eating. He was wealthy now but that did not mean he had inherited the arrogance of such entitlement.
"Worry not sir, we shall partake to our meals at a late-" Swan was about to decline but Talbot raised his hand.
"I insist," he directed his gaze towards her and the two stared off in a stalemate before the masked lady sighed in resignation.
Raven chuckled as he rounded the table and took a seat, Swan followed suit, albeit hesitant at first. Talbot offered a rare smile at this and began serving the food.
"You'll not be taking off the masks?" He just had to ask as the duo had not yet made any moves to reveal their faces.
The masquerade masks only convered the top half of their faces thus, the two could still be able to eat unobstructed. But, only being able to see nothing but the eyes and lips of the two was beginning to take its toll on Talbot and his curiosity was starting to itch.
"But that would only strip us of the mystique aura we have been gathering so far~" Raven elegantly forked a bacon and munched on it.
Talbot mirrored him, learning how to use the equipment discreetly, this however, did not escape the observant Raven and he slowed down his movements so as his master could copy them.
"If it bothers you sir, we can get rid of them," Swan, unlike Raven- who seemingly had a sense of humor- suggested as she took a sip of the freshly made orange juice.
"Not at all, I do not mind the look, but it would be great to get to know the people behind the masks at some point," Talbot pointed out.
The trio worked through breakfast in a comfortable silence and after, Talbot prepared to head over for some workout. He requested the duo to head over to the 40th floor and retrieve his belongings and Swan was the one to accept the quest. Apparently, there was a private elevator that was exclussively his, the only ones who could operate it apart from himself, were Raven and Swan, who possesed cards similar to his own.
'Now that is convenient,' Talbot mused as he headed for the gym with Raven.
Pulling up his quest interface, he mentally scrolled through the list of exercises the system had set up for him. The little model to his left was overly excited for some reason as it began to stretch itself within its panel.
Talbot really was amazed by the individuality the little man portrayed. It were as if it had a mind of its own at times, which amused him as he thought it was one of the system's features.
Raven raises an eyebrow when he notices the grin plastered on the man's face. Choosing not to comment, he picks a corner to offer more room to his master as he began his stretches. Even from all this way, he could hear the cracking of Talbot's bones.
In the upcoming few hours, Talbot subjected himself through rigorous workouts, he did not use any of the equipment around him as the system advised he first familiarizes himself with his body's weight before advancing to the specified tools.
Raven at first hesitated to offer a hand, but later decided to face whatever consequences he was to be subjected to for helping. Talbot was new to all this, his form was horrible and Raven could not take it any longer.
"Sir, you are doing it wrong...no, that will only hurt your back...yes, further, just like that."
Raven had lost count of how many times his master had thrown up, the young billionaire had downed 3 litres(0.66gallons) of water, which all got pooled around him as sweat. But even through all that, Talbot did not give up, but kept going with unwavering determination.
[Congratulations for completing the daily quest! 50 Utility Points earned and 70 Store Points awarded! Keep up the good work.]
Talbot lay on the floor, panting and drenched through. But amidst all the aching, he spotted a victorious smirk. He had accomplished something and got rewarded for it.
Raven could not help but blurt out,"Sir, I am now convinced you have unlocked your Masochistic nature..."
Talbot burst into laughter, his jaws hurt but oddly enough, he enjoyed the soreness he felt all over, maybe Raven was right, but that mattered little to him as he knew gains were solely achieved through pain.