Enough With The Games

Welpen: “What did we do? How come we have been stuck in this cell for days? I’m hungry and I just want some good food.”

Ryoko: “Agreed.”

Ezra: “Welpen, I am going to be hiding in your clothes the whole time so they do not suspect anything of us, but most likely, most of these people cannot detect mana. We all are in The Land. A lot of people that die here, I usually do not take in the Spirit Realm, but there have been a few occurrences, so I am a little knowledgeable of what this place is. If anything bad happens, I will try to intervene as much as possible. Just try to stay on the downlow.”

Welpen: “Nope. No can do. I’m going to cause a scene because they stuck us in here for no reason after I had to talk to that giant face that was extremely rude to all of us. Oh, there is a guard. Hey! It’s been 2 days. What did we do? I want food!”

???: “Shut up and sit down before we come in there and make you.”

Welpen: “La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la! How do you like that?! Now give me my sword back! It’s mine! Lihard gave me that!”

Another guard approached the cell with a brigade of people and unlocked the cell, guiding them to a different place. There were at least 10 guards in front and 10 behind them. They led them through multiple areas until reaching a white marble coated place that was huge.

Houses surrounded it like a villa and the red doors in front opened to a fairly large opening where a man and a few knights were playing cards.

Everyone kneeled down before them, but did not speak a word yet. The man with purple hair sprung up screaming, “Ha! I won!” and began jumping up and down like a child.

???: “Sir Lorezno, we’ve brought them for their hearing today.”

Lorenzo: “Ah yes, I have been waiting. You all may leave. Token is upstairs in case anything goes awry. I would like to speak to these boys by myself. Although, you there in the suit. I don’t detect any mana from you. Are you concealing it?”

Saikou shook his head profusely no, and Lorenzo simply listened to the boy without thinking he was lying at all. Welpen whispered lowly to Ezra, “I thought nobody could detect mana.” She responded, “I said most, not all.”

Lorenzo: “Welcome, welcome, welcome. I apologize for the couple days that you all have had in the dungeon, but I had some things to take care of. My name is Lorezno Cain if you haven't already guessed, and I am in charge of this beautiful place called, The Land. Now, I usually do not do this, but what if I said I want all of you to work under me? What would you say to that?”

Welpen: “No. We would say no. I don’t know what this place is, but why would I work for someone that just threw me in a cell without any good food? I’m starving and I want my sword back.”

Lorenzo: “Ah yes. Indeed, you may all have your swords back right now and I will have someone prepare you the most gorgeous of food. Food is truly appetizing and can turn the mind in such cruel, but beautiful ways. I just love it. Before I do give your weapons back, I would like to have a little chat though. I do trust you all, truly I do, but I do not want any distractions from our conversation. So, without further ado, what color would you like your houses to be?”

Welpen: “Huh?”

Lorenzo: “Well, I need to know what you would like for your accommodations since you will be living here with all of us and working for me.”

Welpen: “Huh? No one said anything about living here. Are you senile old man?”

Lorenzo: “Old man? Pff! I’ll have you know I am 37 years old. Is that old nowadays? You’re going to make me cry. I think I will be too old when I cannot gamble anymore. I don’t want to think about that right now. That’s scary.”

Ryoko: “Welpen, he’s weird.”

Lorenzo: “Fine, fine. You do not care about the color. Then what about the furniture? Every good house has to have nice furniture. Oh wait, I didn’t even think about the door. What design would you like the door, or maybe the floors? We did just fire a few people. Maybe you can take their houses if that is better for you all?”

Welpen: “We don’t want a house. I will say it 10 times over for you to get that.”

Lorenzo: “Oh, I see. Sorry, I have been rude, haven’t I? You all are built more for the highlife. How about a penthouse? Is that still not to your liking? Oh, hold on. Before you answer that, the food is ready! I cannot wait just as much as you all. I’m salivating like never before. Please, please follow me to the dining hall.”

They did as such and followed him to an even bigger room that was silver plated. You could see your reflection in the floors and the walls. It was like a giant silver cube of a room with windows and the table was so big that 50 people could sit around it, and there was enough food for the 4 of them that would last 8 days.

Welpen’s eyes lit up as he ran over to start chowing down with Ryoko.

Lorenzo: “Ah, ah, ah. We must pray first. Let us pray to God for the glorious food he has presented us. Oh God, thank you for blessing this food with all your might. We will not take it for granted, especially to feed these young boys who must’ve had a rough journey here. Thank you…You may all eat now. Thank you for waiting. We must pay our respects whenever we can. Oh, young boy with the helmet. You must take off that helmet to eat.”

Welpen: “He can’t. He doesn’t take it off and he doesn’t eat.”

Lorezno: “Doesn’t eat? Fascinating. Must be the work of a chaplet.”

Welpen: “Well, he probably does, otherwise he would die, but he won’t take it off around us or anyone, but we love him anyways.”

Lorenzo: Of course, I see. Now the reports of you all say that you came out of nowhere. My men did not see anyone crossing the lands to get here. Is this true?”

Welpen: “Oh this fruit is delicious, Ryoko! Oh, huh? Yeah, we came from the Infinite Library and just ended up here. Not sure how.”

Lorenzo: “Hmm, I am not familiar with that place, but I will assume that it transported you here as the will of God. Now, I usually don’t talk a lot about God in front of others because you see, this is a land built off of greed. Everyone does love their money, me included, so it would belittle his name with this sin, but I believe you boys were sent here as a miracle. Now, I know of chaplets of course. We have them here too, but nothing of much stature. We don’t abuse them as much as you all do in the Lands of Toff. We also don’t use swords if you have observed. We use these metal rods called Links. I would like to take all the credit, but a good friend of mine came up with the idea that harnesses a lot of different factors that is equal to a pretty high end sword in your case. Here, allow me to test one out for you.”

Lorenzo left the room and came back with a steel rod lined with multiple colors. From top to bottom, different colors lit in sections. Green, white, black, yellow, blue, red, and green again.

Lorenzo: “Now, this is from the second generation model, but we are developing the third as we speak. You see the flashing colors lined up? That is a mix of mana and chaplets. However, the chaplets were a little harder to extract, so instead of the individual abilities that they give, we were able to produce even more mana and in the simplest terms, we were able to essentially stuff that mana inside of the other mana. Now, I know that doesn’t make much sense, but let me show you.”

Lorenzo tapped on each color, which flashed and the rod as well as him, lit up in a green flame instead of mana lines. It was similar to powers Welpen and the others have seen, but it was different. It was like a flame of mana that shrouded around them and improved their overall powers.

Lorenzo: “As you can see, we weren’t able to actually pull abilities, however mana in the clearest form is this. These colors each reflect something involved with those who have mana lines. Green improves agility, white improves vision, black improves defense, yellow improves mood, which believe it or not, is vital in battle, blue improves knowledge, red improves strength, and then back to green.”

The three of them were fascinated and so was Ezra just hearing about it. She believed that this was unnatural, but a game changer in the face of swordsmanship. It allowed anyone to be on the same level as others if they were able to master it. She whispered to Welpen to ask a question.

Welpen: “Umm, why are there 2 greens?”

Lorenzo: “Ah, silly me. Every link is custom designed, so we ask everyone what ability they would want in battle in case the rod broke in half. Actually, about 90% of our links end in green because most people choose to try and escape in battle. Although, there are some stupid idiots that I know that choose other colors to try and fight. Fools they are. Oh, let me tell you a little about me. I love money. No, I’m just kidding. Well, I do love money, but there is more to my story. You see, I was actually born in the Lands of Toff. I was born in this tiny town called Lekkston. There were probably about 30 people total, but we all worked hard to farm and made a living. My friend came up to me one day and told me that he would arm wrestle me for a pack of wheat seeds. I was intrigued and ended up winning. My mind raced and my heart pumped at twice the speed. I enjoyed this game and I later realized I loved gambling after I had beaten all 11 kids in the town. My family prospered that night and we ate more than our stomachs could hold. I quickly realized that I could make a living out of this and throughout the years, I traveled town to town for food and supplies, not just with arm wrestling, but many other games. I rarely lost and I brought back all these goodies to my family along with my town, which now grew to 59 people in the span of 12 years. Needless to say, once my parents died 10 years later of disease, I set off to build something that was so grand and so spectacular, that no one would defy me. I learned from gambling that you can control others with such a small contest, but I could also gain the respect of many as well. That is a shortened story of my life, but that’s about it. Questions? How is the food?”

The boys shook their heads in unison to show how good the food was. Welpen did have another question for him though.

Welpen: “Hey Mr, were you upset when your parents died? You didn’t really seem like it. I mean, I’ve never really met my parents, or at least I can’t remember them, but what’s it like to have them?”

Lorenzo: “You want an honest answer, Welpen?”

Welpen: “Yes, sir.”

Lorezno: “They are not needed.”

Welpen: “Huh?”

Lorenzo: “I loved my parents and I still love them, God rest their souls, but they were a hindrance. We all worked hard for years, and instead of trying to change and trying something new, they stayed and farmed for survival. I took the chance and left to bring them a better life. Gambling helped me escape and then I built something that they never could. You don’t need parents, Welpen. Look what it can bring you without them. I’m the living reason of that.”

Welpen thought in his head, ‘I-I don’t need them? Do I really not need parents? Was I better off all along without them? I mean, I have Clara. I don’t think she was a hindrance. Was she?’

Lorenzo: “What would you boys like for dessert? We have anything you would like.”

Welpen: “Whoo! I’m stuffed! Do you guys want dessert?”

Ryoko: “No. Too full.”

Welpen: “Saikou, I know you don’t want dessert.”

???: “Sir, there were some people at the front entrance asking for you. We took them into the dungeon. I know you did not want to be bothered, but I thought I would let you know.”

Lorenzo: “Asking for me? At this time? It’ll be midnight in 3 hours. What were their names?”

???: “It’s an older man with an eye patch and a younger man with colored glasses. I believe they said their names were Naoki and Souta.”

Welpen and Ryoko spit some of their food out and began to choke and cough. Both of them at the same, yelled out their names in question. They couldn't believe they were here. Welpen knew they had gotten out with them, but had not seen them since what happened at Deceased Paradise.

Lorenzo: “Oh? It seems you boys know these men?”

Welpen: “Yeah, we do! They are our friends.”

Lorenzo: “Right on! Bring them here. The food is getting a little cold, but they might enjoy this as well. I feel a game brewing with all these people. The hairs on my arms are tingling!”

The guard brought back Naoki and Souta who walked in just as shocked as Welpen and Ryoko.

Naoki: “W-Welpen? How the hell did you get here? Is Astro here?”

Welpen: “Naoki! How are you? No, he’s not here. We were just eating. Take a seat. This is Saikou by the way. He doesn’t speak, but he is cool.”

Lorenzo: “I do not believe we have met. Naoki and Souta, was it? Let me apologize to you men like I did to the young ones over here. You will get your swords and chaplets back soon. If you have a magic pouch for storage, we do not even look at it. It is a simple precaution. However, now that I look at you a little closer, you do look a little familiar. Have we met?”

Naoki: “We both have come here before. We stayed here for a little while actually and have been back and forth. We know who you are, but just have never met.”

Lorenzo: “Splendid! Well, a friend of Welpen is a friend of mine. Please, eat as much food as you want. Let me go get changed. I like to wear a certain outfit for occasions like this.”

He exited the room and Naoki questioned what had happened with Welpen.

He told him everything that they went through.

Naoki and Souta were baffled that they survived the Infinite Library. They themselves had gone months ago to ask about the Lost Chaplet, but they were denied a question and failed the trials for some reason, however Naoki did not tell Welpen or anyone else this. Ryoko also explained nervously and back in his robotic nature how he made it up here with Ezekiel and Okasaki.

Naoki: “Yeah, I know those guys. They are a cocky bunch, but they are pretty strong physically at least, not really mentally.”

Souta: “Good to see you kid. How’s that punk ass dude with the cape? I’ve been meaning to have a word with him. Unfortunately, I’m on timeout from this doofus. If I say something I’m not supposed to, then I might get in trouble. Should I do it, Welpen? I’m thinking about getting in trouble hahaha! Just like when a kid talks back to his mother. That’s how you’re treating me right now you jerk.”

Lorenzo returned wearing an all white fluffy robe that went all the way down to the ground. Gold tassels hung from the shoulders and 1 long tassel hung from the middle that heightened his purple hair and facial features.

Naoki: “Souta, what’s the number?”

Souta: “Nothing good. 67 at best. It’s just those weapons we have to watch out for. They aren’t necessarily that strong. I’m picking up a 76, but I have a feeling there are stronger ones.”

Naoki: “Just pay attention. I sense someone strong upstairs. Cain seems all too nice than when I last saw him choking a man in an alleyway 2 years ago. It’s still vivid in my memory.”

Lorezno: “If everyone is done eating, please join me over to this mini table and we will be playing a game for a little bit of money.”

Welpen: “Lorenzo, I don’t have any money left. I spent it all.”

Lorenzo: “Well, that’s okay, your friends here may lend you some. We use the same currency as you all, so as many Petals as you have are fine. I call this game Trap! Although, there are many other names for it. I cannot give myself credit for I did not make this game up, but here is how it works. I will write down a number on my hand numbered 1-1000, and the person next to me will then choose a random number between that. I will pick higher or lower depending on what is said and then we will continue onwards until someone becomes trapped. If that is the case, then that person will pay everybody else 1,000 petals. There is only 1 loser per round.”

Souta: “1000?! Are you insane?!”

Naoki: “Stop, that’s fine. We have the money to spare.”

Naoki was in no position to argue.

‘He knows we are here for something, not just to meet these boys. That was pretty evident. I know he’s always been a gambling man, so the stakes are high, but he is doing a pretty crappy roundabout job to understand what we are here for. I could care less about the money, but this is more than enough to buy hundreds of chaplets with.’

Lorenzo: “Great! Let’s get started. Hmm, so many different numbers, what will I choose? Okay, I got a number. I will write it down on my hand with this pen. Souta, you are first. What number will you choose?”

Souta: “Let’s just get this over with, 150.”

Lorenzo: “Oh! That was it!”

Souta: “Wh-What?! It was?”

Lorenzo: “Just kidding. The number is higher. Naoki, you’re up. Man this is so exciting playing with you all.”

Naoki: “450.”

Lorenzo: “Ah, that number is also too low.”

Ryoko: “570.”

Lorenzo: “That is also too low! We are really getting up there now! Welpen, you’re up.”

Welpen: “Let’s go with…890.”

Lorenzo: “My oh my, the number is still higher. Saikou my boy, you are up.”

Saikou motioned with his fingers the number 9, 2, and 0, which Lorenzo confirmed was too high this time. The number was lower and the game began to come to a close. It circled back to Lorenzo who assured them that he must take the next number down, which was 919.

Souta: “912.”

Lorenzo: “That is too low. That means the number is between 913 and 918. Who will get trapped?!”

Naoki: “913.”

Ryoko: “914.”

Welpen: “915.”

Saikou motioned towards the number 916, which also wasn’t correct. Lorenzo was up and forced to take the next number up. He began to chuckle and get all giddy as he showed the number on his hand, which was 918. Souta had been the one that got trapped. He freaked out in front of all of them and told Lorenzo that he wasn’t going to pay. Naoki took matters into his own hands and gave him the money to pass around the table.

Lorenzo: “Splendid! Everyone is paid. We shall play again.”

Naoki: “No, I think we will pass for today. Nobody has any money and I am basically paying out for everyone. Plus, I don’t think they want to play anymore.”

Lorenzo: “Oh, why not? I thought we were having fun, plus that wasn’t a question. Sit down and play the damn game or else I’m not answering any questions you have about whatever you guys are here for and you can rot in that dungeon for life. How’s that sound? Okay, is everyone ready to play? We are going to have so much fun!”

Naoki looked at Souta eerily, and sat back down. Welpen was concerned as well, but got too distracted when the dessert came out. ‘He’s going to make us play for hours. I’m going to lose everything I have. The only chance I have is if Lorenzo loses. Souta doesn’t have much to get through even an hour of gameplay. He knew this from the start. He knew these boys didn’t have money, so he picked a game where I would lose continuously with the odds. He’s smart. Damn bastard. Tch! I have no other option. I’ll play the damn stupid game. I should still have a little bit left over from The Association, but this is going to hinder our future plans.’

They continued on with the game until morning, dreadfully not knowing where this was heading.