I woke up bright early in the morning. The sun was still rising. The view from my terrace wasn't including that but still was pretty, so I wasted few minutes watching it, then I took a shower, shaved, and went downstairs to have breakfast.
The hotel seemed deserted at this hour except for the workers, but there were very few of them actually. I went to the restaurant and picked a table for myself. The waiter appeared soon after with an apologetic smile on his face.
- The chef is still not here yet - he said. - Can I get you something, sir?
- Glass of water.
He nodded and left me. Just as he disappeared somebody else showed up. Adam Silvas, wearing a white shirt, and elegant pants. The gloves were still on. He stopped upon seeing me, smiled, and with confidence started moving towards me.
- Good morning - he said. - So I'm not the only early bird.
He didn't have an accent at all. I was wondering if this was something natural for him, or maybe something caused by his skills. My accent also disappeared, as I invested more in the 'Linguist' skillset.
- A habit from my hunting days - I explained. - I wake up with the sun, no matter what.
- Hunting days? So you don't hunt anymore?
- Not lately. Too much was going on in my life.
He nodded. Maybe he could relate, or maybe it was just his politeness. I had no idea.
- Arent you the one who participates alone? You have to be quite confident in your skills.
- I have big balls.
He smiled.
- Then Gavriil Semenov also has to have big ones, since he is doing the same, although I heard he just killed other people in his city, so there wasn't anybody who could join his team. I wonder who has bigger.
- I guess we will find out - I replied.
Then awaiter interrupted us, bringing me the glass of water, with the same apologetic expression on his face, and explained the same thing he did to me, to Adam. The mage asked for a coffee, and our conversation resumed since the cause of the interruption went away.
- You seem quite confident. Peter, was it?
- Yep.
- I heard you can summon an army.
- I heard you can burn the thing down - was my reply.
He smiled again.
- I guess we both don't want to show our cards before the tournament.
- I actually don't mind, but wouldn't that make the fight boring, if you knew what to expect? - I asked.
- Interesting approach. So you are a showman then? Do you want to please the audience?
- Nah. I don't care. I just want to enjoy this. I like fighting actually. The thrill is something that keeps my blood flowing.
- Adrenaline junky?
I shrugged my shoulders.
- I wouldn't say that, but maybe. Things get weird when all you do is fighting for your life.
- I understand... It wasn't easy for us either. I have to admit that I was quite worried about how things would go since there were supposed to be two groups of hunters from different places in the same hotel, but talking to you made me more relaxed.
- We had a war between things settled, and almost another one when a big group split apart and clashed - I confided.
- We had three - he said with a smile. - There used to be four major groups in our city, and there was a lot of struggle for power. Most of the people from those groups are dead now, but a few are even right here, right now, so there might be some trouble on our part, but I'll try my best to prevent that. I give you my word.
- Well... I doubt anybody from our city would provoke your people, but they won't stay idle if provoked, so...
He nodded slowly. Then the waiter showed up for the third time, interrupting again. The reason was to inform us about the chef's arrival and bring us the menu.
We ordered some light breakfast and continued the conversation after the guy left us.
- So... How did you make it back to earth? - I asked.
I really wanted to know if he had any idea who The Great One was, but asking directly could end up badly, and rise a lot of questions I didn't want to answer, which led me to ask about that.
- It was kinda strange... One day we just found that it was possible. Like something changed in the ball, but we don't really know why. What about you? You were the first ones, weren't you?
He really got me with this question. I had no idea how to answer that, so I just nodded at first.
- I found something in the alien ruins - I said.
My statement was confusing for him.
- Ruins? - he asked.
- Yeah. In our world, there were aliens before us. There is a whole story about the Bahumdabars, Xuvi, Uhms, and so-called The Great One. Have you heard about any of them?
He shook his head.
- No. All we have is our city, the dome we live under, and a toxic wasteland behind it.
- Hm... - his words made me think.
A lot actually. There was something going on, and I really didn't know what. Maybe The Great One was behind it, or maybe not, but there had to be a reason that he wasn't answering my call. For some reason a had a bad feeling about the whole situation.
- What?
- Nothing. I just thought you would know something - I shrugged my shoulders. - Well, maybe I will have more luck with the people from other gates.
- Yeah. I would still really want to hear the story about the... things, that you just mentioned.
The waiter was coming our way, pushing a cart with the order, so I pointed at him.
- Maybe after we eat? - I proposed.
Adam nodded with a smile. We for a moment we focused on helping the man with the dishes, and then on filling our stomachs.
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