Temur finally took us to where we would eat and as he had promised, it was cold-seasoned monster meat, lit on fire to soften it while we ate.
Mopi, Litha, and I liked it immediately and asked Temur how he found a place like this with the kind of delicacies they served. He told us that on the 103rd floor, he had helped a man with his luggage and was rewarded with a free lunch ticket to the restaurant.
Litha rolled her eyes and said it was so typical of him. Then she reminded him how helping a little girl had landed them in a cage.
Temur only shrugged and said he would be more careful now that he was in the Tower.
In his world, he explained, everyone who lived under the Green Sky told you bluntly where they stood with you. A friend was a friend, and an enemy was an enemy.
I found myself wondering what kind of world that was, one where you didn't have to guess the meaning behind a smile. That thought led me to ask how someone like Temur ended up paired with Litha.
He said they were matched together on the floor below us, when they were taught the history of the Tower and the basics. He added that Litha reminded him of a "grass viper," one that spat venom at people for no reason.
I grimaced. That still didn't explain why Temur, the friendly big bear, was with a grass viper.
But maybe I could see it. Litha, despite her sharp glares, had a soft heart she protected with a hard shell. And Temur… well, Temur was Temur.
Not that I would ever say any of that aloud.
After we finished eating, we started walking toward our next destination, the Government.
They had already been on this floor for four months, waiting for all the Awakeners who would take the floor test.
They were supposed to rent a zone back then, before they were drugged and kidnapped.
Litha explained as we walked. "A zone is a place with an abnormally high concentration of mana. It twists space and time, pulling in monsters from different worlds. Those monsters grow stronger from the dense mana and evolve. They're not restricted to the zone, though. Sometimes, they leave to hunt.
"Guilds and organizations fight to control zones and rent them out to Climbers.
"They usually form in different places on all floors. The higher you climb, the denser the mana becomes, which means stronger zones and stronger monsters."
"…..Zones are also ranked, from E to S. This low in the Tower, we only see E-ranked ones. But higher up? We might even see Domains."
We were heading to the Government headquarters here since it controlled the zones on this floor.
"What are Domains?" I asked curiously.
"Bigger, harsher versions of dungeons," Litha replied. "That's all we know for now. But the resources inside are unbelievable treasures. Guilds go to war just for the right to own one."
The plan was to rent part of a zone for the rest of the week. It would give us time to train, especially me, so we could prepare for next week's test.
I didn't have enough money to cover my share of the rent, so they decided to lend it to me. I would pay them back with whatever we earned from hunting monsters.
"Wait… what about you, Mopi?" Litha suddenly asked when we reached the Government building. For some reason, he always slipped her mind, like he wasn't even there.
Temur and I were surprised too. Mopi had been with us the whole time, yet we'd overlooked him. No, we'd not forgotten, It was more like he slipped out of our awareness.
Mopi smiled. "Don't worry about me. I'll just hang around until the test."
Temur gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe if you gather some money, you can come with...."
"No, no. I'm saving my money for the test on the 101st floor. I heard it's the most important one, the foundation of climbing the Tower and all." Mopi said, smiling again.
He did that a lot, I noticed. I wondered why he smiled so much, but soon enough, we all forgot about him as we went inside to register.
The Government didn't try to hide its wealth. The building was painted metallic brown of rare minerals, a massive dome made of thick black glass.
Inside, the air was cool. White stone chairs were arranged throughout the spacious hall. Litha handled everything for us and collected waiting numbers because of how many people were trying to register.
While we waited, I studied the other Climbers. They came from different races and genders, but one thing stayed the same, their age, all of them were teenagers.
How many of them will make it to the top? How long will it take? How many will I have to fight here?
I also noticed that everyone had formed a team, or at least moved in groups. I asked Temur about it, and he nodded.
"It's better to climb the Tower as a group. It doesn't have to be permanent. You can form new ones on every floor.
"But everything has disadvantages. Some people enjoy climbing alone. You should think about it, whether you want to climb solo or with others."
I was still thinking about that when Litha stormed out of the office she had been called into. She waved a small metal card in our faces.
"I can't believe this! We've been assigned a new zone we know nothing about. All the good ones are already taken!"
"Calm down. Does it really matter? As long as we get to hunt monsters that's what's important." Temur said.
She stared at him in disbelief. "Of course it matters! With known territory, we know what kind of monsters we'll face and how much we can potentially earn. It's all about calculations and we would've gotten a good one if a certain someone hadn't decided to play knight!"
"Ah, ah, ah." I smiled as they started arguing again.