When Gale finally woke up, he was somehow dressed in a light tunic and pants. He was still in pain, but he was at least able to stand.

  As the cold wind of the outside world caressed his body, Gale suddenly realized that the entire top floor of the tower was completely gone. The cut was so clean that it was as if it had been sliced off with a sharp knife. All that remained of the 49th floor of the tower was the floor itself, with the endless blue sky surrounding it instead of the dark steel walls.

  Gale observed the rest of the battlefield. There were smears of blood all over the floor, and there was a body laying in the middle of the now open corridor. The body was clad in crimson armor which was now severely broken, it was Julian.

  Sitting next to Julian’s mangled corpse was the mysterious dark knight, he was currently sitting at a makeshift campfire while cooking some meat. Upon hearing Gale’s movement, the knight turned around and began to come closer.

  It was hard to tell the knight's expression from underneath his helmet, but from his casual walk, it seemed like he was trustworthy, at least right now. Even still, Gale couldn’t help but feel fear as the knight walked ever closer.

  ‘Maybe the insane difference in our power is causing an irrational fear? Just how powerful is this guy?’

  The dark knight kneeled in front of Gale and said in an unexpectedly charming voice, “I'm glad you’re awake! I’ve been waiting here for almost two days now, it felt like none of you would ever wake up! Don't mind the crude clothing, it's all I could really muster at the moment.”

  Gale looked at the knight with a slight smile, “Oh I don’t mind, thanks for the gesture, it's really the thought that counts.”

  The dark knight looked like he suddenly remembered something important, “Oh I almost forgot to introduce myself, I’m Night Knight, or just Night for short. It's really nice to meet you!”

  “Oh, I’m Gale Glaive, the girl is Whimsical Demon, and the other guy is Falco… It's nice to meet you too.

  Night looked at Falco and said in a hardly audible mumble, “Falco… What an interesting name. I'm sure he has a seal on his back, so why-”

  Night looked back at Gale and shook his head, “Why don’t you come over to the fire and eat, I’m sure you're hungry.”

  “Uhm sure, I’d like that.”

  Gale walked over to the fire, which was placed right next to Julian's lifeless body for some reason, and looked at the various pieces of meat being cooked above the fire. Gale smelt the succulent aroma and his mouth began to water, he hadn’t eaten in over two days at this point so he was starving.

  He picked up a piece of meat and started scarfing it down. It must have been some of the best seasoned meat that he had ever had.

  Night walked over and sat down next to Gale, “How do you like it? I know it's not the best, but it’ll have to do right?”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Gale looked surprised and said with a chunk of meat still in his mouth, “Not the best? This meat is some of the best I’ve ever tasted! You don’t need to be humble about this stuff.”

  “Oh I wasn’t being humble, it's just that I don’t have all the proper ingredients here to make something better, that's all.”

  “Well, if this is your worst, then please let me taste your best!”

  “Yeah, maybe soon, depending on your answer… but don’t worry about that right now. Just eat to your heart's content while we wait for your friends to wake up.”

  ~~~

  It had been another few hours of waiting around the fire until the other two woke up. While waiting with Night, Gale had tried to ask him multiple questions, but Night shrugged them off and insisted that he needed to wait for the others to wake up so he could tell everyone at once. Gale was frustrated, but understood his reasons.

  Weak and confused, Demon and Falco walked slowly over to the fire and sat down. While Falco was politely asking Night if he could have some food, Demon was already chowing down with no care in the world for manners.

  After a brief introduction from Night, Falco finished his food and was now full of energy to provide healing. Falco isolated Gale and Demon, as to not waste any residual energy to heal the small bruises on Night, and began to activate his crystal.

  His yellow crystal shone with a dim light, obviously lacking its full energy, and began to emanate a healing aura across the ground. Immediately the wounds and burns on the three party members began to heal. The process was slow and arduous for the already weak Falco, but it ended up doing the job and healing most of the major wounds on all of their bodies.

  Night called the three of them back over to the fire. They sat and stared at Night with curiosity in their eyes until finally he began to speak, “You three are… quite special. You probably have noticed the large tattoos on your backs before, but I’m sure that you didn’t really look further into it, right?”

  The three party members looked at each other and then in unison, they shook their heads in denial while continuing to be silent.

  “It’s as I thought. You guys truly have no idea about your own history or the history of this world for that matter.”

  Night grabbed the bottom of his helmet and pulled it off over the top of his head. He shook his messy black hair which was glistening with sweat. His face was tan and covered in many white scars. He looked battle hardened and serious, but when he gave the group a slight smile it made them feel at ease.

  His most prominent features were of course, the two smooth black horns that protruded from above his forehead. The horns radiated a dark and ominous inhuman aura which made Gale and Falco shudder when they first saw them.

  Night looked at them and with a small chuckle he said, “Oh these horns? Don’t be scared of me because of them, they're just a part of my body. Once I explain everything, you’ll understand why they strike an instinctual fear into anyone who lays eyes on them.”

  Gale realized that when he looked at Night's face, the fear would go away, but when he even glanced at the horns, the fear began to rush back and flood his mind. The fear wasn’t to a point where it was debilitating, but it was there and made him feel a little uneasy.

  Night’s face returned to a serious expression and in a dark tone he said, “To survive for any longer in this world, it's crucial that you understand what I’m about to tell you. Listen closely as I explain to you about the true nature of this corrupted world that we live in and about the tragedies that befall it every single day.”