Rise in the Arena (Part 1)

Chapter 4

Rise in the Arena

Andrei Gavrila

Chapter IV

             Biol went outside of the building, or as he liked to call it the Kings' Inn. The old man at the desk asked if Biol needed a chariot. Biol rejected the man politely and asked for a map of the Arena. The old man handed him a map with the whole city and the important sights. Biol analyzed it closely, he saw a small location he wanted to visit. It was called the Kronos Booth.

            He walked outside on the paved road and got in with the crowd. People were everywhere, walking in different directions, alone or in group, some were at the corner smoking their Varmus, a plant found in the west of the continent, where the famous jungle was, it was a green plant which grew close to the water or the famous Snake River which crossed the entire jungle. When the plant was brown people picked the brown leaves, they are placed in thin but strong paper scrolls and then smoked, and it gives the man a calming effect for a short period. The danger of the plant is that if the leaves are picked when green it makes the man insane. And later in the plants life the leaves turned black, tacking that will make the man cough heavily and loose his hair until he dies three weeks later. Biol never tried those plants nor did anyone in his family. Biol even threw away some of those plants so that no one could get infected, he was afraid that the plant may still have some of the green effect in it or the black one which was even worse.

            It seemed funny to Biol how many people confused the Arena names. It wasn't such a well known place, Biol heard of it before but not enough. He knew that it was a small city with the biggest Arena ever made. That was all he knew. A lot of people confused the two names, Arena city and the Arena as the battleground. Although they had different names the Arena City name was lost in time and forgotten, now the people called Arena the city and the place the same way. But Biol knew that the people here would get offended if there wasn't a difference in the two words. Still it amused Biol as he walked through the crowd.

            The people of the Arena wore simple clothing. Most of the men wore long blue shirts which served as pants too. Some had a hat, cap or cowl to protect them from the sun. Other men wore the normal clothing Biol knew since he was young, and he guessed that the ones wearing the normal clothing were tourists who came to watch the big game. The women wore shirts with a skirt and a belt, only a few of them had something to cover their head. Some even had umbrellas for the sun.

            Biol looked once again at the map. He spotted the big Arena, in the southern part of the city. The Kings' Inn was, in the south of the Arena, there with other buildings surrounding the Arena. The Kronos Booth was in the North-Western part of the city. Biol just finished surrounding one side of the Arena, he started south and continued on the left side until he reached west. Now it was time to begin the walk through crowded streets, or not. Biol had an idea to make his traveling faster. He could climb the houses.

Biol looked around for a place where he could start. He looked and looked until he found it: an uncovered wagon full of boxes which was by the side of a small house. No one was around the wagon, so Biol shook his feet and was ready for the sprint. He pushed himself forward and started running. He was going faster and faster to the wagon. When he was close enough he jumped on it, quickly he climbed up a box, then another box which was higher, then another until he was close to the roof. He jumped up and took hold of the edge of the small house. He pulled himself up and threw himself on the flat roof of the light yellow house. He lay down, his face facing the sky. He took a few breaths and closed his eyes as the sun dried the sweat from his forehead and body.

            The houses of the Arena city were mostly the same size, only one floor or only a ground floor. A few houses had more than one floor and there were a few mansions placed around, three palaces and a small pool. But most of the houses were only one floor high. And they were painted sky blue, orange, red or white. All of the roofs of the one floor ones were flat. There were a few watch tower placed around which were the second tallest structure, the third being the palaces and the first was the Arena.