The dinner that night was nothing fancy with soup, bread, and salad with various fruits and vegetables. The drinks consisted of mixed fruit juices with weak watered down wine. It was all far from what Alex had expected the king of the gods to have but for some reason, his body was filled with warmth. He was so used to cooking salty premade foods in the microwave and having sugary drinks that this natural fare was a big change for him. He found that he liked this cozy feeling of a stomach that wasn't stuffed completely full but was still satiated. It turned out that the weak wine played a large part in the warm fuzzy feeling. It contained microbes that aid in digestion and Alex just happened to be the type of guy that got a little bit horny from alcohol.

Persephone stayed for the appetizers but bade her farewells soon after. It was true that her mother would start to freak out if she was too long away. She let Alex know that she'd be by in the morning shortly after the sun rose to take him to the trainers but they'd stop by over at the market to get some light food to eat along the way.

After dinner, Zeus called Alex over to the study. He had some important skills to impart to the lad.

"This is a racing game that's come to be called UR. You might have heard of it before and it is very important that you learn how to play." Zeus said as he brought Alex over to a table with an odd game board resting on top.

The game board consisted of square spaces lined up to be eight squares long and three squares wide. The board was set so the longer sides faced Alex and Zeus when they sat on opposite sides of the table. The middle row of squares down the long side of the board had exactly eight squares but the two outer rows were missing two squares each along their length. If you were to count the squares along the longer outer sides you would count two and then see a space of two missing squares and then count the four remaining squares down the rest of the side. And there were a number of markings on the game squares. If you were to count starting from the same side as before down the length of the board again, you would see a flower design on the second square on either side right before the missing squares and then see the same flower design on the last square on either side at the end of the board. There was also a flower design on the fifth square in the middle row if counted starting from the same side as before. There were seven game pieces each for both players and four triangular based dice with one white painted corner on all four.

"I'll teach you the simple version of the game to start with. You begin by rolling the dice and counting how many white points are up. This number tells you how many spaces you can move a piece and if you land on a flower square you get another roll. The flower squares are also safe spots. A square can only hold one game piece each and if one of my pieces lands on a square with one of yours I will send your piece back off the board."

Zeus was demonstrating this with the dice and game pieces for Alex to see. He also showed how you start by rolling the dice and placing pieces along the four squares, next to the missing squares, such that if you rolled a one for your first move, you would place a game piece on the square right next to the missing squares. The game pieces are moved from that first square to the end of the four and then down the eight square long center of the board trying to get your pieces onto the last two squares along the sides of the board. You would then have to roll the exact number needed to take your piece off the board and count it as being home.

"The first person that gets all of his pieces home is the winner." Zeus finished explaining.

The rules were simple enough for Alex to understand them the first time with the help of visualizations. He didn't understand why it was so important to learn how to play a simple board game though.

"I don't get why it's so important for me to learn this."

Zeus fixed Alex with a serious look in his eyes.

"I'm teaching you this so you can go to the gambling hall with me and contribute. You don't know when dice could be weighted and some gods can manipulate them when in the cup to cheat. This game, however, is out in the open and easy to learn."

Alex had never considered gambling a skill let alone thought of it as something he should learn to do so he sat there staring at Zeus for a moment.

"Come on then, let's play a game." Zeus prompted and put the dice in Alex's hand. "Your throw first."

The sun was setting outside and a light rain had begun to fall as they played their first game. On their second game, Zeus brought out drinks and snacks. On the third game when they were both a little drunk, he started showing Alex how to cheat which was another important skill to master in the real world.

Alex didn't realize it at the moment, but learning how to play a competitive game with a surprising layer of strategy was a mild form of training for his brain. Alex had lived a life on Earth where he spent hours of his time each day with his eyes glued on a smartphone watching random videos on the internet. This had actually rotted his brain in the sense that his ability to concentrate was garbage. Zeus had noticed this in his earlier interactions with Alex and was showing him this game not only to improve his concentration but also fill in for the loss of entertainment that was currently unavailable.

Contrary to his expectations, Alex actually began to really enjoy playing the game. Alcohol may have played a role in this. When the night started to get late and before they were actually drunk, Zeus called an end to the games. He guided Alex to the guest room after giving him a brief tour of the house and let him get settled in for the night.

This would be Alex's first night in a new world. The last time he had fallen asleep was in his own bed back on Earth. Those times he lost consciousness when getting reincarnated didn't count and neither did the times he died. If he had known how rare a peaceful night could be, he would never have taken them for granted before.

He fell asleep thinking about his former life as tears made his pillow damp.