Hemp grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the table first, then plucked out a piece of meat. He held the sticks quite awkwardly, but no one had much of a mind to tell him that. They just watched as he sunk his teeth into the meat.
"Uhhh," the man moaned.
It was the last thing anyone had expected to happen, but there it was, happening. Without even waiting further, he swallowed the first bite and dug straight for another bite.
This happened over and over again until someone reacted.
"Hey!"
She reached for her own pair of chopsticks, holding it even more awkwardly than Hemp. This was the sign that everyone could finally eat.
"EEP!"
Citro screeched from his shoulder, causing him to hold his ears a little.
"No need to yell."
"Eeep"
"Right, I did tell you that I'd give you first picks. My bad, Citro. Come on, I'll help you out,"
He grabbed two pairs of chopsticks and used one to grab some food for Citro. The mongoose gobbled it up and quickly requested more. Emery, between doing this and constantly monitoring everyone's reactions, couldn't get a chance to eat his own food.
But no matter. It didn't really mean anything to him.
He took one wide glance at the entire room. Everyone was enjoying the food clearly. Eating and even merry-making. Well, almost everyone.
He got up from where he stood and walked over to Konnor. The large man maintained a respectable distance from where they ate and didn't look at them either.m
"Hey, I came to ask whether you care to join us."
Konnor paused but shook his head. "I'm on duty. There's no time for merry-making or feasting while on duty."
He had a point indeed, but that was the last thing Emery cared for.
"You don't need to worry about that. If anything, the food will help boost you up even by a little bit. And I'm sure Hem- Erm, I mean, Mr Hemp won't mind."
The large man appeared to consider it for a brief second. He moved over from where he sat, quickly approaching the large table. A faint indescribable pressure overcame the entire room in an instant.
A sense of worry followed as Emery moved after the man. 'Fuck. Did I make him angry? Is he going to throw away my foo?!'
But…
PLOP~
Konnor sat on the seat closest to Hemp and reached for a pair of chopsticks. Everyone paused at his sudden presence, even his boss. But that didn't last very long as the merrymaking continued.
"Ah, glad to see you're joining us Konnor." the long-haired man laughed, "I thought you'd be a pain in the ass and not come,"
Konnor sighed, half-bowing his head, "I was just doing my job, sir,"
"Yeah, yeah. You really need to stop being so serious, it sucks."
"Understood, sir."
Emery ignored the rest of the conversation from there on out and heaved a sigh of relief. Upon returning to his own chair, he discovered that Citro had somehow learned how to use chopsticks and was using them even better than Hemp!
'How is that even possible?' he thought.
Well, in the end, that only gave him the comfort of eating the food he made.
Emery grabbed his own chopsticks and dipped them into the broth first. He chose the mild one.
This one was better combined with the rice and other stuff. So, he grabbed a bit of that and quickly wolfed down on it.
A second later, there was nothing in front of him.
'I never realized I was so hungry…'
He and the others kept eating, alternating between the two broths and adding more ingredients from time to time.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Chris yelled.
Emery collapsed to the table. His body emanated some intense heat that spread out in all directions. A faint greenish hue coated his body. It looked just like the one that appeared when he was using Energy Circuitry.
"Was there something wrong with the food?!" someone else yelled.
Only a few people didn't jump straight to action. Elyn and Citro remained calm. Hemp and Konnor didn't even look up.
"Relax," the gang leader finally sighed, "It's normal. His food is packed with the potency of hundreds of different Class 10 beasts, and is amplified by the energy he uses while cooking. Not to mention the Spirit Vein Leaves that you gave him, Chris."
Chris paused. "How did you know?"
"How wouldn't I know?" Hemp rolled his eyes. "Each of those is worth as much as an anomalous Class Nine Beast. I noticed as soon as they left the inventory,"
"Sorry, sir."
"I'm not angry. I'd have been angry if you gave it to some bum. But this here is worth it. Anyway, don't worry about it. He'll be back to normal in a few minutes."
And it was almost exactly as Hemp said. Emery could hear their entire conversation. So the leaf was called a Spirit Vein Leaf? And it was worth as much as an anomalous Class Nine!
He didn't dwell on that. He had much bigger tasks at hand. The heat coming from his body converged rapidly and then concentrated within his veins.
[Ding!]
[You have advanced to Class Nine!]
[Free Summon now available!]
He stared at the notifications in his mind for a while before finally deciding to open his eyes. He didn't feel any different in particular, but he could tell that the difference was there, somewhere.
Something had changed in that advancement, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.
'Whatever. I'll investigate it later.'
He pushed those thoughts aside and then flew wide awake. Firstly, he exchanged multiple gazes with everyone in the room, but everything seemed… clearer.
The world around had become vibrant, shining with more colour than ever before. The smells in the food around were easy to pick out and distinguish between. He could smell multiple contrasting scents, meaning he'd messed up the cooking process somewhere.
And more importantly. The energy in the room. It was massive.
He let down a small gulp and turned toward someone in particular. Hemp hadn't stopped eating, but a monstrous energy crept out of him slowly. It took on the vague shape of a dark-scaled shapeshifting beast that sometimes went from mild to deranged.
'Is the strength of an Upper-Class Awakened?'
The second chap coming in a few hours. 2 at most.
A few minutes later, they'd blasted through the remaining hotpot. Hemp cleared his throat.
"In light of this dish, I have decided to let him become one of our commanders. His skill will be integral to some parts of our running this organization."
Emery resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 'You already made that decision earlier. Who are you even fooling?!'
Chris nodded. "I'll make sure he gets familiarized with everywhere by tomorrow morning."
"Good. And make sure you tell him about that… other stuff. It's pretty important stuff for him to know."
An audible silence passed through the room. Emery wasn't sure. What were they talking about? It seemed like everyone in the room knew except him.
"Understood, boss. I'll do just that."
Emery gave his thanks to the man and stood up.
"I'll clear the table now," he said.
Hemp shook his head, then waved him away. "No need to worry about that. I'll get someone to help do that. There was something that Konnor wanted to teach you, right? Go with him now and come back to Chris so he can help you out once more."
'I didn't expect that, but if it means I learn more about that skill, then I'm all in for it.'
He nodded, then looked at Elyn and Citro.
"Can they come with as well?"
Konnor furrowed his brows but grunted in approval a few seconds more.
"Alright." he nodded.
The large man walked out of the room, prompting Emery and co to follow him immediately after.
'He really doesn't waste time, huh?'
There was barely enough time to say goodbye or even thank Hemp. He had to move in order not to lose sight of Konnor and his massive steps.
"Where are we going?"
No answer. That was clearly a sign that he needed to shut up.
They left the building, with a lot of people providing space for them to pass. And even more, people who cast their curious gazes onto Emery's figure. He recognized a few hateful glares, but it was quickly evident that none of them would try anything.
For that, he was grateful.
Meanwhile, Konnor walked wordlessly. Spear in hand and menacing, he quickly went past the initial area of Hemp's domain, crossing into the area populated by Class 10 Beasts.
But they didn't stop walking there. They passed that area and moved on to the more dangerous parts of the city, bordering on the second half of the city. But even then, they didn't stop.
Several incredibly strong monsters were everywhere, the only thing keeping them in check being Konnor's aura.
Finally, they stopped, but it was in front of a building that Emery wished he would never have to see again.
It wasn't nearly as tall as Hemp's base and was rather damaged by attacks, but it sure was pristine. Carlos' headquarters was a court he annexed after the fall of the world. He was one of two people who had somehow become Class Seven straight off the bat. Hemp was the second.
There was a reason why they were respected as the two hegemons.
So, they took over the city. The first half, of course. They shared the first half of the city and constantly fought over territory. No one could claim the second just yet. The second was where Emery stayed, even if it was only on the borders.
The second half was closer to the forest outside, hence closer to beasts than humans.
Carlos' part of the city was closer to the second half. So he incurred the most losses when the Class Five Threat attacked. Emery tried to avoid it as much as possible, but Carlos kept coming to meet him.
"What are we doing here?" he asked Konnor finally as those thoughts flew by.
He looked to the side and recognized one of the buildings he passed by when the Class Five attacked him. His memory of that day was as clear as day.
A few Awakened bearing Carlos' insignia moved through the ruins, carefully attacking some lower-ranked beasts.
Finally, the large man spoke.
"We came here to train, no?" he snorted, "Or are you not serious about learning the skill?"
"No, it's not that-"
"Then what is it? You work for Hemp now. I also work for Hemp. You want to learn. I want to teach. Let's kill two birds with one stone."
Emery froze at the large man's terrifying words. They were gradually heading into territory that he didn't want to explore. He didn't want to kill anyone. He wouldn't kill anyone!
Clearly, his hesitance was obvious. Konnor snorted out loud. His spear slammed into the ground and brought up sparks.
"Don't tell me you're stuck up in childish fantasies? How have you survived so far without taking a life yet?"
How had training developed into this so quickly? He didn't want to kill. Emery looked at Elyn for help. She had turned away from him.
"Do it already. If you're truly ready to work for Hemp, then kill them."
And for that brief second, something came over him. He stared at Konnor dead in the eyes and summoned every bit of strength from his body.
"I will not. I refuse to kill anyone just because you ask it of me. Whether I work for Hemp or not will not influence my morals or decisions,"
Konnor grinned and spread out his arms. A bright red aura exploded from his body and spear, directed fully at Emery.
The chef didn't back down and tapped into the same source of energy within his body. Green and red auras clashed. The winner was obvious, but the green aura didn't back down either.
Elyn and Citro approached him for the back, ready to assist if anything happened.
A few minutes later, Konnor stopped emanating the aura. He had a satisfied expression on his face.
"Good, good. Well, you aren't completely hopeless, it seems."
Emery released a breath and stopped the energy from flowing as well.
"I'll teach you the basics for now." Konnor continued, "Don't disappoint me."
If you're having trouble understanding the city, it's honestly pretty simple. Divided into 2 parts.
1st Part- Shared between Hemp and Carlos. Hemp is farther away from the second part than Carlos is.
2nd Part- Overrun by multiple beasts. There are only a few places where one can hide from them without getting mauled like our boy did. Class Five came in through the area and destroyed a bit of the other areas.
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