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As Luke walked off the stage, King Argus IV leaned back into his chair, his eyes locked on Luke’s back. “Is that the Ironcrest lad that your men mentioned?” the king asked his Lord Chamberlain, Lord Aldric Valemont.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Luke, of the recently appointed baron house, Ironcrest, from close to a decade ago.” said the Lord Chamberlain.

“Ah, yes that guy that saved me from assassins, what was his name again? Aiden?”

“It’s Baron Alden, Your Majesty.” the Lord Chamberlain corrected.

“Right right… anyway, I want that boy.” the king said with the kind of look that would be mistaken for a lecherous look if those around him did not know his character was that of a battle junky.

It was then that the king’s wife, Queen Evelina reached over and squeezed Argus’s hand, “Dear, you are making that face again. And besides, you cannot bring him into service until he turns sixteen, and that's in five years.”

“Nine years actually, Your Majesty. He took the test and skipped lower education.” the Lord Chamberlain once again corrected.

“Oh my, he is smart too.” the Queen said in surprise as she brought up a hand to cover her mouth.

As for the king, the look his queen warned him about only got worse, making the people who could see him whisper among themselves, this was quickly resolved by the queen stepping on his foot with her stiletto heel, making the king snap out of it and regain his composure.

“Ahem” the king cleared his throat, “Be that as it may, I still want him, he would be a great asset to the royal family. Do we have any family that can get close to him?” the king asked.

“At the moment, no, they are either too young or graduated already, but you do have a niece who is going to be in higher education next year. If I am not wrong, the higher education students have more crossover time with each other where they mingle, compared to lower education cross over time with higher education time.” advised the Lord Chamberlain.

“Hmm… well, the school year is coming to an end soon, so we will not need to wait that long. Which niece was it again?” the king asked.

“That would be Astara Dukat, Your Majesty.” the Lord Chamberlain reminded.

“Ah, right, her… she is pretty enough, if a little bratty… send word to my sister, let's see if we can hook this boy in.” The king said as he lost interest in the two out of four duals still going on.

“As you will, Your Majesty.” the Lord Chamberlain said with a slight bow and continued watching the games by his king’s side.

***

Me and Donson made our way back to the tunnel we came out from and two ushers were waiting for us, one of them waved Donson back to the stands where his class was, while I was led back to a different waiting room, and it was a swanky looking room.

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There were luxurious cushioned couches with plush pillows, finely carved dining tables and chairs, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, a bar with a bartender, and a buffet spread.

“There are food and refreshments here for you, but please do not eat too much, your next match should be in one and a half to two hour’s time, depending on how long the next few matches go.” the usher told me before closing the door behind me.

One and a half hours? That’s plenty of time, and I am feeling peckish, so I went to see what the spread was like. And it turns out to be pretty decent by my modern standards from my previous world.

There was a shit load of bread piled high, three different kinds of stews and soups kept hot on an enchanted heating plate, at least five different kinds of sausages, what I think is blood pudding, piles of bacon, and a charcuterie board with many different kinds of cheese and cured meats, all with their brands proudly displayed, and just next to that, was a carving station for different choice cuts of meat, followed lastly by cakes and pastries. There was also salads, but who gives a shit about salads.

Now I may be born into a noble family, but we do not have anything this lavish, even on our birthdays, so I took this opportunity to load up my plate, with relative moderation of course… Well, relative to me at least. I am still a growing boy after all.

After I set my plate down, I went to the bar to see what was available, “Good morning, Young Master, what can I get for you?” the bartender asked.

I looked over what he had available, and as my eyes ran over the bottles that lined the shelves behind him, the bartender shook his head, “Apologies, Young Master, no alcohol allowed.”

I just waved off the assumption, “No, nothing like that, actually, what do you have available?” I asked.

The bartender then pulled a menu up and passed it to me, “We have twenty-five different tea blends, I would recommend the Imperial Garden White Tea, we also have iced teas using the same blends, and an assortment of fruit juices, but if you just want to quench your thirst, you can get a nice tall glass of ice water.”

Swanky indeed… with all these ingredients available, this gives me an idea, “Hey, Mister, do you happen to have some milk?”

Soon, I had all the ingredients arranged before me, a fruit that had a similar taste and texture to avocado but was white, milk, honey for some sweetness, a cocktail shaker, and a tall glass.

I scooped the fruit out of its skin and into the cocktail shaker, put in a tablespoon of honey, and filled up the rest of the shaker with milk. I then used a zero-circle spell to freeze the contents of the shaker, and when it was almost solid, I covered the cocktail shaker and used a first-circle wind blade spell inside the cocktail shaker to start blending, but it was so underpowered it might as well be a zero-circle spell.

There was some thrashing in the cocktail shaker at first, as one would expect when blending ice, but after a while, it smoothed out and I canceled the spell. I then popped the top and poured the thick slushy into the tall glass, and the leftovers I poured in another glass.

“And this, Dear sir, is what I call a milkshake, it can be done with almost any fruit flavor, have a taste.” I said as I pushed the other glass to the bartender and took a sip of mine… could use more honey.

The bartender, being the professional that he was, tried to swirl it around to see the consistency, gave it a sniff, and then took a sip, “This is delightful, it is cool, refreshing, and light. Could use more honey tho. I saw how it was done, but please explain the process, this could be a menu item!”

I gladly explained the steps and was thankful that he could at least perform first-circle spells. When I was done explaining, I turned around to get back to my food, only to see a boy I vaguely remember from my Advanced Combat & Tactics class, staring at my milkshake… at least I think he is staring at my milkshake.

As I moved the milkshake around, I could see his pupils follow, I then turned back to the bartender, “I think you may already have your first customer for this new drink.” I said while pointing my thumb at the boy staring at my milkshake, “Now is as good a time as any to practice making it.”

The bartender nodded and went about his business slinging drinks like he was born for it.

Soon, the boy was at the bar sipping a milkshake, and that was when the other two winners for my batch came in, saw the boy enjoying his drink, and ordered the same.

Hehe… My milkshake brings all the boys to the bar.