Chapter 044:

Meat.

So glorious a sustenance.

No man, woman, or child would be stupid enough to reject its tender embrace.

Even unseasoned, its flavor is unmatched!

“Arin, I saw you stuffing that knife into your pocket!” A shrill voice rang from beside him where Kiara now sat with slightly puffed cheeks and a piercing gaze as she admonished Arin.

Though new to this world, he had already heard whisperings of the culinary geniuses of Eastern Molon, who had even found a way to harness the taste of meat and infuse it into other dishes as seasoning; truly worthy of their reputation as this world’s forerunners of fine cuisine.

“I am not stealing!” Arin rebutted, wagging a finger at her face, “I am merely borrowing it for a couple of years,”

“Arin!”

“Woman, this is Vermillion steel, do you not find it interesting?”

The words of his party washed through Alexander like shallow waters over shifting sands; he reminisced over when he, Nammu, and Earnest traveled far north, where they met with a tribe of barbarians headed by Mootan the Orc. He was an eight-foot-tall mountain with more muscle in his one pinky than the entirety of Earnest back then. After being asked how he got to be so damn big, his answer was short but insightful.

Meat.

“Hey sis, mind passing the gravy?” Raf said with a full mouth rather rudely.

We humans, made of meat, must consume it.

Meat is life. Meat is love.

Only the druids who hid in the deepest depths of the Arcanum wilderness dared to abandon Meat and they were an odd bunch who lay with beasts, so one should not really follow their example.

Such was Alexander’s philosophical waxings as he took another bite off the drumstick he held. It was well-seasoned and juicy enough.

Still letting the white noise of three bickering children wash over him, Alexander’s eyes drifted toward the other tables surrounding theirs.

They were still at the academy only in one of the more spacious auditoriums which had been turned into a makeshift banquet hall.

On the face of it, it seemed like everyone was cordially getting to know one another with elegant smiles and flowery words.

But if one cared enough to be observant, they’d notice the subtleties.

“Chew more Timothy, you’ll get indigestion if you keep inhaling the food like that!” Edward advised with an oddly concerned look on his face.

‘Speaking of subtleties.’

“It’s a shame that your father couldn’t make it Priscilla,” Grim remarked with a sad face as he wiped the grease off Pricilla’s lips.

The young woman blushed at his caring gesture and Grim smiled seeing this.

‘Those are some dead eyes, bro,’ Alexander retorted mentally after taking note of Grim’s expression.

He was reminded of Nammu and the game he used to play. As she had perfected the art of masking her emotions with a pleasing smile, it was often hard to tell what the young girl was thinking. That was until the day his father had shown him a secret technique passed down through generations of his family. Simply, when absolutely sure the target is not looking at you, use your finger to obfuscate the lower half of their face, leaving just their eyes visible.

It was scary how effective the technique was, many times it had saved him from provoking an already upset Nammu.

Out of curiosity and boredom, he held out a greasy finger and covered up the lower part of Grim’s face.

“What are you doing?” Grim asked after noticing Timothy pointing a greasy finger his way.

“Nothing, what are you doing?” He replied carelessly. At that point, Priscilla had gone to chat with some of her friends.

Even from afar, she was the very image of young beauty, vibrantly smiling and chatting her friends’ ears away. Every so often she would steal glances toward Grim, all the more highlighting her cute side.

“Making friends,” Grim answered upon noticing Timothy’s gaze.

“Uhuh, sure you are,” Alexander looked less than convinced.

“Your point, Timmy?”

“I’m just saying, throughout all our benders, you never once approached a girl. So what’s with the sudden interest,”

“You’re one to talk, always talking big but never once doing anything either, even when they are practically asking for it,” Grim said before shifting his gaze off into the distance.

Following his friend’s line of sight, he came upon the golden-eyed Miranda who gave him a wink.

“She’s too young,” Alexander remarked, lifting his glass toward her. The two shared a clink across the banquet hall.

When he turned toward Grim, he was slightly shocked by the face he was making.

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“Too young?” Grim asked incredulously. His widened eyes and opened mouth were the most expressive thing Alexander had ever seen from him.

“Yeah, man,”

“Timothy…” Ed spoke, butting into the conversation. Once again he seemed concerned, only now it irritated Alexander even more, for some reason.

“What’s with you two?” He asked, slightly irritated.

“She looks like she’d be three years older than you,” Ed answered.

‘Oh, shit, right!’ Alexander recalled in a panic. Right now he was sixteen on the cusp of seventeen.

After a second’s pause, Grim finally nodded with an enlightened look on his face “I see, you have it hard, Timothy. Good luck.” He spoke with an encouraging, yet oddly pitying look on his face as he patted him on the shoulder.

“What are you talking about,” Alexander retorted.

Ed too looked confused, that was until Grim whispered something into his ear.

“Ah…” Ed gasped before quickly shutting his mouth. The concern in his eyes intensified.

Alexander was about to break his vow of peace and shove his fist down his dear friend’s throat when suddenly, it all clicked.

“You two think I’m some sort of Granny Diddler!?” He yelled in an outburst as he stood and slammed his palms onto the table.

His actions drew the attention of those sitting with him, like Arin and Kiara; Rafiel seemed disinterested, more so focusing on the wine being distributed to the adults.

“Timothy, in this day and age, it is a natural thing for a young man to have a fetish; rather I applaud your bravery for letting us in on your secret,” Grim said with a kind smile and tears in his eyes. He seemed genuinely moved.

‘This snake-like bastard,’ Alexander approached, ready to teach his friend some manners when his momentum was suddenly brought to a halt by a giant Ed who forced him into a bear hug.

“Timothy, rest assured, we will support you, brother!”

Fire spurting from his eyes, Alexander opened his jaws wide, ready to take a bite out of Ed’s face.

It was this joyous atmosphere that was interrupted by the sudden entrance of Zackery Moore. Wrapped from head to toe in bandages bloodied by several open wounds, his visage would have evoked empathy if not for the fire burning in his eyes.

He moved with purpose, uncaring of the strange and wary gazes surrounding him on all sides.

Finally, he came to a stop before Alec Moroe who had been busy chatting with the students around him.

“May I help you?” Alec asked, his voice akin to ice.

Zackery paused for a moment, seemingly considering what to say before finally nodding his head.

“Yes. back then, you said that I was a danger to the academy,”

“Yes?”

“Do you still think that way?”

Alec paused to consider Zackery’s disheveled appearance. Seemingly having had enough, he stood from his seat and faced the young Moore head-on.

“And what have you done to deserve a re-evaluation? Should I be thanking you for not having killed anyone this time?”

Momentarily stumped by the question, Zackery opened and closed his mouth multiple times. “I will show you, not through words but through action tha-”

“Truly, your selfishness knows no bounds,” Alec interrupted, “You are willing to place multiple young lives in danger simply to prove a personal point?”

“No, I’m doing this so that I no longer pose a threat to my surroundings!” Moore screamed back. Seconds later, a look of regret flashed on his face.

“I raised my voice, I’m sorry,” He apologized. “Look, how about we set things aside? Y’know, for old time's sake.” He asked, offering a handshake.

Alec looked at his hand momentarily before turning around and continuing his interrupted conversation.

The petulant act brought forth a fit of repressed giggles from the crowd that had been watching over their conversation.

‘Bunch of little assholes,’ Alexander thought, making note of the mockery in most students’ eyes.

Zackery stood frozen in place for several moments seemingly genuinely hurt over Alec’s actions.

Numbly, the young man lowered his hand and took in several deep breaths before turning to leave.

No one consoled him on his way out.

Alexander clicked his tongue as he sat back down.

“What are you guys looking at, keep eating,” He barked at his children.

Arin and Kiara promptly resumed their meals while Rafial briefly met eyes with Alexander.

“Will we be getting a new brother?” He asked.

“What?” Alexander asked with an exaggerated grimace.

“Nothing,” Rafial replied, looking away.

Alexander graciously let the matter go after noticing another lingering gaze on him, it was Grim.

“And what the fuck are you looking at?” He asked politely.

“Timothy,” Grim spoke, stroking his non-existent beard, “Are you going to try your best in the upcoming tournament?”

With equal parts exasperation and disbelief, Timothy gave Grim a stupid look, “Fuck?”

“Oh well, I can work around you as usual,” Grim mumbled under his breath before excusing himself from the table.

Wondering what the snake was up to, Alexander followed him with his eyes but stopped after noticing him speak with a nobody.

“Guess I’ll be going too,” Big Ed announced after a belch.

“And where are you off to, big man?” Alexander asked.

“The infirmary,”

“?”

“Nothing much,” Ed responded after noticing Alexander’s confused expression, “Just thought I may as well pay those Kingsly twins a visit,”

“Didn’t the brat harass you during the last bout?”

“I wouldn’t call it harassment as much as it was friendly competition, they seem like good people,”

“Riiiggghghhhhht” Alexander made sure to stretch his response with a knowing nod.

“What’s that look for,”

“You sure it’s the brat you want to talk to and not his hot yet competent sister?”

“You’re disgusting,”

“Well, it can’t be helped, boys will be boys, I’ll make sure to console Michel- Just kidding, Big man; I know the rules,” Alexander twisted his words at the last second after seeing Ed’s rapidly crumpling complexion.

Ed opened and clenched his fists a couple of times before leaving with a disgruntled expression on his face.

After successfully annoying his target, Alexander also left the table and sneaked his way out of the banquet hall in search of Zackery.

“Since I have time, I might as well introduce myself to this world’s guardian,” Alexander thought out loud. He was also curious about several matters. Was this world’s guardian similar to his previous world’s? Was their roles also similar and how widespread was the information related to the guardian? The final question was the most important as it was directly related to the thing’s strength at this point.

‘Well, judging by how it can’t completely take over Zacky-boy’s body yet it can’t be that mature ye-’ Alexander’s thoughts paused as he overheard a familiar voice addressing him.

Only it wasn’t a voice Alexander was personally familiar with as he had only heard it through Timothy’s various scattered memories.

“Timothy,” The gravely voice spoke, addressing him with monotone dreariness.

“Uncle Nox, how have you been?” Alexander asked with a calm smile, using his thirty years of experience as his previous world’s hero in order to maintain his expression.