Alphonse entered the Class A canteen. His stomach was protesting. It was nearing empty and its response was to send flesh-eating pain straight into his brain. Calm down, will you? He held his stomach tight to assuage the pain, even if it was by a little.

“Give me whatever you've got, the more the better. I don’t want any of that fancy shit that has one pea and a scallop on the plate. Give me real portions.” Alphonse hunched over at the pain. The loud rumbling of his stomach reverberated around his body as it entered the chef’s ears.

“Oi, the boy’s fucking starving. Get to work. I want every menu item triple, no, quadruple the portion size.” The head chef’s booming voice pierced through the back of the kitchen.

Alphonse was expecting him to get angry because of his pain fueled words. “Sorry for the attitude.”

The chef chuckled.“It’s my job to feed the Class A recruits. It’s you ones that bring back most of the prized meat I work with. Without you guys, I’d be out of a job,” the chef laughed. His face was like a carved out statue trying to laugh… disturbing. “The name’s Mainard Gauthier. Hey, if you come back with some A rank meat, I’ll be here waiting.” Mainard’s eyes shone as his hands rubbed together.

“Will do.” Alphonse smiled at the thought of having his hunt cooked by a pro chef. He thought of the delicious stat points he would receive.

The team of cooks made the food in record time. They had piled food up onto many plates. Waiters arrived as it was simply too much for Alphonse to carry. They brought Alphonse over to a table so that he could eat.

Without further ado, Alphonse began devouring the food in front of him. Steak, creamy mashed potato, caviar, pig, and whatever other mystery food descended into his stomach. His stomach acid instantly ate it away as it begged for more.

< Oni Swordsman consumed >

| 8.2 Dexterity added

| 6.5 Intelligence added

| 3.9 Strength added

< Skill extracting… >

< Rare skill extraction is successful >

Alphonse's eyes lit up. A skill!

< Skill - [ Brutal Slash: Increases velocity of the weapon you hold by 20%. Rapidly drains stamina the longer you use it. ]

Description: The Oni's are highly trained swordsmen, capable of producing wondrous sword strokes. The brutal sword skill is part of a series of four. Gather all three to evolve the skill.

20%? I wonder how much that would improve the strength of my cleaver? He didn't know how strong it would be, but any skill was welcome.

Alphonse continued to chew down in hopes of another skill, but his luck had dried up.

“Fuck, Alphonse, I’m going to be sick,” Tariq stumbled to the table with Felecia, Haydon, and Markus in tow. He placed his plate of food down. His eyes recoiled back as they witnessed Alphonse devouring the meat in front of him. “Do you have to eat like a wild beast? We ain’t on a mission anymore.”

“Ah, sorry,” Alphonse wiped his mouth as he grabbed hold of his cutlery. “Bad habits die hard. How is everyone feeling?”

Felecia’s head thumped onto the table. “Like death.” Her muffled voice drummed onto the table.

“Agreed.” Haydon nodded. It surprised Alphonse to see his face had turned an even lighter shade of white than before.

I wish I could feel what it would be like to be drunk… Alphonse thought, but then he looked at the dreary faces of his friends. Yeah, maybe not then.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Alphonse looked at Markus. Despite the dark rings underneath his eyes, his energy remained. He cut into his breakfast. Sausages, beans, eggs, bacon. It was a hearty meal, not one you’d usually have after suffering a night of booze bingeing. Markus seems to fare well, guess that’s because of his constitution. With the thought, Alphonse had finished his food. His stomach settled down for now.

“What do you think our next mission is going to be? Six more days.” Markus said with his mouth full, he caught a piece of food from trying to escape his mouth.

Felecia raised her head just at the wrong time. She placed her hand over her mouth as she shot up towards the toilets. The others smiled at the hectic state of their little friend.

“Hopefully one that ain’t Extreme difficulty.” Tariq lamented as he rubbed his fingers against his temples.

“If it wasn’t for Lucus and that device, we’d all be dead. If it was another Extreme gate…” Haydon picked at his food, unable to bring it to his mouth. He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone knew what he meant. They’d face certain death.

“What was that device, anyway? Was it the trigger to take us back?” Markus asked.

“No, it wasn’t, but leave it at that. Don’t mention it again.” Alphonse said his eyes roamed to the cameras within the hall. The others nodded. They knew when to listen.

Haydon’s eyes shifted around, looking for something.

It was obviously a device to suck up resources. That golden colour… It should have been an officer but, how the hell did they get down to us? Why did they need us to do the mission if they could have just appeared and done it themselves? It was just endless questions as Alphonse thought to himself.

And what happens to that planet now? The people that were once there? An anger surged up within his mind. He wasn’t angry that people might have died on the planet. He couldn’t care less about strangers he knew nothing about, but… Alphonse shook his head. It was as if a feeling not his own imprinted itself on him.

“Anyway, what has everyone got planned?” Alphonse said.

“Uh, we were to meet up with some seniors,” Tariq said. “Want to tag along?”

Alphonse shook his head. “Actually, I’m going to head to the Merchant’s guild, see what I can get with my credits.”

“Oh, that reminded me. I hear you can even buy things from other planets.” Markus’ eyes glowed.

Tariq sighed. “Well, that’s why it has Interplanetary in the name.”

“How was I supposed to know?” Markus crossed his arms.

“I’ll catch up with you guys later.” Alphonse smiled, shaking his head as he stood up from his chair.

***

The grand, white marble building entered his sight. He walked through the imposing arches and into the merchant's guild. A woman stood behind the counter, wearing a fake smile for the customers.

“I’d like to see what I can get with my points.” Alphonse asked the young woman. His hands itched at what he could receive.

The young woman looked up at him. She seemed to remember who he was as she placed an enormous book in front of him. “There you go.”

“Thanks.” Alphonse shook his head at the rough treatment. He flicked open the pages.

15 Credits - Leather Boots: Strong leather boots enhanced with minor scuff resistance.

Really? Alphonse shook his head. He continued down the list.

10 Credits - Condensed Travel Rations: Rations capable of remaining edible in extreme heat or frigid cold. Expiry date = 3 months after purchase.

Is that the ones Class A had during the mission? Alphonse's hazy mind thought back on the mystery meat jerky. It had saved him from becoming a mindless hungry demon, which was good.

25 Credits - Necklace of Untethering: Break free from one restriction spell.

That would be useful… but just one use? I wonder if there’s one with more uses. Alphonse kept on flicking through, but most of the stuff was low level and of little use to him.

“Is there a book with more expensive stuff?” Alphonse asked the woman behind the counter.

“You’re from class E?” The woman looked at him, as if she knew who he was. Scorn was clear on her face.

“No? They promoted me to class A”

At his words, her eyes shined. A bright smile formed on her face. “One second, esteemed customer!” She quickly rushed to the other side of the counter as she brought over the other book.

“Th-thanks.” Alphonse wiggled his head, ignoring the woman.

“Of course. I’ll be right here if you need me for anything.” She neatly laced her hands over each other as she bowed her head.

She’s kind of scary. Alphonse couldn’t get the image of her changing from one personality to another so suddenly. His eyes descended to the book, forgetting her entirely.

Finally, the good stuff. His eyes opened with a smile.