Noah stared at the bowl in his hand with an odd expression. Liam had told him to order a Mushroom and Cheese Risotto, and while the dish sounds fancy in name.... In reality, it just seemed to be a bowl of thick looking white rice with diced mushrooms and a dash of cheese sprinkled on the top.
Liam was seated opposite him, comfortably nestled in his recliner with a bowl of the same dish, though his looked slightly translucent.
"Is there meat hidden beneath the rice or something?" asked Noah, perplexed. Liam's other recommendations so far had been pretty good, so he wanted to give him the benefit of doubt.
"Nope," Liam simply replied, as he ate a spoonful of the risotto.
"It really doesn't look all that appetizing for how much you praised it....." Noah replied awkwardly, unable to understand what was so good about rice and cheese.
"HEY, ALESSANDRO! THIS LITTLE SHITE SAYS YOUR MUM'S HANDMADE RISOTTO TASTES LIKE ABSOLUTE GARBAGE! YOU GONNA LET THAT SLIDE, PUSSY!?" Liam loudly yelled while looking to his right in a provocative and inflammatory tone.
Noah couldn't help but instinctively turn his head in that direction, but he couldn't see anything. Knowing that he was being taken for a ride, he couldn't help himself from lightly chuckling.
"Who's Alessandro?" Noah asked. Because if it was someone Liam knew, they definitely couldn't be ordinary.
"One of me mates. A ranker with some mild anger issues. If you want to stop ascending the tower, just walk up to him and insult his parents. With two busted kneecaps - won't be doing a lot more climbing, innit?" Liam guffawed loudly, but there was an imperceptible twinge of sadness concealed behind his laughter.
Noah felt his kneecaps lightly tingle as he wondered if all of Liam's friends were going to be this 'colorful'. He wasn't sure if he could maintain his sanity if he were to be placed in a room with 10 people who behaved just like Liam.
"Risotto is the ultimate comfort food, lad. Take a bite and you'll see why," said Liam, shooing Noah away with his hands and focusing on his bowl.
Noah scooped up a mouthful of the Mushroom and Cheese risotto with his spoon and finally took a bite. The first thing it reminded him of was mac and cheese, the creamy goodness of the cheese was surprisingly a fine blend with rice and he found himself immediately going for a second bite.
There was something about this dish that soothed Noah's soul, as it somehow managed to combine the cheesy goodness of the trusty ol' mac and cheese with the goodness of warm soup on a chilly day. He felt that the mushroom's mild taste and soft exterior was a perfect match with this dish, and there was no need to stuff meat in there.
"It's actually good" Noah mumbled in a low pitch, tired of Liam always getting the food recommendations right. The dude may be an asshole, but he definitely didn't shortchange him when it came to tasty food.
Liam just nodded and then opened his mouth to speak "Kid, let me ask you a question. Do you think Jake was a bad person?" he asked, in a question that seemingly came out of nowhere.
"That bastard tried to kill me for no reason and goes on to become an assassin later on, of course, he's a bad person. Are you trying to provoke me?" Noah snapped in an angry tone, not understanding what Liam was trying to say.
Liam's face remained as steady as a rock, not displaying any emotion at Noah's anger. "Then kid, do you think you're a good person?" asked Liam in a mocking tone, as if he wanted to piss Noah off.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"I don't go around harassing and killing people even though I'm stronger than a lot of them by now? So yes, I fucking think that I am a good person. " Noah angrily replied, not understanding where this harassment was coming from.
"Then look me in the eye and tell me that you have what it takes to kill another human- if that is the price of survival." Liam commanded in an authoritative and unyielding tone that would brook no disrespect to 'His' command.
Noah looked Liam in the eye and said "I-I will ki-" - try as he might when he stared at The Eternal Lion's piercing and domineering gaze the words that he meant to say simply evaporated at the tip of his tongue, and he found himself unable to complete that sentence.
Because deep down Noah didn't know the answer to that question until he was finally pushed to that point. He didn't want to kill people, but if that was the only way to survive - did he really have a choice? He only had barebones knowledge of the legal system, but he knew that homicide committed under an act of self-defense was no crime.
"This is the last thing I wanted to teach you before we part," said Liam, reverting back to his old tone. "And possibly the most important thing I can."
"The most precious thing to me as a Demi-God - can you guess what it is?" Liam asked softly.
"Uh..." realizing that Liam was trying to teach him some sort of lesson, his anger slightly simmered down. "Power? Some divine energy? People praying to you? I don't have enough information to come to a conclusion." Noah shot a few guesses that he found likely, but he had no idea what becoming half a god implied in the first place.
"No, kid. The thing I value the most is my humanity." Liam replied, with a dignified tone that seemed unlike him.
"As you said yourself, I have fought a long, cruel battle, that almost seemed endless from my perspective- decades after decades of climbing the tower really does make you a cynic. My hands are tainted with blood, and I have killed more people than you would want to believe a chipper, devilishly handsome bloke like me would be capable of. Do you think I was always in the right? Was I, in my encounters through the tower, always a "Good" person? The thing with dividing actions into "Good" and "Evil" is, somewhere down the line, things are going to get blurry one day. And from that day onward, you will find yourself second-guessing each and every one of your decisions because the justification for your actions was that you qualified as a good person. What if you kill someone who was hailed as a villain, but later turned out to be a scapegoat for someone else?" finished Liam, and Noah had to take a minute to contemplate on these heavy words before he started to understand what was being implied.
"Then what am I supposed to do!?" Noah asked, in a raised tone. While he understood what Liam was saying, he wasn't sure if there was a solution to this paradox.
"Noah Smith, realize the grandness of your mission - which is to save humanity. Those that obstruct your mission, whether they be good, evil, mortal, or demi-god- are simply enemy combatants, but the only nation you represent just has one citizen- you. A soldier only needs to follow their commander's lead and kill those who wear a different colored outfit than them and neither side is in the wrong - both are just following their orders. Do you really think anyone would care about a few people if you end up liberating humanity from the tower? The greater good theory might be flawed, but this is one place where it is definitely applicable. The survival of an entire race versus a few stragglers who try to get in your way- which do you think is more important? " Liam paused for a moment, to let it sink in.
"That, is the only way to maintain your humanity as life keeps putting you at crossroads, forcing you to make one difficult decision after the other. Believe me kid, I have done a lot of things that I am proud of, but the higher one climbs the tower, the more it sends cruel decisions your way- hoping somewhere down the line you lose your humanity and become a mindless, heartless killing machine that will do anything if it means ascendance to godhood," said Liam, in a slightly pissed off tone nearing the end.
"If ye can't have a day out with the lads and get piss drunk until you can't walk straight- why do you even become a god? Perhaps if I went full murder hobo from the start and killed everyone, I would have a much better chance of saving humanity. But, would I do it? Not interested, the tower can fuck right off with that shite - and neither should you. " Liam finished while staring up at the false sky of Gridlocked.