Chapter 190: Food, and Inn
Chapter 190: Food, and Inn
It was quiet for bit at their table, but the sounds of the inn continued to wage accross the room. The Wizard had decided to break the silence at the table.
He turned his head to him. “Jin? Are you working tomorrow? We’ll get you a place to stay here in the Inn or something. If you work tomorrow, you’ll be fighting some other humans. Bad guys. You said you wanted that, didn’t you?”
“Count me in,” Jin smirked, still looking out for the Innkeeper who was supposed to bring him his food.
The Wizard chortled. “Great! Just don’t teleport too much out there when I’m around, ‘kay?” He narrowed his eyes at Jin. “You’re gonna get me cross-eyed.”
The Innkeeper appeared, and placed a tray of food on the wooden table before Jin. There was beef, and steak, and cheese and vegetables, and potatoes and beans. The smell of the food entered Jin’s nostrils, prodding his mouth open. A bit again and he would have drooled. It was like peering right at savory heaven.
Jin remained in his seat, looking down at the food as if mesmerized by its presence.
The Innkeeper looked at Jin, and then smiled. “I do hope you enjoy.” He teleported away. “Now, dig in! What are you waiting for?”
Jin looked up at the Innkeeper, skeptical. “Are you this isn’t poison?” He tried to make it sound like wit, but he was indeed serious.
The Innkeeper cackled. “Boy,” he said, “if I wanted to poison you, I’d do it in a battle with you where I might inject the poison into you directly. Now, that wouldn’t happen, mind you.”
Jin looked at the Wizard, his face going serious. He had learned to not trust people after what happened in the past.
The Wizard looked at Jin. Then, his eyes drifted away. But once more glimpsed at Jin. He sighed, then pressed his lips in a line. He looked at Jin’s food, closing his eyes. Suddenly, an eye appeared on his forehead. This eye peered at the food on the tray in front of Jin.
The Innkeeper watched on with his arms folded, narrowing his eyes at the Wizard. “Is this even nescessary?”
The Wizard opened his pair of eyes, and the third eye vanished. He shook his head at Jin. “Your food is clean if any chemicals, boy. Just as I thought.”
The Innkeeper sucked his teeth.
Jin looked up at him with laughing eyes, scratching his head in guilt. The Innkeeper then vanished. Jin immediately looked down at the tray of food in front of him.
He started eating immediately. First, he started with the steak, and then moved on to the beef, putting the square strips of cheese on it to melt from its heat. He chewed, he munched, he swallowed. Soon, he started to get lethargic.
“You look full already, boy.” The Wizard scrutinized him.
“Yeah, Jin,” Kai raised a brow, “I don’t think you should force yourself to finish that. The Innkeeper wouldn’t have a problem.”
Jin continued to eat, neglecting Kai and the Wizard’s words.
The Wizard took a drink out of his glass, then turned to Jin again. “Just how long have you been hungry?” He peered at him, awaiting response.
“About two or three weeks. Could be more,” Jin said, “actually, it is more.”
“Damn,” Kai uttered, finishing the last of his fries.
“You know,” the Wizard averted his eyes, “a hungry man whose starved for weeks is mutated. His body doesn’t accept the food. It could even be lethal for him.”
Kai clicked his tongue. The Wizard was wise, but sometimes Kai did not believe the things that slipped this man’s mouth at all. Especially not in the bar. “With all due respect, that’s kinda ridiculous.”
The Wizard shrugged. “Starve for two months,” he looked at Kai, “maybe you can test it in that way.”
Kai didn’t answer; he kept his eyes on his plate.
Jin continued to eat like there was no tomorrow.
The Wizard continued, “a man’s belly is overly important. The problem is when you overeat, you train your body to eat that amount, so even twenty percent less will cause you some problems.” He sighed. “Soon enough times will come when there’s even no food at all for us. The end of the world is near, y’know.”
It went quiet at their table again for some four minutes. Jin didn’t bother doing anything but eating. Kai had finsihed his food; he sat there, just looking around as if he was lost.
The Wizard then looked at Jin. “Boy, how good are you at acting?”
Jin continued to eat, but still managed to give the Wizard his eyes. “I am. Why?” His mouth full as he spoke.
The Wizard averted his eyes. “Nothing.” He sighed. He stared at the table for a good dozen seconds, and then looked at Jin again. “We’ll need to fend off the village from an attack in two days. Take the remains of today, and tomorrow to familiarize yourself with the place.”
Jin nodded. “Okay.” He looked down at his food again.
The Wizard drank from his glass. ‘I can use this boy,’ he thought, ‘I can use him well. He has some interesting Abilities. Things I can’t do, he can. There’s some viceversa here, but that’s trivial. The more or him we get, the stronger our colony would grow.”
“What’cha thinking about so long and hard, Wiz,” Kai said.
The Wizard looked at him. “I’m thinking about what we all have in common: problems. They can’t stay unfixed forever.”
Kai sighed. “So even a man like you stress, huh?”
“Yes,” the Wizard averted his eyes, “I am only human — in case you forgot.”
Kai looked at him for a good bit, then looked away again. He was about to look at Jin. But he had no intentions of making himself grossed out by the way this boy ate.
Jin thrust a hand in the air. “Yes! Finally.”
[Your hunger has been sated]
[+3 Exp]
[Strength: 40]
[Health: 72]
[Speed: 18]
[Skill: 45]
[UP: 0]
[Exp: 26/75 | Level 10]
“Finally!”
[HP: 40]
[HP: 46]
[HP: 54]
[HP: 67]
[HP: 72]
[Your health was fully restored]
[+1 UP]
[UP: 1]
Jin looked down at his injured arm. It suddenly twisted and bent back to its natural state, cracking loudly. He looked down at the hand, squeezing it closed and then opening it again.
[New Task: Defeat a user of ice magic]
[Reward: 15 Exp (reward is subjected to change, depending on the opponent’s power level)]
Jin smirked. ‘Finally some good stuff,’ he thought, ‘this place is full of people—Magic users. Perhaps I can use them to level up.”
Kai noticed that Jin was doing this thing again: looking at air or who knew what. He clicked his tongue. He couldn’t fathom this at all. But Jin was not the first he’d seen act this way.
“Hey,” he looked at Jin and then his food, “what are you looking at? Have you finished your food?”
“I’m just daydreaming,” Jin looked at him, “I’ve finished my—”
“Daydreaming about what?” Kai asked. He averted his eyes. It was out of place for him to ask like that, and he knew this. The question just slipped his mouth. He was even painted as the village’s skeptic.
Jin answered, “I’m thinking about what we all have in common: problems.” Jin peered into his eyes. “What are you thinking about Kai? Why so quizzical? Don’t trust me?”
The Wizard sighed. “Forget about him, boy. He’s the village’s skeptic. We have a mole here within the walls. Their keeping watch at everything that goes on in here. They’ve slaughtered three or citizens so far, and that’s not going stay an odd number for much longer. We think he’s working for the other team.”
Jin scoffed. “Oh yeah? How much will you reward me if I find this mole for you?”
“Anything you ask of me,” the Wizard answered brusquely. “But finding this man wouldn’t be easy at all, this stealthy blending spy.”
“Ah,” Jin smirked, “just what I thought I’d here. You better gets things ready ’cause I’m finding that mole for you. All while getting stronger, and completing a few tasks of my own. Got that?”
“I’m only middleaged,” The Wizard narrowed his eyes, “I’m not going cenile anytime soon.” He then stood up from the table. “I appreciate you, boy. Consider yourself a busy man in two days. Because I myself have tasks planned for you, Hunter.”
Kai narrowed his eyes at the Wizard. “What about me?”
“You?” The Wizard scratched his head. “Uhm … you’ll probably be his partner. If that’s okay with him, of course. Is it, boy?”
Jin shrugged. “I don’t care. If he becomes my partner, he just has to get lost when I want him to. I’m not going to do all good in this place, and J doing want a surveillance camera.”
“I’ll be gone now. Perhaps you can get a place to stay here at the Inn. Or you can even get one at Kai’s place. They’ve had an extra room for weeks, since they thought Kaylie got herself pregnant,” he laughed. “See you, kid.” The Wizard smirked before he walked away.