At a disadvantage
944 Words
If it was the normal barbecued food, they would have next to no reaction, or disdain.
But this was by no means ordinary.
The same way humans could absorb, assimilated, and wield the power of Heaven and Earth 'mana', Plants and animals also could grow up to possess specific characteristics that made them like carp leaping over the dragon gate.
Just like how human masters were graded into Low, High, Master Ranks; Animals and even plants too had their rankings in respect to their Prowess and closeness to human sentience. These beings were known as Life Entities.
They go from Low to High... And then to King and Emperor Grade!
The food placed in front of them were all from High Grade of different orders. Even the most wealthy men could only have such a feast once or twice a year but yet such delicacy was placed in front of them, towering Almost to their necks and reaching far out through more than 200 long tables.
When they saw this, everyone reconfirmed their belief that Castle Kaiser was the peak in the whole Human Realm. To fork out this much in a short time, masters as strong as the Master Realm must have been deployed in troops reaching in the hundreds to hunt the animals.
Such blatant display of power was never before heard of.
Nevertheless, everyone in the hall had stopped eating and was staring at their food with a look of great regret and distress.
In the cultivation world, people absorb a certain form of energy called Mana Energy to refine their bodies and also harness the power of the elements.
They absorb this Mana by opening the pores on their skin and create a suctioning force at the lower base of their abdomen to suck the energy from the surrounding atmosphere.
Likewise, they could also absorb the Mana from Plants and Animals by ingesting them and processing the food in their abdomen, along with other means.
But every method has some flaws, the major being their Capacity!
Just like in the case of normal digestion, the amount of food they can ingest Is directly proportional to the space of their stomach.
In this case, the energy they can assimilate directly or indirectly is in fact, directly proportional to their current Rank! the stringer they were, the more Mana they could absorb and the more Life Food they could ingest.
Most of these youths were at the peak of their potential, some of them actually at the High Lord Rank. But even then, they could only toil to eat a certain amount of these Life Foods. Anymore could cause over flooding of Mana which would destroy their entire Life Power or even Explode their bodies.
Put it plainly, their bellies were full.
So they were upset as they noticed a certain individual rapidly engulfing the said Life food directly from his table without any elegance.
This was Rudeus
Even though he was in his humanoid form, he was dragon that spawned a few hundred meters. Useless to say, he was as a bottomless pit, wholly amassing the Mana ingested almost Immediately.
Right now Rudeus was at his lowest, even at birth he was certain he wasn't this weak.
The feeling of being repressed, of subsisting meticulously in a bid not to offend some 'higher power' he could swat like a fly before; Made him panic inwardly. more so the thought so staying this way forever!
'I'd rather die!'
“Of all things I need to do, Being stronger is the most important." He grumbled with stuffed a mouth.
" Make a minion take me into the Castle, Check.
Enter the Castle, Check.
Enroll for the Marriage Selection, Check.
Have room to stay in the Castle, Pending.
Sneak into their Vault and take back that sword! Pending.
Take back my powers... Pending
Kill that B*tch, obliterate this castle, and rule over this Realm... Oh, I can't wait—
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Rudeus looked around in boredom at the dim-lit room he was provisioned.
"This wasn't how I envisioned it at all! Where is the class? the large fluffy bed and the maid waiting on me? all I see points to the fact that this room was arranged for a beggar"
thud, thud
sounds came from the room beside his own and a quirky voice let out a laugh in response, "Novae Riche, it seems you had no idea about what the marriage selection entails. do you believe the Queen should pat you on the back with a smile and let you court her daughter? that's wishful thinking. Endurance, Perseverance, and Strength are the tickets you'll need to win this."
'f**k! So she's punishing as retaliation for lusting at her daughter.' Rudeus fell weak on the hard floor and for a minute he mourned his misfortune with words that were anything but nice.
Although Guido gave him some hints, it was only centered on the forces he would face and the hidden dangers if he wasn't careful. He never said a thing about the harsh conditions necessary to just 'live' in the castle.
‘Maybe he did, but I was totally not listening.’
Guido hadn't passed the initial requirements and was kicked out even before entering the selection process. Or maybe he got scared and ran off. Either way, it was bad news for Rudeus.
He was lacking information greatly, basic information he was sure every other contestant knew before the start.
He needed to know where the restricted zones were or the previous Queen's bedroom. so that he would strangle her when he had the chance.
"Hello? contestant in the next room?
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- Writer
