Chapter 455: A Feast of Desires (1/2)

After the Mistress' speech, the tense atmosphere in the room finally eased, the heavy pressuring air was gradually lifted and replaced by a much livelier, healthier mood.

With the foggy haze clearing, the group finally began to enjoy themselves and enjoy the prepared sumptuous meal. As if they entered a separate plane, for a few, fleeting minutes the worries of the outside world were pushed away. Everyone enjoyed themselves, filling their bellies with the grand variety of dishes.

Some enjoying a full course dish with an equal amount of garnish, vegetables, and meat. Then again, others focused on one particular course.

For Aiden, like always, he was calm as he sampled every type of meat, sighing and frowning most of the time as he realized that they were similar in quality to the meat he grew up with Granny, Lily, and his Master. In the end, he simply stopped once his reserves were filled and did not experiment any further.

”Did you manage to find something to fulfill your heart's desire?”

As soon as he put back the utensils on his plate, the Mistress called out for him, her voice carrying the tone of honest inquiry rather than anything darker.

”Uhm.” Aiden nodded, closing his eyes and leaning back on his chair. Not wanting to enter into any discussion, he focused his attention on his system instead.

Through the last bit more than a week, his group had tackled 10 quests in total, each was marked as nigh impossible by the local standards and were hanging there for weeks. For some of them, like the Skink-cleanup one, it was actually slated to be transferred to either the Academy for further assistance from its students and professors or to be handed over to a higher branch.

Then there were those that were supposed to be the duty of the City Guards, but for a variety of reasons, they asked for outside assistance. In one case, they were hired to clean up a local group of thugs that was formed from multiple smaller gangs and were tormenting one smaller district in the residential area of the town.

The group turned out to be vastly similar both in how they operated and their setup to the one that clashed with Aiden not too long ago. Once again, Aiden was met with the effects of the darkness, the ever-present taint that, like an invisible veil, have descended upon this land and continued to slowly but surely make its way inside the minds and hearts of the average people.

By now, he was fairly certain that whatever was happening was anything but natural. Though he wasn't sure of the specifics, if it was either a spell, a curse, or anything else, it was fairly clear at this point that something greater was at play.

If you had any desire, anything hid at the back of your mind or pushed away deep in your soul or perhaps heart you weren't safe. Slowly, but surely, this invisible haze will make its way into you, and change your perception of the world. Your deepest darkest desires will eventually surface, twisting and turning your outlook of the world.

Still, it seemed that the effects weren't permanent. Like with the case of the innkeeper, it seemed that either by directly facing the mistakes of your actions either by force or naturally, you would 'awaken' from this trance. The effects of the haze would be lifted from your mind.

Though it wasn't clear as of yet if this were to be a permanent solution or perhaps just a temporary aid to this lingering problem, for the time being, Aiden had no other answers.

He wanted answers, something, anything, however, unfortunately, Aiden wasn't sure who to turn to. Would anybody even notice what was happening? Maybe to them, this was perfectly normal, it was the norm for their entire life.

Maybe it was just him, after all, he was an existence that went against the very laws of the world itself. He was an entity that was forcibly removed from history and made extinct. His entire existence in this time was an impossibility, making him possibly the only creature in Eora to spot this peculiarity.

Maybe this was the machination of the gods, ensuring that the beings under their rule will stay within their derived limits, and only those that they themselves deem worthy would be blessed and allowed to transcend their mortal shells and become the revered legends of times immemorial and would ascend to the Demi-God status.

Still, he had hoped that either Granny, Number 3, or perhaps her sister, or the Mistress would be able to feel the chaotic energies surrounding them.

With a frown pulling his lips into a displeased pout, Aiden opened his eyes and turned his attention to the lady sitting at the helm, who, like him, was resting, silently contemplating on the many matters on her plate.