Chapter 142: The Cavaliers Way (1/2)
WIth no one daring to stop them, the barbeque party commenced with no problems whatsoever.
Even though the Cavaliers wanted to have a barbeque party, meat wasn't really that cheap in the City of Ashmelion.
Rearing chickens, pigs, horses and cattle for their meat required a lot of lands. The Cavaliers, even with their connections only managed to get a few pounds of white and red meat. But that didn't really matter since the centrepiece of the party was the booze.
The citizens of Ashmelion were frequent drinkers, in fact, they drink more than they change their knickers.
The favourite of the masses beverage, appropriately named Ashmelion Beer made from Ashmelion's main staple crop barely has a nice bitter taste.
Though some might find the Ashmelion Beer as tasting plain, the people of Ashmelion believed that plain beer was the best booze of all time...
After all, the more vanilla the taste of the booze was, the easier one could modify its taste to one's pleasure.
A good example of this was the fact that Ron Samuel always chased his Ashmelion Beer with lime, while Ashlynn preferred adding a teaspoon of sugar and salt to her booze.
James Branzuela, on the other hand, preferred the raw vanilla taste of the Ashmelion Beer.
He despised those that dare to taint the flavour of the favourite of the masses.
”Oh? You guys already started? Sweet...” A familiar voice rang out from the doors of the Captivating Fragrance Coffee Shop.
A slender-framed figure came inside the coffee shop and smiled, ”I brought in some more booze. I really did not expect that you would be able to find such a talented individual, Ron...”
”Hmmph... I've always had a keen eye, Vincent Dela Cruz...”
”All right, all right...” The young man who came in preferred to be called as the Wise One.
But privately and among his friends, he detested such pleasantries.
He wanted to be called by his first name, Vincent.
Calling him with his full name even in private often attracted his displeasure, but this didn't stop Ron Samuel from calling him with his full name.
”Senior... Thank you for gracing us with your presence...” Bruce walked forward and helped Vincent carry the boxes of beverages.
He had just come out of the Library and was in the middle of a short break in between verbally informing Calvin about everything that he needed to know in the Way of the Cavaliers.
”Why did you come out?”
”I've got to take a piss, hahaha...” Bruce replied to Ron Samuel's inquiry.
Ron Samuel faintly nodded, ”You better wrap everything fast, with Vincent Dela Cruz here, you might not be able to have even the leftovers!”
Vincent Dela Cruz was a true foodie, he disliked leaving leftovers and everything that was in his plate would always be fully consumed without exceptions. Even if the taste or texture was dislikeable.
”Now, you're making me look like I only came here to eat and drink...”
”Oh? Aren't you?” Ron Samuel asked.
”Of course, not! I came here to celebrate, so I also brought in some meat... Can I use your kitchen?” Vincent smiled.
Ron Samuel walked over to him and placed the back of his hand on Vincent's forehead.
”Your temperature's fine... Are you sure you're not sick?”
”What? Do you really think that I am that type of a person who would crash someone else's celebration just to dine and dash?”
Vincent raised his eyebrow and frowned.
Ron Samuel didn't say anything. Instead, he turned around and gestured to the kitchen.
”Leave the meat to me...” The smile on Vincent's face deepened.
To be honest, he was indeed the type of person who would crash someone else's celebration and then dine and dash. However, he had changed recently. He noticed that he was able to greatly increase the quality of the food that he was consuming if he was the one making it.
What's more, every time he saw someone exclaim, ”Delicious!” while eating his dishes. He would feel strangely liberated and gratified...
This was why in the past few weeks, Vincent had been more into cooking than mysticism.
Vincent walked into the kitchen carrying several baskets of meat.
When the door closed behind him, Ron Samuel approached James Branzuela and whispered into his ears.
It was unknown what he had said to James, but James nodded seriously to his words and then secretly approached the kitchen.
He sneakily peeked into the kitchen but before he could even see what was happening inside.
A pair of sapphire-like eyes suddenly appeared and it was staring right at him!
”In Goddess's name!”
James Branzuela was so startled that he leapt backwards and entered a fighting stance.
Vincent Dela Cruz slowly opened the doors and said, ”Do you think that I am out here to poison us all?”
James Branzuela lifted an awkward smile.
He slightly bowed his head to the Wise One in apology.
He didn't even dare to respond as he turned around and made a break for it to his Captain.
Even though Vincent Dela Cruz looked to be younger than him, he was a more senior figure in the ranks of the Church.
In short, Vincent was not someone that he could just casually offend.
'This is all Captain's fault!'
James Branzuela whispered to himself, but he didn't dare to speak out his thoughts.
After all, he didn't want to offend the king for the sake of the general.
James was a smart man so he kept his mouth shut.
Soon, the smell of fragrant meat wafted out of the kitchen.
The alluring smell made both James and Ron forget about their reservations against Vincent when it comes to his cooking skills.
Meanwhile, within the secret Library of the Captivating Fragrance Coffee Shop, Bruce was in the middle of verbally passing the necessary knowledge that Calvin needed in his career of being a Cavalier.
”All right, let's stop for now and refresh. I am going to ask you...”
”Recite to me the Cavalier Ranking System...”
”Yes...”
Calvin took a deep breath and replied, ”Cavaliers are ranked as follows. Soldier, Cavalry, Knight, Bishop, and Pope. Each rank is separated even further into three different categories; Low, Mid, and High. The Pope Ranking is the only exception to these categories since it only has a single category, namely... the Apex Predator Rank.”
”How does a person increase their rank?”
”By gathering enough experiences through killing monsters...”
”Every time a monster is killed, a Cavalier must do a simple ritual of life force absorption. Absorbing the life force of defeated enemies or monsters will increase the energy contained within their Origin. With the expansion of their Origin, they are able to increase their powers...”
”And what is an Origin?”
”An Origin is the source of a Predator's powers...”
”If destroyed, the Predator will be crippled or die.”