270 Chapter 270: End of the Road (1/2)

Even though Charles Lacroix called it a party, there wasn't much we could do to hold an actual party. Not when we had been trapped in the Spiritual Road for almost a month or so. There was no equipment, no catering, no food and drinks. Just what we had on our backs. Eventually, we just did a pseudo campfire party.

Of course, that brought back terrible memories of the other time when Alicia and the others held a campfire party outside Jing Tian City, only for a rank B Crastrate to crash the party and massacre a good number of students. Charles did caution against the use of a campfire, reminding the students that the heat, light, smoke and noise would draw monsters toward our location. Then again, like many normal animals, monsters tended to avoid fires because they could be destroyed by the ferocious element. There were plenty of exceptions, but the students didn't let that fact get in the way of having fun.

But other than the campfire, there wasn't much we could do about the food and drinks. Charles was pretty resourceful, fortunately, and organized a hunting party. That was something I excelled in, so I joined in, and we managed to get a bunch of Blood Boars and other monsters for barbeque and grilling over the fire. A few other mages also collected jars of water, and using natural herbs and honey found in the forest, concocted sweet drinks that we could enjoy. Even better, those herbs and spices that grew in the wild could be used to season the boar meat that we grilled and barbequed.

Wait, several readers cried. If you can eat monster meat, then why can't you gain the properties or physical strength and magic of those monsters?

Because no such convenient plot device existed. Come on, dudes. Do you guys gain the ability to fly after eating pigeons or birds? Do you grow hooves when you eat pork or beef? Do you grow feathers after eating chickens? No, right? So what made you think we suddenly gain new magical abilities and whatnot if we eat monster meat? They were no more nutritional than normal animals. What, you think this was another one of those cheat stories where the protagonist exploited the system and gained an infinite number of abilities by eating lots and lots of monsters, to the point where the writer essentially lost track of how many abilities or what abilities his protagonist has?

No. I wasn't some overpowered Mary Sue protagonist who could conveniently gain new abilities through eating monster meat and stuff. Sorry, but such convenient stuff doesn't happen in reality.

Even so, that didn't stop monsters from wanting to eat us, so I offered to stand guard and watch from the perimeter of the campfire, to ensure we didn't get ambushed by a bunch of ravenous monsters while we were busily celebrating the demise of Ji Xuan.

”Here, eat something.” Theodore ventured over and passed me a huge chunk of seasoned Blood Boar meat. I gratefully accepted it and began eating it. ”You're the one who volunteered to hunt these guys. It's only natural you get to eat them.”

”I got them for everyone to eat.” Honestly, this wasn't the first time. I had been hunting throughout my stint in the forest. Lilith probably knew best, because she had no choice but to eat with me after I hunted a Blood Boar and roasted it over a fire. Actually, she was pretty grateful for it, because it beat the bland rations that we had been handed at the beginning of the training camp.

Speaking of which, she was currently hanging out with the other girls, Cecilia and Kureha, who were shadowed by Chang Cheng and Doug, and a couple of other students from Kureha's school. They did trade a few words with me earlier, but other than that we didn't have much interaction. What? You think they were heroines in some harem story who would inexplicably stalk me? Lilith only accompanied me because she relied on my help to evade Ji Xuan's Assassins and strike back at them. Cecilia and I hardly had any interaction at all, and she wasn't interested in me. Kureha appreciated my help, but that was the extent of our relationship. She wasn't, as some readers suspected, a ”harem member.” Seriously, girls weren't going to fall for me just by virtue of me walking on two legs. They had completely no reason to fall for me and start behaving like brainless cardboard stalkers whose existence revolved solely around me, and trying to win my affections.

They had better things to do with their lives, and their own personal goals and social lives. They had no reason to overly worry about me or cling onto me like 99% of the heroines in Chinese web novels or Japanese light novels. The girls I met didn't exist solely to fall in love with me. They were real, living, breathing people with their own lives, agendas, personalities and social circles. Not desperate, thirty thots that existed to cling onto my arm 24/7 and start behaving rabidly and becoming jealous whenever I met a new girl, or deciding for some inane reason to come to a tactic understanding and accept being in a harem that centered around one guy.

They weren't that shallow or one-dimensional. And let me be frank, just because a beautiful girl showed up in front of me, doesn't mean she was automatically a love interest or harem member. Give them more respect than that, please. Beautiful girls and strong female characters could exist on their own without being automatically subjected to the bullshit love interest or harem member treatment. I knew that ran contrary to popular belief and readers seeking wish fulfilment power fantasies where they could self-insert themselves into a bland, boring protagonist (yes, I know I'm bland and boring) while reveling in the feeling of being surrounded by beautiful heroines who existed solely to pander to their ”alpha” male ego and indulge in their harem fantasies.

Sorry, but this was not that kind of story.

”Your shift is over, Richard. I'll take over for the next couple of hours.”

Harrison came over, chewing on some barbequed Blood Boar meat. I shook my head.

”Nah, I'm good. I'm not really fond of dealing with crowds and I don't like partying. I'm fine staying where I am.”

”Aw, you're no fun.” Theodore snorted. ”You should learn to live a little.”

”I have. I'm still alive and living, am I not?”

”That's not what I mean…”

”He's just pretending. He knows what you mean.” Harrison sounded dismissive. ”And this is an order from your leader. You're not allowed to work overtime. You did your part and you deserve to have some time off. Go enjoy yourself.”

”…yes, Great Leader.”

I sighed and bowed submissively.

”You mean the Great Ruler,” Theodore joked. Both Harrison and I glared at him.

”Hey, don't go raising a death flag. The last time some guy tried to be the Great Ruler, he ended up dying in the weirdest way possible. I mean, he was always meant to be a comic character, often labeled as The Great Pig by his friends, but when Mu Chen finally decided to encourage him to become the Great Ruler together with him, he went and died in the next episode…to some weird sneak attack. And instead of getting medical help or treating his injuries, Mu Chen and his friends wasted a lot of time wailing and acting sad over the tragedy as they watched Su Ling die. Like, seriously? Why didn't anyone treat his wounds or call for a doctor/healer?”

”…what are you talking about?” both my friends stared at me, bewildered. I scratched my head and sighed.

”Oh, looks like you guys didn't watch the animated adaptation.”