Chapter 185 (2/2)

Daital opened his mouth, but already more food orders were coming, and his thoughts were already so jumbled he couldn’t sort through them. So he just allowed himself to be swept away, lost in the routine of the food preparation.

That continued until a voice cut through the air. “Who dares offend the Merchant Association?!?”

A tall man pressed forward, surrounded by a dozen or so spear users. He had huge, bushy eyebrows, and Daital recognized the man immediately. He was Gerel, the man who was the cudgel of the Merchant Association. He was only at the cusp of achieving Artisan status, but he was completely controlled by the Merchant Association, unlike the legitimate Artisan’s who were only paid to be on retainer by the Merchant Association.

Gerel raised his spear, a heavy, blunt headed thing, and guffawed. “What? Such a tiny stall? Such skinny wrists you all have, all the better to feature in the kitchen!”

The beautiful woman snorted, leaping over the counter and drawing her spear. The rest of the crowd seemed more annoyed than anything else, and moved to the side, keeping their place in line. The meditating man made to get up, but the green eyed cook waved him down and delicately removed his apron.

Two spear users laughed and moved towards the beautiful woman with lewd eyes, but her movements abruptly changed, becoming impossibly fast and smooth, and she wounded them both, knocking them to the ground.

But Daital, once more, was distracted from the beautiful woman. Because after the green eyed man removed his apron, he seemed strangely… bigger. Bulkier. More vicious. The air seemed to dance with strange ripples, as if power was constantly coursing through his body.

“You!” Gerel bellowed, glaring at the beautiful woman, who gave him the middle finger. Growling, Gerel rushed forward.

“I don’t know what strength really is… or even when to use it.” The cook said tiredly, strolling forward, leaping lightly out past the counter. “But… I’m seeking it, that knowledge and strength. Seeking it is really all you can do. And sometimes, you find it in unexpected places, even in cooking. Do not underestimate the world.”

The cook’s hand flexed, and huge spear of obsidian appeared there. But Gerel didn’t even hesitate, he simply switched his targets, and rushed towards the cook.

For his part, the cook seemed unworried and unhurried, and slowly took a deep breath, then adopted a fighting stance, and then thrust forward with the spear with surprising slowness. It wasn’t that slow, but… considering all the talk, Daital couldn’t help but be disappointed.

But then Diatal noticed that the ripples in the air grew stronger, much stronger, so strong that the air around the cook seemed to warp. Then it clicked.

This man… was almost an Artisan.

And sure enough, when his spear crossed with Gerel, the larger man’s face tightened as he was smashed backwards. But more than that, his eyes were filled with fear.

“You…. you are the Ghosthound, the disciple of the Spear Phantom, Shal.”

The cook, the Ghosthound, just smiled, and began to walk forward, his steps even and heavy, the tip of his spear dragging just slightly against the ground.

Daital didn’t know if he had ever seen something so cool in all his life.

*****

Randidly returned to the boat, pleased with the day.

He wasn’t sure why, but he really enjoyed teaching that kid how to cook. He reminded Randidly of Donny, in the faux-arrogant way they held themselves, and even though he had hated those types when he was that age, Randidly was now past the point of taking their posturing seriously.

What Randidly didn’t expect was to return to the boat to find it, once more, deserted.

He lead his three spear attendants down below, where he found the Spear Phantom’s diary and a note in Shal’s room.

Gone ahead to handle some issues. Don’t wait for me. Registration for the Regional Tournament is in 5 days.

Don’t disappoint me.

There wasn’t even a signature. Randidly was deeply puzzled. Something… was very strange about Shal recently. The Shal Randidly encountered in the dungeon was laid back, but powerful, in a restrained way. This new Shal… he had assumed the increased violence was part of the training… but now with him abandoning him so suddenly, when their stated goal was so close, without any guidance….

That seemed irresponsible. At best.