Chapter - 32 The weak-willed (3)
Held within his grasp was a thin rectangular plate. On its slick surface, a fine accumulation of mushed liquids and odd-textured foods was plated.
The meals served in this palace were absolutely revolting, inducing even the strongest men into a frenzy of emptying their stomachs.
Lowering his gaze from his front Alex viewed his next meal and nutrition for the upcoming day,
Giving the clumps of undesirable multicolored food a disdainful scowl Alex began to make his way towards his squad's assigned table.
Sigh,
'Foods food I guess…' Alex thought in a satirical tone as he mocked himself for waiting in such a lengthy line only to receive such meager food.
'This stuff makes the stuff served at the chum bucket look gourmet.' he sighed.
Nutrition was essential for his developing body, he was only 17 with his current body, hormonal imbalances and rapid body growth were the nuance that came with age, and such a process of course requires a large sum of energy to properly perform those necessary growth factors.
'Hell, like I have the choice to eat what I want,'
Simple meals that actually resembled edible solid foods were reserved for only those with an adequate amount of merit points, boot lickers, or female and male whores.
All of which Alex either lacked or as any rational person would say hell to such an idea!
With an unwarranted flick of his wrist, Alex tossed the tray holding his gelatinous meal onto the thin steel table below.
Upon impact with the thin steel table, the odd accumulation of food jiggled.
My stomach knotted as I watched that.
"Mornin," voiced Leo in a tired tone.
Leo's mass of orange hair was unkempt and darkened. Subtle black rings of promenade-darkened flesh had begun to accumulate around his eyes.
Exchanging a simple greeting and gesture in response, I fleetingly noted Leo's fatigued figure before I took my seat near the table bench's edge.
"How was watch last night?"
Alex said to Leo as he began to stab at his meal with his fork.
"Eh, I guess, it was rather draining since the Squad leader Lucas decided to assign Connor and I to patrol the northern sector of the camp"
Leo said in between his yawns.
"Sounds harsh, but I wouldn't be able to sympathize."
Alex replied
"Understandable, are you going to eat that by any chance"
Leo questioned noticing I had yet to eat my meal and was more or less playing with it.
"Yep, I would have to since I unfortunately lack merit points to afford a decent meal.
Thinking over my last statement Leo questioned me,
"Do you by chance have any merit points?"
He voiced in a condescending tone.
"I do,"
I said with a grimace.
Changing my utensil choice I grabbed a spoon instead of a fork.
"It's just that I have yet to take on any of those harrowing quests, like you know the big reward ones"
Placing my index finger on my mask, I commanded the sparse amount of Aura around me to form a thin threat of crimson-colored energy that seeped into the mask.
With a small portion of my will within the energy, I commanded the complex arrays of micro incisions to manipulate the bottom plate of my mask to de-manifest.
It was such a complex process to remove such a small portion of a mask…
Rhythmically tapping My finger against the table I stared apprehensive towards the meal.
Clenching my toes I unconsciously increased my grip on the spoon and I began to indulge in the harsh delicacy of unknown nutrition.
After three mouthfuls of the harsh delicacy I gradually began to adapt to the horrid stench and festering flavor of the meal.
Swingin' a large hearty chug from my canteen.
After cleansing my mouth with the elixir known as water, I continued my talk with Leo.
"You know on that note I have a proposal I want to make with you," I said in between each of my labored breaths.
Tearing his gaze from his own esteemed meal Leo scrutinised Alex as he slightly furrowed his brow.
"Elaborate?"
"Leo, how many merit points do you currently have?"
Alex questioned keeping his gaze towards his meal.
Considering if he should reply to Rel's question, Leo internally reasoned with himself to contemplate his response.
After several seconds of idle conversation, Leo replied vaguely.
"Not a lot, If that's what you meant."
Nodding his head Alex continued.
"That's enough to know, then I'll ask you this, do you want to continue to eat this gut-wrenching food after a long watch or laborious day of work?"
"Well, the food is not that bad.." Leo said trailing off his words
"..."
Seeing as Leo was still and not responding Alex internally grinned.
"Well with that said, I'm going to take on one of the harder quests with one of those hefty rewards, I'll need your help to properly complete the task so how about this we'll split the rewards 50/50"
Laminating over Alex's words Leo swiftly replied.
"I don't see why not"
Hearing this Alex nodded before taking another swig from his canteen.
*
*
"What?"
Leo in an utterly baffled tone.
Rolling my eyes from beneath my mask I replied in a short yet straight answer.
"We're going to purge a few gallows within the southern sector,"
I said plastering a grin.
"D:"
Hesitating over his decision to accept the quest with Rel, Leo continued to follow with an uneasy expression.
"What?"
I finally said with a neutral tone.
"Just make sure I get paid," Leo said with a sigh.
"Roger," Alex said with a snicker.
*
After several minutes of walking while listening to the ambient noise of grunts clangs or others, we arrived at a large field of blue-bladed grass.
A subtle yet demanding aura of chilling frost enveloped the both of us.
Compared to the glistering humid heat of the rest of the camp, the southern sector held a drastic temperature change.
The abnormal abundance of ice essence within the southern sector gave a desirable tactical stronghold for the camp.
It served as a natural barrier of sorts, the chilling temperatures were far too frigid for a mere fellow or fledging to stay within its threshold.
Feeling a frosted gale of air brush past my hair I closed my eyes to relish in the sensational abundance of ice essence.
Though my body was not attuned to the ice, the sheer abundance held within this domain allowed me to feel small traces of ice mana within the air.
Excited by this small revelation I attempted to string together a mass of Ice mana into the web of my small will.
Unfortunately… nothing happened, the small hope that had appeared within me was nothing less than a futile hope.
'Haaaaa,' I breathed as I gazed upon the vast expanse of dark woods within the landscape of ice.
Shifting my gaze from the view painted before me I questioned Leo's moral.
"It's cold right?" I said with a sneer
'this place can't compare to the chilling temperatures of Washington.'
Leo gave a nod as a response.
"Then get over it, just get warm or get used to the soothing natural chill of mother nature's breath"
Reaching into my satchel I retrieved a small metallic rod around the size of my palm.
Noticing the small object Leo watched as a bystander with a Confucius glint.
Ignoring Leo's gaze Alex willed a thin thread of Aura into the palm-sized silver rod's center.
Immediately as commanded the small rod's size increased into a 100cm shaft with tip brandishing three identical finely crafted long blades.
"Ehh I guess that was a little flashy but anywho,"
Gesturing towards Leo I began to head towards the woods.
Awakening from his stupor Leo trailed by Alex's side as they entered a small passage into the woods.
'here I come my merit points!!!'
"Hahaha, I can taste the soon-to-come scrumptious flavor of simple foods!!!" Alex hollered in rejoice