The black haired youth advanced with unhurried steps towards the wooden door. It was only when he was a few steps from it that he noticed a shining object laid on the floor. The object was rectangular in shape and reflected the soft light that entered from the windows — a golden colored card to be more precise.Fell approached the card with curiosity apparent on his youthful face. He crouched slightly and grabbed the card; a cold chill traversed his hand when he made contact with the metallic object. Raising it to his face, he noticed white colored letter engraved in it.
"Invitation to the banquet of the n.o.ble Families.", he read out loud as a flash of memory linked the card with a past event. With a twist of his wrist, he turned the card, and a name was written on it. Fell.
Finally, he understood that the n.o.ble families had finished prepared the so called banquet for him. "I guess I"ll go there to collect my deeds…", he thought as he noticed that the golden card wasn"t accompanied by any other cards.
"Did those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds forget that they owe me money?" he exclaimed through his gritted teeth. In the background, Wind was oblivious to the new discovery and was still vomiting bits of his innards.
Fell"s face turned cold after his anger died down, "They can"t possibly forget to deliver the money, and still deliver the invitation.". Shortly after that, he left the apartment with hastened steps and departed for the streets of the city. It was already the afternoon, and the invitation card for the banquet was for tonight. If he didn"t want to go there alone, he needed to get Wind to a decent state, and that would start with a hearty breakfast.
Nothing unusual happened in his short journey, and he managed to fill his spatial pocket with plenty of ingredients and beverages. It was only when he was on the road back to his apartment that a strange event happened. The event didn"t lead to any fight nor even a loud talk, but the stranger that Fell met in the road had sent him chills down to his very spine.
The stranger was wearing a hooded vest, and he had been walking toward the opposite direction of Fell. The young cultivator from the Core hadn"t noticed him till they were a few steps apart. At first, he had thought that the man was sick as the hood was unusual during the day, especially a day like this one where the temperature was higher than average.
But he hadn"t thought much about it, and from afar, his face looked pale beyond any healthy figure he had seen. His paleness was similar to the spotless white that was reflected from the metallic construct of the main district. It was only when they pa.s.sed close to each other that he noticed that the man was wearing a mask; the mask alone didn"t cause any specific thoughts in Fell"s mind, he had found it strange, but that was it.
The problem was with the hooded figure"s eyes, eyes that shouldn"t be in the face of a living being, eyes that didn"t reflect any speck of a soul. When he had seen them, his hand nearly drew Soldier"s Fortune from its metallic sheet. The stranger seemed to notice Fell"s reaction, but except a small gaze, he continued advancing through the streets.
"Who am I to judge him?", smirked Fell as he continued past his track. His right hand was tightly clenched around the smooth, cold, black scabbard. And it was only after turning across another street that he managed to hiss a breath of cold air.
"I should speed up, Wind"s stomach is probably in the midst of consuming itself!", he thought before doubling his speed.
He traversed the rest of the journey in a few minutes and was back in his comfortable apartment. The strange encounter had already been thrown in the back of his mind. When he entered through the wooden door, he heard the bathroom"s door close with a soft thud and found a stuttering Wind walk toward him with a pale const.i.tution.
"Drink some water brother", exclaimed Fell when he saw Wind"s dried up lips. "Come to the kitchen; I"ve gotten a few delicacies from the street."
Fell entered the kitchen, and with several swipes of his hands, unloaded his spatial pocket on the table. Dozens of ingredients appeared on the table; beef, salmon and a decent amount of vegetables and condiments to accompany them. On the side were two cups of dark liquid, steaming with hot fumes.
"Grab yourself a coffee while I prepare breakfast.", Wind didn"t wait for his brother"s proposal as he had already nearly thrown himself on the steamy cup of coffee.
Fell didn"t make his brother wait much and began preparing their meal; the beef and salmon were cut in small sized cubes, added to them were several spices and herbs before they were put to the sides. The G.o.dly amount of vegetables was chopped in a minute in small bits and were swiftly thrown in a brown pot, filled with clear water.
Before long, the kitchen was filled with vapor coming from the pot. The soft aroma swiftly filled the kitchen, before extending through Fell"s apartment, causing the poor Wind to nearly drool the little amount of liquid his body still had. After putting the nutritious soup cook on the side, he approached the cubes of beef and salmon and decided to smoke the salmon first before taking care of the beef.
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Swooooch- Fell activated the air cleaner due to the smog that had appeared in his apartment. And when he was done, the cloudiness in the kitchen disappeared in a few seconds, revealing dozens of dishes on the table.
"Dig in little drunkard!", Fell jokingly exclaimed as he saw that Wind couldn"t contain himself anymore. After that, silence took over his apartment; and the only sound that resonated in the kitchen were the slurping and munching noise that made it seems as though a whole courtyard of soldiers were taking down a buffet.