"Incredible, just a few days ago Medusa was the most fearsome warrior in the Sect of the Worthy, and then she was killed by that bastard," said a burly Goblin. He was sitting in front of a table set with lots of food and enjoying the company of two other Goblins, powerful and influential members of the Sect of the Worthy.

They were in Orma's most luxurious and expensive restaurant, the "Coquinaria".

The walls were adorned with frescoes of fine workmanship, bright colours that refreshed the gaze and pleasantly accompanied gourmet meals. The regularity of the walls was sometimes interrupted by marble busts, depicting eminent personalities from Orma's past, and by hand-embroidered tapestries, enriched with gold threads expertly confused in the midst of coloured textures. Even the ceiling was inlaid with images from Orma's mythology and covered with a layer of pure gold, which was polished several times a day and reflected the light of the large candlesticks filled with candles. Even late at night, it always seemed full daylight in that restaurant.

That was an exclusive place, and without the right background, even entering it was really difficult. To gain entrance, you had to belong to one of the most important families in the city, to have reached at least the Third Phase and to be rich enough not to get into debt by ordering only one course. The cook was said to be a warrior at the Eighth Phase, passionate about culinary research and able to reinvigorate the body with a simple meal.

"Eh," sighed one of the diners, sitting at the same table, indulging in the chair covered with fur of demonic beasts at the Fifth Phase. "How quickly things change!"

In front of them, they had portions which were small, finely decorated and which gave off a very pleasant smell. The finest meat dishes came, of course, from the demonic beasts hunted that day.

"That's not the point!" barked the first.

The third, who had remained silent, nodded and commented: “I don't think the Sect of the Worthy will remain silent and don't answer. Everybody knows that duels to the death are a matter of honour, but they are never carried out to the end. Especially if it's a challenge between such important characters. That filthy human should have left us a way out. How can they expect to see us stand still while abusing us?"

"Medusa directly provoked the boy and all his loved ones," intruded a young Goblin, sitting at another table.

The three turned to him and frowned.

"My Clan of the Sacred Eagle has never oppressed anyone with its power, especially those who have honestly won a duel," continued the young man.

"That's Alister," muttered someone across the restaurant.

Alister belonged to the same generation as Medusa, Circe and Pseudonym; although his talent was absolutely not comparable with that of these monsters, he was the most talented warrior of the Clan of the Sacred Eagle Clan in his generation. He was even stronger than Francesca! However, he was born into a generation of monsters.

Sometimes it is better to be the head of a hen than the tail of a dragon.

"Alister, do you want to take it out on simple minions?" a crystalline and laughing voice reached the ears of the prodigy of the Clan of the Sacred Eagle.

"Fava, I didn't think I'd find you here hanging out," said Alister, turning to the voice behind him. "You have no one to pluck in the Guild and so you come here to waste time?"

Fava shrugged and brought his chair to Alister's table. At first glance, it seemed that those two geniuses were on good terms.

Having often exchanged fourth and fifth places, they had crossed arms several times. However, as the saying goes, a trouble shared is a trouble halved. The presence of talented monsters capable of overlooking the sky itself had brought them closer. Fava and Alister were in the Initial grade of the Third Phase, while Circe and Pseudonym were currently in the Late Grade of the Third Phase.

"With Medusa's death, you have the opportunity to reach third place," commented cheerfully one of Alister's companions, also from the Clan of the Sacred Eagle.

Alister and Fava exchanged glances and shook their heads.

"We? Do you really think third place hasn't been filled yet?" the two laughed.

The young man was dumbfounded for a few seconds, only to remember the demonic figure who had incinerated Medusa's body, without leaving a shred of reputation to the Sect of the Worthy.

"And you, you don't know anything about him?" asked Fava. After all, Alister was part of the Clan of the Sacred Eagle, but the young man shook his head.

“Not much is known about him, he is a mysterious one. I have the impression that Caliban knows a lot more about Helial than I do,” said Alister, curious to know more.

Fava was a member of the Merchants Guild and possessed some authority within it. Unfortunately, ability to do business was valued more than talent within the Guild, so Fava was always one step below Caliban in the race for the Guild Leader position. Yet the two, despite being opponents for Guild leadership, had never had a big fight. For merchants the most important thing is to make profits, not enemies.

"Well, yes, they are friends, but he told me that he doesn't know the true abilities of the Human boy either. According to him, it is likely that neither you nor I would be able to defeat him. After all, if Medusa couldn't do it..."

At that moment, the restaurant door opened, letting in a huge pile of white fur followed by two Humans and three Goblins. All those present followed their entrance with their eyes, almost intimidated.

"Speaking of the devil..." whispered Fava. Alister smiled back at him and listened to the words the cat had just said.

“Since the contribution of this supreme cat during the battle was incredible, I require ten kilos of lasagna to be prepared. Actually, make it twenty, ten kilos with normal meat and ten kilos with sausage," grunted the cat.

"This restaurant is Orma's most expensive," said a girl with silver hair.

"The old hag said that we deserve some rest and that we could use the Clan's funds as we fucking want," replied the cat.

"She did not know that a certain cat would drag us here and drain the resources of the Clan of the Sacred Eagle with lasagna," intercepted a slender and tall boy, with a calm and measured look.

Alister and Fava looked at each other, dumbfounded.

Ten kilos of lasagna?

Even the two of them, who belonged to Orma's most powerful Clan and Guild, when going to that restaurant, had to be careful not to overdo with the expenses, to prevent the Elders of the Disciplinary Committee from beating them for their excessive expenses.

A small plate of any dish would have made even a warrior to the Fifth Phase penniless. If Alister and Fava could afford to attend that place occasionally it was only because of their status.

It was rare to see someone below the Fifth Phase in there.

If Snowflake had really dared to order twenty kilos of lasagna, Nelia would probably have him skinned alive and put him to the plow in the fields until he paid off his debt.

"Eheh, the hag said exactly: 'Oh, your highness Snowflake, you can spend as much as you want, there is no limit to your magnificence and your appetite, why should I decide what you can or can't eat?'" On the other side of town, Nelia felt a shiver run down her back and sneezed.

"I wonder who called me ..."

Helial, Vlad and Frankenstein looked at Snowflake, incredulous.

Could one really be so shameless?

Sitting at on free table, Snowflake pulled out a huge bib with a delicate embroidery: cursive letters composing the words "Big Eater" and a refined stroke marking the shape of two crossed forks. The cat tucked his dining accessory around his neck and pulled out two golden forks.

"What about those?" asked exasperated Helial, who had already guessed their provenance.

“The Queen and the King gave us permission to buy new equipment, after having levelled up again and won in the arena. An upgrade was needed for the equipment to be on par with this supreme cat's abilities," said Snowflake, slamming the two huge golden forks on the table.

And that would be your equipment?!

While everyone laughed, Helial felt he had finally found some peace. He hugged his sister and they all started to eat, keeping the right distances from Snowflake, so that the spurts of ragù did not hit them.

Outside the restaurant, a black shadow had an evil grin on his face and kept his eyes glued to Helial's table.

"You're finally mine."