Chapter 142: The Cavalier's Way

WIth no one daring to stop them, the barbeque party commenced with no problems whatsoever.

Even though the Cavaliers wanted to have a barbeque party, meat wasn't really that cheap in the City of Ashmelion.

Rearing chickens, pigs, horses and cattle for their meat required a lot of lands. The Cavaliers, even with their connections only managed to get a few pounds of white and red meat. But that didn't really matter since the centrepiece of the party was the booze.

The citizens of Ashmelion were frequent drinkers, in fact, they drink more than they change their knickers.

The favourite of the masses beverage, appropriately named Ashmelion Beer made from Ashmelion's main staple crop barely has a nice bitter taste.

Though some might find the Ashmelion Beer as tasting plain, the people of Ashmelion believed that plain beer was the best booze of all time...

After all, the more vanilla the taste of the booze was, the easier one could modify its taste to one's pleasure.

A good example of this was the fact that Ron Samuel always chased his Ashmelion Beer with lime, while Ashlynn preferred adding a teaspoon of sugar and salt to her booze.

James Branzuela, on the other hand, preferred the raw vanilla taste of the Ashmelion Beer.

He despised those that dare to taint the flavour of the favourite of the masses.

"Oh? You guys already started? Sweet..." A familiar voice rang out from the doors of the Captivating Fragrance Coffee Shop.

A slender-framed figure came inside the coffee shop and smiled, "I brought in some more booze. I really did not expect that you would be able to find such a talented individual, Ron..."

"Hmmph... I've always had a keen eye, Vincent Dela Cruz..."

"All right, all right..." The young man who came in preferred to be called as the Wise One.

But privately and among his friends, he detested such pleasantries.

He wanted to be called by his first name, Vincent.

Calling him with his full name even in private often attracted his displeasure, but this didn't stop Ron Samuel from calling him with his full name.

"Senior... Thank you for gracing us with your presence..." Bruce walked forward and helped Vincent carry the boxes of beverages.

He had just come out of the Library and was in the middle of a short break in between verbally informing Calvin about everything that he needed to know in the Way of the Cavaliers.

"Why did you come out?"

"I've got to take a piss, hahaha..." Bruce replied to Ron Samuel's inquiry.

Ron Samuel faintly nodded, "You better wrap everything fast, with Vincent Dela Cruz here, you might not be able to have even the leftovers!"

Vincent Dela Cruz was a true foodie, he disliked leaving leftovers and everything that was in his plate would always be fully consumed without exceptions. Even if the taste or texture was dislikeable.

"Now, you're making me look like I only came here to eat and drink..."

"Oh? Aren't you?" Ron Samuel asked.

"Of course, not! I came here to celebrate, so I also brought in some meat... Can I use your kitchen?" Vincent smiled.

Ron Samuel walked over to him and placed the back of his hand on Vincent's forehead.

"Your temperature's fine... Are you sure you're not sick?"

"What? Do you really think that I am that type of a person who would crash someone else's celebration just to dine and dash?"

Vincent raised his eyebrow and frowned.

Ron Samuel didn't say anything. Instead, he turned around and gestured to the kitchen.

"Leave the meat to me..." The smile on Vincent's face deepened.

To be honest, he was indeed the type of person who would crash someone else's celebration and then dine and dash. However, he had changed recently. He noticed that he was able to greatly increase the quality of the food that he was consuming if he was the one making it.

What's more, every time he saw someone exclaim, "Delicious!" while eating his dishes. He would feel strangely liberated and gratified...

This was why in the past few weeks, Vincent had been more into cooking than mysticism.

Vincent walked into the kitchen carrying several baskets of meat.

When the door closed behind him, Ron Samuel approached James Branzuela and whispered into his ears.

It was unknown what he had said to James, but James nodded seriously to his words and then secretly approached the kitchen.

He sneakily peeked into the kitchen but before he could even see what was happening inside.

A pair of sapphire-like eyes suddenly appeared and it was staring right at him!

"In Goddess's name!"

James Branzuela was so startled that he leapt backwards and entered a fighting stance.

Vincent Dela Cruz slowly opened the doors and said, "Do you think that I am out here to poison us all?"

James Branzuela lifted an awkward smile.

He slightly bowed his head to the Wise One in apology.

He didn't even dare to respond as he turned around and made a break for it to his Captain.

Even though Vincent Dela Cruz looked to be younger than him, he was a more senior figure in the ranks of the Church.

In short, Vincent was not someone that he could just casually offend.

'This is all Captain's fault!'

James Branzuela whispered to himself, but he didn't dare to speak out his thoughts.

After all, he didn't want to offend the king for the sake of the general.

James was a smart man so he kept his mouth shut.

Soon, the smell of fragrant meat wafted out of the kitchen.

The alluring smell made both James and Ron forget about their reservations against Vincent when it comes to his cooking skills.

Meanwhile, within the secret Library of the Captivating Fragrance Coffee Shop, Bruce was in the middle of verbally passing the necessary knowledge that Calvin needed in his career of being a Cavalier.

"All right, let's stop for now and refresh. I am going to ask you..."

"Recite to me the Cavalier Ranking System..."

"Yes..."

Calvin took a deep breath and replied, "Cavaliers are ranked as follows. Soldier, Cavalry, Knight, Bishop, and Pope. Each rank is separated even further into three different categories; Low, Mid, and High. The Pope Ranking is the only exception to these categories since it only has a single category, namely... the Apex Predator Rank."

"How does a person increase their rank?"

"By gathering enough experiences through killing monsters..."

"Every time a monster is killed, a Cavalier must do a simple ritual of life force absorption. Absorbing the life force of defeated enemies or monsters will increase the energy contained within their Origin. With the expansion of their Origin, they are able to increase their powers..."

"And what is an Origin?"

"An Origin is the source of a Predator's powers..."

"If destroyed, the Predator will be crippled or die."

"I didn't know that you were such a fast learner! Then, tell me about how can a Soldier become a Cavalry?"

"It is through ascension!"

"How can a person ascend?"

"A person can ascend by praying through their affiliated god and after making sure that their Origin's capacity is at its maximum. There is also a chance that the person can receive the bestowal of another class which will turn his class into a hybrid class."

"Good! Then, how are the classes bestowed upon us by the Goddess classified and explain to me what hybrid classes are..."

"A person's class can be classified into different categories: Fighter, Healer, Mage, Assassin, Tank, Scout, and the incredibly rare Golden Class... A person can have two classes in two different categories. Let us say for example that the person originally has the Mage Class..."

"If he or she obtained the Swordsman class, then she will now have the Magic Swordsman Class affiliated with both the Mage and Fighter categories at the same time."

"Yes, that's right! Tell me how can someone distinguish the class of other Predators?"

"It's through the glow in their eyes!"

Calvin promptly replied, "Those who have the Mage Class would have the glow of the night sky in their eyes, while those with the Scout Class would have the sheen of the sunset in their pupils..."

"The eyes from those of the Fighter class would go red. Tank, brown, Assassin, Purple, while those that possess the Healer class would have the glow of nature in their eyes!"

"Correct!"

"Wow... It seems that we can finish earlier than I have previously thought... Keep it up!" Bruce didn't withhold his praises, "How can someone understand and recognize the strength of an unknown Predator?"

"Through the use of Predator Senses!"

"Right, and what is the Predator Senses?"

"It is the Vision bestowed upon us by the Goddess! Through these eyes, we are able to see the truth from the false! Using the Predator Senses, we will be able to see the width and the length of a foreign Predator's aura and through that, we will be able to measure his strength!"

"That's right! Now tell me about the Predator's Soul Weapon... The Aspect!"

Calvin's smile deepened, "The Aspect is the weapon from the Predator's soul!"

"It can never be changed nor abandoned, it will grow along with its owner and it can never be stolen!"

"However, it can be borrowed to a certain extent."

"To increase an Aspect's strength, one must imbue it with the power of supernatural entities. FIght fire with fire, to defeat monsters, one must use a monster's core as their weapon..."

"Good! Wheeew... I thought you would fail here... People often mistake the Aspect as some sort of a holy weapon, but obviously, you listened to what I was saying a few hours ago..."

Bruce wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead, "All right, this will be the final question..."

"After this, I will judge you to be worthy of being a Cavalier!"

"Really? Wouldn't that be too easy?" Calvin asked out of worry.

Bruce raised his eyebrow out of annoyance, "Too easy? Are you seriously saying that to someone who had to study for an entire month just to remember all of these?"

Calvin didn't know what to say...

Seeing that Calvin had given up, Bruce cleared his throat and asked.

"If a Cavalier did a serious rule violation, what would the punishment be?"

There was a serious look on Bruce's face as he said all of these.

It was obvious that he was giving Calvin a stern warning.

Calvin firmly nodded his head before replying, "They will be dealt with according to the Cavalier's Way. The punishment would be the destruction of their Origin."

The Library fell into silence.

It was only after a few seconds did Bruce smile and pat Calvin on the shoulder, "Congrats... I hereby declare you as having passed the test!"

"T-Thank you, Senior..." Calvin awkwardly scratched his head and smiled.

"S-Senior...?" Bruce suddenly stopped on his tracks.

"Hmmm?" Calvin stared at his back, confused about his reaction.

"N-Nothing..." Bruce refused to say anything as he left Calvin alone in the Library.

But once the doors of the Library closed behind him.

Bruce suddenly lifted his head high and punched his fist into the sky.

'I just got a....'

'I just got a junior!'

'I'm a senior now!'

Bruce felt incomparably proud of himself having obtained a junior for he could now be considered as a senior Cavalier.

He walked with steady steps towards the rowdy bunch of people that was strangely silent now.

When he sat down, there was this smug look on his face but when his eyes landed on the emptied plates in front of him. His expression froze.

"W-Where are the food?" Bruce stammered.

"Food? What food?"

"Ah, the food!"

"We ate it all, already... Hiccup!" Ron Samuel absentmindedly whispered before he closed his eyes once more.

The smell of booze radiating from him was far too strong that Bruce's eyebrows furrowed.

He was just gone for a few hours, yet the food and booze were already gone!

Not even a lick of them was left!

What was even more tragic was the fact that apart from him and Calvin...

Ashlynn, Ron, James and Vincent were all out cold, drunk.

James was on the cold floor of the Coffee Shop snoring.

Ashlynn had her legs dangling on a chair as she laid on the ground.

Ron Samuel laid his head on the table and as he snored, one could even see his drool dripping out of his mouth.

The Wise One— no, Vincent, on the other hand, looked more dignified than the others.

He leaned on the wall with his back and slept peacefully without letting out a snore.

This scene was indeed the aftermath of a happy celebration.

But why was Bruce calling this a tragedy?

It was because surely he would be the one responsible to clean all of these, even though he hadn't eaten nor drank anything!

"Fuck..."

Bruce let out a rare curse.