The table was full of delicacies. Noah almost salivated when the scent coming from the countless plates reached his nostrils. Everything felt powerful enough to ignite his hunger, but his potential immediately flowed inside his mind to keep it stable.
Noah could focus on the various seats. Old Tyrant and the others didn't surprise him, but the creatures showed evident oddities. The turtles were too big to have proper chairs, so they dug holes in the green plain to make their heads stand at the same level as everyone else.
The table also had many cultivators and magical beasts that Noah had never seen. Each creature too big for the chairs had dug holes to eat with everyone else, but Noah couldn't keep his attention on them for too long. He couldn't prioritize his inspection of the area after seeing some familiar faces.
"I thought you left the landmass to grow stronger," Noah roared, and everyone finally noticed his presence.
Old Tyrant, Gabrielle, and Fiery Mountain gasped as they moved their gazes toward the dimensional portal. The turtles voiced welcoming hisses, and the other existences on the table also turned their attention toward Noah. However, every sound disappeared when the winged pigs began to squeal.
"Noah!"
"Defying Demon!"
"Defying Demon!"
"Defying Demon!"
A figure left the table and shot toward Noah while the squeals filled the area. Noah had to stretch his arm forward to avoid a direct impact with his face, and an immense force soon slammed on his open palm.
"Hug me!" The Foolery shouted.
"Why don't you explain what you are doing here first?" Noah laughed.
"Friends hug each other after a long separation!" The Foolery continued.
"I'll let you hug King Elbas if you drop this now," Noah teased.
"Can I hug him anyway?" The Foolery asked.
"What's the problem?" Noah questioned.
"I don't actually remember how we got here," The Foolery admitted.
"What do you mean?" Noah asked.
"We were simply eating the sky," The Foolery explained. "Then, we got hungrier than usual, and something teleported us here."
"That's the explanation I was looking for," Noah sighed.
"I guess I can explain things even when they aren't in my memories," The Foolery proudly announced while lifting its face to the sky.
"That-!" Noah was about to scold the pig, but he held back at the last second. It was pointless to argue with it.
Noah felt a bit proud when he saw the Foolery current level. The pig had reached the ninth rank, but it was still halfway through the gaseous stage. Its world had something to do with its hunger, but it appeared weaker than its body.
"How could you create an unbalance in your centers of power?" Noah asked after noticing that feature.
"Because I'm amazing!" The Foolery announced as it lifted its head even higher.
"Do you realize that the lack of harmony is a bad thing?" Noah sighed.
"It won't be with me," The Foolery proudly exclaimed. "After all, my path is mine alone."
Noah wanted to contradict the pig, but he held back once again. He couldn't understand how the Foolery had managed to push its body past the limits of its world. Its idiocy could be the only explanation, so Noah didn't want to understand the process.
"What are you doing here then?" Noah asked.
"We are eating!" The pig explained.
"I can see that," Noah replied.
"Why did you ask then?" The Foolery questioned. "Do you like the sound of my voice? I know. It improved after reaching the ninth rank."
"I thought you couldn't improve perfection," Noah joked.
The Foolery's eyes widened as it lowered its head. Noah had revealed a deep flaw in its reasoning. The pig felt defeated beyond reason, and a desperate squeal left its mouth.
The winged pigs on the table echoed the squeal before chanting Noah's name. They were acclaiming him, but he couldn't feel happy about the event since he knew the reason behind it.
"No wonder you are the leader," The Foolery sighed. "I have a long way to go."
"I won't tell anyone about today," Noah promised. "Cheer up now and explain how this place works."
"You sit and eat," The Foolery summarized. "More food appears on your spot after you finish, so you should eat quickly."
"Where does the food come from?" Noah asked.
"How should I know?" The Foolery questioned. "I find food. I eat it."
"Did you explore the area a bit?" Noah asked.
"I can tell you the different types of food in the area," The Foolery exclaimed.
"Can you?" Noah questioned.
"It's easy to see through my lies," The Foolery sighed. "My pure and shining existence doesn't allow me to get good at them."
"So, you don't know anything," Noah continued, trying to bring the pig back to the topic.
"About what?" The Foolery asked.
"Leave it," Noah growled as his attention went back on the area.
There was clearly something compelling the cultivators and magical beasts to take seats and avoid turning the table into a mess. It would have been impossible for the turtles to eat next to Old Tyrant and the others otherwise. Yet, Noah noticed something else after his interaction with the Foolery.
Everyone at the table seemed to have forgotten about Noah's arrival. They had gone back to the delicacies, and the Foolery began to salivate when its eyes fell on the food. It tried to fly back on the banquet, but Noah grabbed one of its wings before it could leave.
"Don't you want to eat?" The Foolery asked.
"It's not that," Noah responded before voicing a roar that made the whole area shake.
The roar carried his intense pride and a simple order. Noah wanted his underlings and the existences affected by his pride to reach him in the sky, but no one left their seats. They turned toward him, but they soon went back on their food.
"How did you leave the table?" Noah asked.
"What do you mean?" The Foolery exclaimed. "I flapped by magnificent wings and flew toward you."
"Didn't you experience a force trying to keep you at the table?" Noah asked.
"Nothing can restrain me!" The Foolery replied while raising its head toward the sky.
"I'm holding you still right now," Noah commented.
"I can't go against my leader's orders," The Foolery declared. "I accepted you as my leader, so I'm restraining myself."
Noah opened his mouth before forcing it to close. The Foolery was getting to his nerves, which was odd after all the time spent getting used to its idiocy. He could only guess that the pig's ability to irritate others had grown strong after reaching the ninth rank.
Noah wouldn't find the situation too strange if the upper tier turtle and some middle tier specimens in its pack had left the table with the Foolery. Yet, the event hinted at the presence of a complicated force, something that went beyond sheer power.
The Foolery carried the answers to those doubts. Noah knew its body inside out since he had rebuilt its species, and the breakthrough in the ninth rank didn't prevent him from noticing the minor differences born after the separation.
Noah felt sure that the Foolery's species or body weren't the reason behind its ability to leave the table. He couldn't explain the situation even in terms of hunger since the pig knew no limits there.
The relationship between Noah and the Foolery was the only possible answer to the odd event. Old Tyrant, Gabrielle, Fiery Mountain, and the turtles couldn't make use of that feature since they didn't spend much time with Noah, and the same went for almost everyone else on the table.
"Pellio!" Noah eventually shouted. "Can you stop pretending to be under the influence of the banquet?"
Pellio was serving tea happily, but Noah's voice forced him to interrupt his actions. The expert's mat had folded to leave enough room to the existences around him, but it unfolded again as he began to fly toward Noah.
"I had finally found a place that accepted my tea," Pellio complained.
"What is happening here?" Noah went straight to the point.
"There is a banquet," Pellio explained. "Everyone is eating."
Noah cleared his throat, and Pellio understood that he wasn't in the mood for games. The expert poured more tea in the cup in front of him before opening his strange eyes and glancing at the table.
"The food seems able to interfere with their various paths," Pellio revealed. "I can see these effects clearly through my dreams."
"I thought dreams were unclear," Noah responded.
"They usually are," Pellio stated, "Except when something tries to fight them."
"Is this food able to affect your existence?" Noah asked in surprise. "You are barely something in this current form."
"I'm afraid this area can touch me," Pellio revealed.
"That's perfect," Noah exclaimed. "Dream the location of the owner of this area."
Pellio appeared surprised by that request, but his hand moved on its own when he closed his eyes. The fact that the area could affect him meant that he could use a weaker form of his real power inside it.. After his gesture, a large palace appeared in the distance, and Noah became able to sense multiple presences there.