Chapter 20: Ria’s Cooking, Valoria's Combat Standards

A wonderous scent lingered in the air as the smell of cooked meat wafted towards the noses of all in the vicinity. Grevlin and Little Rose were currently wearing excited expressions as their eyes shone while their mouth drooled, it seemed that they were rather hungry, but their patience was only moments away from being rewarded.

Little Rose tightly gripped Marius's shirt corners as she tugged it to get his attention, Marius looked down at his adorable little daughter that looked at him in a pleading manner.

"Dadda! Is it rweady?" Little Rose as she pointed towards Ria's direction with her small fingers.

Marius smiled and rubbed her head as he replied, "My Little Rose, don't worry, your mother will be finished any minute now..."

"Mm," Little Rose closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her head rub, she seemed rather contented being given the necessary attention and care a child her age deserved.

Grevlin was also listening, he made a relieved expression as he heard it was almost ready, casting his eyes over to his mother's direction were clusters of purple flames were flickering.

'It smells so good; I can't wait to taste it...' Grevlin thought with excitement visible in his eyes as he balled up his palms into a fist.

Marius was also intrigued as he had never eaten anything in this world, when he saw Ria's deft movements and actions, he naturally assumed that she's eaten this type of creature before despite being a Hellian from the Hellshrire.

Not long after, the flame died down as Ria started to walk over with one large pot and a small pot. In a few moments, she had arrived before everyone, placing the pots down onto the large wooden table.

The largest pot was filled to the brim with well-cooked meat from the Elite Three Horned Rhinol, as the smaller bowl had a chunk of steamed vegetables.

At this time, a few plates that had unique fruits arranged inside of them were already on the table as special looking forks and knives were already laid out with cloths and cups filled with water.

'Ahh... so fragrant it must taste good,' Marius thought as the scent coming from the pot was even better up close, he looked and saw that the meat had a golden brown color giving him an urge to take a bite of it.

Little Rose in Marius's arms couldn't seem to wait as she stretched her palms out and spoke, "I... I want to ewat!"

Grevlin also seemed as if he couldn't bear to wait, but he held himself back, he naturally had to wait until it was shared.

In fact, the Mountain Ax Senior was the one having the hardest time, it didn't even seem like he liked to cook anything as if he had been surviving off the energies from the world itself. Who knows how long it had been since he had last eaten a well-prepared meal?

Ria smirked as she looked at everyone and spoke, "Pssh, jeez, why are you all acting like this? Hurry up and eat, take your own shares..."

As Ria said this, she picked up Little Rose from Marius and broke off a small section of meat which she then handed her.

Little Rose didn't even waste any time to stuff her face with it, chewing in an adorable matter as cheeks became puffy.

As she chewed the flavors flowed down her mouth, causing her eyes to shine even brighter before she swallowed and spoke in joy, "Yummy! Yummy! Mama! I want mwore!"

Ria smiled as she broke another small piece off and spoke as she gave it to her, "Come now, eat slowly,"

Marius didn't have time to watch Ria feed his daughter, by now, he was fighting a fierce battle against not only his son but the dangerous old man that hadn't eaten a delicacy in years.

Nom-nom-nom!

The sounds of mouth chewing resounded as the Mountain Ax Senior bit off a large chunk of meat, chewing down even the bone.

Marius didn't even seem to hesitate to copy the former as his plate was now covered in head size chunks of meat, even his mouth seemed no different from a motor engine as it continuously gobbled down the food.

Grevlin despite his hunger was a bit more modest and neater, typically he would have been fed by Marius, but much to his surprise he found that his arms could hold these types of tableware with ease. Though, the ones held by him were a bit deformed due to his lack of control over his arms strength.

Ria smiled as she noticed this, she knew that these spoons and forks were crafted artifacts used by households in this world, children from strong families are generally born with extraordinary power and before they can control it they had to use such means.

The Mountain Ax Senior nodded as he wiped the corner of his dirty mouth and spoke his thoughts out loud, "Wow, this is good, there are rarely any Hellians that knows how to properly prepare these kinds of local monsters."

Marius felt a bit proud hearing this, he looked at him and spoke, "Haha, my wife is always the best at cooking, I've always told her that she had blessed hands..."

Ria smiled at this, giving Marius a loving look as she ate while feeding Little Rose. However, her eyes shifted at the Mountain Ax Senior as she thought, 'Hmm, he speaks as if he's eaten from another of my kind… why would an Artiman such as himself even dare to eat with those of my race? Could it be that he was once close to someone of ours?'

Ria couldn't quite understand him even now, as she didn't even expect that he would even be so generous with her kind, she wrote it off as him having some kind of goodwill to her husband because of his talents.

The Mountain Ax Senior looked over at the family with warm eyes that grew a bit moist as if recalling something, but that soon faded away as he stared at Marius with a more profound look.

Marius who had been paying attention to him lowered his fork and wiped his mouth, it seemed he realized that he was about to start the topic at hand.

"Marius, so far, what do you know of this world?" The Mountain Ax Senior asked as he had already expected him to gather quite some knowledge from his time in the study.

Marius promptly replied, "Senior, I have learned mostly on the culture of the Grant Alvaria Dynasty, and a bit about the various races and their classes. Other than that, I have learned the various grades of Combat Arts, Inborn Abilities, as well as a few bits of knowledge on the different kinds of creatures in this world."

The Mountain Ax Senior nodded his head at this as he scratched his beard while looking at the sky, he looked at Marius once again and spoke, "Good, I suppose that's enough foundational knowledge, I shall guide you a bit on our Combat Standards..."

As the Mountain Ax Senior said this, his eyes flashed as he spoke again, "The ranks for power in our world are divided in ten realms, the first seven being separated by classes from G, F, E, D, C, B, and A. The other three are classified as Supreme Rank, Legendary Rank and fabled rank of legends known as the Divine Rank. Lifeforms in this world are born with the ability to conjure Mystical Power further enhancing our capabilities be it physical or through the direct use of these energies. The more we practice, or do combat, the stronger we can become. How our ranks increase over time is dependent on our Innate Talents and Mystical Power Arts."

When Marius heard this, his eyes turned stern as just from comparing his current level's he knew he was far away from the standard required to act wantonly in this world.

Ria knew full well about these ranks, her Hellian kind naturally had the same divisions of strength, very much like those of the Spiritan Race.

Little Rose didn't seem to mind this conversation and was happily eating, as Grevlin showed an innocent but clever look as he observed while chewing away.

The Mountain Ax Senior once more continued, "Talent is the fundamental factor that determines one's destination. If you are born with high talents, you will be destined for great things, but once you are born with poor gifts the world will treat you in kind. It is for this very reason that all major forces within the Grand Alvaria Dynasty will stop at nothing to recruit any talented individual that is discovered."

As the Mountain Ax Senior spoke, he waved his hand causing an image of a charge showing five different colored circles to appear.

He then spoke again, "Talent is never the same for everyone as it is divided into five grades and is marked by the successful advance from different ranks, for instance in the case of a G Rank Warrior to an E Rank Warrior. If these individuals can grow with one Combat Attribute, attribute meaning your physical strength, mystical power, or even personal speed. Then it would mean that they are considered as Fifth Grade Talents. Fourth Grade Talents are those who can grow with two Combat Attributes, and the others are vice versa. Naturally, only those who can grow by two to three are considered the True Talents in this world, while those who can grow by four are considered as Peerless Talents. These persons are mostly amongst Otherworlders with the best of them achieving First Class or even more rarely, extremely gifted sons and daughters born once every generation of the royal breed and high-class families of each race."

When Marius heard this his eyes flickered in surprise as if he realized something, he looked at his hands while in thought, 'Then, if even most Otherworlders are limited to the Second Grade, doesn't this mean that I...?'

The Mountain Ax Senior smirked as if he knew what he was thinking, his eyes shone in a bright ray as he spoke, "Yes, that's right, I see that your power is divided into five synchronous phases suggesting that you are of the exceedingly rare First Class, and ever since the ancient times, you can be considered as one of the most talented living beings currently in this world."

"No shit..." Marius thought to himself, he felt a bit excited at this as he knew the more talent he had, the easier it will be to protect his family with his strength.

Ria also looked at Marius with bright eyes, she already knew about his talents since long ago, but similarly, she knew of its flaws, causing her smile to have a hint of regret in it.

The Mountain Ax Senior took this chance to address it, as his manner turned stern when he spoke, "However while being talented is one thing, it comes with its cost..."

When Marius heard this, he frowned as he looked at the Mountain Senior, the mood here turned different as they stared at each other building up to an even more dreadful truth.

****

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