40 Book 3 Chapter 36

"That thing gives me the creeps," Amara shuddered as she flew behind Lavos. Stubborn as she was, she refused to back down, returning a glare at the motionless eye.

Lavos was aghast and quickly rebuked her. "Don't look at it!"

"I'm not afraid," Amara muttered as she reluctantly looked away. The eye creeped her out, sure, but Lavos was a more tangible threat. She had to listen regardless of her feelings.

"You misunderstand me," Lavos's tone was grave. "That's the demon king's eye. If you gaze upon it, he can sense you. You don't want his attention, trust me."

Amara and the others broke out in a cold sweat. Roy forced a smile. "New rule: don't look at the giant bloody eyeball. Got it."

Their party was able to cross hundreds of miles in no time under the influence of Lavos' magic. Few monsters were able to contest them in the air, so it was several times faster than sprinting on the ground. Not only were they able to conserve their stamina, but it was also relaxing. Amara was even considering whether she should ignore her pride and invest some time learning wind magic. If the others knew what she was thinking, they would think her brain was malfunctioning.

Soon, a blue bubble appeared in the distance. Lavos' eyes brightened as he surveyed the haven. "Not bad."

Compared to a week ago, there were tens of thousands of traps – both magical and conventional – surrounding the haven. Runes created by mages covered both sky and ground, while landmines and similar contraptions lay hidden in the dirt. Roy was amazed. "Wow, Peter went all out!"

Olivia made a religious gesture. "Bless our bank account."

It was unknown how much the traps cost, but it was probably over a hundred thousand gold. Such a vast amount was more than Jason and the others had combined. Shenlong shrugged. "We have thousands farming items and gold on every floor. We'll be fine."

With that said, the group landed outside the barrier. Peter quickly greeted them, having been informed by a scout long before they arrived. "Welcome back. This is…?"

Peter's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets upon seeing Lavos. There was no aura coming from the minotaur, but the thirteen runes were all Peter needed to see. "Hello Elder Lavos, my name is Peter. I'm the leader of our organization."

"You are?" Lavos was doubtful. Shenlong was much stronger than Peter, so why was Peter the leader? In his tribe, only the minotaur who won the yearly competition would become the chieftain. All tribes did the same thing.

"I see. Humans behave so differently than what I'm used to." Lavos acted respectfully upon acknowledging Peter's authority. As he was representing his tribe in this exchange, he wanted things to proceed cordially.

Peter opened his admin panel, messed around with some settings, then nodded. "Let's head inside. It's about time to begin the feast."

Roy's stomach grumbled upon hearing the word. "Who's cooking?"

"Carlos."

"For real!?" Roy pulled Lavos into the haven. The others followed, full of anticipation to eat food cooked by a master chef.

Lavos knew a bit about cooking. There was a lizardfiend tribe who grew various herbs to use as spices. As the tribe lived in a marsh, they frequently had fish stew. Lavos had to admit his tribe was severely lacking in the cooking department.

However, upon entering the haven, his nose was assaulted by odors so appetizing he stopped in place. He suddenly realized his tribe was missing out on the joy of life. My god, it was like they were eating dirt compared to whatever this Carlos was making. Dirt!

Lavos watched as they approached a large fountain and washed their hands in the magically imbued water. He followed suit to respect their customs.

Roy explained upon noticing Lavos' expression. "Carlos is very particular about cleaning our hands before we eat."

"Hmm." Lavos nodded in vague understanding.

After cleaning themselves, the party joined together with the rest of the ascenders, all of whom surrounded Carlos, a short, stocky man dressed in white. Carlos stood in the center of many appliances, his arms folded across his chest. By using telekinesis, he was able to control over a hundred pieces of cutlery, to flip, toss, and juggle the ingredients as he cooked. It was mesmerizing.

In front of the spectators was a large empty table. As Carlos cooked, it began to fill up with tacos, burritos, taquitos, enchiladas, tostadas, and other Mexican delicacies.

Although many were drooling, nobody moved.

It was only when Carlos gave a slight nod did the ascenders swarm around the table like locusts. The thousands of tacos vanished instantly, followed by the rest. Thankfully, Carlos didn't plan to stop cooking any time soon.

When it was Peter's turn, he grabbed his desired meal then went over to the condiments section, only to frown. He turned to Carlos. "My man, where's the good stuff?"

"Oh, I forgot." Carlos coughed as a giant bowl of pico de gallo appeared next to Peter. Unlike the one on earth, this was an enhanced recipe specially developed with the tower's ingredients in mind. As such, it exploded with flavor and was Carlos's exclusive recipe. Each bowl was worth thousands of gold.

"Uh-huh." Peter gave a knowing smile, sure he paid for it earlier. It must be known the holy trinity of condiments for Mexican food was sour cream, salsa, and pico de gallo. If Peter was going to spend thousands of gold on food, he wanted the best of the best.

Lavos grabbed several of everything when it was his turn to fill his plate. Moving along, he copied Peter and took some of the holy trinity. After finding someplace to eat, he pinched a burrito between two fingers and tossed it in his mouth.

He froze. An electric shock spread from his tongue to the rest of his body as tears welled up in his eyes. No, it wasn't the salsa: he was undergoing nirvana. At that moment, his sense of taste went through several evolutions, and from this point on, his standards would never be the same.

After finishing the meal, Lavos realized his body was swelling with power. Although he couldn't see the notification, he could tell he was at least thirty percent stronger, albeit temporarily. This revelation left him thinking.

First was the miracle brought by Roy, and now this food could be considered another. In the six days he'd known of humans, they challenged his views time and time again. Would they be the catalyst to change this floor?