Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 334: Gregory

Chapter 334: Gregory

"Living in a gate...you gotta admit, that’s nuts." Kazi tapped at the table. "Especially these tables. How did you get used to them?"

"Who said I ever did?" Gregory said, earning a chuckle from Kazi. "You live and adapt."

"And your wife and daughter...you must be happy."

"I am."

"What era did you fight in? 1961?"

"Mhm. I suppose at the White Abyss, not even a decade has passed?"

"I’m not a natural resident."

"Oh, right." Pause. Blink. "No, no...you can’t be. You’re...you’re too strong." Gregory squinted and leaned back on his chair. "I’m a sensor. I can tell."

Kazi smiled sheepishly, leaning forward and placing his crossed arms forward. "It’s not like I’m hiding my power."

"Your magical energy is absurd. It’s Class Five, no doubt about it. And your garbs are nothing special either. How did you...?"

Kazi’s left eye pulsed. "Can I ask why you quit?"

Gregory was taken aback. He sighed and glanced at the fireplace. "The Heavenly Games are great, you know—at least for those with talent and backing. For the rest of us? For everyone that can only complete the main objectives? That don’t have extreme resolve and have to rest up for days after each battle? It’s hell. Complete hell. I was able to scrap by with a big group of my friends. The twelve of us were weak but together we could get by. We went to Valhalla’s Colosseum, made bets, drank at night, participated in the Colosseum ourselves, lost in tournaments, but we were nothing special. Not now, not ever, and we knew that."

Gregory took a deep breath and looked back at Kazi.

"Then Gate 66 happened. We were going through the scenario of Homer’s Odyssey, with the twelve of us replacing Odysseus and his crew as we traversed through the strait of Messina . We did exactly what he did and chose to fight Scylla. We killed her and instead of going forward, we turned back. We got greedy. We wanted the special objective and went to kill Charybdis." His hands were locked together tightly. "They were killed except me. That was when I decided I’d had enough of the upper levels. I stayed here, found love, and in two years, lost the System. In exchange, I found peace here."

Gregory paused, a smile spreading across his face. "Found happiness too, with a strong, tall daughter and a pretty wife. Sometimes, you find more than what you were looking for in the first place."

"I’m glad that you got your happy ending," Kazi said, smiling. "Haven’t you ever considered going back?"

"Never. This place is a utopia unlike the Nebulous Bazaar." There it was. Delusion was speaking. "Class Fives like Charybdis are like tidal waves. They can destroy a city if they wanted to; and guess what? Those are a pretty penny. You can find players and gods capable of ending the world as we know it. Like that red-haired boy people were talking about the last time." Gregory shook his head. "Ridiculous. Men like him make the rest of us want to quit."

’Red-haired boy. He must be talking about him.’

Gregory eyed Kazi with a sudden intensity. "You too. I can sense deep power inside you. Just who are you?"

"Me? I’m Kazi Hossain, a simple chef." His left eye pulsed again. "Want me to whip up some modern food for you? I bet it’s been a while."

The emotion in Gregory dissipated. "A chef? Really? Ah, can you make cake? Wait, no, a hamburger?"

Hook, line and sinker. The more he thought about his past, positive or negative, the more he recalled and compared. That included what he did like—such as the food. Technology and development of cooking went hand-in-hand. This island of paradise, while peaceful, ultimately never went beyond the middle ages.

"Point me to where the wheat and goats are and I can get to work!"

***

Wheat, goat butter, and fruit. The first and third ingredients were given to him by the farmers. Goat butter was not so easy, it had to be made by Kazi himself. To turn milk into butter in a primitive time required creative thinking and a bit of science.

The principle of creation for butter was to separate the fat globules from the buttermilk. The process changed throughout history and was adapted differently by each culture. Kazi picked the barrel type butter churn. All he had to do was ask for a normal barrel and then engineered it to be placed onto its side with a crank. The crank was connected to a paddle device inside that churned the goat milk.

In twenty minutes, Kazi churned enough butter for his uses. It was time to make the cake.

As for the fruit, rather than put them into the cake, he placed them into alcohol. That way, the fruits wouldn’t spoil for a long time.

After that, it was a matter of kneading and rubbing and getting the ingredients together into a heat source. That heat source being Kazi himself. Regulating the temperature on all sides evenly was impossible with his current level of mana control.

Ha. That was what Gregory said.

"Don’t worry." Kazi rolled up his sleeves. "I can regulate it."

And he did so flawlessly. So no, it wasn’t impossible at all. He heated the fruit cake up to completion and served it on a platter.

"See, Callista? This was what I was talking about! Here, here, have another slice."

On the table, the fruit cake was served alongside milkshakes. Gregory drank the shit up like an addict. Having the ability to make cream and butter was hugely advantageous.

Kazi was only getting started though. He had much more in reserve.

Cake was a luxury food. Ice cream cake was above that, a status of delicious dessert like no other. In twenty minutes, the cold ice cream arrived.

"Wow..." Castillo was a big woman and ate heavy amounts of food in comparison to the ordinary person. Meanwhile, Gregory was missing the food of the old days; of the Nebulous Bazaar and Earth.

"So cold..." Castillo commented after her first bite. "I love it."

"It does get hot here, huh?" Kazi remarked.

He was met with nods and agreements. With spoons, they dug in and ate. Kazi went back to the cycene—the primal kitchen. A place where food was cooked. It didn’t have any appliances to speak of aside from the butter-churning barrel.

Fathers tended to speak looser when they were bonding with their fathers. He went back to and fro until Castillo was full and satisfied and Gregory patted his belly with a happy sigh of an old man.

Kazi sat down, smiling. He waited till Gregory sighed out, "Amazing."

"I do my best, sir."

"Honestly, I should be begging you to stay. After a meal like that, I can’t go back."

"Thought as much. The fruit cake is Stollen Bread. It will take almost a year for it to go back."

"A year? Ooh, my wife is going to love it," Gregory exclaimed. "Thank you, Kazi. You know, I’ve met a lot of players but I’ve never met anyone as good as you at bettering an old veteran like me."

So he already suspected. Kazi didn’t expect any different.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.