chapter 25

Amidst the pile of fallen leaves, Aslan slowly regained consciousness. He had passed out from exhaustion.

Technically, Aslan could ride on a flying sword, but he wasn't skilled enough yet. Moving between trees was still too difficult for him.

"Looks like there aren't any more monsters around here," he muttered to himself, then headed north—just like Grandpa Erwin had told him.

A few minutes later, Aslan spotted a rundown city in the distance. There were no guards at the gate, and almost everyone wore a mask.

He suddenly remembered the pouch Grandpa Erwin had given him. Despite being small, the pouch was surprisingly heavy.

"Maybe there's something useful inside," he thought as he opened it.

Grandpa Erwin's pouch was special. Grace (the girl from the early chapters) had a similar one. When you channel Tors energy and place an item into the pouch simultaneously, the item shrinks. To return the item to its original size, you just need to release a bit of Tors energy to disrupt the shrinking spell.

Inside, Aslan found some herbs and tools—most of which he didn't even recognize. But what shocked him was the sheer number of monster cores inside. There had to be at least a thousand. Most were level-3, but some were even level-4.

"I wonder how rich I am now," Aslan thought.

"Oh, right—the mask."

Luckily, there was one in the pouch. It was just a wooden one, but it would do.

As he looked at the mask, a flicker of sadness crossed his eyes.

"Did he... know this would happen? And prepare everything I might need?" Aslan murmured, running his fingers along the surface of the mask.

"Damn it… No point feeling sad. It's not like he was anything more than a grumpy old man," he grumbled and put on the mask, then started walking toward the shabby city.

As he wandered around, he spotted a fairly crowded tavern and decided to step in.

People glanced his way, but Aslan tried to act normal and sat at an empty table. A server approached.

"Can I help you, sir?" the server asked.

"Do you have level-3 monster meat?" Aslan asked.

"We don't sell it raw, sir. Only cooked dishes," the server replied, which annoyed Aslan a little.

"Just bring me a perfectly roasted portion of level-3 monster meat," he said curtly.

"A full monster is too much for us to handle, sir. We can only prepare it in pieces."

"Fine, give me a kilo of grilled meat, sliced into one-centimeter-thick pieces," Aslan ordered, clearly annoyed.

"Understood. Sorry if our service isn't up to your expectations," the server said, then left.

"Weird people," Aslan muttered.

A few minutes later, his food arrived. The server told him it would cost one level-1 monster core. But Aslan gave him a level-3 core and asked for some information about the city and its rules. The server looked a bit confused at first but went ahead and explained.

This place wasn't under the empire's control. There were no real laws here—aside from one: no fighting inside the city. If people had problems, they were expected to settle them outside the city limits, and no one would interfere.

Aside from that, business owners made their own rules within their establishments.

Because of that, many criminals and fugitives often fled to this place. There were also some people, like the server himself, who no longer had the will to fight.

"I've got one more question," Aslan said. "When I came in, it seemed like everyone was talking about the same thing. Do you know what it was?"

"Oh, that. The news has spread across the continent," the server said. "A week ago, Prince Simon was accused of murdering the emperor's first concubine—who also happened to be Prince Johan's mother. There was no concrete proof, but it seemed tied to the power struggle for the throne. Prince Simon was punished and exiled to some unknown place."

"But that wasn't the end of it. Simon's mother, the second concubine, attacked the First Prince in public. She was executed."

"Then something else strange happened. Prince Hans withdrew from the competition for the throne. Everyone now sees him as a disgrace—a stain on the nobility for giving up without a fight. He and his mother were expelled from the palace. Luckily, she's from a powerful kingdom, so Prince Hans is still living peacefully in her homeland."

"With all that going on, Prince Johan has become the only real candidate to inherit the throne," the server concluded.

Aslan was shocked but tried to ignore it. He had no intention of returning to the kingdom anyway.

"Alright, you can go now," he told the server.

"Actually, I've got one more bit of info, sir. There's going to be an auction in the city center tonight. Lots of rare items will be up for grabs. Not many people know this, but one of the items is a Holong Orb. They say it can guide its owner to great fortune," the server said, then walked away, leaving Aslan to enjoy his meal.

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Fun fact: Level-3 monster meat can't be eaten by regular humans. If they try, they'll die because their bodies can't process the energy it contains. Some monster meats also contain toxins too powerful for normal bodies.

But monster meat is extremely useful for Tors users. The stronger someone is, the more energy they burn—even for simple movements. For example, someone at level 2 needs ten times the energy of a normal person just to do basic activities.

Sure, they could use Tors energy to move their bodies, but it's not efficient. If they burn too much Tors energy on everyday stuff, they'll run out when it matters most—in battle.

So to save energy, Tors users still need food.

They can eat regular food, but it doesn't provide enough energy to meet their needs. For comparison, level-2 monster meat provides ten times more energy than normal meat. If they relied on regular food, they'd need to eat massive quantities—and their bodies just couldn't handle that much.

Bottom line:

THE STRONGER YOU ARE, THE MORE ENERGY YOU BURN—AND THE MORE ENERGY YOU NEED TO CONSUME.

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To be continued…