“Juma – do you know what meat is in this?”
“Twelve different kinds, but I can’t tell you all of them. I know of Red Bear, Green Elk, Four Horned Goat, Three-Legged Hare, Bare Black Sheep, Firebelly Boar, and Great Tiger-Spotted Bull. As for the remaining five… you’d have to somehow convince Mr. Hasid to tell you. I tried, but he tells me it’s a secret. I’m guessing it must be exotic.”
So, one out of the twelve different types of meat used was the one that was [Unique]. Once I had the time, I needed to meet this Hasid fellow and convince him to tell me all of them, so I would go through the list and find my new favorite prey.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“You don’t know how to handle gratitude from other people at all, do you?”
Juma laughed, rubbing the back of his head. “Is it that obvious?”
“I kind of figured it out after you turned down Hasid’s offer for a free meal twelve times.”
Juma shrugged. “It’s… well, it has to do with the way I was brought up. At West Sycophant Church, we were told that even though we were orphans, we should still have our pride – have our honor. Sycophant Orphans Never Beg. That was our rule.”
“Accepting gratitude isn’t begging.”
“I know that. But…” Juma’s face twisted. “It feels odd. I do things because I want to. Not because I’m making someone’s life a little better, or a little easier, or a little happier – just because I want to. I don’t need material gifts or gratitude or preferential treatment simply because I’m doing things I want, and they just so happened to help people. I don’t understand why that’s so hard to get.”
I reached for the sugarcane milkshake, taking a sip out of the glass mug. “…It’s human nature to not want to feel owed, and to reciprocate altruism. You might want to get used to it.”
Juma sighed. “I don’t think I will.”
I pressed my lips together. “Why’d you join the AAA?”
Juma leaned back, “Truth?” He grinned. “To drink wine.”
“Drink… wine?” I wondered for a brief moment if that was a code of some sort. I checked Neo’s memories to confirm. Instead, I got a surprising answer. The production of wine is limited to only one Warehouse and its price is… ridiculous.
“Only Eminents can afford to drink wine.”
He nodded his head “Exactly.”
“…the only ways you can become an Eminent from joining the AAA is if you defeat another Eminent in PvP, or if you kill a Tier 9 or above Nightmare.”
“Believe it or not, the second task is easier than the first.”
“Easier?” I said.
“The only Eminents in the AAA are the Seven Amendments and Commander General Hoplite himself,” Juma explained. “So, options are either kill a nightmare that’s close to being an Anathema or somehow manage to beat either Hoplite or Luxeme in single combat. It’ll be easier to go for one of the other Six Amendments, though that’s like saying it’s easier to empty the ocean with bowl rather than a cup. Coriolis, Nebuchadnezzar, Yomi, Aries, Abednego, and Varian – though none of them are as strong as Hoplite or Luxeme, they’re still the strongest Adventurers in Alhamis.”
It was my first time hearing the names of all members of the Seven Amendments. I closed my eyes, remembering my brief meeting with Luxeme.
Sipping my drink, I found myself wondering. “Luxeme she’s extremely strong isn’t she?”
“As strong as General Hoplite himself.”
And she was after me. “Fantastic.”
“Though she’s lost every time she challenged him for the title of Alhamis’ Champion and the position of High Eminent of War.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“I heard the only reason she loses is due to the poor matchup between her power and General Hoplite’s.”
My brow furrowed. “Go on.”
Juma hummed. “Lt. General Luxeme can freely manipulate and control all forms of light. Commander General Hoplite however controls gravity. Gravity bends and affects light. So in theory, General Hoplite can counter her… but she can’t counter him.”
Somehow that tiny little nibble of physics knowledge had escaped me.
“With each fight they have, General Hoplite learns more and more ways to counter her and gets stronger as he grows. On the other hand, Luxeme has to keep thinking of new ways to bypass her disadvantage, and time isn’t really on her side. General Hoplite hasn’t even entered his Golden Years yet. If she can’t beat him before he does… she’ll never be able to.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I didn’t have any words I could think of. A small laugh escaped my lips. “General Hoplite is impressive… isn’t he?”
Juma nodded in agreement. “He’s the star and hope of Alhamis. People believe that as long as we have him – we have nothing to fear.”
“And you?”
“And me?”
I pressed my lips together. “Do you believe it?”
Juma slurped from his drink. Putting down the empty mug and letting out a contented sigh, his shoulders rose and fell silently. Whether he did or whether he didn’t, I supposed he didn’t care much about it.
“That’s the guy you have to beat to become an Eminent. The hope of Alhamis.” I said. “No offense, but I don’t exactly see how you’re going to pull it off. How would you even compete against people that can move at lightspeed and summon black holes?”
The Captain of the Lance Brigade tapped his nose. “I have my secrets.”
“Does this have something to do with you somehow being able to know I was hiding in the room at that time?”
Juma chuckled. “You noticed.”
“You stared straight at the spot I was hiding while talking about how I would show up. Not hard to guess that you could somehow sense me.”
“It’s not just you,” Juma said. He gestured to the Mess Hall. There were fewer
