The Burning Fiend

Reynolds looked at the city in front and looking at the map found that its name was Silver Gale City, it was ruled by a 7-star Fiend who trained the Elemental Laws of Wind and was famous for his great speed. They stored the metallic life form and approached the city gates.

The deities, waiting to pay in order to be allowed to the city, looked curiously at the group noticing that they walked directly to the gates without bothering to wait as everybody else. They knew instantly that he was either a powerful and famous combatant or a complete fool that would be killed soon, but it did not matter for them as both situations would make a good topic of conversation when sharing a drink with friends later.

Reynolds throw a few inkstones to pay entrance for his family and did not give the guards a second glance, he started conversing silently with his group. 'I think we should stay here for a few years, we will rent a courtyard and visit a few restaurants. After all, we might not be making another stop until we reach the Crystal Cave City'. He transmitted his thoughts and the girls looked at him with different expressions, but the only one who disliked the idea was Talia as she wanted to see the famous Crystal Cave City as soon as possible.

He chuckled at her exaggerated suffering and patted her head before moving toward the residential area, finding a comfortable courtyard was not too troublesome and soon they were sitting in a beautiful garden that had a small pond with colorful fish that helped to ensure a relaxing environment which they all liked.

Talia was excited about the idea of going to a restaurant as she knew that the food would be expensive and delicious, they have tasted many delicacies since they arrived to the Infernal Realm, but she was wondering what types of dishes they would find on the menu.

Since Reynolds noticed how eager Talia was, he sighed and took them to the commercial area to find a restaurant. They soon found a restaurant that seemed slightly luxurious and decided to enter, the place was small and only have 4 tables.

They all took their seats and a young man with blue hair approached to give them the menu, he was a Highgod and seemed extremely happy to have visitors. "Hello dear customers, it is our p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to have you here today. I will come back when you are ready to order". He bowed and left.

"Dad... why would a Highgod would work on a restaurant?" Talia looked confused and slightly offended at the idea. Reynolds blinked and considered for a moment. "Well, I guess that a city provides security and not all people enjoy fighting... perhaps working here allows him to gain enough inkstones to live in the city or perhaps he is studying culinary arts". Reynolds had no idea what else he could say on that matter, but he could see that Talia already had a derogatory attitude towards the blue haired man and chuckled.

The menu had several dishes with saint beasts as main ingredients, such as phoenix, dragons and serpents. They decided to avoid ordering anything that had dragon meat as an ingredient in respect for Koral who seemed more amused than affronted. "Don't look at me like that... magical beasts kill each other to eat, it is not really rare for a dragon to eat another dragon from a different specie... I once was lucky enough to find a young Armored Razorback Wyrm and its meat delicious... The feeling of eating a higher level creature was satisfying". She smiled at the memory making the rest of them to feel slightly uncomfortable.

In the end they ordered several dishes to try different things along with a few bottles of wine, the blue haired man was delighted by the quantity of food and drinks they requested and Reynolds could swear that his eyes had turned into inkstones for a moment.

"Do we really need to stay here for long?" Talia asked not resigned and unwilling to stop their travel. "Do not sulk, we need to look for books about runes, arrays and poisons while we are here. And taking a rest from traveling is not a bad idea, but don't worry too much... I don't think we will stay her more than a couple of decades". Reynolds was also curious and impatient to see the Crystal Cave City, but he was more practical and focused on training than his daughter.

While Reynolds and his family were waiting for the food, other people were busy reporting his arrival in the City Lord Mansion while the Fiend Castle and Jadefloat Palace were spreading the information through several channels as there existed a few powerful people interested on his whereabouts.

The City Lord, better known as the Gale Fiend, was a green haired young man with a calculating personality that preferred to be prepared to avoid surprises. He felt slightly worried about Reynolds visit to the city, he did not think that he wanted to challenge him to gain control of the city but it was better to be prepared. "Daliarc!" His voice was sharp and the people who heard him felt as if a blade was cutting their souls.

A middle-aged man with dark hair and muscular complexion entered the room and bowed, he was the capitan of the City Lord Mansion Guard. "Daliarc, I want to know every move made by the Burning Fiend... and buy all the information available on him". He had made a brief pause before adding the last sentence, he would rather regret expending inkstones for nothing than being unprepared in case a battle was to come.

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Back to the restaurant where Reynolds and his family were smiling and enjoying the fragrance of the food and wine that filled the place... they had not tasted the food yet, but they already knew that it was delicious. A deity did not have the need to eat, thus the food become a luxury and it could be extremely expensive.

Reynolds though it was worth the cost, and they soon started enjoying the different dishes in complete silence as if afraid to disturb the experience. Reynolds started fantasizing about hiring someone to cook for them during their travels while his lips maintained his smile due to how delicious the food was.

"Dad... we need to eat food like this more frequently, could we buy a few books on cooking? I think I want to learn". Reynolds's eyes shinned when he heard Talia and vowed to buy the books without a fail while Talia suddenly found herself under the expectant eyes of everyone around the table and could not help but cower a little regretting speaking out, especially when her mother was looking at her as if she were a treasure.

A few hours later the group was already at the third floor of the Jadefloat Palace approaching the area of books where a red haired woman looked with expectation as they came nearer. "Dear visitors, what kind of books are you looking to buy?" She had recognized Reynolds and her hopes for a high commission started to grow.

Koral almost pushed her daughter to the front making Reynolds laugh at her enthusiasm. He looked at the clerk and said. "We are looking for advanced or rare books on runes, arrays and poison... and also show us a selection from beginner to master level in cookbooks, please". This time Reynolds was sure he had not hallucinated, and that the eyes of the red haired woman had turned into inkstones for a moment before running to the boxes behind the counter looking for the books.

Reynolds noted that Talia seemed overwhelmed and patted her head. "Do not worry, you can practice without pressure and see if you like it. We will spend a few decades on the city and if you do not like cooking, we can always hire or buy someone to cook for us". Talia's shoulders seemed to relax slightly and hugged her father as if to hide from her mother reluctant expression.

A few minutes later the red haired woman returned with a complete collection of cookbooks and a couple of rare books on poison and runic arrays. He paid around 10 million inkstones for the books, and they returned to the courtyard to relax.

A few hours later a perplexed City Lord was reading a report on the purchase of a cooking books collection and seemed confused, wondering if this was a prank. He looked at Daliarc and asked. "Is this for real?" His voice was a mixture of anger and amus.e.m.e.nt, Daliarc couldn't help but smile and said. "Lord, apparently the cooking books are due to his daughter showing interest in cooking and the main reason of their visit is to look for rare books on poison and runic arrays".

The City Lord seemed depressed thinking that he spent nearly a 100 million inkstones to buy the most complete information on the Burning Fiend, but it was a wasted effort and then frowned in annoyance at Daliarc who was trying not to laugh, but failing to hide his amus.e.m.e.nt. "If it so funny then laugh!" He screamed and Daliarc did start to laugh in from of him, they had grown together since children and had been friends for thousands of years.

After managing to control his laughter, Daliarc said. "Lord, if I remember correctly you obtained a few books on runes and arrays a few centuries ago... but you have no interest in these topics. It might be a good idea to give them to him as a gift, don't you think? He is too young and it seems that he will become stronger in a few years".

The depressed City Lord looked at his disloyal friend and found value on the suggestion. "Perhaps giving him the books and inviting him for a friendly sparring could be useful". He muttered to himself and sent a servant to look for the books.