novelAura Roasted Barbecue
| ← Ch.038 | Ch.040 → |
"Damn! Could it be that our Sorcerers in the academy are tigers pretending to be pigs?"
When Kaiser heard from Daylight how they actually beat the Violet Academy, Kaiser's jaws dropped and he said in disbelief. Of course, his wide open mouth had another purpose. It's because they were eating in "Delicious Barbecue Restaurant", and Liola had just put down some barbecue.
Kaiser used this opportunity of opening his mouth to throw more meat into his stomach.
"It was great. I didn't know until now Sorcerers are so powerful. I was far too ignorant."
Daylight said in excitement, and began to explain the situation before.
"When we got to Violet Academy, we noticed they had already made foolproof preparations. Countless cannons were mounted on top of the whole academy, so they planned well ahead. Yizhou was indeed defending at Violet Academy, and wave attack of his water Dragon was very powerful."
"Enough! Get to the point, and stop complimenting others! You're just lowering our own prestige." Kaiser stuck his head out and yelled angrily.
Meinan who was standing on the side, blushed, waved his hand and said:
"If you did not stop Yiyu, he would have sliced me in half and it wouldn't have mattered how good my protective shield was."
Daylight laughed with modesty. Under Kaiser's urging eyes, Daylight hurried to continued.
"After 15 minutes, a magic circle appeared in the middle of the Sorcerers. 10 giant bolts of lightning shot out from the magic circle and they bombarded the Violet Academy..."
"And then? And then?" Kaiser curiously prompted Daylight to continue.
"And then we started the rescue mission for Violet Academy students." Daylight said honestly,
"Violet Academy was crumbling, and the students inside were moaning in pain, many of which were severely injured. Because their healing Maxuns were damaged by the lightning attacks, we had no choice but carry them back to Aklan Academy."
"So that's why Liola and I saw you carrying a bunch of Violet Academy students back to Aklan Academy." Kaiser was now satisfied having heard the whole story.
"Daylight has the kindest heart. Many Knights did not want to carry the Violet Academy students, and Daylight had to persuade them by citing the Chivalric Knight Code, only then did they carry the wounded back."
Purity stared at Daylight with admiration. Daylight felt embarrassed, and at the same time he said,
"Everyone who saw to situation would have done the same thing."
"Oh really? Why do I get the feeling I would have chosen to step on those bastards?" Kaiser muttered with a disdained expression. Why should he be courteous to people who brought nothing but trouble?
"Hey, Baolilong, are you a pig?! You just finished another plate filled with meat!"
Kaiser yelled in dissatisfaction. Baolilong, who was chewing a large piece of meat, ignored Kaiser.
Ever since Kaiser grabbed a piece of meat from Baolilong's mouth and gotten himself electrocuted, Kaiser deeply understood grabbing meat from a Dragon's mouth was definitely unwise.
"Liola! Another plate of meat... Hey, stop playing with your aura."
Kaiser turned to yell at the Assassin, who was staring at his own blood-red aura. His slight frown indicating he was confused.
Hearing Kaiser's yell, Liola raised his head to glance at Kaiser, and then quickly flung the largest piece of meat into the air. When the meat was falling, Liola raise his hand and enveloped the meat with his blood-red aura.
Now, it wasn't just Kaiser who had his mouth wide open. Everyone was beginning to suspect Liola had gotten an addiction with playing with his aura. He could not attack people, so he was using his aura to vent on the meat instead...
But what happened next made it clear to everyone that Assassins don't play around, especially Liola. He was only focusing on 'practical usage'.
A piece of meat, the size of a human head fell into the plate Liola had prepared. Unlike the charred piece of coal everyone expected it to be, it was a juicy piece of meat. Its alluring aroma consistently challenged everyone's restraint. Liola took the knife beside him. After a few flashes, the head sized meat had been cut into slices.
"Aura... barbecue?" Daylight was extremely shocked. As a Knight, he was proud of his aura. But who would use their own aura to roast meat?
Liola carefully examined the cross section. The redness of the meat indicated that it was not fully cooked, and it looked like he had to use a little bit more aura.
Liola quickly calculated the ratio between the size of the meat and the amount of aura he used. At the same time, he toss the slightly undercooked meat; but a Dragon's favorite kind of meat, to Baolilong.
"This is great! Holy cow, aura roasted barbecue! I've never eaten anything like it in my life."
Kaiser jumped up and yelled."I want aura roasted barbecue. Liola give me some aura roasted barbecue."
"Purity wants some too!" Purity jumped up too.
Though Meinan cared about his image, and therefore did not jump up and down screaming he wanted meat, but with his flashing eyes, his desire for meat was practically written across his forehead.
Liola didn't disappoint his companions. He threw a few pieces of meat into the air, and started using both of his hands. A few flashes of red light appeared in the air, and the pieces of meat fell into the plates Liola had instantly placed on the table.
Everyone saw the delicious meat, and started yelling, "Long live aura roasted meat!"
Still, Liola didn't hand the plates to everyone, but instead he grabbed a handful of vegetables and threw them into the air.
"Oh oh, Purity loves veggies!" Purity cheered
"Veggies are good, they are healthy!" Meinan seemed to have forgotten everything about his image, and started cheering with Purity.
Likewise, a few flashes of red light appeared in the air, and the vegetables, like the meat, were also... Wait, no, the vegetables disappeared from the air.
Everyone looked and saw that a bunch of pitch black powder landed on the meat they were salivating over moments ago, and practically covered the pieces of meat, as if the pieces of meat were telling them,
"Eat me, do you want to eat me? Come if you dare..."
Their cheers froze.
Liola also silently looked at the pieces of ash-covered meat, and slowly stated the truth, "I failed."
After a while, Kaiser finally recovered from shock. He pretended to be at ease and said, "How about another dish? Let me say this first, I don't want vegetables!"
Purity and Meinan also desperately shook their heads and yelled, "No veggies, no veggies."
Before Liola had time to explain he hadn't fully learned the technique, so the vegetables were a failure, and it wouldn't happen again next time, Auntie's thunder-like voice had stormed into the room.
"Little children~~ Hurry, hurry, leader from every continent had already arrived at your academy. Bartercup already called me and rushed me to deliver all the food over to the academy. For an entire week, everyone in your academy will be waiters and hosts for our guests. Bartercup says that every student must be an unpaid waiter."
"This damn old geezer, he must hide all the money used for waiters." Kaiser murmured.
"I've already told Bartercup he should send all of you to come here to be cafeteria workers."
Auntie anxiously stomped the ground, "Aiya, I don't know if this is enough people?"
"We're responsible to provide food?" Daylight asked curiously.
Though Liola's roasted meat was indeed good, it didn't seemed delicate enough to be presented to the leaders of every continent. To cater to all the leaders, it really didn't seem like Delicious Barbecue Restaurant would be chosen.
"Yes, okay, everyone follow me to fetch the best meat. We have to make preparations to go."
With Auntie's gong-like voice, everyone obediently followed her orders, and started to work like busy bees after following Auntie into the freezer.
They worked hard to move the meat from the freezer to the Maxun responsible for transportation. They went back and forth many times. When everyone was tired to the point of almost collapsing, Daylight felt a bit suspicious.
Although there were six or seven people present to help moving the meat, but Liola, Auntie, and he, moved far more meat than the rest.
Daylight could move more than 100kg per trip. Liola was even more amazing, had it not been the fact he had nowhere else to hold meat on his body, he probably could've moved more than 150kg per trip.
Auntie, on the other hand, moved an unimaginable amount of meat. Her body was massive, and the weight didn't seem to bother her at all. She probably moved as much meat per trip as everyone else combined.
When Daylight raised his head as high as he could to see the top of the meat mountain, he seriously questioned. 'Wouldn't this mountain-like pile of meat be too much?'
"Okay, I will drive the Maxun to your academy. You guys walk and rendezvous with me there."
Auntie jumped up to the cockpit designed for two people, but her large body made it impossible for even the thin Purity to squeeze in, so everyone had no choice but nod in agreement.
When everyone walked out of Delicious Barbecue Restaurant, they realized there was quite a rumble outside. There was a sea of people desperately pushing one another, and they were heading towards the Aklan Academy.
The crowd had gotten more and more crazy as what originally was a little dot in the sky slowly came closer, and became evident that it was a row of Dragons. Many people yelled,
"The Dragon Emperor is here!"
Daylight saw they couldn't squeeze through the crowd, so he sighed and called for Flames via telepathy. When the Fire Dragon, Flames, heard its master's call, it immediately flew out of the window of the dorm, and coincidentally flew past the row of Dragons that had just landed.
* * *
"What a nice Red Dragon. It's got nice colors, and its flying posture is beautiful. Looks like it has a good master."
A man with white, gold-lined Knight uniform jumped down from his Dragon as he saw Flames fly by. He smiled and enjoyed the scene of Flames passing by.
"Roar~"
The Dragon next to him seemed dissatisfied, and roared loudly, while desperately rubbing its head against its master. Coincidentally, this Dragon was also a Red Dragon.
The man couldn't hold back his laughter. He patted the Dragon's head and said, "I know, Little Fireball is the best Red Dragon, how is that?"
"Sovereign younger brother, please mind your etiquette." Another man wearing black, gold-lined Knight uniform, who looked majestic and calm, seemed to be dissatisfied with his brother's demeanor.
"Oh, understood, second elder sovereign brother."
The younger man immediately withdrew his smile after being criticized, but the corner of his mouth was still tilted, making it obvious his was only pretending in front of his brother.
Sure enough, as soon as his elder brother turned, he began to kick Little Fireball or used his hand to pull the Dragon's beard, making Little Fireball feel quite awkward at its master's childishness.
The dozen or so Dragon Knights quietly waited for the most important person. A snow white Dragon slowly landed from the sky. The Dragon's elegant posture eclipsed the other Dragons, and the person on top of awed every Knight below.
Though as a Knight, the person riding the White Dragon did not wear a Knight uniform, but instead wore a purple robe. He stood quietly on top of the Dragon's back, and his long silver hair was tied up behind him.
His purple eyes were even more beautiful than the robe he wore. His extraordinarily delicate face made everyone skeptical of his identity, but the Dragon crown atop his head would stomp any doubt of him being the leader of the Dragon Empire, the Dragon Emperor.
When the snow white Dragon slowly landed on the ground, all the Dragon Knights got on one knee. The two men with gold-lined Knight uniforms also quickly stepped up, bowed, and said at the same time, "Welcome, Your Majesty."
"Mm." The Emperor seemed to be a bit absent-minded."You may rise."
After hearing the Emperor's permission, everyone stood up. The servants from the side immediately went up, and unrolled a white carpet. The carpet reached from where the Emperor stood all the way to the entrance to a large building.
Both sides of the entrance already had many people standing there: Qiusi and three people all wearing military uniforms of varying color. Barbalis also stood there, but a bit in front of the others to welcome the Dragon Emperor.
The Emperor seemed to have snapped out of his daze, stepped down from the white Dragon, and slowly walked on the white carpet. When he passed by his two sons, he glanced at his second son's chest, and saw a cross necklace with Dragon wings.
He looked at his son, but his son showed a stubborn expression. The Emperor slowly turned his head back, and continued to walk towards Qiusi and others without saying a word.
The second Prince smiled slightly, declaring his victory, and the third Prince curiously yet worriedly looked at his second elder sovereign brother and his cross necklace.
Barbalis and Qiusi also saw the necklace and the Emperor's reaction. At the same time they thought,
'So it really wasn't the Emperor who ordered Lancelot to rob Liola of his necklace, but instead it was the second Prince. '
Even though they were thinking this, but they would never present any neglect to the Emperor of the Dragon Empire.
There were five Gold Knights and ten Silver Knights. They were strong enough of a force to destroy the Aklan capital.
Barbalis immediately went up, and his face was all smile as he said,
"Your Majestic, welcome to our humble shop... no, humble academy, and it will be our honor to have your presence."He said calmly, "Long time no see, Your Majesty."
The Emperor's gaze moved towards Qiusi. For the first time today, emotion surfaced on his face.
He smiled and said, "It has indeed been a long time, Aklan Prime Minister, and the three Leaders of Commerce Alliance."
A tall man wearing Yellow military uniform said heartily, "This is my first time seeing the Dragon Emperor, and he surely has the demeanor of a King."
The thin man in Green military uniform smiled shyly, and said with a stutter, "H-hello, Your Majesty."
Lastly, a woman wearing bright Red military uniform playfully smiled, "I've always heard the adjectives describing the Dragon Emperor were majestic and royal, but now that I see you, you look just like a pretty boy, and not at all like a father of several children."
Hearing this insulting mockery, a few Knights behind the Emperor seemed to have gotten furious, and put their hands on the handle their swords.
However, the Dragon Emperor smiled, and held up his right hand, indicating for his Knights to stop what they're doing.
"I've heard the Red Leader had always been straightforward, and now that I've met you, it seems like the rumors were true."
Hearing the Dragon Emperor, the Red Leader laughed like a silver bell.
"Okay, everyone, let's go in. Standing at the door is not how Aklan Academy treat their guests."
Barbalis beckoned loudly. The Leaders first stepped in the door, followed by the two Princes, then finally their respective guards.
Barbalis looked at the Red Dragon Flames circling at the academy gate, and thought in his mind,
"Maylee, Maylee, I hope you look after that silver-eyed punk. But honestly, if fate forces him to do something, how could you possibly stop him?"
* * *
On the other side, though Daylight called forth Flames and it would indeed allow them to enter the academy, but when they saw Barbalis was greeting the Leaders, they did not approach.
Had they done so, they might be swatted like flies by dozens of Knights, or stepped on like roaches by those rank-X Mechas. With their principle to keep living, they could only circle around in the air, while waiting for the Leaders to finish their salutations.
"Hey, Meinan, everyone else brought a ton of forces, why did your father bring nothing at all?" Kaiser asked curiously.
Meinan replied, "Oh, our strength lies with defense. Though my father probably couldn't beat anyone, but no one in the world could harm him, so he doesn't need any guards."
"Says who? Can protective shields block swords?" Kaiser said in disdain.
Meinan seriously replied, "Ordinarily, protective shields can't block physical attacks, but our ancestral comprehensive protective shield can, and my father sets this shield around him 24/7, so even ambushes are useless."
"COMPREHENSIVE PROTECTIVE SHIELD!"
Kaiser's face lit up with a blinding light, and at the same time Meinan seemed to feel he had said something he shouldn't have.
With Kaiser's habit of (ab)using everyone he could, he said with a smile, "Then from now on, my safety is entirely in your hands. If I were to lose so much as a hair, you will have to pay!"
Meinan's face turned pale, and waved his hands to say, "I'm not my dad. I can't maintain comprehensive protective shield all the time, and even if I were to use it, I can't hold it for long..."
Kaiser patted Meinan's back,
"Don't worry, don't worry. Liola is quite strong. All you have to do is hold the comprehensive protective shield until Liola finish off the enemies."
Meinan's face was quite bitter, and he felt like a lamb in front of a wolf's mouth...
Compared to Meinan and Kaiser's playfulness, Liola's heart was in turmoil.
Originally, he had no hope of ever retrieving Anise's necklace. He thought he could use the impossibly as the reason to not retrieve it. But now, had his powers had returned to him, and the necklace may very well be on the Dragon Emperor...
Liola's otherwise calm heart had been agitated again. He almost wanted to put on his mask to take back what belonged to him.
"Liola."
Kaiser's face sank as he called out to Liola. He probably guessed what Liola was thinking, but to grab the necklace from the Dragon Emperor? Kaiser wasn't blind. He saw the dozen of Silver Knights or higher, and the three rank-X Mechas.
When Kaiser yelled, Liola snapped of his daze and saw Kaiser's warning eyes. Liola sighed, and lightly nodded, indicating he wouldn't do anything ridiculous.
"Little children, hurry, Auntie will bring you to work."
Before Flames even reached their destination, Auntie begin to use her gong-like voice to beckon them.
Daylight ordered Flames to fly as fast as it could towards Auntie. However before they landed, something strange happened. The dozens of Dragons standing outside suddenly all turned towards them, and looked at the human-shaped Baolilong.
All of them seemed puzzled until the Dragon Emperor's White Dragon elegantly walked over, and then knelt towards Liola and others. The other Dragons saw its action, and they copied it and knelt along with the White Dragon.
"Hot damn, Dragons actually know how to kneel. Never seen this before in my life."
Kaiser was shocked. He thought about it, then turned around and said to Liola, "This is probably because of you. Are you some kind of deity of abnormality?"
Liola lowered his head to look at Baolilong and asked, "Why are they kneeling?"
Baolilong opened its innocent pink eyes and said, "Don't know, but everyone is kneeling at Baolilong."
Hearing Baolilong's useless reply, Kaiser poked its egg-like forehead and said, "Could Dragons have a habit of kneeling to the Dragon with the lowest intelligence?"
Auntie ran over to them and nervously said to Liola, "Little child, you better ask your Dragon to order the other Dragons to get up. If anyone sees this, things could turn worse."
Liola's calm eyes flashed with a sense of warning, 'This Auntie...'
Liola didn't raise any questions for Auntie, and said to Baolilong, "Baolilong, tell them to get up. Also, ask the White Dragon to come here and explain."
Obeying what papa said, Baolilong yelled a few times at the Dragons. Then, the Dragons looked at each other a few times, then turned around to look away from Baolilong. But the White Dragon's reaction was rather strange. It looked like it had received some sort of shock, and its mouth opened wide, completely devoid of its previous elegance.
Kaiser pushed his shoulder against Baolilong, "Hey, chowhound, what did you say? Why does this Dragon look like it's about to go insane?"
Baolilong said triumphantly, "Baolilong said, 'What are you looking at! Never seen a Dragon? If you haven't, why don't you look at yourselves!'"
"Aiya, little runt you sure know how to talk now, but why your tone sound so familiar?"
Kaiser tilted his head to try to remember where he had heard such a tone before.
Everyone's gaze landed on Kaiser, and only the culprit was still wondering whose tone it was.
Baolilong yelled again, this time at the white Dragon. Baolilong would always follow every word of what papa said. Though how things would end up by following papa's orders was never something little Baolilong would ever consider.
The White Dragon heard Baolilong's yell, and seemed to have snapped out of its daze and closed its mouth. The White Dragon nodded elegantly at Baolilong, and said with a soft voice, "Prince's master, what would you like for me to explain?"
The Assassin began to think. Prince's master was definitely referring to himself, and he had only been master to one Dragon, so his Dragon, Baolilong, was the Prince. The reason why all the Dragons knelt was because Baolilong was the Dragon Prince!
Liola's face sank. He had previously refused to be a Prince, but now he's the Prince's master...
"Does the Dragon Prince have any responsibilities or obligations?" Liola asked.
Comparing to find out one day in the future of him having responsibilities as the Dragon Prince's master, he'd rather find out now, at least... Liola couldn't lighten up his distressed face, so at least he could make preparations.
The White Dragon was stunned, and said hesitantly, "Ordinarily, only one person in the world would own one of us Sacred White Dragon, and that would be the Emperor of the Dragon Empire. Other than him, Dragons don't have any special responsibilities, and the same goes for the Prince, unless Dragons face the danger of extinction."
Great, Liola's mood dampened even more. His predicament actually changed from whether he wanted to be the Dragon Empire's Prince to whether he wanted to be the Dragon Empire's Emperor. With his luck, Dragons may very well face extinction soon.
"Aiya, anyhow, little child, cook these meat for Auntie. We have to feed their Dragons to full before the Knights come back out!"
When they saw Liola's expression, everyone had gotten more and more worried about him. But with Auntie's high decibel scream, Liola's attention seemed to be back on her. He asked with confusion,
"Feed the Dragons?"
"Yep. This week, we're responsible to feed the Knights' Dragons. Is there a problem?"
Auntie blinked her eyes, with her eyelids looking like they're as firm as her bicep. Her square face got closer and closer to Liola's, as if a Military Sergeant asking a Foot Soldier if he had a problem with her orders.
Even Liola had to take a step back. He shook his head expressing there was no problem.
"Great!" Auntie put her hands on her waist and yelled, "Liola and I are responsible for cooking the meat, and everyone else take the Dragons to the sport fields. Let them stay wherever they want there, but remember where they are. Come to the kitchen in a while, and bring the meat back to the Dragons."
Other than Daylight's spirited reply, everyone else gave a feeble response, then each started to determine which Dragon was more tame.
The Fire Dragon was something everyone avoided. If they're not careful and it breathes fire, then they would become the barbecue.
Kaiser circled around the White Dragon to avoid it. He had already had enough fun with Baolilong's electrocution, and he didn't want to taste the same thing from a mature Dragon.
Purity was already hiding behind Meinan as soon as she saw the Dragons larger than Flames, and wouldn't come out.
Meinan's mood was slightly better, considering he was the person who was able to stop the Black Dragon King Miluo's attack, but... he still kept his distance from the Dragons. Although he didn't fear Dragon magic, he was still afraid Dragons might flatten him into a pancake with their feet.
The only person who was truly not afraid, was the person who spent day and night with a Dragon—Daylight. He took Flames, who shrank into a small Dragon, to meet new friends.
To the Dragons, Flames was still a little boy, so they were fairly friendly with Flames. As Knights' mounts, the Dragons also seemed to respect Daylight, whose Knight etiquette was exemplary. Without saying much, the Dragons quietly followed Daylight to move to the sport fields.
Seeing Daylight handling the situation well, Kaiser and others didn't have anything to worry. They decided to follow the Dragons, so they could ascertain their position, then come back to the kitchen to fetch the meat.
Before Kaiser left, however, he suddenly stopped and turned his head to say to Liola, "Never leave the kitchen, and especially not to go to the meeting!"
Liola wanted to answer he would never go to the Leaders' meeting, but then thought about the accidentsthat had happened before.
Liola calmly said, "I... will try."
Although unhappy with Liola's reply, Kaiser did understand fate seemed to like to play games with them, and there were always accidents forcing them one way or another. What would happen this time?
* * *
Liola then turned around to follow Auntie, while with a thought in his mind:
'Anise was an important companion, and her possession is very important as well. But his companions who are still alive are more important, and I can't harm my companions because of Anise's possession. '
Auntie walked through a small humble door leading to the busy kitchen. The chefs in the kitchen allocated a small corner of the kitchen for them, it was a small room used to boil water.
The room was so small, Auntie couldn't even go in, so she had no choice but let Liola do the cooking. Auntie stood at the door to pass the meat to Liola, whom then cooked them into rare steaks (Dragons loved their food rare).
Originally, Liola planned to behave and use fire to cook. Problem was, every piece of meat was as large as half of Liola's body. Even for an exceptional cook, it would take quite a while to cook such humongous piece of meat. At this rate, when the others come here to fetch the meat, only one piece of meat would barely be rare.
Liola wanted to cut the meat into smaller pieces to cook, but Auntie stopped him because Dragons loved to tear the pieces of meat apart by themselves. The size they had was already rather small for Dragons, so they can't cut them into smaller pieces. But if Liola were to turn up the fire, the surface of the meat would definitely get burnt.Liola immediately turned off the stove, and threw the large piece of meat into the air. After a flash of red light, the half body-sized meat had been cooked to rare.
Liola threw the meat out, and started to work on a new piece of meat. This kept going for a couple of pieces until Auntie poked her head in with suspicion, but after watching, she didn't say anything to stop him. Thus, Liola felt relieved, and then continued to use his aura to cook meat.
During this time, only Kaiser would dare to poke his head in and say, "Liola, cook one to well done, I want to eat."
Liola threw a piece of well-done meat out, and said, "Remember to help me feed Baolilong."
Kaiser, however, gave him a glare,
"Yeah right! The dozen pieces of meat you've cooked were all eaten by your Dragon. Your Dragon Prince isn't full yet, and other Dragons wouldn't even dare to touch the meat!"
.........
| ← Ch. 038 | Ch. 040 → |