Kyrion almost cried when he looked at the dish in front of him. If this was every dish, he may very well find the limits of his stomach. However, these people didn’t hold back on portion size, and he vowed to replace what he consumed today if it helped keep a business like this open.

Taking his fork, Kyrion looked into the pasta containing the bird meat he picked up, on top of various vegetables and a white sauce.

Kyrion took a bite, and he did, in fact, shed tears. He’d tasted fine cuisine in the form of pastries and snacks, but this had no business being so good. On top of everything else, the bird was truly brought out in this dish.

“Spearbeak is the new chicken.” Kyrion considered scouring the world for culinary delectabilities before noticing that he was already done, and two more dishes had arrived.

By dish twelve, Kyrion felt a fullness he hadn’t before. He showed no signs of bloating, but his body was no longer breaking down the food passively.

As he continued to finish the stuffed spearbeak, Kyrion found his limit and looked into himself. His body was full of concentrated mana, and he knew he couldn’t push further without reinforcing his body. As a practitioner, this was an optional step toward increasing power and reinforcing the strength of their organs and limbs. The main reason for this step being forgotten is that it can permanently decrease one’s mana pool if not there isn’t a source of mana nearby. He had a source of mana, and he had the will.

“Everything is training.” Kyrion started with his stomach and felt something tingling.

He raised his hands. “May I use the bathroom? And if so, where is it?”

One of the staff handed him a key and pointed towards a set of double doors.

Kyrion managed to fully infuse his stomach and intestine, with mana leading to a loss in excrement that gave off a foul odor and contained impurities that he hadn’t known were there. Nevertheless, his stomach had been reforged. And he was hungry again. Upon washing his body with mana, Kyrion left the bathroom, standing up straighter with his hungry expression back as he quickly devoured four more dishes.

The mana in these went into his liver, cleansing it of impurities and enhancing it further. Opening small gates into his domain within his body Kyrion siphoned away the impurities while waiting for more to come. He had enough mana to clear both kidneys as six plates were brought to the table.

“Psycho? Lungs, heart, or brain?

“What are… Oh, oh no… Eyes, then lungs, followed by skin. Then let me take over for the rest. Brain requires fine control and unlike you, I can fix what I mess up there. The heart will leave the one in charge unconscious and all you need to do is make it beat again. Heart can be done here while brain can’t.”

“You left something out.”

Psycho didn’t respond.

Kyrion sighed as he finished enhancing everything else and noticed that he had gotten much thinner. It appeared as though his body was now imbalanced. Then, fading into the recesses of his mind, he found himself sitting in a chair and watching the world through his own eyes. That was when the pain began, as all muscles in his body were disconnected, and his bones and their marrow were enhanced along with his heart which led to him sending a pulse to make it beat again upon completion. When his heart came back to life, he felt blood flowing faster and knew that his regeneration had increased in speed and his cardiovascular fitness had broken past the wall he hit while training.

“Hey kid are you doing ok?” Kyrion opened his eyes and looked quite confused.

“How long was I out?” Kyrion rubbed his eyes.

“Ten minutes, you passed out with your head face down in mashed potatoes” The chef eyed him suspiciously.

“I’m fine. I think I may have had a brief food coma. How much did I have left?”

“Aside from desert you had two entree’s left. Sadly some people have come to get you.”

“Time is my worst enemy. Well I lost, sixty two dishes. Here’s six hundred twenty gold. I will be back later. Although I’ll stick to three dishes. I was pushing my body to a degree it didn’t seem to like.”

“You also reek of iron and death. May need a bath. Your heart was beating but you weren’t moving. I had thought you entered a manifested state but you seem fine now.”

Kyrion felt around his body and noticed that his muscles seemed to have been strengthened while he had lost mass. As though they were woven together like metal ropes. His hands seemed to move faster than his brain could process without overclocking. Which is a problem for any precision work.

“Odd.”

“Not really. You just started enhancing your body. Given your current strength I’ll put you near peak practitioner physically if not well into expert, on that alone. Your control over mana will grow with time and your power. Do you know what form your power will take in the end?”

“Where I pass life flourishes.” Kyrion removed his eyepatch for the last time and placed it into his domain. Kyrion felt mana pass into him faster than before and finally understood the last element he had obtained, rounding him out completely.

Kyrion held out his hand, and a warm flame sparked to like, wild and free, it wanted to explore.

“No way. Guess Rion will be fire based.” Kyrion clasped his hand shut the fire, winking out.

“New affinity?” The chef asked.

“Yeah. Gonna use this as a handicap. Let’s see if I can win while publicly only using fire.”

“Can you win by just using fire?”

“No. But if I mix it with other stuff, I can be quite destructive.” Kyrion pointed a finger upwards, and a flame appeared. The flame began to shift as wind infused it before sparking and becoming a small bolt before vanishing.

“It’s like a new muscle. I need to use it alot and train it. Is there any place to get some private training?”

“There’s a cave on the sixth layer. A local secret, you pay to gain entrance to a closed-off room to train, and then you’re free to use your power to your heart’s content. Tell the old goat working there, you know Nidhogg that sent you, and they’ll give you one immune to scrying.” The chef told him.

“Nice. I’ll go greet my handlers then.” Kyrion scampered off to leave the restaurant.

Outside stood the masked man from earlier standing next to Eden.

“Told you he’d be where there is food. Look at him, he’s half starved.”

“So. What happened to my weights?” Kyrion asked as he casually leaned on a wall that wasn’t there.

“They were thrown into the sea when they moved you to the teleportation circle.”

“Great.” Kyrion didn’t give away his movement, as he ended up behind the formally masked Sigfried with the mask in his hands. He moved to see their face, only for the mask to fade. And cover its owner’s face, locking it into place.

“Nice try. You’re faster than before. Almost dangerous to me.”

“It’s the lack of weight.” Kyrion hopped from foot to foot.

“Rion...What did you get up to?” The masked figure took a step back.

“Who knows... What do you need?” Kyrion did a spin that, while distracting to the onlookers, let him get a gauge on his current condition.

“Meeting of the captains on the fifth layer. Two layers up, started thirty minutes ago.”

“Huh. Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“You slept for at least 30 hours and then vanished. Your body wasn’t budging.”

“Why would… ohh…” Kyrion realized he hadn’t called back the magic he had cast on the tower, and it had to find its way back to him.

“What?”

“I had an injury that needed focused care and spent that time fixing it.” Kyrion lied.

“I see. Well, it’s started, and you’re late. So let’s walk and talk.”

“Walk? Shouldn’t I be running?” Kyrion stopped.

“You’re late, showing up now will be in poor taste. We are going to go meet with Lin and Cecil afterwards at a planned location.”

“Booo. Come get me in an hour. I have some training to finish. Seventh floor.” Kyrion put his thumb down and squatted as though he was going to jump before vanishing from his position. Before the stranger could grab him.

“What did he do?” The man asked Eden.

“He probably teleported. Don’t ask how he does it.”

“I swear it’s like he was raised in a barn.”

“Mr.Kyrion is a hero, so what he’s doing is fine by me.”

“Right…About that. Why do you think he’s a hero?”

“Because he is!”

“He’s no hero. He’s a Demon Lord. And when I grow up, I’ll beat him.” Said a girl from the door of the restaurant.

The guard sighed as the shouting match began before catching on to what he said.

“Why Demon Lord?”

“My grandpa started muttering something like that when horns popped out of his head and his hair turned black.”

“Oh. So you met Psycho?”

“Psycho?” The guard seemed lost.

“Kyrion hears voices from time to time and sometimes it takes over. When his hair goes black get back. Is what Bastion told me.”

“Bastion?”

“I think he’s his son. But I’m not quite sure. He calls him dad when we talk about him but never in front of Mr.Kyrion.”

“How old is he?”

“Seven, I think.”

“Not possible then. His file marked him as 15, it is physically impossible and highly improbable. Maybe he imprinted on My…Mr.Kyrion.”

Eden shrugged before ignoring the adult.

Despite entering his domain, Kyrion could hear what they were discussing and decided to snoop for a bit before leaving, hoping they would slip up. Which gave the red-haired boy another idea.

From this point forward, Kyrion would put his disguise together. First, Kyrion sent mana into his teeth and made them much sharper. He then adjusted his hair, making it stand on all ends as he willed it into wild spikes. Then with a brief exertion of mana, the shade of red turned orange. His green eyes turned vermillion, and his shirt had been removed as silvery tattoos covered his form. The mark on his back had shifted to a large circle with markings inside while he ate. Its nature was unknown to all but those in the know and hidden within the tapestry he painted on his body.

Kyrion made it to the fifth layer and entered the building Bill had pointed to earlier by walking through a hole in its wards. Upon entering, he opened his senses and decided to head to where he felt the most pressure. Hiding his presence from senses just in case there was another mage capable of sensing disturbances in the world.

“Rion is here.” Kyrion altered his voice, making it sound more profound, but that didn’t fit. So instead, he took it up an octave and tried to emulate Psycho’s madness.

“Your lord has arrived. Bow your head or be laid to rest by my might.” Kyrion shook his head.

A comfortable middle ground between deranged and honorable hit him. “Listen, I’ll win this tournament, so get a good look at my face now and get used to it. This is the face you’ll see at the top of the heap!”

Kyrion put on a cocky smile as he entered the area and looked about. 31 other individuals aside from staff could be seen taking notes on the scene.

“Knowledge flows into me, liberation ok knowledge.” Kyrion chanted a spell and absorbed various interpretations of the rules before getting hit by a rebound when he got to Cecil, Chester, and a few people he hadn’t recognized. Everyone who noticed aside from Cecil seemed to whisper to their group mates while Cecil tapped his paper a few times to get his attention.

Kyrion approached and looked down as Cecil scribbled down instructions. There was no speaker, as far as Kyrion could tell.

“Intermission has just begun. I assume you know the rules. If so, materialize slowly and stay quiet. You’re late but that’s to be expected. The team from the republic along with the gifted school seem to be trouble. This Damian guy keeps asking questions about your status. Go back a page and read the strategies for approach unless you have one already. I’ll play yes and. Just don’t imply that we’re in any non professional relationship.”

Kyrion reappeared, much to no one’s notice, as he skimmed through it. Cocky, arrogant, extra obnoxious, and ruthless to those who wrong you. “Good.”

Lin turned her head in confusion. “When did you get here?”

“I was here the whole time. Did you not notice your future lord? Rion?” Kyrion stood up dramatically. His presence and trained showmanship caught everyone’s attention.

“Who’s he?” Asked a young man with a large hammer and shield on his back.

“I dunno. I haven’t talked with him either.”

Lin looked at him with confused eyes. “Who?” She started before she recognized the mole.

Kyrion shook his head as he made it to the front of the group. “Listen here, my future subjects! I, Rion, will be taking the crown in this tournament! Any who get in my way will be destroyed. As the representative of Drisil, I will put on a show never before seen on this grand stage. So get used to this face, and you better like it. Cause you’ll be seeing a lot of it in the near future! Ya hear!” Kyrion looked up at the crowd before him as though he was looking down on them with a condescending glare, and it seemingly pissed quite a few as they rushed to the stage to engage.

Rion sighed. “Looks like we have dissenters. Come. Let me make an example of you.”

A figure wielding a maul brought it down on Kyrion’s head while a pugilist moved to attack the back of his head and spine.

Sensing that they intended to use mana. Kyrion decided that he would indeed make an example.

In one swift motion, Kyrion knocked the maul to the side before slapping the maul wielder into a wall head-first.

The next movement was less swift as his hand passed the martial artist guard with surprising ease. “If this was a fight to the death, you’d be dead.”

Kyrion demonstrated by turning his hand to the side and letting loose a torrent of flame so strong that a nearby chair went from wood to ashes.

“Get the picture. These are the big leagues. If you can’t make it then submit.” Rion looked down before slipping both hands in his pockets and headed towards his seat next to Cecil. Lin was clearly trying to hide her face.

“We will have words.” Lin said with venom.

“Whatever you say my princess.”

“I’ve caught onto your antics that won’t work on me anymore.”

“Fine, fine. How long is this demonstration, I have some training to get to. I lit the fire, and displayed my force of personality. I intend to win and I won’t hear any excuses when I burn them alive.”

“Fire affinity, right. The hot tempered, yet cool minded Rion of the demonic flame.” Cecil nodded.