Chapter 28: Priestess Aria's Awakened Ability
Keith and Amelia simply talked for the whole night. It was mostly Amelia talking about nobles, their habits and they way they talk to people. She also took this time to teach him more about etiquette.
Once the sun came up, the two of them headed back to the church as Clara took over for them until Brandon and Edward arrived. They had relayed their findings to her, so they didn't have anything else to worry about.
"So, are you going to practice shooting today too?" she asked as she walked into the church and Keith nodded in response.
"Yeah, but before that, I must grab some food."
Amelia turned to look at him, "Well... the church offers free food. Though, I don't really like the taste. It's mostly made for the knights and paladins, so it's healthy but the taste doesn't suite my palate."
"Oh miss noble woman likes to eat only high quality steak." he said, imitating Clangson's way of speaking.
In response, she just glared at him and humphed, "Just wait until you taste that thing... Ugh. It's unbearable. Let me take you there."
After saying that, she backtracked and walked out of the church building before heading to the training area which was at the back of the church. Most of the are was taken up by muscular men who were wearing minimal clothing, but on one side, there was a long table which had huge pots placed on top of it.
She pointed at the table and said, "It's there. Just grab a plate and eat what you want to."
Then she paused for a second before putting her hand in her pant's pocket and took out a small folded piece of paper.
"Since I feel a little bad for you, I'll let you use this. It's salt."
"Oh okay, thanks." he said and rushed to the table before grabbing a plate.
The first pot had flat bread, but when Keith grabbed one and took a good look at it, the only thing it reminded him of, was naan from India and Pakistan. As for whether the process of making it was the same here or not, he did not know.
He simply grabbed five of them and put them on his plate before moving on to the next pot which had mashed potatoes. Keith already had Naan as a source of carbohydrates, so he skipped the potatoes and moved on to the next pots.
One by one, he slowly filled up his plate and by the time he was done, he had a total of only four different dishes.
Naan, raw vegetables, a bunch of roasted chicken pieces and lastly, there was a small mound rice cooked with lentils.
Keith then grabbed a glass of milk and walked back to Amelia who took him to a stone slab before sitting down. He simply followed her and sat down before digging into his food.
Unfortunately, just like Amelia had said, the food tasted terrible as it barely had any seasoning. With a sigh, he looked up at Amelia who gave him the look that said, "I win, bitch."
"Well, food is food." he said and unfolded the small paper packet before sprinkling some salt into his food. The taste was still terrible, but Keith pushed through as he wished to get his muscles as soon as possible.
Once he was done, he went back for seconds and did a total of four trips until he couldn't eat anymore.
"You... why are you doing this to yourself?"
"Brandon told me to get buff, didn't he. I'm trying to do just that... ugh. Oh man, I just want to sleep right here... I don't think I can walk back home like this."
He sounded miserable, but when Amelia looked at his bulging belly, she couldn't do anything but shake her head in disappointment.
While she was thinking about how to change his mind about eating so much food, she heard him speak.
"Hey... is there something that I can carry in my pockets? I just want something that is portable, so that I can eat anytime."
She looked at him like she was seeing a brainless idiot, but answered him anyway, "Well, there's jerky, dried fish, hard cheese and even dry fruits work. You can also carry some fresh vegetables which you can eat raw, like tomatoes and carrots."
Keith nodded as he thought about it let out a burp before giving her a satisfied smile, "Yeah, that. That just gave me a lot of room in my stomach. Though, I think I'm done with food for now."
He got back up on his feet after a slight effort and then headed back home, intending to hit the bed the moment he walks into his room but just as he was walking, he saw a system screen appear in front of his face.
Protection System activated.
Trigger: When user is sexually involved with anyone
System's Goal: Avoid Danger 50 times.
The protection system worked similar to Keith's danger sense ability, but instead of the body reacting to danger, the system simply showed layer of coloured aura around a person.
From white to blue to red to black, with the threat level increasing from white to black.
He didn't really care about the system goal as things would eventually happen and there was no need for him to give out a quest to her. Instead, he directly went for taxes.
He gave out a mental command and a new system screen appeared in front of him.
Protection System
User: Priestess Aria
Capabilities: Enables the user to actively see the threat levels of people based on their actions.
System Tax: Physical money; 4 Chron, Modified copy of Aria's awakened ability, or inheritance of user's physical ability.
Keith picked Aria's awakened ability without any hesitation and instantly felt regret as her ability did not help with combat in any way.
'Libido and Sensitivity manipulation.... what am I a gigolo? I don't plan on sleeping around so this thing is absolutely useless...' he grumbled inwardly, but then he also wasn't too disappointed.
'Well... if I do get someone, it'll be pretty useful and fun. But damn, I wanted an increase in combat capability or at least something that gave me the power to protect myself."'