—-

Behind Apollo, a slightly childish male voice sounded as they called out to the chef.

​​

“Excuse me, esteemed chef Taybur, I seemed to have forgotten my identity card at home. May I get a serving anyway, please?!” Axel exclaimed as a slight smirk appeared on his face directed at Apollo.

Without hesitation, the chef gave a jovial nod. A piping hot plate of food was served almost instantly, and even added extra amounts of cooked low-level Spirit Beast meat.

On the other hand, Apollo frowned. He felt this treatment was unfair. He was a person as well.

“May I have a serving as well?” Apollo asked once again. However, the chef looked at him with blatant disgust.

“Are you a family talent? I don’t recall you being on the lists to especially look out for. Therefore, shoo.”

Apollo seethed with anger. He clenched his fists and looked at Taybur with unconcealed malice. Once again, he was being mistreated. If he could, he would gouge this fellow’s eyes out.

As he realized Apollo’s reaction, Axel showed a condescending smirk. Shortly after, Aaron rose from his seat approaching the service window. On the other hand, Lily remained quiet while gracefully eating her food.

“Chef, is it possible to receive seconds? The food you gave just wasn’t enough; I still feel hungry,” Aaron pleaded with clasped hands.

“Hmm, Aaron is it? You sure can,” Taybur nodded. Soon enough, he once again presented a decent-sized serving to Aaron.

Aaron grabbed it and walked back, signaling to Apollo with a wink. Gazing at the chef, Apollo frowned before uttering one sentence. “I promise you this; a day will come when you regret how you’ve treated me and when you do, I hope you can stomach the consequences.”

With not an iota of care, Taybur chuckled lightheartedly, “Whatever you say, I’m simply following orders.” Frankly speaking, no one feared the words of Apollo. In this world, if you were unable to back your words, you were simply disregarded.

A silence followed, and after glaring at Taybur for quite a while, Apollo returned to his seat. As he did so, Taybur closed the window. It was pointless for Apollo to even try to receive his card.

The moment Apollo sat, Aaron pushed the extra meal towards him with a cheeky smile, “You going without a meal in my presence? Not a chance! I will always have your back haha. Don’t worry about those idiots. Come and eat.”

He looked at Aaron with eyes filled with gratitude, “Thanks, Aaron,” he said. Afterward, Apollo picked up his utensils as he took a sizable bite of food. It was the best meat he had in who knows how long.

«System Alert! 100g of Rank 1 Spirit Beast flesh has been ingested.»

«8 Experience has been rewarded.»

«Experience: 78/300.»

Due to the message, Apollo was pleasantly surprised. Not only did the meal fill his stomach, but it was also filling his experience bar as well. Tearing chunks of meat off ravenously, the notification repeated over and over again.

By the end of the meal, Apollo had received the notification over 20 times. In other words, the generous portion Taybur handed Aaron was over 2kg.

«Experience: 270/300.»

Apollo released a sigh of content, and once again thanked Aaron. He couldn’t recall a time where he had felt satiated like this. His prior meals were rather basic, even the meat he ate was too weak to be qualified as a Spirit Beast.

Not to mention, his previous illness counteracted all shreds of Natural Essence in his body. Hence, even if he ate meat of such quality he wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the benefits.

Axel looked over to their table and scoffed. He noticed Apollo eating a meal that didn’t quite belong to him. And so, approached the table, slamming his hands against it causing it to shake.

However, his actions didn’t garner much rather from Apollo, Lily, or Aaron; a situation which caused him to seethe with anger. He didn’t appreciate being treated like air; it was a blow to his otherwise insufferable ego. “You! Don’t you all see me standing here? Obviously, I came for a reason.”

First, Aaron looked toward Apollo. Then, he frowned with a slightly annoyed expression and Aaron crossed his arms. With his own scoff, he uttered his own discontent. “And why have you come to annoy us? It was clear we were ignoring you. Can’t you take a hint? Why not travel back to that little group you have over there.”

Once he finished saying his piece, Aaron waved him off. “Go on now, shoo,” Aaron said, pointing at the group of 6-8 seated boys. Both obliviously and foolishly, they were chowing down on the morsels of their food that remained.

“Oh? Since when can you tell me what to do? How about I report to the higher-ups that you didn’t abide by family rules and shared your meal with him,” Axel sneered as he pointed toward Apollo.

It was clear from his eyes, he felt disgusted just looking at Apollo’s appearance. However, Aaron’s quick retort followed right after. “I don’t recall that being a family rule. Try that crap somewhere else.”

Similarly, Axel didn’t back down, “Okay, so let’s see then. I will tell the elders how he didn’t bring his identity card, and you helped him get extra food hindering others from getting it”

“What! That’s a lie. Everyone ate already,” Aaron bellowed as he slammed the table causing everyone else to turn their heads.

“I didn’t say they didn’t. I said you stopped them from getting more if they wanted to. The way you hear it just shows your own guilt,” Axel chuckled.

“That’s bull! Apollo is a person as well. Just like the others, he needs a meal!” Aaron defended.

“Does that look like my problem? You heard what the Grand Elder said, they can’t focus on him. That also means these special meals!” Axel snidely remarked. He also showed an unsettling smile towards Apollo.

This whole while, Apollo quietly examined Axel as the two argued. He had his own demons to deal with; it was taking his entire being not to lash out and cause a bigger scene.

“You’re a disgusting person, you know that? If you tell the Elders, I don’t care. I will always look out for Apollo,” Aaron said, ashamed to continue looking at him. However, they soon stopped.

The sound of a sliding chair was heard as a hand was placed on Aaron’s shoulder. It was Apollo, he stood from his seat next to him as he looked at Axel.

He looked at Axel and asked a simple question, “Why do you hate me so much?” For a moment, Axel was slightly taken aback. In the past 4 years, there was never a time where Apollo had talked back nor shown any emotion except fear.

“Why do I hate you? The answer is simple—because you’re so damn weak. You’re not like the other kids! You’re a disgrace to our family, we are supposed to get stronger. But, here you are; the weakest thing I’ve ever seen. I hate looking at you because it reminds me of what the lowest of low looks like,” Axel venomously spat.

For a while, Apollo nodded silently, taking in the words. The breaking point had been reached, he looked at Axel and clenched his fist. Unsatisfied by that answer, the next sentence that escaped Apollo’s mouth caused everyone to gasp in surprise, even the formerly quiet Lily.

“If that’s how you feel, then let’s do something about it.”