Nameless King



'Feast... Tournament...?' Gael internally muttered with a surprised look. This was not at all what he had expected walking into this tavern. If he had to fight, it would be very dangerous, not for him, but for the others.

One blow in which Gael couldn't contain his power would be a real disaster, and he didn't want that to happen in this town.

Grot saw Gael's puzzled face and tried to explain, "Hey, obviously you misunderstood me. This is your first time in our Town, isn't it?"

Gael nodded silently.

"Agh... In that case, it's understandable. Listen to me carefully." Grot sighed, then he raised his head and proudly said, "Every time someone passes the test and enters the tavern, we have a special tournament. You won't have to fight, no one will, but if you want to participate you'll have to eat, a lot of eating."

"Hahaha!" Marg laughed, "Gael, it's a food tournament, so you have nothing to worry about, although I think you'll be full for another week afterwards!"

"Wow... I see... I've never heard of this before. How's the tournament going to be and what's the reward?" Gael asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, yeah, I see you're starting to get the hang of how things work around here, that's good." Grot grinned contentedly, "To start, everyone will get a huge portion of noodles with hot sauce, and everyone will have to eat one portion in 10 minutes. We'll repeat this until only ten people are left, then the second round with different dishes and rules will begin."

Gael nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, 'Hah, I've been through a lot of fights in my life and participated in all sorts of tournaments, but this... Damn, this is something new even after all I've been through. It's amazing.

"About the reward. The winner gets to eat for free for a month, as well as a commemorative tavern token!" Grot proudly exclaimed.

Obviously, the opportunity to eat for free at the tavern wasn't necessary for Gael, a person with his position, who hadn't needed money or anything like that for a long time. But, the second part of the reward was interesting to him, for it was a memory or a remembrance of an unusual day. 

"So, what do you say? Will you join us?" Grot smirked.

Gael nodded, "Sure. How could I miss something like this? What's more, I like it spicy."

"Hah, I assure you, you'll change your mind after you taste my noodles! Even if you're Ashen, you'll still burn from the heat! Hahaha!" Grot laughed, then he clapped his palms and turned to the others, "We'll start in ten minutes. Vasa, get everything you need ready in the meantime."

"Sure!" Fox Girl replied vigorously and quickly ran to the kitchen.

For the next ten minutes, nothing happened. Everyone was in a state of anticipation. It was difficult to prepare so much food, especially considering how many customers there were in the tavern, but Grot was an experienced cook, he had owned and cooked for this tavern for years.

"Hey, have you participated in something like this before?" Gael asked, turning to Marg.

"Yeah, I even almost won once." Marg nodded, taking a sip of his beer.

"Practically? Someone beat you?" Gael raised an eyebrow.

Marg nodded and pointed to the side, at a huge bull with black skin and two long horns.

"That's Davon, a good guy, but sometimes acts a little too cocky, but that's not the most important thing. He's already won this tournament several times and even when he lost, he always made it to the last stages! Anyway, even though he's a beast, he's a real monster regarding food!" Marg exclaimed.

Gael nodded with a calm expression. He didn't know how much food he could eat since he had forgotten the last time he felt hungry.

'Hunger... Hah, when was the last time I felt the most ordinary hunger for food?' Gael internally muttered with a bitter smile. Being one of the strongest had its advantages as well as disadvantages.

The way the world worked was that when one gained something, one always lost something. It didn't necessarily have to be something valuable, but one could miss anything, even something as simple as hunger.

A crack.

The kitchen door opened as Grot walked in with a multitude of plates. He was followed by Vasa. They quickly put the plates on the tables and in a minute everyone had a huge portion of noodles in front of their faces.

There were streams of steam coming from the noodles, while red sauce was spreading on it, which seemed to say how spicy the dish was. There was a variety of seafood among the pasta, from mussels and shrimp to clams, but it was all just details because the size of the portion was huge.

"Damn... Do we only have ten minutes to eat this? Is that even realistic?" Gael muttered in a disbelief. He even had to raise his head a bit to see the top of the dish.

"Hah, the first time I saw it I had the same face as you! Don't worry, I'm sure you can handle at least the first portion!" Marg smirked, then took the large fork in his hands, "Well, there's no time to waste!"

Without hesitation, Marg started eating the noodles without stopping. The others did the same, all in a hurry as the faster they ate the first portion the better. Only ten people would be able to go further, so the competition was huge!

Vasa and Grot were watching, and their eyes fell on Gael. He was the only one who hadn't started eating yet.

"Hmm? Has he decided to give up?" Grot muttered puzzled, rubbing his cheek.

"No... Damn, there's something wrong with him, I can feel it." Vasa muttered with a hard stare. She had good instincts, better than the others.

"What are you talking about? I've seen plenty of travelers, and he's not much different from them. He's just as puzzled and surprised, though, he's probably the calmest of them all..." Grot said with a shrug.

Vasa narrowed her eyes, "That's exactly what I'm saying... I just hope he actually came here just to rest and relax."

After a few minutes, when most had already eaten a third of their portion, Gael sighed and picked up his fork. 

He held the fork differently than the others as if it were a sword, then he took a few swings. The massive portion of noodles split into several even pieces and Gael quickly began to devour them one by one.

With each bite, he clenched his jaw so powerfully that the noodles literally split into particles and practically turned into nothing, heading for his stomach with ease.

Gael didn't worry about being too full, since his body could absorb huge amounts of energy with great speed. Food was different from energy crystals, but there was something in common between the two.

'Fine... It won't be a problem for me.' Gael internally muttered while a fire burned inside his body incinerating all the food.

This didn't mean that the food was going nowhere and Gael was thus cheating, no, he was just digesting it quickly. He would get calories, and gradually it would make him as satiated as everyone else, but how many calories would Gael need to absorb before he couldn't eat anymore? Well, no one knew the exact value, but it was definitely more than one serving of noodles. 

"Phew, that wasn't easy, but it looks like I got through it faster than most." Gael muttered, holding his stomach. He had an empty plate in front of him with only a few drops of sauce left on it, he ate it all.

Marg who saw this got her eyes widened with surprise and quickly sped up. After a minute, he also finished, but it seemed that if he ate another bite he would just explode.

"Damn! How did you eat it all so fast?!" Marg exclaimed in disbelief, looking at Gael.

Gael shrugged, "I just divided the dish into portions and ate until I was done."

Marg shook his head, "Looks like I don't have to think about winning this time. I honestly didn't expect you to be able to do it, I underestimated you."

Gael smiled, "Well, I wouldn't give up early if I were you, but I won't hide it. This guy scares me."

"Hmm?" Marg raised an eyebrow, then he looked at Davon.

"He ate the whole thing in minutes, I watched him, and he wasn't even in a hurry. One bite of his was equal to several of mine, he's a real food destroyer." Gael said calmly.

Davon sat silently in his seat not paying attention to anyone. After he ate his portion, he simply crossed his arms over his chest and waited for everyone else to finish. He was taking this tournament seriously.

Clap.

After a few minutes, Grot clapped his hands together and exclaimed, "Stop! Ten minutes have passed! Everyone who failed is out of the tournament! The rest of you, wait for the next batch to be brought to you!"