Supremacy Games

In Felix's eyes, this was an absolute banger of a treasure that he didn't even know existed in this universe!

'Burning neutral energy as fuel? Interesting, I have never heard of such treasure or effect before.' Lady Sphinx remarked with an intrigued tone.

'This galaxy is really a marvelous place.' Elder Kraken expressed, 'Not a single natural treasure has been found to convert neutral energy outside of this galaxy. Yet, those volcanic folks have no issues trading one with ordinary food.'

'Shit, shit, shit!' 

The more Felix heard his masters' remarks, the more he desired to have this natural treasure...Even if they didn't say anything, he wanted it dearly since the notion of having his exhaustion wiped away was too good to give up on.

However, he understood that if he agreed to the deal, he wouldn't be able to get a favor from Lord Heatiaz...After all, it would seem too fishy to accept the treasure as well seeking a favor.

'How do I play this to get both?'

Felix used his lightning-quick reflexes to brainstorm a method that would enable him to secure both before Zytoss got alerted.

He went through many methods but he kept shutting them down as he knew that Lord Heatiaz was too smart to not see through them.

In the end, Felix realized that he was left with only one risky method.

"Eternal Firestone...Uh...It sounds good, but I already have no issues with my energy management." Felix replied awkwardly, "Plus, I don't know if this item is going to harm me in the long run. I am just a human and I don't have either fire affinity or fire immunity."

Zytoss hastily tried to promote his treasure after hearing Felix's response...However, nothing he said managed to change Felix's attitude toward this trade.

Just as he planned to deliver the news to Lord Heatiaz, Felix interjected with a humble tone, "I feel bad about rejecting your attempts like this. How about you connect me with Lord Heatiaz? We might work something out together."

"Uh, okay, give me a second." Zytoss knew that he couldn't reject Felix as it would cause their trade to collapse immediately.

So, he contacted his father and narrated all the points that were brought up by Felix to reject their treasure.

When he was done, Lord Heatiaz took over his consciousness forcefully to speak with Felix before Zytoss could even tell him about it.

Suddenly, Zytoss' entire form and facial features remained the same but his expression and tone had changed drastically...Even the atmosphere inside the village hall seemed to have gotten stiffened and hot like they were transported into a sauna.

"Outsider, this is Lord Heatiaz speaking."

"It's an honor to me you, my lord." Felix bowed his head respectfully.

"Hmm, I dislike beating around the bush, so tell me what you want exactly to get this over with." Lord Heatiaz said with an indifferent tone.

"Lord, I really want to make a fair trade with your tribe, but the treasures offered haven't moved me. Still, I am willing to get the Eternal Firestone for a thousand food containers." Felix smiled politely, "Consider it as a start to a friendship."

Lord Heatiaz remained silent at Felix's statement as he merely kept staring at him expressionlessly, making it impossible for Felix to know what was going through his mind.

Still, Felix was a veteran con artist and had complete control over his emotions, making Lord Heatiaz notice not an ounce of deceit in his eyes.

"I don't need giveaways." Lord Heatiaz remarked with a flat tone, "Since you aren't interested in our treasures, I will accept the trade and I will owe you a favor. However, you will have to throw an extra thousand containers."

"My favors aren't cheap."

Although Felix was ecstatic inside, he showed a somewhat hesitant expression like a large number of containers was a bit too much to swallow.

The last thing he wanted was to show that his stock wasn't affected negatively by this trade.

'Hmm, is he acting or have I asked for too much?' Lord Heatiaz thought to himself, 'Maybe he didn't smuggle so much?'

Lord Heatiaz might be an extraordinary figure on this planet, but he still wasn't too familiar with or knowledgeable about the alliance's matters since they were mostly classified.

So, he really had no clue about the food's prices or Felix's rich identity, making him assume that he might not have been able to bring too much.

Before he could think too much about this, Felix showed a forced polite smile and said, "I agree to your terms."

"Good." Lord Heatiaz dropped the previous subject and showed a faint pleased smile at his trade going through.

'Haha! Two thousand food containers will last us an entire month!' Zytoss celebrated in his mind.

"Supreme Elder will handle the delivery process." Lord Heatiaz eyed Felix calmly and added one last time, "Don't waste your favor on something useless."

'Don't worry, you will be surprised.' Felix snickered in his mind as he watched Zytoss' expression return to normal, marking the departure of Lord Heatiaz.

"Follow me." Felix requested.

...

Felix took Zytoss to an empty area in the forest outside of the village and beamed the two thousand containers on the grass field, creating a humongous metallic colorful cube.

"Supreme Elder, we are ready for the trade." Felix spoke out loud with a respectful tone.

"I am also ready to be taken away." Zytoss stated as he stood near the containers.

In the blink of an eye, the humongous metallic cube and Zytoss disappeared out of existence after a bright flash of light!

After the flash of light dimmed down, Felix noticed a medium-sized rugged orange rock hovering above the grass. It wasn't burning but he could feel an intense heat being released from it.

"The trade is complete and I have taken the delivery payment." Elder Strauvis' voice thundered from the sky akin to a deity speaking a new mantra.

"Thank you, Supreme Elder."

Felix bowed in appreciation and walked towards the hovering Eternal Firestone.

He wasn't surprised by the delivery process as he had gotten used to it in the past year after many similar deliveries.

At the start, Felix wondered if the Elementals had spatial cards or similar items to hold those containers but his inquires were answered after he realized that Elder Strauvis was the playing deliveryman for all the tribes.

With his complete control over elements and laws in his celestial body, it wasn't surprising...Though what was surprising was the fact that Elder Strauvis' deliveries weren't free.

He took only food as payment, making it a luxury for those Elementals to abuse his deliveries.

That's why Zytoss had to fly all the way here but easily teleported himself back to his tribe as they could afford to pay him.

Elder Strauvis might be a planet's consciousness, but he also desired to enjoy good food like anyone else.

"He said I need to consume this...Did he know that I am able to eat minerals, or is there another method of eating this?" Felix spoke to himself as he played with the Eternal Firestone in his hands.

"Maybe you should crack it like an egg?" Asna suggested after noticing that the Firestone seemed to have a hollow interior.

"Maybe, you're right."

Felix shook it and realized that there was something gooey inside of it. So, Felix sat on the ground and used force to cut the upper half of the Firestone to make sure that nothing spill out.

"Oooh, this looks like molten gold." Felix reacted with a mesmerized look after noticing a golden liquified gooey substance that resembled honey.

Despite the intense heat, Felix reached out with his finger to touch the golden substance. Nothing much happened besides his finger feeling warm.

"Should I taste it first?" Felix wondered as he brought his finger next to his mouth and smelled it.

Zytoss had told him that Firestone was tested on one outsider and nothing wrong happened to him after he was bestowed with its gifts...Still, Felix wasn't too eager to put something in his body without making sure of its safety.

After all, Zytoss' words couldn't be fully trusted...Even if what he said wasn't a lie, that outsider might be from another race that was compatible with this treasure unlike him.

Without the UVR, it wasn't possible to do a dummy safety test.

"What do you think, master?" Felix asked Lady Sphinx.

"Just eat it." Lady Sphinx said calmly, "If it doesn't work, the worst it came to do to you is ruin one of your hearts...You can easily recover it."

Felix nodded in understanding and licked his finger...To his surprise, his tasting puds were assaulted by a warm sweet taste like he was eating hot caramel.

Felix decided to wait a few moments to see how his body would react. In a few seconds, his three main hearts felt slightly warm.

"So far so good."

When nothing seemed wrong, Felix got bolder and picked the Firestone with both of his hands. Then, he brought it close to his mouth and began gulping down the golden substance.

In less than a few seconds, he finished the whole thing...Still not satisfied, he manifested a crystalized spoon and began scraping the inner surface of The Firestone.

Then, he ate what he gathered, not caring that some pieces of the rugged stone were mixed with the gooey substance.

After he made sure that not a single ounce of golden substance was left behind, Felix finally placed the Firestone on his lap and burped in satisfaction.

"Ahhh, it feels soo good." He uttered happily as he felt warmness in all of his hearts.

Before he could enjoy the sensation a bit more, Felix noticed a weird orange aura being emitted from his skin, making him seem like he had caught on fire.

Whoosh Whoosh!

Abruptly, the wind around him started rushing in his direction like he was a black hole.

The fire aura kept increasing in size and intensity during the process, seeming like it was feeding on the wind or something!

But Felix knew exactly what was going on as he could sense everything!

"Holy, this is happening so fast!" He exclaimed in shock as the fire aura kept raging around him, making him resemble a super saiyan during his transformation!

Felix didn't even bet an eye on that as his main focus was on the massive quantity of neutral energy being automatically absorbed by his hearts and transfered into fuel to recover all of his energies! 

Whether they were elemental, physical, or mental! Felix was feeling like he was being refreshed from top to bottom!

"Interesting, it even recovers all of your elemental energies." Lady Sphinx expressed, "It's not as fast or efficient as the elemental conversion technique, but it is doing something."