LiÆs mouth twitched That was probably the longest speech he had ever heard from Huang Shou And he couldnÆt deny it was something that he had needed to hear at the moment They sat in silence then for almost ten minutes Huang Li pressed his fingers against the windows of the housing and felt the chill of the outside world creeping through the glass Small snowflakes drifted downward dancing lazily with each other on their journey to the ground
Eventually Li flexed his hands to disperse the numbness in his fingertips and spoke although I donÆt think the Ghosthound is quite so isolated as you say He is currently hosting the tournament after all
Huang Shou snorted The altar that young man worships at is power This whole arrangement is an edifice to that power Aside from protecting the participants have you seen the Ghosthound do much else I wouldnÆt be surprised if he was also constantly training on the side during the matches The obsessed donÆt easily waiver
Chapter 1451
This rest day was a day filled with expectation The shape of the final matches had been made clear Anticipation was thick in the air
Helio Udunes expertly chopped the onions and then threw them into the large wooden bowl with the shredded potatoes His left hand squirted oil into the bowl while his right grabbed a handful of mixed salt and spices and tossed it on top With experienced movements he brought a wooden spoon into the bowl and churned the base ingredients for his famous Orchard Hash
Rather than human movements his hands had achieved something close to a machine like precision as he furiously pumped away at the ingredients The long tendons of his forearm stood out in sharp relief as he engaged in the labor intensive act He didnÆt consciously count the number of times he churned and spun the potatoes and onions but his eyes closely followed the color and consistency
If someone had been counting the number they would have noticed that he set the finished bowl down on the aluminum table after the exact same number of stirs as he had with the previous batch But even then his hands didnÆt rest Helio turned to the layered hash that was already sizzling on the griddle and expertly began cutting off square portions that spat out grease
Finding a minute imperfection Helio frowned He added a pinch more of shredded cheddar cheese on top of one of the squares
Because the seasons had finally laboriously began shifting deeper into autumn the heat of the griddle and the sound of sizzling oil was extremely reassuring compared to the light dusting of snow outside Individuals with glasses pushed through the wooden door and had their glasses fogged up Even though most people in the Orchard had high enough Stats that the cold wasnÆt a significant inconvenience there was just something compelling about warmth the streets generally housed only people hurrying from one shelter to another
Aside from Helio working the grill there were four people sitting in HelioÆs small restaurant There were two cramped wooden tables and sets of chairs that he had barely been able to squeeze into the lot given to him but strangely all four of the customers were sitting at a single table They were crumpled like sardines but no one seemed to mind That was just the way that it was
Their voices were loud so it was quite easy for Helio to keep track of their conversation At first Helio had believed that they were purposefully trying to include him and was slightly touched But as he understood these people better they were simply loud
Oh Alana has been a Legend for at least a year now since when the Ghosthound cast aside Donnyton Liam was saying with a deep frown His hands were resting on his bulging stomach Liam was a Zone 1 native and claimed to have obtained his Class from East Providence For those who cared about such things this was apparently quite prestigious a claim Heh this Li or whatever might look flashy but heÆs newly arrived at that type of strength I have no doubt they will lose quickly in the next match
Liam had large hands and thick fingers He used those almost sausage like fingers to poke the table every few words as though to emphasize his point
Helio turned his attention from the cooking hash to the next batch in the bowl Narrowing his eyes Helio consulted his Skill Then he took several smaller pinches of spices and mixed them in more carefully Personally Helio didnÆt believe that Liam was anything close to one of the original members of Zone 1 He was to put it bluntly quite weak The air around him held not even a whiff of an image
But Helio was exactly the opposite of these people he was a very quiet person
Are you sure Were you there I was sitting directly behind the Zone 1 side of the stands so the attack was coming right at me Cleary was a sharp eyed woman who seemed to be constantly looking at the exit to the restaurant while she was here Helio always wondered whether she was dreading or anticipating someoneÆs arrival She didnÆt wear a wedding ring or have a tan line but Helio suspected all was not settled in her personal life The woman continued to talk with a wide open mouth completely obviously to HelioÆs sharp but brief glance That attack was powerful I think that they can at least make it to the finals with an attack like that
Sluurrpp Ning sucked deeply at her straw her eyes on the table Of the four the woman from the Great Sea Zone didnÆt speak much For that reason Helio liked her the best But that didnÆt mean he liked her very much in the end
He walked out from behind the grill with a pitcher and poured her another large glass of lemonade She didnÆt even acknowledge him this was simply his role Helio turned away and placed the pitch back on the shelf Then his finely honed Skills from cooking prodded him to return and check on the hash once more
Evater who was a veritable wall of flexing muscle shook his head with enough force that his ponytail bobbed behind his head He was from the Zone 32 but had gotten his Class and training from the Refuge Impossible The finals At least on this subject Liam is right They might have shown they have the power of a Legend but do you think any of the people they will be fighting arenÆt at that level These people can level a city just like that
Helios slipped his spatula underneath the cooking hash and checked the bottom it was golden brown and perfect He moved the chunks of finished hash to four plates
Lucifer Hank and Alana Cleary said counting on her fingers They are definitely Legends But the Ghosthound only had to intervene in that one fight in the prior round DoesnÆt that prove how powerful the Huangs are
Bah thatÆs only because the other fights were more one sided That fight was just the best matchup If that chinaman hadnÆt been so wild he would have just lost Liam harrumphed and crossed his arms Helios brought out the four plates and set them in front of everyone For a brief while the conversation was stalled as people began to eat Helios truly relished the silence
He opened up a cooler and pulled out a few more lemons He could already see the level of NingÆs lemonade in her cup sinking downward toward empty With a small knife Helio sliced the lemons in half and squeezed their juice out into a bowl
The four didnÆt have any reason in particular to be friends but there was a betting house next to HelioÆs restaurant that was the common point between them After several tumultuous rounds these four winning gamblers simply made it a habit to head here and gossip after all the bets were tallied
They all were locked into a strange competition outside of the actual competition who between them had the most insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the contenders And that competition was only becoming more vicious as the number of participants was narrowed down With only eight duos remaining HeliosÆs four customers were determined to prove their superiority over each other