Nameless King

Grot along with Vasa, headed to the kitchen, they had one last dish to prepare. Gael and Davon, at this time, were breathing heavily and trying to recover. This little break was necessary for them, as they wouldn\'t be able to eat even one bite right now, their bodies just wouldn\'t be able to take it.

"You\'re holding up pretty well... I\'m actually surprised..." Davon muttered, sighing heavily after each word, "A few times Ashens has appeared here before, but they didn\'t even make it to the second stage and stopped at noodles."

Gael smiled, "I just really like to eat, and I was hungry, really hungry."

Davon smirked, "I hope that in the finals you gather your strength and don\'t back down. I want to win, but I won\'t mind at all if you can do it, in a worthy confrontation."

Gael nodded, "Yeah, I agree with you. Only a fair and hard win has value, as it leaves memories."

Davon just smiled.

There was silence in the tavern for over ten minutes. The Beastfolks were whispering to each other, thinking about what would be the end and who would win. At this time, Grot and Vasa were trying their best to prepare the final dish as quickly as possible.

"Mr. Grot... I can\'t take it anymore..." Vasa said, stepping aside and falling into a chair in the corner of the room. Her face was pale and her eyes were empty.

Grot nodded, "Sure, I understand. We\'re almost done anyway, just a few last details left."

...

After another ten minutes, Grot and Vasa walked out of the kitchen. Vasa slowly followed Grot, while the tavern owner carried a huge dish that he could barely hold with his massive hands.

Crackle.

He set the dish on the stone table, and a shadow fell over the participants. It was a huge cream cake covered in a multitude of fruits and berries on all sides.

"Apparently, dessert is only served at the very end, isn\'t it?" Grot smirked, then he took a deep breath and said, "There is no time limit, but you must not stop eating. Your main goal is to get to the center and eat what\'s there."

Grot continued, "However, you can\'t just make a tunnel with your spoons and win, you have to eat everything in your way, every inch of that cake."

Gael and Davon nodded, they understood the rules, and they were not going to break them. They wanted to win fair, and this was the best way to accomplish that.

Tap.

Grot gave them large spoons and confidently announced, "Begin!"

Gael and Davon exchanged glances, nodded to each other, and started eating.

The first bite was unusual for Gael. He couldn\'t remember the last time he\'d eaten something sweet, for he just didn\'t have a need for it. Even regular food wasn\'t necessary for him, but accidentally stumbling upon some piece of meat was possible, but not a cake like this.

\'Damn... This is unbelievable...\' Gael internally muttered, with fire in his eyes.

He had eaten as much as no other person could before, but despite that, Gael continued to speed up.

Unlike him, Davon tried something new and unique every day, as all Beastfolks were fans of food, so he didn\'t have the same childlike joy as Gael.

That\'s what made them different from each other at that moment and it helped that Gael quickly ate half of his portion. He had a little more to go and he could make it to the center.

Davon tried to maintain this insane pace but he just couldn\'t do it, Gael was ahead and Davon was losing no matter how hard he tried.

After a few minutes, when Gael was already struggling to hold the spoon, he finally saw something amongst the white cream soaking through the layers of cake. It was a brown sphere, medium-sized, that could fit perfectly on the spoon Grot had given them.

"Isn\'t that..." Gael muttered, pulling the sphere out of the cake, "Chocolate... right?"

"Hahaha, exactly! That\'s what I hid in the center! A chocolate sphere with hot chocolate inside!" Grot exclaimed as a wide smile appeared on his face, "Looks like we\'ll have a new winner today! Go ahead, all you have to do is eat that sphere, and you\'ll win!"

Gael nodded, slowly bringing the spoon towards him. He opened his mouth wide, and in one bite he covered the entire sphere, which quickly broke apart, filling his mouth with a flavor long forgotten to him.

Gael had tasted chocolate only a few times in his entire life. Of course, if he wanted to, he could afford as much chocolate as he wanted, but he just stopped thinking about such things because it was no longer necessary for him. 

When he wanted chocolate he couldn\'t afford it, and when it was no longer a problem he just didn\'t think about it. 

Everyone waited for Gael to finish to see his reaction and joy at winning, but instead, something else happened.

"Wow... Why does he look so happy, is it because of the chocolate?" Cat girl muttered in a confusion.

"Hmm... I don\'t know, maybe." The wolf shrugged, "Everyone loves chocolate, but could it be that it\'s causing such an emotion? I think he\'s already celebrating victory."

After a while, Gael finished and looked at Grot.

Grot nodded and held out to Gael a silver medallion, with a bear badge next to a beehive. It was the mark of the tavern, so it was also what the winner of this tournament received. 

"Thank you." Gael nodded, taking the medallion, then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Everyone was going to celebrate his victory, but at that moment no one could speak as they felt incredibly pressured.

They didn\'t understand where it came from, then they all saw streams of energy coming out of Gael\'s body. With each second they became more and more powerful until they were visible and even tangible.

White streams passed through everything, touching every part of the town like threads of a spider\'s web spreading around.

Gradually, the powerful pressure was replaced by lightness and everyone felt the power within them begin to grow.

"What\'s happening...?" One of the residents muttered, looking up puzzled. The sky was clear and clean, yet there were particles of ash falling to the ground like snowflakes.

The inhabitants didn\'t understand what was happening, but they didn\'t feel alarmed or think that it was a sign of danger. Their instincts were completely calm, moreover, they could feel their bodies absorbing this energy and becoming stronger.

"Wait... That aura... You\'re not from Second Chronicle..." Grot muttered in a disbelief.

"Yeah, I\'m sorry for keeping it from you. However, until the very end, I held back my aura to fight fair. Now, I need to move on, there\'s someone waiting for me." Gael nodded, then he waved his hand.

Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooosh.

A massive sphere of ash appeared in the center of the tavern and tiny flowers began to fly out of it. Everyone got their own flower.

"I\'m not exactly sure how much energy is in them, but I think it will definitely help you get to the next Chronicle, though most likely in a few at once." Gael smiled before heading towards the exit.

"Wait!" Davon exclaimed, "Who are you really and what are you doing here!"

Gael sighed, "I\'m The Invincible One! Hah, maybe that\'s why I haven\'t lost even now? Who knows?"

Whooooooooooooooooooosh.

The next moment, Gael disappeared with a stream of ashes. No one knew where he ended up, Gael just vaporized.

"What was that...?" Grot was as puzzled as everyone else.

"Wait... I think I figured it out..." Marg\'s eyes went wide with coldness down his back.

Everyone directed their gazes in his direction.

"He\'s Ashen, and his name is Gael, and he also said he\'s the Invincible One..." Marg gulped, "Doesn\'t that mean the Progenitor of Ashens was just here?"

There was silence since no one could believe what they were hearing, but, gradually, they began to realize that Marg\'s theory was probably correct since everything fit together. Especially Gael\'s incredibly powerful aura.

"Damn... So I could just defeat The Invincible himself?" Davon muttered with a bitter smile on his face, then he picked up his spoon and continued eating the remaining cake, "Hah, no victory has ever brought me as much pleasure as this defeat. It\'s really something unique."

Grot and Vasa looked over with dazed expressions.

"So we were cooking for one of the Progenitors today...?" Grot muttered in a disbelief.

Vasa gulped, "Yeah... And judging by these gifts, he liked everything..." Vasa looked at the ashy flower hovering above her palms.

"Agh... Well, this is something I wasn\'t prepared for, but it\'s actually amazing... I\'ll never forget this day..." Grot let out a heavy sigh, brushing the sweat off his forehead as a happy smile appeared on his face.