A Reaper's Philosophy-Chapter 82: So Needy

4 barrels later:

"I’m like totally stronger than Master now. Recently sliced up a Heavenly Beast with this bad boy here." Azrael said to Charitoo then conjured his great sword.

"A beauty isn’t she; long, hard, and sturdy. You wanna hold it?" Azrael said with cockiness.

Charitoo rolled her eyes in response to Azrael’s audacity, but still couldn’t help but blush from the attention. The Neko race were below humans in Evnoia and were greatly outnumbered, as a result, they were treated like second class citizens, almost like animals.

"Haha, look at him go. Careful Bartender, Azrael might steal your waitress." Grayson said jokingly.

Azrael then suddenly stopped his flirting and began to walk towards the bar.

"A penis can be so needy...where’s the washroom? This thing is full again." Azrael asked walking towards Grayson and company.

"I have to take a leek as well, I’ll take you." Lilith said then swayed away, laughing with Azrael.

"You’ve been glaring at me all night...more than usual. You have something to say?" Grayson said to The Bartender after Azrael and Lilith left.

"I have been sensing Elda’s presence from you since you came back from your mission. Today, it’s much stronger. Tell me right now, what have you done to my friend?" The Bartender asked giving off a slight pressure.

Although the pressure was only minor, to Grayson, it felt like the weight of the world was on him. The pressure came with an unrivaled authority.

"Elda is alive, but she’s resting right now." Grayson said it as it is, not daring to beat around the bush.

"I saw her corpse; that body was not a fake. How is she alive now?" The Bartender challenged, increasing his pressure.

"I wouldn’t dare to lie to you." Grayson said with an awkward smile.

"Sorry..." The Bartender said with a wry smile, releasing the pressure off of Grayson. He only now realized he had lost his composure. Both of them went silent as they drank from their barrels.

"What are you?" The Bartender asked, breaking the silence.

"A reaper." Grayson answered.

"Stop playing games." The Bartender said looking serious once again.

"I already told you, I wouldn’t dare lie to you." Grayson said as he released an overwhelming amount of his aura of death, a familiar aura unique only to reapers.

Suddenly, everyone around the bar began to collapse. However, The Bartender didn’t look fazed, by the aura, even in the slightest.

"This aura...so you were telling the truth. Elda really is still alive!" The Bartender said feeling relieved.

"What business does a reaper have in Madsus City though?" The Bartender asked another question.

Grayson then told him of everything that had happened since coming to Evnoia and caught him up.

"Hahaha, you’re fucked. I’ve met Dunamis and you are nowhere close to his level of strength. You might as well take it easy and wait for your death." The Bartender said still laughing.

"I plan on acquiring the Despicable Deity’s Inheritance, how do you find my chances then?" Grayson asked.

"Hmm, the Despicable Deity was one of the strongest hosts I know. If it’s his inheritance, you just might have a shot at it. However, no one has been able to acquire his inheritance for hundreds of years. He was quite a picky little bastard. His requirements are most likely absurd. I wouldn’t bet on it." The Bartender replied.

"How absurd?" Grayson asked curiously.

"He didn’t want just any ordinary being taking his inheritance. It had to be someone with extreme talent; someone with the potential to surpass his level. Throughout all his life there was only one candidate worthy of his inheritance, but he wasn’t interested in it." The Bartender answered.

...

"Decorum requires your body’s gender to go to a different room I believe." Azrael said to Lilith, who was following him into the men’s washroom.

"It’s all the way on the other side. Screw decorum, I always go to whichever is closest." Lilith said pushing Azrael aside.

She then began to take off her pants, eager to go pee.

"This isn’t appropriate." Azrael said then turned to leave. Lilith then grabbed Azrael’s wrist with her long, furry tail and halt his departure.

"You’ve already seen me naked before, why are you so uptight all of a sudden?" Lilith asked curiously.

"My new body now has urges and desires I never had before. Master cares for you too much for me to be lusting over you. It’s not right." Azrael answered.

"Oh, so you’re attracted to me now?" Lilith said teasingly then stepped closer to Azrael.

"You are the most important thing to my master. I can feel it. You are the only one he deeply cares for. You cannot be created, neither can you be replaced. There is no one like you in his life. I could never betray his trust. Even by allowing myself to be in this situation." Azrael said in a serious tone.

"You’re sooo uptiiight, Azrael. Grayson cares for no one but himself. That never changed, even when he was with Elaine." Lilith said, not believing a single word Azrael said.

"I come from my Master. I am my own being, but, I am also a part of him. I feel what he feels for you, just like how he feels my connection to him.

The stronger I become the more I understand his will. I am not wrong about this and would rather die than betray him." Azrael said with passionate determination.

"Ugh, alright, you can wait outside." Lilith said.

"As I should...but please hurry, I feel like I’m holding back a flood down there!" Azrael said sweating as he walked out, leaving Lilith in deep thought..

...

"How’s your wound looking now?" The Bartender asked Grayson.

"So you’ve noticed..." Grayson said with a smile.

"Every bar in Madsus City, and anywher else, has two methods of producing alcohol: One is through high quality fruits that are rich with exousia, and the other is by using our own exousia to increase the potency of the alcohol. That is the only way to produce alcohol capable of getting hosts drunk. Our bodies have evolved too much.

The alcohol in my special barrels is imbued with my own exousia. As such, any use of it does not go unnoticed by me, even when outside my body. You’ve been using my exousia to counter Dunamis’ intent and refine your body. You have amazing control of the energy inside your body. I suppose only a reaper would be crazy enough to pull off something like this. Anyone else would have died using my power to refine their body like that." The Bartender said with a hint of praise.

"I am the Reaper of Poisons, the alcohol mixed with your exousia is perfect for strengthening my body. I didn’t mean to intrude." Grayson said innocently.

In Evnoia, strength was everything. Those with power are the only ones who could get the final say. Madsus City was ruled by a queen, however, everyone knew that the one who was truly in charge was The Bartender. Naturally, every important decision in the city was run by him whether he wanted to or not.

"Don’t worry about it. No harm done." The Bartender said.

"So, you won’t mind if I have 10 more of these barrels yes?" Grayson asked then jugged down the barrel he had in hand.

"So long as you have the money to pay for them, be my guest hahaha." The Bartender said laughing.

"I’ll take them now then, I’d like to concentrate on healing my wound and getting back to full strength." Grayson said.

The Bartender then left and came back with another 10 barrels.

"That’s it for me tonight, I’ll be in my room. After refining all the exousia within the barrels, I’ll be sure to pay you." Grayson said walking away with 10 barrels hovering around him. Each one was kept afloat by his dark cloud.

"I don’t doubt that you will." The Bartender said with a mischievous smile.

This of course did not go unnoticed by Grayson, but he did not think anything of it. He immediately went upstairs to his room and began refining his body.

"Where is master?" Azrael asked The Bartender after getting back.

"He said he is done for the night. The bar is open 24/7 so feel free to keep drinking on him." The Bartender said.

"Don’t Mind If We Dooo! Bartender, prepare to meet your maker!" Lilith shouted from behind.

They then drank all the way till morning. Throughout the entire night, Lilith still failed to get The Bartender drunk.

Morning came quickly for Grayson and he had yet to expel Dunamis’ intent from his body. He hadn’t even used up The Bartender’s exousia within him yet. He continued this process throughout the day. Around late afternoon, he had finally used up all the exousia. The intent within his body had greatly diminished, but was still there. Because of this, the wound on is body greatly improved and Grayson was able to gain some major relief from the pain.

"I will need to ingest a few more barrels in order to expel this intent." Grayson said to himself.

The exousia used to make The Bartender’s alcohol was the purest energy Grayson had ever felt. It felt like a direct link to exousia itself.

Grayson was finally finished, so he got himself ready and went downstairs. He still had 4 barrels from the 10 he took the night before, so he left them in his room.

In the dining area he found Azrael and Lilith drinking soup. They seemed to have recently woken up. They weren’t hangover, but just looked drained. Charitoo sat next to Azrael and seemed to be happy talking with him.

Sitting next to Lilith, to Grayson’s surprise, was one of his students from the so-called class of elites.