The Taste of Chocolate

Daniel bit the slice of cake without the need of a fork and made a 'mmhh' sound. According to Daniel's logic, if there was no one around to scold, you could have your food as you please.

According to Jason's logic, the fewer dishes the better, so he didn't object. He took a bite of his own cake using a fork and congratulated himself on his choice of neighborhood. The expensive rents did not mean that the restaurants around would be better. In general, the price of the meal increased and the size of the meal decreased as the rent of the restaurant increased.

Two hunters and two kids were sitting while eating their cakes, watching the show Daniel found. Eve was on the sofa with Jason, Nedim was lying on the soft carpet on the floor. Daniel had turned one of the chairs from the open counter, which Jason used as the kitchen table, towards the monitor.

The blonde woman on the screen was throwing ice needles at her opponent right now. His opponent managed to get behind the woman and gave an evil laugh while holding a sword to her throat. ''Don't you still understand you can't be my equal, little girl?''

A tear fell from the woman's eye, but just one of her eyes. Then she bowed her head forward and her hair covered her face, ''I... I never admit defeat!!'' She said. Her tear froze in the air and began to shine, ''Soul-shattering secret technique, the frozen heart!!'' She yelled and everything around her started to freeze.

''Nah,'' Daniel protested with an unpleasant voice, ''You know this is not how people fight. I mean, who would let someone perform a lethal technique while holding a sword to their throat?''

Jason took another fork of his cake, ''They're not doing these shows to teach people how to fight. They do it to sell people the excitement and drama they couldn't live with in real life.''

Nedim chuckled, ''Still, I never got a power-up at the critical moment when I'm about to lose the fight,'' He said.

Jason looked at the kid, he had finished his cake and was stripping the remaining cream off the plate with his finger. He had all his face covered in chocolate. ''You don't get power-ups because you're about to lose, you realize that you are stronger than you thought at the critical moment since you mercilessly trained yourself before,'' Jason said.

Nedim smiled at him, ''I never do training before. But now that I'm your disciple so you're going to train me,'' He said. Jason nodded.

''Oh,'' Daniel said with surprise. ''You didn't tell me you had a disciple.'' He was looking at Nedim like he saw the kid for the first time. Jason could understand why he was surprised. Nedim was not a child you would be impressed with when you first met.

Nedim was not a genius or extremely handsome. He was no different from his peers except that he always looked a little battered. Jason realized his will determination he carried beneath his boyish joy and clumsiness. Nedim was one of those kids who did the right thing even when no one was watching. Jason was not.

''It's been a few hours, me neither haven't gotten used to having a disciple yet,'' Jason said to Daniel.

''What training?'' Eve asked. She was eating her cake with small bites and watching the show like she was not aware of the conversations. However, Jason had a feeling that the girl was listening all the time.

Nedim answered the girl, ''Body and mind, if you train these two enough you can access the eternal source of earth's energy even if you are not gifted.''

''And soul,'' Daniel added. ''Don't forget soul. It is the most important one of the three.''

Nedim frowned, ''Isn't it the same as mind?''

''No,'' Jason said. ''You can solve the hardest math problems and have the best tactics at war, but these don't indicate that you will have the will to continue when your world collapses.''

Nedim didn't seem to understand, but he didn't need to understand it anyway. There was no need to understand to have some characteristics. Jason hoped that when the time came the boy's soul would be strong enough. Because everyone's time would come sooner or later.

''I also want to access the eternal source of energy,'' Eve said while looking at Jason.

''I'm sure you can find better instructors than me at the Nyx temple,'' Jason said. ''Now you two,'' he pointed to Eve and Nedim, ''Find Zack and get pen and paper. Study the alphabet or something. Adults have boring jobs to do.''

Nedim left, dragging Eve after him. Being able to read was a chance never before given him. It was normal for him to be excited. Daniel shook his head, ''Study alphabet or something? What a responsible mentor you are.''

Jason shrugged his shoulders, ''The kid had no complaints.''

''He probably didn't hear the 'mercilessly' part of the training,'' Daniel said as grinning. ''Well, did you learn anything useful from the priestess? I heard you beat up one shapeshifter and scared the other away.''

Jason answered his grin with the same, ''Are they telling the story like that? Nyx guards will be upset that they didn't get their share of the praise.''

Daniel sighed in an artificial manner, ''I should know you aren't a good fighter as I am. Two shapeshifters against you? No way. They wouldn't even find your body.''

Jason threw his fork at Daniel, ''Hey, watch your tongue. Who wasn't a good fighter as you?''

Daniel caught the fork in the air with a laugh, ''Now tell me what really happened.''