Free Web NovelChapter 155: Tea Party
The sky was different there. The land was different. Even the mana moved in a way Max could not fully understand, slower and purer, as if the world itself had still been young enough to breathe without scars. He watched from afar as light gathered in the middle of that ancient scene, and within it, a figure slowly turned toward him.
It was a young man, extremely handsome, with long black hair falling over his shoulders and eyes as brown as living wood. His face carried a calm smile, one that looked gentle at first, yet somehow carried the weight of someone who had waited far longer than any ordinary life should allow.
"I have been waiting for you for so long," the young man said, his voice soft, but clear enough to reach Max through whatever distance separated them. "The one kissed by creation itself..."
His voice was so gentle that it sounded as if it held no malicious intention at all, and that alone made the hair on Max’s body stand on end. His instincts did not relax because of that softness. If anything, his whole body entered an even sharper state of alert, every part of him preparing for whatever might happen next.
"No need to be scared," the man said, a soft laugh resting on his lips as he gestured toward his own body. "Even if I wanted to hurt you, I could not do so physically in the state I am in now."
"Are you the previous ruler of spirits?" Max asked, while his hand desperately tried to summon his void blade, only for nothing to answer him.
"You like to get right to the point, don’t you?" the man said with a faint smile.
The scene shifted before Max could respond.
His body was suddenly pulled away with incredible strength, as if he had become nothing more than a weightless feather caught in a storm. The ancient world around him stretched into long colors, the young man’s figure blurring together with the sky, the land, and the strange mana of that forgotten time until Max could no longer tell whether he was moving through space or memory itself.
When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting under a blue sky.
A tall tree cast a wide shadow over him, its branches swaying gently above while leaves whispered with a sound that felt far too calm after everything he had just endured. He sat cross-legged on soft grass before a small wooden table, and on that table rested several ancient mugs, their surfaces carved with faded patterns Max could not recognize.
The man sat across from him as if this was the most natural thing in the world.
"Tea?" he asked.
Before Max could answer, the man had already lifted a small pot and poured a hot beverage into one of the mugs, steam curling upward in thin white lines while a strange, earthy fragrance spread through the air.
Everything felt ancient here, even the manners the man carried himself with.
"I don’t have time to idle around and play dolls with you here," Max said, pushing the mug to the side as he tried to stand up, only to find that his body could not move even an inch. frёeωebɳovel.com
"Do not rush it. Life is a very short thread, so enjoy as much as you can before you reach the end." The young man did not seem bothered by Max’s unfriendly gesture at all. Instead, he calmly pushed the mug full of tea back toward him. "Drink. Do not be shy."
He sat on the other side of the small wooden table with his legs crossed perfectly, as if he had spent his entire life practicing just to sit in this exact position. He wore a long garment of pure white silk that did not even look like ordinary clothing, but something extravagant and simple at the same time, fitting for someone whose status Max could not yet understand. There was no crown on his head, no throne beneath him, no army standing behind his back, yet everything about him carried the quiet weight of someone who had once stood above countless beings.
"Fine."
Max picked up the mug with one hand, intending to gulp everything down in one go, but then he noticed the man’s eyes calmly staring at him from across the table.
He sighed heavily.
Then he placed the mug to his lips properly and took a drink.
The second the liquid touched his tongue, Max’s eyes widened.
"Delicious!"
The word left him almost against his will, as if he had completely forgotten for a moment that a mysterious being was sitting before him, watching him with that same calm smile.
Almost immediately, warmth began to spread through Max’s body. It started in his throat, then sank into his chest, his stomach, his limbs, and finally into the deeper parts of him that had been torn apart by the trial. All the pain he had endured on this journey, all the wounds, lightning strikes, bloody steps, and deaths he had been forced to carry, were slowly washed away like a soft tidal wave brushing sand from the shore.
Max’s fingers tightened slightly around the mug.
For the first time since entering the throne room, his body felt quiet.
"I mixed some valerian root, lemon balm, and chamomile together, along with a little secret ingredient of mine," the man began to explain, pointing toward the mug as if he could see every single ingredient floating inside the tea.
"Something like this... it’s not bad to slow down after all," Max replied, taking another sip despite himself.
"Nothing like the tea from your world on Earth, is it?" the man said, his calm smile deepening. "Even with all the technology you mortals have, it will never compare to the perfect fire control I possess."
He raised his nose slightly toward the sky, looking far too proud over something as simple as brewing tea, but that was not the part that shocked Max.
Max’s fingers tightened around the mug.
For a moment, the warmth spreading through his body no longer felt comforting. His eyes slowly lifted from the tea and locked onto the man sitting across from him.
"W-what did you just say?"
