Chapter 246 - The Captains' Banquet
10:00 AM sharp...
Peep Peep!
Felix's focus was broken by the bracelet's alarm going off over and over again.
"It's been 7 hours already?" He murmured in surprise.
He truly felt like he spent just an hour or two on his practice.
Alas, the small mound of broken black stones lying next to him was enough of proof that he was just too engrossed in his manipulation to notice or even bother thinking about other matters.
Plus, he didn't see any drastic improvement during his practice, as every manifestation had almost the same delay or slightly above the other.
Though, to make sure if he really didn't improve during those 8 hours of practice, he decided to create the same string, the same ping-ball, and the same snake, which he took data of.
Immediately,?he extended his palm and ordered for the string of poison to manifest. After waiting for only a second and a half, the mist converged as a string on his palm!
Felix couldn't help but grin widely in delight at the fact that a half-second was shaved from just 8 hours of practice!
Yet, this wasn't all as the following ping-pong ball and the snake almost had that half a second removed.
"Hehe, If I kept practicing like this each day, it wouldn't be long before I start using small-sized abilities of my own creation." He laughed in elation while standing up from his meditation position.
The results were satisfactory and now he only needed to be putting effort to remove the delay and start using poison manipulation to his pleasure.
Rumble...Rumble
Hearing his stomach complaining again at him fasting since he entered his hotel's room, Felix pressed it with his hand and beamed three food containers.
However, after remembering that the banquet was going to end in an hour and it was quite far from his hotel, he realized that he would not make it if he ate here while still undressed.
"Might as well eat in the banquet." Deciding so, Felix retrieved the food containers in his spatial card before beaming a formal black suit on the bed.
He removed the sealed plastic and placed down each part of the suit separately on the bed. He started to undress, leaving only a t-shirt and boxers.
He swiftly wore the pants first, followed by the white shirt before throwing the jacket on it.
He went to the mirror and fixed his pitch-black tie and hairstyle. He already got a haircut in the camp. Thus he wasn't struggling to fix it up.
"Asna, how do I look?" Felix asked, feeling satisfied by his reflection.
"Meh. I have seen better." She replied playfully, mimicking Felix's voice when he said the same to her months ago.
"You are truly the next level of holding grudges, aren't you?"
Annoyed and somewhat amused, Felix chuckled as he went back to the bed and wore brown leather shoes.
After seeing that he was ready, he left his room, heading to the elevator.
On his way, he made sure to inform one of the designated drivers to the team to bring a car in front of the hotel.
Ti-ring!
The moment the elevator opened up, Felix noticed that it was already full with multiple bloodliners belonging to other teams.
Their team uniforms and different mutations gave them off.
Even without them, Felix realized that they were bloodliners as this hotel, just like a few others in the capital Berlin was fully reserved for the countries teams and their staff members.
"Good evening, Mr. Felix. It's an honor to meet you."
The instant Felix stepped into the elevator. He was greeted with enthusiasm by a teenager, who appeared to be a middle-eastern.
"Likewise." Felix smiled politely as he nodded at him. Then, he turned around and faced the door of the elevator, not adding anything else.
Seeing so, the teenager also decided to respect the cue given to him and drop the conversation that he was building in his mind.
Ti-ring!
Felix nodded his head politely at the teenager before stepping outside of the elevator.
He looked around him while walking to the entrance, eying the packed hall with juniors coming in and out.
No one seemed worried about getting assassinated as Germany's government went all out in the protection and security that was provided.
Police officers were roaming the streets and even some army troops with firearms. This gave a sense of safety to those juniors and also the instructors.
If it wasn't for them, George wouldn't dare head to the parade that was happening downtown with the rest of the team.
Heck, Felix heard from his grandfather that he arrived n Berlin with the elders one hour after their plane landed, but they were held back from entering the hotel and meeting up with them.
They were told it was due to the safety of the participants. Thus, they could only reschedule the meetup later as they still had three days of free time.
After Felix went outside of the hotel, he stood still and waited for his ride. Thankfully, the car arrived after only two minutes.
Felix sat in the back and requested, "Please take me to Hotel Adlon Kempinski."
The driver nodded his head in compliance and took off.
...
Ten minutes later...
"Have a nice evening sir." The driver pressed a button on his dashboard, opening up Felix's door automatically.,
"I will call you in half an hour to pick me up." Felix said as he closed the door after him.
"If you are planning to stay only half an hour, I will be waiting for you for here to arrive." The driver said with a polite smile.
"Much appreciated." Felix thanked him for the gesture and walked on the red carpet, heading to the host, standing before the hotel entrance.
"Welcome to Adlon hotel." The host asked politely while holding onto a list, "Can I have your name sir?"
"Felix Maxwell."
The host immediately scrolled down on his list that had names placed in alphabetical order. After reaching the 'M' section, he found Felix's name written boldly with the country he represented.
"I apologize for the inconvenience Sir Felix." The host bowed slightly while gesturing for Felix to head inside.
"Where the banquet is being held?" Felix asked.
"In the 2nd floor." The host added, "You will find it after exiting the elevator."
"Thank you."
Saying so, Felix walked inside with a straight back and in a well-paced manner.
He didn't know if the banquet was still going to be full or not as only 40 minutes were remaining before it ends.
Though, he didn't give a shit as he was coming here to feast and get Goerge off his back for the next three days to continue his practice.
Shortly after...
Ti-ring!
Felix stepped inside the 2nd floor after the elevator opened up.
Like the host said, the banquet wasn't that hard to miss as classical music came from an open gate at the end of the hallway.
Felix walked straight to the gate and immediately after he entered, his slits thinned slightly, adjusting to the brightened hall, which resembled an ancient restaurant with its classy and antique design.
'I guess they already ate.' Felix scratched his chin at the sight of the empty sets of tables, which had only leftover food or untouched food.
The waiters were coming back and forth, taking with them those delicious-looking dishes.
As for the captains? Felix noticed that they were standing away from the tables with wine or champagne glasses while formally conversing with each other.
Since their numbers had surpassed 190 in this hall, their quiet chatter was turned into unbearable noises.
If it wasn't for the classical music playing in the hall, burying their chatter, no one would have bothered to remain in the banquet.
After Felix found a clean and empty table, he sat on it and gestured for one of the waiters heading in his direction to bring him the menu.
When he got it, he skimmed it with his eyes and chose four dishes before returning the menu to the waiter, who was on hold next to him.
"Anything else sir?" The waiter asked politely.
"A bottle of your finest wine if you will." Felix said, smiling faintly.
Receiving his full order, the waiter bowed slightly before leaving.
Based on the empty tables, Felix believed that his order wouldn't take more than 15 minutes tops.
Instead of going to socialize with the rest of the captains and waste his time with baseless flattery, Felix poured himself a glass of champagne from a half-filled bottle, which was already on the table. He started to take small sips while inspecting the captains with an intrigued expression.
From 190 or so captains, Felix recalled only seven of them, who made it to the earthling's team and performed somewhat above average in the games.
The rest?
He had no memory of them as the earthling's team always ended up with 20% to 30% casualties after each game, making the bloodliners change continuously.
Few survived for more than ten games, making them popular on the planet. Even Felix with trashy memory could still remember their names and faces.
'Oh? She is still as beautiful as ever." Felix couldn't help but praise sincerely after his eyes landed on a stunning silver-haired girl with a bun hairstyle.
She was wearing a tight black dress, which reached her knees, light make-up that added a bit of warmness to her cold and stoic expression.
She was sipping from a glass of wine in silence while listening to the chatter of two men with her.
Felix didn't understand what they were saying but he knew that if they wanted to impress the Ice Queen of Russia, they should forget it.
He wasn't ashamed to admit that in his previous life, he had quite a crush on her just like probably the majority of males in the world.
Thus, he knew quite a lot about her and he actually still remembered most of it.
As far as he knew, her personality was extremely in line with Noah's. They share the same indifference and serious attitude towards life.
They don't have a sense of humor nor do they care to have one. Even their elements were the same.
The only difference between them would be the level of muteness.
While Noah was going full mute on everyone but his sister, she could talk only when serious matters were the subject.
Just as Felix was staring at her without bothering to hide his interest, she also noticed him, sitting all alone in the middle of tens of empty tables.
'Captain of the US Team? He actually came?' Slyvia raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise.
She expected that he wouldn't be attending this banquet to avoid getting harassed about his bloodline and most importantly to stay away from those captains, who would definitely offer Felix to ally with their teams.
As she assumed, the moment the captains noticed Felix, their conversation subject changed from talking about the content of the World's Competition to the known Intel or rumors about Felix.
Even the two men with her got into it, as one of them said, using the universal language, "I heard that his bloodline was from Twin-tailed Swamp Viper."
"Really? My sources told me that he was bound by contract not to reveal any information about his bloodline." The other man refuted his information.
"Oh? That makes sense. No wonder he always refused even to provide the name."
"Excuse me, gentlemen." Seeing that they got finally distracted by something else, Slyvia excused herself politely and went in Felix's direction.
'For real? Is Sylvia really going to take the first move and introduce herself first?'
'Even better, if he sent her back, there is no point in embarrassing myself.'
'Tsk, all of this fanfare just because he awakened with a legendary bloodline.'
Different thoughts and views were coursing in the captains' minds at the sight of Slyvia approaching Felix.
They were planning to visit Felix and see if they could build a good relationship with him, which would definitely benefit them in the competition.
They didn't make the first move because they were worried about getting rejected and sent back in public.
Thankfully, Slyvia came to the rescue.
Even Felix was quite surprised by her proactiveness as he knew that she was a proud woman who would never put herself lower than others.
'It seems like I am truly quite charming tonight.' Felix smiled faintly while staring into Slyvia's ocean-like eyes as she got closer and closer to his table.
Even when she was about to reach him, Felix still didn't stand in respect or gesture with his hand for her to share the table with him.
He just kept waiting to see what she had in mind.
Thank god he didn't do anything, as Slyvia walked right past him without stopping for even a split second!
She merely gave him a single side-glance as she continued her journey to a door that had a bathroom sign on it!