Chapter 1380 - A Deviously Delicious Plan

It was clear that Jake needed a distraction of some kind. A distraction that, at the same time, wouldn’t be alarming and wouldn’t put the Magi into combat mode. It needed to be something mundane, yet enough to make the Magi curious and prompt them to investigate.

Jake considered his options carefully, quickly guessing that if he wanted to bait the Magi to leave, he would likely need one of the other cyclopes to be the cause. If one of them asked him to come or spoke to him, it would be far less suspicious than anything else Jake could imagine.

The problem was that Jake had no idea how to get these cyclopes to bait the Magi away without spooking them enough to panic, which would definitely prompt the high-tier B-grade to bring his staff.

Maybe he could break something in the house and make it look as if a C-grade cyclops had done it by accident? No, that likely wouldn’t even work, as Jake assumed the C-grade would just clean up after themselves. It needed to be something more urgent. Something that required the attention of the Magi.

As Jake was racking his brain trying to figure out a way to steal a mage’s staff, he continued to scan his surroundings and all the Administrators that made their way into it. There weren’t that many yet, and most of them were either down in the massive sewers or skilled at hiding, making the locals unaware there were even any invaders nearby.

He considered whether he could make use of some of these people, but again, wouldn’t the Magi bring his staff to that kind of thing? If one of them made trouble, the Magi would definitely bring his staff, and even if some of them had been captured or something like that, why wouldn’t the B-grade bring his staff?

Jake really felt stuck and even momentarily considered just abandoning this place and heading for the Palace of Abundance; however, that’s when he spotted something that gave him an idea. One of the cyclopes had entered the massive kitchen and started preparing some food, making Jake smile.

Yeah, that could work.

Heading down the hallway towards the kitchen, Jake naturally remained undetected as he soon made his way to his destination. The cook was busy doing their thing, and Jake’s smile only grew when he saw what was on the menu. It was almost too perfect.

Sneaking his way up to the counter, he watched as the cyclops put oversized vegetables, meat, and other ingredients into a massive boiling pot, also sprinkling in some seasoning and whatnot to make a proper stew.

Jake snuck closer, and when the back of the C-grade was turned, he decided to add a little extra ingredient to the mix. He hadn’t concocted anything beforehand that would fit, but fortunately, Jake could somewhat control what kind of toxin would be produced using his blood, and it wasn’t as if he needed it to be very potent, seeing as he was only aiming to affect C-grades.

He added a good bit of blood to the pot, but given its size, it was barely noticeable. After he stopped and the cyclops turned back to continue preparing the food, the C-grade never noticing that anything was amiss. He just kept doing his thing, fully mixing Jake’s poison into the food for later consumption.

From there, all Jake had to do was wait for the cooking to finish and the cyclops to call the other inhabitants of the house for a meal. Jake had already confirmed that the house had a dining room, which he assumed they would all be eating in; however, the Magi wouldn’t join them. There was already a bowl and a spoon in the living room, indicating the high-tier B-grade ate in there. If not, Jake would have just waited for him to go eat.

After waiting around for about half an hour, the food was finally ready. Once the table was set, the cyclops cook rang a bell, which instantly caught everyone's attention in the house, including the Magi. For a second, Jake thought he’d needlessly poisoned the stew, but the Magi didn’t move, only smiled, perhaps looking forward to his meal.

Right then, something potentially disastrous happened. The chef did something that Jake should perhaps have seen coming as the massive creature took the spoon and went for a final taste-test. As quickly as he could, Jake activated Touch of the Malefic Viper to manipulate the toxins in the spoon of stew, and right before it entered the C-grade’s mouth, Jake could breathe out a sigh of relief as he’d successfully eliminated it.

That could have gone wrong quickly, Jake thought, hoping the cook didn’t need another taste. Fortunately, he just nodded, satisfied with the food. Around then, another cyclops entered the kitchen, greeted the cook, and started plating a serving tray that would no doubt go to the antisocial Magi who refused to eat with the others.

Once the bowl for the Magi was filled, the cook brought the rest of the stew to the dining room, where all the other cyclopes had already gathered and were waiting to start eating. Both cyclopes left the kitchen around the same time, one going to the dining room and the other to the living room to serve the Magi.

Jake waited expectantly as both soon reached their destinations, and it appeared that the cyclopes weren’t the polite sort, as they didn’t even wait for their comrade, who was serving the Magi, before they started eating, unaware of what had secretly been added to their meal.

As for what type of poison Jake had added? Well, one of the most dangerous ones in the entire multiverse. A toxin that had taken many lives, and which often afflicted even powerful Primordials. It was one that even carried properties that made people willingly consume it at times. The devilish liquor that at times was even powerful enough to pierce through Jake’s Palate of the Malefic Viper. A truly notorious toxin known by many names, and it came in many forms, though Jake found it fitting in this situation to simply refer to it by its simplest title:

Booze.

That’s right, Jake planned on getting all the C-grade cyclopes fucking slammed out of their minds. He’d already confirmed that alcohol was a thing, given one of the treasures he’d stolen was an expensive bottle of wine, and the kitchen even had a few different bottles of liquor. That’s one of the reasons why Jake was confident this would work, as the cyclopes getting drunk wasn’t out of the question.

Plus, cooking with alcohol was normal, so even if the Magi realized there was some in the stew, he wouldn’t find it too odd. Who knows, maybe he would even conclude that the cook had simply added the wrong bottle while cooking or something. Either way, when he went to investigate what would no doubt be an ensuing ruckus, he shouldn’t assume it would be a situation that would require his staff.

While the cyclopes were enjoying their meal, unaware of what was about to happen to them, the Magi was finally served. He made the tray float in front of him and, without even moving or stopping his reading, manipulated the spoon to start feeding him. Jake, who had already made his way back to the entrance of the living room, ready to pounce at any moment, watched with bated breath to see whether the high-tier B-grade would detect anything amiss.

The Magi frowned for a moment, the cyclops server also looking nervous for a moment before the B-grade finally nodded and smiled. The C-grade looked relieved and bowed before heading out of the living room back towards the dining room so he could also get something to eat himself.

He couldn’t know the situation currently unfolding in there, as Jake’s little gift had finally started to show some effect. The cyclopes were starting to get a little rowdy, talking loudly and making big movements as the alcohol slowly started seeping through their systems. Jake hadn’t known how potent he had to make the stew, so he’d maybe gone a bit overboard as he wanted to ensure they’d all be well and truly drunk.

The cyclops that had gone to serve the Magi soon arrived at the dining room and found the other cyclopes smashed out of their minds. When the C-grade entered the room, one of the other cyclopes tried to greet him but accidentally fell out of his chair, making all the others laugh loudly as they smashed the table with their hands, causing the tabletop to start cracking.

Confused, the newly arrived cyclops tried to calm down his brethren to no avail, as they only got worse with every passing moment. While it didn’t appear that cyclopes turned violent when drunk, they definitely got festive. Perhaps a bit too festive, given how they’d already broken their bowls, a chair, and were starting to damage the table significantly.

The confused cyclops tried to find the cause of what was happening before quickly focusing on the stew. The cyclops server put a single finger into the food and had a taste. His eyes opened wide in realization when he got a good taste of the alcohol. That tiny bit was far from enough to get him drunk, but it was enough for him to feel some slight effects of the alcohol and for the cook to realize the problem.

Come on, you know who you should ask, Jake thought with hope as the cyclops tried calming the others for a few more seconds before realizing it was useless. The only choice was to seek help, and Jake crossed his fingers that the C-grade would seek out the Magi.

What he hadn’t imagined was that the C-grade didn’t even have to do that... because the other cyclopes were all so goddamn drunk they seemed to all get the brilliant idea of going to the Magi together.

Jake, who’d been hiding around the entrance to the living room, quickly had to make sure he wasn’t accidentally stepped on as he hid himself as best he could as the wasted troupe of cyclops barged into the living room, yelling loudly, clearly wanting the Magi to join them in the festivities, much to the horror of the server.

The Magi did not look happy and started speaking loudly, the server desperately trying to explain what was going on, all of this happening with a tiny Jake just outside the room, looking on in the hope that the situation would turn out to his advantage.

Fortunately for him, the Magi was pissed enough that he stood up, put his book down, and waved his hand as a pulse of energy echoed out of his hand, knocking out all the drunk cyclopes in an instant. The server continued to be apologetic as the Magi shook his head and enveloped all the knocked-out C-grades in mana as he walked out of the room while listening to the server’s excuses.

Jake grinned as they walked past him, way too preoccupied with the loud snoring of the massive cyclopes to notice the tiny little Jake waiting in the corner of the doorway. Right as they made their way past him, Jake also entered the living room, and as he’d hoped, the detection magic had disappeared the second the Magi left the room.

He bee-lined straight for the staff that had been left there leaning against the wall, aiming to claim it without a moment’s hesitation. The Magi was sure to return quickly, and he had no idea how long it would take to claim the item, as the time it took to claim correlated to a treasure’s value, and this staff had to be valuable.

When he laid his hand on it and started the claiming process, he instantly became aware of how right he was. Plus, when he touched the staff, it started shining brightly, so anyone in the room would have instantly noticed if someone tried to take it away.

Jake tried pushing in more energy, hoping to claim the staff faster as he watched the Magi throw the knocked-out cyclopes in their beds, shaking his head in disappointment while talking to the only other sober member of the household. After exchanging a few words, the Magi turned back and started walking back towards the living room, where Jake was still trying to steal the staff.

Seconds passed as the high-tier B-grade got closer and closer. He walked down the stairs, through a hallway, and soon he turned a corner, reaching the last hallway leading straight into the living room.

More than twenty seconds of claiming the treasure had already passed, and Jake was starting to sweat bullets when the Magi stopped and frowned. He turned his head and yelled something up to the cyclops server, and after getting a response, he nodded and continued down the hallway, every step bringing him closer to discovering the thief currently trying to steal what Jake believed to be his most valuable possession.

Raising his hand while halfway down the hallway, the Magi casually made the door to the living room open, and the second he did, his eyes opened wide in confusion as he noticed the light from the staff.

Fuck, Jake cursed internally as he kept forcing in more and more energy. The Magi, having noticed something was amiss, teleported immediately, appearing right there in the room with Jake, who looked behind him.

For a moment, Jake made eye contact with the high-tier B-grade as they stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Right then, the staff Jake had been trying to steal for nearly half a minute finally shrank down to fit in his hand, having been successfully claimed.

This finally got the Magi out of his momentary stupor as he yelled and raised a hand, with Jake already on the move the very second he had the treasure claimed. He put it away in his inventory and didn’t hesitate as he fully activated his boosting skill, summoned his wings, and shot straight for the nearest window.

A beam of light struck where Jake had been just moments earlier, with the Magi quickly following up by raising his other hand. Rather than attack, a barrier started forming around the entire living room, seeking to seal Jake inside with him.

Jake gritted his teeth and turned around mid-air, looking straight at the high-tier B-grade. His eyes opened wide as they let out a glow, Primal Gaze activating as the Magi very temporarily froze, his summoning of barriers delayed by less than a second... which was barely enough.

Crashing through the window, Jake was temporarily blinded as blood ran down his cheeks, the Magi far too powerful to use Gaze on. Making it outside didn’t help that much, though, as the cyclops instantly teleported outside with him, now even more angry after being struck by the soul attack.

Seeing no other choice given the circumstances, Jake’s wings started giving off a deep green glow as a mist of corrosive, toxic energies surrounded him. A new barrier had already sealed him inside a cube with the Magi, and he only had one real escape from that.

Wings of the Malefic Viper activated right before the Magi could strike him, piercing straight through the barrier as Jake controlled the escape technique as best he could, using it not to go further towards the Palace of Abundance, but back towards the Outer Gardens. Not because he really wanted to go that way, but because that truly seemed like the only real choice.

Reappearing more than ten thousand kilometers away after stopping the escape technique, Jake’s wings faded away and were temporarily sealed as he quickly rushed down towards street level, knowing that he was far from actually escaping the Magi.

As he’d expected, not even a second later, a magic circle appeared in the sky with the cyclops having successfully followed him. He instantly noticed Jake flying into a building through an open window and followed after, teleporting a second time.

Inside, seven people were already gathered, resting in what they believed to be a safe place. They all looked in shock as Jake stormed through the window at full speed, but were far more shocked when the massive Magi also appeared, instantly noticing all seven of them alongside Jake.

Jake turned and saw the Magi, flashing a smile right as a barrier once more sealed off the room. With rage, the high-tier B-grade clenched a fist as a shockwave washed through the sealed room, forcing the seven Administrators to quickly defend themselves as Jake was struck and... instantly faded away into a cloud of black, cursed energy.

In a building opposite the one with the seven Administrators inside, Jake was rushing downstairs, going straight for the sewers below as he saw his Eternal Shadow be destroyed, and all he could do was give a silent thanks to the dear people from the Holy Church for the well-timed assist as the anger of the Magi had turned to them.

And with that wonderful cliff, we go on break! Not my fault; we had a vote on Discord for the Hunter tier about how bad of a cliff they want, and they chose this one.

Anyway, have a wonderful summer, everyone, and see you all either randomly on Discord or on the 31st. Also... the balance of chapters ending on 5 or 0 has been restored. Yay.