Chapter 4: Temptations

Ten o'clock was announced by the grandfather clock in the reception room with ten chimes, and Thomas put up the closed sign on the desk. It was slow now. The morning crowd having gone off to do their quests.

They will be back. Some, today, some, in a week. The success rate of the Orestria adventurer's guild was high. A fact in which everyone prided themselves in.

Thomas looked around to see if there weren't any stragglers in need of quest giving. The reception room was empty. He smiled, and took out one of his two boxes with his premade meal.

The box had two compartments. In one, there was a slice of bread with tomato purée, half a chicken breast, and a half cucumber. In the other, there were eight cherries.

Thomas had nearly gone too late to the market last night. Still, the fruit vendor knew him, from his time when he tried that one fruit diet that had flopped so spectacularly, he had gained twenty kilograms on top of what he had gotten back. Those were some hungry days.

The vendor had sold him a kilogram of cherries in a bag that had a static rune on them. Thomas felt that they would be enough for an entire week worth of meals. If not more.

The receptionist went to the mess hall, and sat on an empty table. The hall was empty. The guild gave its adventurers free meals. Thomas had been included in that, as an employee.

He looked regretfully towards the kitchen area, where an entire bull was being roasted on a split. The sauce being sprinkled on it every so often. Oh, how he wished to get a bite of that.

He looked down at his meal, and sighed. He had to show some self-control. Last night, he had placed all of his former food in the giveaway crate in front of his apartment complex. All that meat, which simply did not fit into his new diet. All those sweets. Heck, most of his bread had also gone into the crate. Bread was resistant to static runes. It just wouldn't do for it to get moldy.

"Hey, Thomas. If you wait a bit, you can get some of that," one of the cooks, Amelie, pointed at the bull that was visible from the dining area.

"No, thanks. I am on a new diet, Amelie," Thomas told her, as he took a bite from his bread. It was good bread. Brown, and with seven different grains in it.

"Really? What is it this time?" Amelie, who was quite portly herself, got out of the kitchen and went to sit by Thomas.

"Well, it is called The Zone, and you need to eat in blocks. Do you see this bread? It is two blocks of carbohydrates. To add the third that I need for this meal, I also eat eight cherries," Thomas told her, and pointed at the second compartment of the box, which he had taken out and laid to the side.

"You count the cherries? But they are so tiny. It is not like they will go straight to your butt," Amelie giggled at her words, and Thomas became thoughtful.

She had the right of it. Cherries were tiny. How many calories could a cherry give him?

"He counts them because they are sweet and will rise his insulin levels. Once those levels are risen, he will store fat," the two looked around to see Lucius standing by the counter of the buffet. 

Neither had heard him come over. Then again, he was an S ranked rogue. That was to be expected.

"The usual, Lucius?" Amelie stood up, and walked to go behind the counter.

"Yes, half a liter of pig blood," Lucius said, making a face.

"Now, now, Lucius. Animal blood is just as good as human one," Amelie chastised, as she poured him the blood in a mug.

"Become a vampire and say that again," Lucius bit back, and the cook scrunched up her nose at him.

"Well, here you go. I will be going back to the bull now," she turned around, and went to sprinkle the bull again. Lucius made his way to Thomas's table, and sat down.

"You followed the meal plan for breakfast?" Was what the vampire asked him, instead of a greeting.

"I did. It made me feel full. To be truthful, I don't feel so hungry even now," Thomas admitted. It was a strange feeling for him. To eat a normal portion, and to not feel hungry straight afterwards.

"Good, good. Keep it up. Oh, how I hate pig blood," Lucius still took a sip from his mug, even though he made a face.

"I can give you more blood, if you'd like," Thomas offered. He had wanted to give the vampire money, in addition to the blood, but hadn't known how to offer.

"Don't risk your health just to give me some comfort food," Lucius said, and he took a big gulp from the blood. "Out in the field, I have to hunt for myself. More often than not, it is goblin blood. Now that is vile."

Thomas's eyes widened. Goblin blood?

"But, isn't goblin blood the highest in cholesterol among all the races?" At least, that was what Thomas had heard.

"In good cholesterol, yes. Goblins are surprisingly healthy. Then again, they eat only what they have caught. No trash on their meal tables, even when sometimes the table is the floor," Lucius tipped the mug, and drank the rest of his blood in one go. Then, he slammed the mug down on the table, his face all scrunched up.

Thomas began to eat again. If Lucius could drink blood that he didn't like, then, Thomas could abstain from some roasted bull. No matter how good it smelled.

He finished his breakfast, and placed his box back in his bag. He felt full, and his head was clear. He saw that Lucius was pulling out a book.

"For you. Even mages need to move during a fight. Summoners do not, not unless they are cornered," Lucius then stood up, and left the book on the table. Thomas took it and cradled it like a treasure. Someone was giving him a chance to follow his dream. He would do his best. No, he would succeed.