When Draven and Loki reached the wine shop, there was not much of a crowd since it was only seven in the morning. The shop usually had its busy hour during late evenings.
Draven casually sat on one of the empty tables, and a middle-aged man in a waiter's uniform came towards him to take the order.
"Hey kid, you are pretty famous these days. All the people who come here to drink only have time to talk about you," the man said with a broad smile.
"Good morning, Uncle William," Draven waved his hand with a smile.
"John told me how you saved his life back in the forest. I am truly grateful to you for saving my brother's life," William said sincerely with a deep sigh.
Draven shook his head. "Forget it. Back then, if you two brothers had not risked your lives to chase away that one-eyed wolf, I would have been dead long ago. So risking my life for his is just the right thing to do. There is nothing to be grateful for."
William patted Draven's shoulder and smiled. "Consider today's meal a treat from me. Just eat whatever you want to your heart's content. Uncle will cover for you."
"Don't," Draven chuckled. "I am going to order second-tier wine and meat. It will be too heavy on your pocket."
William lightly slapped Draven's head. "Just eat anything you want, brat. Half of this shop belongs to me. Even if I have to sell it all, I will satisfy you today."
Draven grinned and gave his order. "Then, I want ten bottles of second-tier mountain monkey wine and two large plates of second-tier red bison meat with extra spices. One more thing, I have a tiger friend with me here, so please get me a bowl so that he can also taste the wine."
William looked toward Loki, who was on Draven's shoulder, in surprise. "A tiger cub? When did you get a contracted beast?"
"He is not mine. He is a senior's pet. He left him with me since he had some urgent matters to take care of," Draven explained as he took Loki from his shoulder and put him on the table top.
Loki behaved like a normal cat as he sat on the table like an obedient child. Seeing his cute appearance, William even stroked his head a few times. Draven's mouth twitched when he saw this. If William knew what the true cultivation level of this naive kitten was, he might not even dare to look straight into its eyes, much less pet its head.
After a while, Draven's order was served and William left to attend other customers.
"This is a rare wine collected from the deep forest," Draven said as he uncorked a bottle. "It is made by a group of monkeys called the mountain monkeys. They collect special mountain fruits and ferment them inside pits they carve out in mountain caves. To date this is the best wine I have ever tried."
He filled the large bowl with wine and pushed it toward Loki along with one plate of red bison meat. Loki gave a nod and began drinking from the bowl like a cat.
Draven also uncorked one bottle for himself and began drinking straight from it. This wine had a sour and tart taste with a slight tingling sensation in the mouth, like drinking a carbonated beverage.
After drinking a mouthful, Draven popped a few pieces of the meat into his mouth and slowly chewed it, enjoying its taste mixed with the aftertaste of the wine. He also occasionally refilled Loki's bowl with the mountain monkey wine. Both of them continued indulging themselves in the pleasure of wine and spicy meat as they kept drinking and eating without a care for what was happening around them.
"Hey Draven, I finally found you."
When Draven had uncorked the ninth wine bottle, he suddenly heard someone's voice calling him.
Draven turned around tipsily and saw John standing behind him with a few more people beside him. Draven knew all of them. One was the blue-eyed Alexandria, whom he had rescued from Loki. The other two were the team members John had brought with him to hunt Loki, the spear-wielding young man and the lightning body cultivator.
What made Draven surprised was that all three of the young people, including Alexandria, were now in the first stage of the Ascendant Realm, whereas previously they were only at the top of the Mortal Realm.
Draven smiled at John and Alexandria as he greeted them warmly. "Uncle John, and Lexa. You guys are still working as a team, huh?"
"Lexa? Who gave you the right to call my fiancée by some random nickname, idiot?" The spear-wielding young man frowned as an aura belonging to the Ascendant Realm spread out from his body, trying to pressure Draven.
"Tyler, calm down your temper," John tried to calm the young man.
"Shut up. Now you are the weakest in the team, so do not try to boss us around like before, just because you are a master hunter," the spear-wielding young man said coldly as he fixed his gaze on John like a predator eyeing its prey.
Draven blinked his eyes and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I misspoke. I am sincerely apologizing for my rudeness. Please be magnanimous and overlook this matter."
The spear-wielding young man's face darkened when he heard Draven's words. This guy, who was only at the top of the Mortal Realm, was actually not affected by his Ascendant Realm aura and could converse with him normally, making his cultivation appear like a joke.
Gritting his teeth, he pulled out a spear from his storage ring. Blue lightning arcs began dancing around his body like electrical snakes, pressuring down on Draven with a sea of lightning. Nearby tables and chairs were blasted into splinters by the brute force of the lightning strikes.
But before the lightning could reach Draven, Alexandria appeared in front of him like a lightning flash and released her aura, canceling the pressure.
"Tyler, who are you to decide what others can address me as? It was me who asked Brother Draven to call me Lexa. So stop your drama, or else it will not end well for you," Alexandria stood before Draven and said coldly.
Tyler frowned when he saw his fiancée defending someone else in front of him. "I am your fiancé. Is there any other qualification I need?"
Alexandria sneered. "Fiancé? You openly have relationships with more than a dozen women. Even the maids at your mansion are mere toys in bed for you. With all this, who gave you the right to announce yourself as my fiancé?"
Tyler snapped back coldly. "Who gave me permission? Why do you not go and ask that question to your father?"
"There is no need for that. I am cancelling our engagement now and here," Alexandria said frostily as she removed the engagement ring from her hand and threw it toward Tyler.
Tyler's expression turned ugly. "Are you sure you want to do this? Once this news reaches your father's ears, there will not be a place for you in the Phynic Royal Family anymore."
The lightning body cultivator, Arthur, smiled mockingly when he heard Tyler's words. "You do not have to worry about that, Junior Sister was already accepted as a direct disciple by the family head of the main Phynic Royal Family of the First Stronghold. Even if he wanted to, her father would not have the nerve to kick her out of the family."
Draven watched all this drama as though he was watching a movie. He even took time to pour wine into Loki's bowl as he chewed on the red bison meat with relish.
Tyler, who was shaking in rage, exploded like a volcano when he saw Draven's casual attitude. Before anyone could react, he threw his lightning spear toward Draven with full force.
Draven's expression sharpened. He lazily pulled Alexandria to the side and the spear whistled past them without affecting them.
"You are still too careless," Draven said to Alexandria as he let go of her hand and resumed his drinking without even looking at Tyler, who was standing there with a stunned look on his face.
Bang!
Suddenly, a solid punch landed on Tyler's chest out of nowhere, sending him flying backwards.
"Bastard, we forgave your last betrayal as an act of self preservation. But now you dare attack one of our own companions in front of me? Do you really think I, Arthur Phynic, am afraid of your Wrathbound Family?" Arthur said emotionlessly as he looked at Tyler struggling to stand up from the ground.
Alexandria also came back to her senses. At this moment, she looked at the spear which was half embedded in the wall of the shop in fear. If Draven had not pulled her to the side, that spear might have pierced her head instead.
"Whatever your problem is, solve it within yourselves. I have upset all of you, so just forgive me," Draven said as he finished the last bottle.
Then, after picking Loki up in his arms and placing him on his shoulder, he walked toward John and gave him ten second-tier essence coins he had cashed out from the Merchant Association yesterday. "Keep it to repair the shop. Knowingly or unknowingly, I was the one who started all this mess."
"It is just some broken furniture. I can still afford that much loss," John tried to return the money, but Draven patted his shoulder and left. He walked out of the place on unsteady legs as he wobbled left and right.
Author's Note: A second-tier essence coin contains one hundred times the pure essence chi contained in a first-tier coin, so the exchange rate is also fixed at one to one hundred. This is similar as it goes to higher realms. Apart from this, there are three other types of lower-tier coins: the gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins, each having an exchange rate of one to ten. This means ten copper is equal to one silver, ten silver is equal to one gold, and finally, when it comes to first-tier essence coins, one hundred gold coins will be equal to one essence coin.