The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 52: Fox Feast

On the weekend, Sylutia and the other two slept in their dorm.

Because they had been studying at high intensity all week, the three chose not to go out on the first day of the weekend, opting instead to continue sleeping and resting. However, each of them had their own way of sleeping.

Lovier liked to change into her pajamas, cover herself with a blanket on her specially customized luxurious little bed, and let down the sheer mosquito net. Only her cat would occasionally come and go, sometimes lying on her pillow or on top of her to sleep together.

Aurora would get up normally in the morning, eat a little something, casually flip through a book for a while, and wait until drowsiness crept back in. Then she would pick up her cloth doll, return to bed, lie on her side, and continue sleeping.

Sylutia liked to spread a blanket on the windowsill, stack two pillows, and read there. Occasionally she would zone out, and when she got tired, she would lie down on the windowsill and sleep. She enjoyed the warm feeling of the sun shining on her. Hearing the occasional birdsong and the faint sound of carriages outside also made her feel at ease.

By afternoon, the three were refreshed and gathered around the table in the living room, eating fruit and snacks.

“Is Hedra going to the banquet tonight?” Lovier had heard about the Fox Family’s invitation.

“Yes, I’ll probably need to change into something appropriate.” Sylutia thought for a moment, then picked out the black dress she hadn’t worn in a long time from her wardrobe.

After that, the three started chatting about the Fox Family.

“Aurora, do you know this family?” Sylutia figured that since Aurora came from a prestigious family in the Mage Alliance, she should have heard of them.“I’ve heard of them, but I don’t know much.” The other nodded. In the upper circles of mages, the Fox Family had probably just barely crossed the threshold, while Aurora’s Halter family was truly among the elite.

“Their family runs businesses like pastries and food. They have a good reputation and often host banquets. I heard that their ancestor became famous for hosting the ‘Fox Feast’ as well.” Aurora recalled.

“The so-called ‘Fox Feast’ was just the name of that one banquet. What really mattered was that they successfully performed the ‘Feast Ritual’.”

“The Feast Ritual?” Lovier tilted her head in confusion.

“Yes, the ‘Feast Ritual’ is a category that includes many different ritual legends. The most well-known among them is the ‘Flesh and Blood Feast’.” She explained slowly.

“Eating, or rather, consuming food, is a highly significant activity in all races and cultures. The more ancient the era, the more this is true. Many rituals have been derived from eating.”

“For example, the ‘Peacock Oath’ of the School of Royal Authority, the ‘Hunting Revelry’ of the Shaman school, and the Elves’ ‘Basket of Fragrant Fruits’—all of these are related to eating.”

“But regarding the Feast Ritual, the one that has been most important and most widely used in history is probably the ‘Flesh and Blood Feast’.” She picked up a pen and sketched and wrote on the paper.

“The origin of this ritual is actually very difficult to trace, because there are too many related legends, and they have all become mixed up. This is because many powerful beings from the Primordial and Ancient eras gained power boosts by devouring and consuming.”

“However, after being passed down for many years, people have summarized a relatively stable and replicable process for it.”

“The ‘Flesh and Blood Feast’ requires three main ingredients to be prepared at the banquet: the Aspects of ‘Bloodline,’ ‘Beast Fang,’ and ‘Dragon Eye’ of the same tier. Additionally, twelve different side dishes must be prepared, including scales, skin, blood, flesh, internal organs, and bones, all from Aspects of ‘Bloodline,’ ‘Beast Fang,’ and ‘Dragon Eye’ of one tier lower.”

“This ritual originated in the Sixth Epoch and reached its peak in the Eighth Epoch. At that time, the Dragons had lost the protection of the Hours and were being hunted by all races, allowing people to finally gather the most scarce of the three: the ‘Dragon Eye’ Aspect.”

“Many beastman tribes relied on the ‘Flesh and Blood Feast’ to enhance their racial strength, producing many high-ranking powerful warriors. The Blood Dynasty also used this ritual to elevate many high-ranking nobles. This situation only gradually declined as Dragons slowly became extinct.”

“Also, according to the rules of the ‘Flesh and Blood Feast’ ritual, the Golden Honey Dynasty once developed another substitute Feast Ritual: the ‘Honey Fragrant Fruit Feast.’ The three main ingredients were replaced with ‘Verdant Nectar,’ ‘Insect Moth,’ and ‘Snail Fish.’”

“The Golden Honey Dynasty itself produced large quantities of high-quality honey with the ‘Insect Moth’ Aspect and fruits with the ‘Verdant Nectar’ Aspect. They only needed to find high-quality ‘Snail Fish’ Aspect to match, so in that era, ‘fishermen’ were an extremely high-income profession. Several secret fishing methods still in circulation today are legacies from the Golden Honey Dynasty period.”

The ancestor of the Fox Family was a minor noble of a certain country, not wealthy by any means. So he had no choice but to start as a traveling merchant from a young age, going from place to place, slowly accumulating money and becoming wealthy.

“It is said that he advanced to the Fifth Tier when he was over fifty, but that was his limit. Because of his talent, even reaching the Fourth Tier was difficult to go further. The reason he managed to reach the Fifth Tier was that his merchant travels had accumulated a great deal of wealth, which he used to forcibly stack resources of luxury and rarity.”

“But by the Fifth Tier, many of the methods and resources he had used before were no longer effective. At that time, he thought of the famous ‘Flesh and Blood Feast’ and began preparing for it.”

“Around the time he was in his sixties, the family had already branched out, and the number of direct blood relatives had reached over a hundred. At that point, he gathered everyone together and announced that he would hold a grand banquet, asking them to invite their respective friends and acquaintances to join.”

“In the end, the banquet gathered nearly two thousand luminaries from all walks of life. Each table was laden with rare delicacies of the Third and Fourth Tiers. And on the central table, the largest one surrounded by his family members, were placed extravagant treasures of the Fifth and Sixth Tiers.”

“When the banquet first began, the guests didn’t find anything strange, because the delicacies mostly consisted of meats with the ‘Bloodline’ and ‘Beast Fang’ Aspects, with nothing of the ‘Dragon Eye’ Aspect. Although they were surprised, they were merely envious.”

“But when the family head finally announced the start of the meal, a bell tolled. Then a gigantic flaming fox leaped in from outside the window. Its body was massive, and its swirling tail could reach the high ceiling of the hall.”

“This giant fire fox carried a piece of dripping dragon meat in its mouth and placed it on the central table, precisely completing the final piece of the ‘Flesh and Blood Feast’ puzzle, thus establishing the ritual.”

“Afterward, he himself, the family members, and that giant fire fox shared the delicacies on the table. Then he completed his advancement, reaching the Sixth Tier.”

“Thus, this grand banquet spread rapidly across the lands. And because of the dramatic transformation brought by that giant fire fox, as well as the astonishing, unforgettable scene, it was eventually recorded as the ‘Fox Feast’.”

After Aurora finished speaking, Lovier was already captivated.

“Ah, is that it? What happened to that giant fire fox later? And where did the dragon meat it carried in its mouth come from?” This golden-haired young noblewoman couldn’t help her curiosity and thirst for knowledge. She tugged on Aurora’s arm and whined.

“That, I don’t know.” Aurora shook her head.

“But Hedra is going to the Fox Family tonight. You can go find out about it. Maybe they’ll tell a different version of the story.” Aurora raised her finger and, with a mysterious air, looked at the black-haired girl beside her.

“Alright, I’ll go find out for you.” Sylutia found it both funny and exasperating. She had thought she was just attending an ordinary banquet to have a simple exchange with that Miss Hu Tao. She never expected there was such a long-standing story behind it.

But indeed, she was curious. About that legendary Fox Feast.