Chapter 4: Soup, Scum, and Survival
The aroma hit before anything else.
Warm. Earthy. Familiar in a way that didn't belong in a place like Grayridge. It rose from the dented pot over the cobbled fire pit, weaving through the cold air like a thread of memory someone had left behind.
Leon stood beside it—barefoot on cracked stone, his hair wind-tangled and clothes three days past clean. Small for his age. Narrow-shouldered. But upright.
In front of him: a pot of soup.
Behind him: everything else he owned, which amounted to a cloth sack and two crates holding up a patchy canvas flap that only called itself a stall out of optimism.
It didn't matter.
Because the soup?
The soup was divine.
And infinite.
A sliver of a smile tugged at the corner of Leon's mouth as steam curled upward, catching the late sunlight. He didn't bother selling with words. Didn't shout. Didn't wave people down.
He just stood there with a ladle.
And waited.
The first one came before the light faded.
An old man—back bent, hands trembling. The kind of lean that came from hunger, not choice. His eyes didn't flicker to Leon. They locked on the pot like it might vanish if he blinked.
He dropped a single copper coin onto the crate.
Leon said nothing. He just handed over the bowl.
The old man sipped.
Paused.
And didn't speak.
Only the sound of slurping followed—slow, steady, like reverence in spoonfuls.
After a moment, the man's voice came, hoarse and cracked: "...What magic is this, boy?"
Leon blinked once.
Then: "Soup."
No smile. No wink. Just flat delivery and the ladle held like punctuation.
The old man nodded slowly, then limped away with the bowl in both hands, as if afraid to spill a drop.
Word spread.
By the third day, there was a line.
Grayridge didn't do lines. Grayridge did elbows, snarls, and theft. But here, beside one boy and a battered pot, people queued.
Ragged children. Miners with black-ringed eyes. Tired mothers with babies bundled in rags. No one smiled at first. But after they ate?
They softened. Just a little.
Grayridge didn't change. But for a moment, it paused.
And that was enough.
Of course, it couldn't last.
Late on the fourth day, as Leon packed up, three shadows cut across the firelight.
He didn't look up.
Didn't need to.
He heard the boots first—too clean for Grayridge. Then the silence. The kind of silence that wasn't tired, but hungry.
One voice broke it.
"Nice little setup, kid."
Smooth. Coated in grease and fake charm.
Leon didn't pause in what he was doing. He ran the ladle under a splash of water, slow and calm.
"Soup?" he asked.
The voice shifted tone. More teeth now. "We don't want soup, brat. We want the recipe."
Another voice joined—shorter, higher, cocky. "Yeah. Hand it over, or things get hot."
Leon finally glanced up.
Three of them. Scarred. Armed. Trying hard not to look like thugs, and failing. The shortest one was sneering like it was a full-time job.
Leon's gaze landed on the speaker's mouth. Cracked lips. Yellow teeth. Hands twitchy.
'Cheap aggression. Probably desperate.'
He looked back at the pot. "It's water, dirt, and hope," he said. "Want the ratio?"
The big one growled. "You mocking us?"
Leon shrugged.
"No."
But his hand tightened on the ladle.
'They'll try to take it.'
His jaw locked.
'Let them.'
The scarred one stepped in close, breath hot and rotting. "Last chance, brat."
Leon met his eyes, slow and unflinching.
"Go ahead," he whispered. "Try it."
The man lunged.
Leon moved first.
The pot tipped with a practiced flick.
Scalding soup arced through the air and splashed full across the thug's arm and chest. Steam hissed. The scream ripped through the alley like a lightning crack.
The man stumbled back, crashing into the crate wall. His companions froze.
Leon stepped forward.
Steam rose around him like a ghost's breath.
The ladle in his hand gleamed under firelight.
"You think I made it this far by being helpless?" His voice didn't shake.
The remaining two hesitated.
Looked at their writhing friend.
Then at Leon.
And backed away without a word.
No threats. No bravado.
Just footsteps fading into dusk, dragging agony behind them.
Leon stood there until they were gone.
Only then did he let his shoulders slump.
His legs felt like paper.
He stared at the spoon in his hand.
Still dripping broth.
Still whole.
'Not a spoon,' he thought.
'A promise.'
---
That night, he sat behind the inn.
Bowl in hand.
Sky overhead—stars flickering like they were trying not to get involved.
The broth had cooled, but he sipped anyway.
He didn't taste it.
Didn't need to.
'It's not enough,' he thought.
Clean clothes. A room with a roof. Coins stashed in a floorboard.
But no safety.
No strength.
He remembered the thug's hand reaching for him—remembered how small it made him feel. How fast things could've gone wrong.
'Soup is survival. That's all.'
'But I want more.'
He whispered it aloud. "I need more."
Something shifted inside.
The hum of starlight beneath skin.
The vault stirred.
Seven treasures. Still waiting.
Still his.
A whisper echoed in the corner of his mind, voiceless but clear:
'Climb the realms.'
His eyes lifted toward the east.
Duskmoor's glow shimmered through the trees—distant, untouchable.
For now.
His grip on the spoon tightened.
"No more hiding," he murmured.
"No more waiting."
The broth rippled softly.
He took it as agreement.
---
Later, in his room, moonlight laid silver stripes across the floor. Leon sat cross-legged on the bed. The infinite spoon rested beside him, warm and solid.
He closed his eyes.
'Focus. Will it open.'
The vault answered instantly.
A thrum in his chest. Not loud. Not sharp.
Just 'there'.
Inside, they waited.
Seven.
He'd only used one.
Now it was time.
First: Cloak of Mild Invisibility
It hovered toward him, barely shimmering. The edges blurred like heat haze. Leon reached out, and it folded neatly into his hands.
No dramatic glow.
No surge of magic.
Just cloth. Quiet and stubborn.
"…Mild," he muttered. "The magical equivalent of lukewarm tea."
Still, he slipped it on.
Pulled the hood down.
Nothing.
He turned sideways.
His reflection vanished.
He stepped back.
Reappeared.
Stepped again.
Gone.
He blinked. 'Invisible when no one's looking?'
He snorted.
"That's dumb."
But his brain was already racing. 'Escape. Distraction. Fridge raids.'
He folded it carefully.
"Weird," he whispered. "But workable."
---
Next: Boots of Slight Comfort
They looked simple. Worn leather. No shine. No symbols.
He slid them on.
A breath left him without warning.
No aches. No soreness. The floor underfoot felt like soft grass after rain.
He walked a slow lap around the room.
Then again.
"Okay," he murmured. "These slap."
---
Last for now: The Orb of All-Elemental Affinity
It floated forward like it was too proud to be carried.
Leon reached out.
Colors flickered—red, blue, green, violet, gold. Elemental light shifting like it couldn't pick a side.
He held it with both hands.
"…You're the one," he whispered. "The real cheat code."
He focused.
Willed it to unlock.
Nothing.
Again.
Still nothing.
Then—faintly—a response.
Not rejection.
Not denial.
Just delay.
'Not yet.'
He stared at the orb.
"…Seriously?"
No flash.
No hum.
Just that same slow pulse.
It wasn't ready.
Because 'he' wasn't.
He placed it back in the vault.
Lips pressed thin.
"…Fine."
'Not yet' didn't mean 'never.'
He had time.
He would earn it.
---
Because soup had kept him alive.
But it wouldn't carry him to power.
Not alone.