Chapter 29: Food For Thought.

Rolling his eyes, Alexander said, "We can’t kill her."

"What about a small bite? I doubt she would die if she lost her arm," the worm said as his tongue slithered out of his mouth, all the while salivating.

"We can’t harm her either, or Tessa will kill us. And don’t tell me that she won’t get angry if we eat only an arm. If you’re wrong, we will die."

"If you ask me, my life is worth more than some arm. So I refuse to gamble my life on an uncertain chance that Tessa won’t kill us. We simply can’t risk it."

"You should have seen that spiked club of hers. If we fail this test, she will kill us and feed our bodies to the next batch of Apostles," he said, frustrated and irritated.

"But. But. But," the worm said, trying to come up with a good reason to eat the small girl.

When it failed to come up with a convincing reason, it said, "But food."

"You’re smarter now, but it seems you’re not smart enough," he said with a mental snort.

The worm bristled in anger like a porcupine and said, "Hey! Are you calling me stupid? Don’t call me stupid."

But Alexander sneered, "If you’re not stupid, what should I call you for fighting to eat a small, scrawny, and thin human girl when that thick thigh belonging to another flesh titan should have more useful biomass?"

"That leg belonged to a flesh titan?" it asked, surprised. "I didn’t know that. I only thought it looked good."

Shaking his head, Alexander mocked it, "See? I am the intelligent and observant one here. All you think about is food. That’s why I should be the one in charge of my body, making the decisions."

"It is not your body. It is our body," the worm said, correcting him for the umpteenth time. "But you’re right. You may be a little bit smarter than me."

Then it added, "But that’s only because I am still growing. I’m sure that I will become smarter than you one day."

"If you say so," Alexander said dismissively.

Then he asked what he really cared about, saying, "Anyway, have you realized the truth now? Can you let go of my body now?"

"Our body," the worm corrected him. "And yes, I will let us leave the girl if you promise to let me eat that leg."

Alexander knew that he could lie and deceive the worm to get what he wanted. But instead, he said, "No."

"Why not?" the worm asked, protesting mentally and physically by making him feel hungry and trying to move him closer to the girl.

But Alexander stood his ground and said, "We’re not eating anything."

"But you said the girl was the test. Why can’t we eat that leg?"

"I also said the girl might be part of the test. The leg might be part of the test too. I can’t be sure."

"All I know is that the test is about restraint. Tessa has spent the past six days hammering that into my skull. Hell, the training is called restraint training."

"Therefore, I will show restraint and not eat anything. I won’t risk momentary pleasure for my life. That’s just stupid," he finished, sneering at the worm.

Actually, he didn’t think that eating the fruits counted as part of the test. He believed that the fruits might have been placed there to distract his hunger and the gluttony worm.

But he didn’t think that anything that wasn’t flesh would distract the worm, and he wasn’t willing to risk being wrong for some fruit. Plus, he refused to compromise with the worm, so he decided not to touch anything.

Of course, the worm didn’t like this. It roared in anger, saying, "You’re so stubborn. We’re supposed to be partners. When food is available, you should give it to me."

Snorting in disdain, he said, "We’re partners in the same way a farmer is a partner with his hoe."

"I feed you, and you give me strength. That’s the extent of our cooperation. I can’t control what goes on outside my body, but in my body, my Will and only my Will will be done."

"You’re just an unreasonable piece of shit," the worm said in anger. "Just because I have failed to kill you so far doesn’t mean I can’t do it. Very soon, I will get rid of you."

As it spoke, it was also pressuring Alexander with hunger, making his stomach twist and rumble. The rumbling was so loud that the girl heard it too.

She looked up at him and said, "Are you hungry? I am hungry too. I haven’t eaten since yesterday, and my stomach hurts."

Sighing, he said, "There is food on the table. Go and eat.c

"Can I really?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yes," he struggled to say, his tongue refusing to form the words.

"How dare you?" the worm shrieked in his mind. "That’s my food. Mine!"

"It is mine, and you dare to give it to another food. This is a new low even for you. I wish you stayed dead back then."

Meanwhile, the girl stood up from the mat. But just as she raised her leg to leave the mat, she said, "What about the sex?"

Alexander’s face fell as he said, "What do you mean?"

"Do you not want to do the sex with me? Or is it after I eat?" she asked, her eyes lowered and her body hunched.

"No sex," Alexander blurted out, raising his voice. "There will be no sex whatsoever. You have nothing to worry about."

He thought the girl would become relieved, but she became anxious instead. She was even shedding tears as she said, "Don’t you want me to be your maid? It is because I’m dirty. I can wash and look better."

Between this and the worm constantly bothering him, he was reaching his limit. His head was about to explode, and he wanted to shout to relieve his frustration.