For a moment, Philip simply stared.
Then the meaning struck him.
This was his punishment.
He swallowed hard and looked at the mountain of food before him.
His stomach was already full to bursting.
Under ordinary circumstances, this task would be impossible.
But Philip was a Spirit Warrior.
If he carefully circulated ether energy through his digestive system, he could accelerate the breakdown of food.
The thought brought little comfort.
Even with ether, there were still practical and deeply humiliating consequences to consider.
His face twitched.
After a long internal struggle, he decided on a different approach.
Instead of digesting the food naturally, he would use his ether to burn it away inside his stomach.
It was dangerous.
If he lost control, he could injure himself severely.
But at least it was better than suffering the alternative.
At fifteen minutes past four, King Caleb rose and left the chamber without another word.
