Crouching down, Lucian raised his right hand and whirled it toward the Orc's sleeping face.
*Pa*
A crisp, satisfying sound rang out in the quiet restaurant.
"Fuck! Who slapped me?" Garrett opened his eyes in rage and stood up. His hand was on his right cheek as he felt a burning sensation. Who was so cruel to slap a sleeping man?
Lucian indifferently chuckled and glanced up at the enraged Orc. With a height difference of an entire foot between them, he had no choice but to look up.
"That'll be five Low-Grade Mana Stones," Lucian said with his hand outstretched. Inwardly, he was a bit excited. Finally, he would be able to repair his Mana Veins. Once his Mana Veins were restored, he would no longer be weak.
Garrett frowned, his eyes were still groggy, and his hand was still on his burning cheek. But when he heard about the payment, his tiredness cleared.
Hurriedly, he used his Mana Sense on his body and was stunned at what he discovered.
Suddenly, his eyes became wet, "This…this… My beautiful muscles… they're gone."
To the Orc Race, muscles were their pride. Having the biggest muscles was an achievement that they could brag about.
But now, his pride and joy had all disappeared.
Lucian's eyes twitched. It was not as if he did not understand what the Orc felt, but Lucian would rather look slim and handsome than …well, an Orc.
After a while, Garrett calmed down. He had already noticed his 206 bones had been formed and tempered. Now they shone with a brown luster. If the price of becoming a Bone Tempering Mage was losing his muscles, then he would gladly give them up.
Garrett clenched his fists and felt overwhelming power coursing through his arms. He might have lost his muscles, but the power he obtained was on a whole other level.
'Just a single Siren's Melody Poached Egg helped me break through, then wouldn't I break through again if I ate more?'
Even though he was poor now and had to work to earn money, that did not mean he did not have Low-Grade Mana Stones. In Thunderfall City, the strongest Mages were only at Bone Tempering Realm, and they rarely left their mansions. That meant Tendon Tempering Mages could earn lots of money if they were willing to take quests from the Adventurer's Guild.
And now that he was a Bone Tempering Mage, he could take on higher-level quests.
The higher the quest level, the more money he would get upon completion.
And the more Low-Grade Mana Stones he had, the more he could order Siren's Melody Poached Eggs and become stronger.
One day… he might even be able to get his revenge on that bastard father of his.
While Garrett gritted his teeth in hatred, he used his Mana Sense to bring out ten Low-Grade Mana Stones from his spatial ring onto his hand.
"Owner, here are ten Low-Grade Mana Stones. Please give me another plate of Siren's Melody Poached Egg." Garrett respectfully said as he placed the ten Low-Grade Mana stones on Lucian's hands.
Lucian frowned. He glanced at the excited Orc, and then at the Low-Grade Mana Stones in his hands, which numbered ten… not five.
With a thought, five Low-Grade Mana Stones disappeared into his inventory. Before the Orc could respond, Lucian grabbed a nearby menu, flipped the page to 'Transcendence Rules', and pointed at the second rule.
Garrett blinked a few times. He was confused, but still read what the owner was showing him, and immediately froze.
'Each dish can only be ordered once a day by each customer.'
Garrett wanted to argue, but before he could open his mouth, Lucian indifferently said, "Do you want to be blacklisted from Transcendence?"
Garrett shuddered in fright. From the owner's tone and indifferent face, he knew he should come back the next day. The prospect of being blacklisted was too frightening.
After a moment, Garrett nodded. His face was complicated, but there was nothing he could do but come back tomorrow. Finally, he carefully said:
"Owner, can I only order after exactly twenty-four hours?"
Lucian was about to respond that he could come whenever tomorrow when he realized that repairing his Mana Veins would take time and would not be done instantly. After a moment of thought, he pointed at the open sign next to the entrance and said:
"As long as the sign is flipped to open, you are allowed to order."
Garrett's face brightened at his words, and he nodded.
"I will come back tomorrow!" He said and then left.
After the Orc finally left, Lucian let out a sigh of relief.
"I should add a new rule. Male patrons aren't allowed to seduce the owner…"
If the System had a body, its eyes would be glowing in excitement after hearing its Host's words. Those words were no different than being thrown a life-saving jacket. If it had eyes, it would be crying in joy.
[Host, would you like for me to add that to the menu's rules?]
Lucian blinked in surprise. He had only thought in jest, but having a rule that prohibited male patrons from attempting to seduce him would be beneficial.
After a while, he said, [Yes. That would save me some trouble.]
Suddenly, a new rule mysteriously appeared on the restaurant's menu.
'Third Rule:
No patron is allowed to seduce the owner of Transcendence.'
As soon as the System edited the menu, internally, it happily thought. 'With this, the Mistress might not yell at me for not informing her about the Abyssal Creature.'
The System was over the moon. Previously, it had been frightened by the consequences, but now, even if the System did not receive a 'good job' from its Mistress, at least, it would not be yelled at. The System had been saved!
After Lucian read the newest rule to his restaurant, his indifferent expression did not falter. Then, he walked up to the entrance, locked the door, flipped the sign to close, turned off the restaurant's lights, turned on the alarm system, and went upstairs to his room.
His restaurant was closed for the day.
As for potential customers who wanted to dine at his restaurant, they could come back tomorrow.
Lucian had something more important to deal with than cooking. Restoring his Mana Veins took precedence over anything else. Not only would it allow him to start absorbing Mana, but Mana was also required for cooking. He could not always rely on the System.
—-----------------
As Garrett was walking to the Adventurer's Guild, he noticed the restaurant's open sign being flipped to closed, followed by the lights being turned off, causing lips and eyes to twitch.
He glanced up and saw the sun had barely risen. 'Eccentric! The owner is definitely an eccentric!'
After he had advanced to a Bone Tempering Mage, he had silently tried to use his Mana Sense to discover the owner's Mage Rank but the feeling of looking at a mountain had not disappeared. In fact, he felt like he was trying to glean into the intricacies of how the world worked. Even now his heart shuddered, wondering just how strong that young-looking man was.
A trickle of sweat poured down his face as he thought, 'Thank God, I didn't attack the owner.'
—------------
On the balcony of Transcendence, Lucian was sitting on a lounge chair and indifferently looking at the people, who were going about their day.
Compared to before, there were more people on the street. Unfortunately, whenever passing pedestrians saw his restaurant, they would be shocked and amazed by its appearance before running away in fear. None of them were as brave… or as stupid as the Orc.
At this moment, the voice of the System sounded all of a sudden.
[Congratulations host for completing your first Quest. You are one step closer to becoming the Transcendent Chef.]
[Commencing Quest Reward…]
[Quest Reward: One Mana Veins Restoration Potion.]
The System announced before continuing:
[Congratulations host for obtaining the Mana Veins Restoration Potion. I hope you can quickly grow stronger. A chef that can not use Mana is not worthy of calling himself a chef.]
Upon hearing the System's words, Lucian happily smirked.
'Finally.' With a thought, a transparent glass bottle filled with purple liquid appeared on the palm of his hand. Staring at the liquid, Lucian's eyes shone brightly.
This was it.
With the potion in hand, Lucian walked into his room and locked the door. The process of restoring his Mana Veins was a delicate and time-consuming process. By no means could he be interrupted during the process. Thankfully, within the restaurant, he was practically invincible.
After taking a deep breath, Lucian uncorked the bottle and drank the potion in one go.
As the liquid entered his mouth and proceeded to go down his throat, Lucian grimaced in disgust.
The taste was horrific.
Compared to his gourmet food that benefited Mages and tasted divinely good, the taste of the liquid was no different from diarrhea.