At noon, after finishing his lunch, Wayne entered the forest to the east of the villa for meditation and practice. This forest belonged to the Lando family's private estate, and a walking path had been constructed, ensuring quietness without disturbance from outsiders.
He needed to venture a bit farther from the main house; the elements near the villa were either easily captured or elusive. Except for fire elements, the other three types of elements dared not approach. If they didn't come to him, Wayne had to chase after them.
Running? Where could they run? Even if they fled, they couldn't escape his grasp!
A couple of days ago, the butler, Flah, had changed the weekly menu and prepared a detailed list of ingredients, asking about Master Wayne's dietary preferences. Flah was an excellent butler who observed Wayne's daily eating habits. He noticed that Wayne wasn't fond of afternoon tea and had a somewhat casual attitude towards table manners.
As for dishes, Wayne had no particular preferences except for his dislike of potatoes; he was indifferent to other dishes. Whether they tasted good or bad, whether they were expensive or cheap, didn't matter to him as long as they filled his stomach and were convenient to eat without delaying his studies.
However, despite Wayne's indifference, Flah was determined to excel. He compiled information on all the available ingredients in the Windsor Kingdom and stayed up late to create a spreadsheet, all to find out what Master Wayne liked to eat.
Wayne glanced at the spreadsheet. He didn't really care, as long as he was full. When he noticed rice on the list, he promptly decided to make it his staple food from then on.
It was outrageous; they could actually grow rice on the Chosen Continent.
Wayne had always regarded the Chosen Continent as a modified version of Europe. Did Europeans even grow rice?
He hadn't researched it, but it seemed unlikely.
Regardless, Wayne got what he wanted in terms of staple food, and he felt more energized when cooking. He asked the butler to order a wok and, after three months, enjoyed tomato and egg stir-fry and shredded potatoes.
Potatoes, previously banished to obscurity, once again became Wayne's favorite.
Due to differences in ingredients, mainly seasoning, the two stir-fried dishes didn't quite match Wayne's taste. But the reunion after a long time made him overlook the flaws subconsciously. Flah was too outstanding; he brought Wayne great surprises, meticulous in every aspect, and Wayne was completely satisfied.
This is what professionalism looks like!
Wayne was content, but Flah wasn't. He wanted to do better. The next day, he handed over another spreadsheet, bringing chili peppers, scallions, ginger, garlic, fennel, and other spices to Wayne.
At that moment, Wayne couldn't help but imagine his future, where he could soon enjoy hotpot.
Eating hotpot and singing songs—it sounded beautiful to think about, full of hope for life.
Wayne was very satisfied with Flah and would have hired him as his butler if he had the money.
When customizing the iron pot, Wayne drew a simple diagram and asked Flah to order three sets of knuckle dusters, surface-hardened steel, blunt spikes, used to increase the lethality in close combat.
Knuckle dusters were small, easy to conceal, convenient to use, and the design protected the fists while increasing damage.
Compared to the crowbar, they were much better.
It had been four or five days since Wesley and Hood left. Wayne was busy practicing and gradually forgot about them. He had recently figured out a way to capture elemental light points without meditation.
By switching his vision and merging with the Book of Greed, he could capture elemental light points freely floating in the natural world.
Advantages: The Book of Greed was insatiable, merging with Wayne increased the efficiency of capturing elemental light points tenfold. Even if Wayne only got a third of them kneeling, he still made a huge profit.
Disadvantages: The Book of Greed was too greedy, indiscriminately robbing anyone and everyone, accepting anyone who came along. Wayne was too afraid of the fire elements and swallowed them all.
The first time, he was nearly scared to death, thinking about Heffie's warning, fearing that he would be drowned by strong desires and lose his reason, becoming a greedy, lustful, lazy, and worthless social trash.
But that didn't happen. The fire elements came in the thousands, yet they didn't fill his essence of life.
Looking at the progress bar again, the earth, water, and wind elements showed little movement. Wayne suspected that he was a genius. There was no need to doubt it; facts speak louder than words, and he was indeed a genius.
Wayne was puzzled. On one hand, he acknowledged his teacher's ability, believing that the Grand Priestess of Segregation had a keen eye and wouldn't be mistaken. On the other hand, he was unwilling to be labeled as mediocre. With his crossing, he had a golden finger, and he shouldn't be a waste no matter what.
Caught in contradiction, he instinctively blamed the Book of Greed for his problems.
Was it possible that he didn't have any talent at all? His essence of life was no different from ordinary people's, and the Book of Greed simply raised his upper limit, making him incomprehensible by ordinary standards, leading the Grand Priestess to make a wrong judgment?
It was highly likely!
Wayne felt a sense of relief, no longer rejecting the fire elements.
He was beyond ordinary standards, and the conventional standards for measuring normal mages didn't apply to him. He needed to plunder more elemental light points to satisfy the Book of Greed's needs first, then his own essence of life.
Peripheral elements were still too scarce. Was there no place where he could practice and eat to his heart's content in one go? Wayne frowned.
"Master Wayne, you have a phone call."
Flah approached Wayne through the forest path from behind.
"Who is it?"
"Mr. Hood."
"...So, who's Hood?"