William wasn’t planning to prepare rabbit meat today; there was just too much food in the fridge already, it was simply impossible to finish it all.
Bella had met Maria before and knew she was one of the bar owners. Once William entered the kitchen, Bella started chatting with her leisurely.
Alice followed William into the kitchen, curiously asking, “Master, is this Maria Amy’s mother?”
“Yes.” William responded calmly as he sliced vegetables, “She was my boss where I used to work, she took good care of me.”
Alice asked with intrigue, “Master, you are so wealthy, why did you even need to work?”
“One needs to find fresh things to do; otherwise, it gets a bit boring.” William retorted, “Have you learned the methods I taught you to enhance your abilities?”
Alice chuckled, “I am exceptionally talented, I pick things up quickly.”
William smiled without speaking, he had taken on several apprentices before, Alice was probably the least sharp of them all.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Just thinking that you make a very valid point.”
“Why do I feel that you don’t think so?”
As William prepared to add the ingredients to the pot, he said, “Your feeling is pretty accurate.”
“…” Alice realized she made a mistake; she shouldn’t have asked her master such a question. If she was slow, she should just keep quiet.
William didn’t say much more, focusing on cooking.
Alice didn’t dare disturb her master any further, quietly observing from the side.
Hadn’t she expressed her wish to learn how to cook? This was a great opportunity.
While cooking, William inevitably entered a deeply focused state, inadvertently releasing some mysterious power.
Previously, since Alice hadn’t learned how to absorb energy, she was naturally unaware of the existence of such mysterious energy. But now, she found William’s cooking movements pleasing to the eye, entrancing her momentarily as if something was pulling at her soul.
Merely watching William cook had caused the energy within Alice to become incredibly active.
When William finished preparing the last dish, Alice seemed to hear a faint sound resonating deep within her soul. The energy within her naturally converged, flowing throughout her body, and finally focused at the core of her being.
William turned his head and gave her a quick glance. Just moments ago he was thinking about how slow this apprentice was, but in just a short while, she had reached a new spiritual level.
Alice quickly regained her senses, exhaling a deep breath of stale air, feeling something wondrous had occurred to her.
Before, her control over energy was indeed weak, but now, with a mere thought, the internal energy would circulate according to her will.
If the newly found energy flowing within her before could only be regarded as the existence of a special energy, now, the energy inside had completely merged with her, responding to her commands as naturally as her own limbs.
“Master, what just happened?” Alice looked at the counter and noticed that William had somehow cooked five dishes already. In her perception, it felt as if thousands of years had passed, yet also as if only a moment had gone by; the feeling was quite wondrous.
William chuckled, “You have broken through. According to the terminology in the Soulmancer world, you have reached the intermediate Soulmancer level.”
“A breakthrough?” Alice found it incredible. It seemed like she didn’t do anything; how did she manage to break through?
“Bring the dishes out, it’s time to eat,” William said, already carrying three plates towards the dining area.
Following closely with the remaining two dishes, Alice whispered, “Master, is it really that easy to reach the intermediate Soulmancer level?”
“It is quite simple,” William nodded affirmatively.
About three thousand years ago, an average Soulmancer would need around fifty years to progress from initially learning to channel the mysterious energy of nature into their body to becoming an intermediate Soulmancer.
Just fifty years, merely a blink of an eye.
Although Alice had only been following William for a few days, she had transitioned from an ordinary person to an intermediate Soulmancer, which didn’t seem to surprise William at all.
A lot of it had to do with his excellent guidance, after all.
If other people in the world today knew about Alice’s peculiar experience, they would likely spare no expense to become apprentices under William.
Bringing the freshly cooked meals to the yard, Bella and Maria had become much more familiar with each other. Amy was in the yard picking some flowers and plants to feed the rabbit, presumably thinking that the rabbit wasn’t grown enough to be cooked yet.
After setting down the dishes, William called over Theo Hughes from across the street and Nathaniel Smith from next door.
It was just a matter of adding two more sets of utensils, after all.
Nathaniel didn’t stand on ceremony at all, bringing his own utensils over.
In his view, William could be considered his future grandson-in-law. If William could marry his granddaughter, he would fully support it with both hands raised in approval.
William secretly sized up Nathaniel, noticing clearly that Nathaniel’s health had significantly improved compared to a few days ago. Thanks to the fitness exercises taught by him and Alice’s healing treatments, the older man had recovered a great deal.
“William, thank you.”
At the dining table, Maria raised her glass of juice to toast William. She may not have been wealthy before, but she had been a bar owner, possessing her own property and running her own business. How could she have ever expected that one day she would overcome difficulties thanks to a waiter who worked at her bar?
William raised his glass and laughed, “Just a simple favor, it’s nothing.”
“Much appreciated,” Maria drained her glass in one go. She was aware that the money Aurora had given her came from William. Now with her father present, there were certain things she couldn’t express, but she intended to repay William for the financial help.
Taking a sip of juice, William asked, “Have you thought about what you want to do moving forward?”
A few days ago, Maria wouldn’t have considered this question. She had money and connections, and plenty of friends. With a group of people, it was easy to casually start a business, requiring little investment of money and energy while still making some earnings.
But now her perspective had changed.
Due to the issues with Caleb, it was impossible for her to partner with some of her previous acquaintances for business ventures.
Most importantly, after the divorce, she suddenly realized that while she had been lost in a daily haze of drunkenness, she seldom attended to her elderly father and daughter.
Over the years, she spent most of her time entertaining at the bar. She would be drunk the next day, sleeping till evening, only to continue drinking at night, leaving her with scant time for her family.
If possible, she would prefer to earn less money and dedicate more time to her daughter and father.
After pondering for a moment, Maria said, “I plan to open a breakfast shop on this street, but I guess I should learn how to properly manage it first.”
Opening a breakfast shop on East 62nd street might not bring booming business, but it should cover the expenses for her small family.
Life doesn’t necessarily have to be about great wealth and prestige.
William nodded, saying, “When you have time, I can teach you how to cook gourmet dishes.” .
In the realm of gourmet cuisine, William was unparalleled, thoroughly versed in it more than anyone in the world; there wasn’t a dish globally that William couldn’t prepare.