In the master's room, Numui stared at the letter in his hand, frowning. Behind him, Lady Shamira was reading the letter too.
Reading midway, she noticed his problematic expression, "What's wrong with training? He should be a Rank Bih Elementalist, or at least have a Conditioned Elesk, if not. It shows he's an expert."
There's a difference between an expert and not. Elementalists within the same rank don't necessarily have the same power.
For example, Master Yown, the Leaf Humming Blade. Even though he was a Rank Cee Elementalist like others, he was more respected and more well-known.
Experts and masters trained hard before they got their title. This is equivalent to the doctoral degrees on Earth before one can be called a doctor. However, titles are not official but instead, it's their reputation.
Others can become Elementalists but it is only because of their bloodline. As they grow up, they become stronger.
But the more one trains, the faster they rank up. Just that their bloodline limits their ranks. No matter how much they practice, only their skills improve and their rank stagnates.
The Rank Cee Elementalists that Avion fought last time could be called that they are trained. But they cannot be called experts or masters.
Master Yown got called Leaf Humming Blade because he mastered his deadliest elesp, none other than the Leaf Humming Blade elesp.
Experts are different from masters. They are the overall skill. Even if one mastered a certain skill, they can still be defeated by an expert with more experience. Just that masteries have their great advantage.
But Master Numui didn't listen and replied, "Continue reading it."
Lady Shamira frowned and continued. When finished, she exclaimed;
"Why does he need so much food?!"
"Do you think that's his Conditioned Elesp, Gluttony?" Master Numui solemnly asked.
"Ah..." Lady Shamira paused and felt problematic, "Is that why he's wanted? The Crown Council did say that they found out there might be an Immoral Family in the capital. Are they talking about Avion?"
"... I don't know..."
"If this is true, we may have been pulled by a big problem." the lady bit her nails in ponder.
They are already under the contract so there's no escaping. In the world of Elementalist, money isn't that useful at the top of ranks.
.....
In the backyard, Jamina dropped her jaw.
'Only an hour had passed right?' she tilted her head as she placed two pots onto the table.
"Finally!" Avion stood up fast and ran to the table when he noticed her.
"Wait for the plate and spoon." the maid said with a strange expression. When she was about to turn around, she noticed on the edge of her eyes, "eh?"
Avion already has a plate in his hand as he took a big scoop of rice and soup.
"Did I already put a plate and spoon here?" Jamina tilted her head again but soon shrugged it off, "I'm getting forgetful sometimes." she sighed.
She turned to Avion without a mask, devouring the food.
"Jis jelicious. Hor guh at cooing!" Avion said with his mouth full while having a delighted expression.
"Oh... thanks." Jamina stared as she muttered, "Ah! I'll get you something to drink. Don't eat too fast!"
"Shori, ish jush jelicious!"
"Hayss..." Jamina shook her head.
After eating, Jamina said to Avion, "I'll go prepare the next batch next hour. If it becomes too cold, you can reheat it in the kitchen."
When she was about to leave, she was stopped.
"Wait!"
"Hm?" Jamina had yet to realize but she no longer felt threatened.
"Um, would you really do anything?"
"..." her eyes widened, 'Oh no...' she thought;
'Did he falls in love with me because of my cooking? They do say that the way to get to the man's heart is by cooking...'
She felt proud and anxious at the same time.
"I have another request."
"W-what?"
"Can you please double the food?"
"..." Jamina paused and no longer became anxious. Actually, she became a little too light, "What do you mean?"
"Can you cook for me for sixteen hours instead?"
'Sixteen hours?' Jamina still thought that it's fine. She just needs to cook every other hour for a whole day with eight hours of sleep. But she smiled and complained, "That asking too much."
"Oh..." Avion sighed in disappointment, "Okay, sorry."
'He's not going to push it?' any possible scene of Avion being forceful crumbled in Jamina's head.
"Ah, but I didn't decline yet." she followed up. When she saw Avion's expectant eyes, she continued, "I can do it but with conditions."
"If I can do it, I will do it." Avion was determined.
"Hmm..." Jamina thought. She hasn't prepared anything since she didn't expect this to happen.
'I feel like I'm scamming him...' her eyes shone, "I only have a few conditions."
Avion nodded.
"The first one is; you cannot force me to do something. If you forced me, I won't do it." she said. Even though she thought it was unnecessary, she said it to be sure.
"Then, whatever I ask you a question, you will answer it and can only answer it truthfully and honestly. "
"The third one is that..." she frowned.
'What else...? I don't need money. What do I need?' but after a while, she can't think of anything and just said;
"You owe me a favor. If I request something in the future, you won't deny it!" she smiled.
Avion didn't pause, "As long as I have the ability to fulfill that request..."
"That's fine. So do you accept all the terms?"
"Yeah, no problem."
"Deal!"
After that, Avion went back to training. From now on, he will train sixteen hours a day which equals thirty-two periods of stopping time.
If he thought it was hard, then he wouldn't do it. That is during the stoppage of time, of course. He can be demotivated and wait for motivation to come back. What can he lose, time?
However, during this process, the Romen couple got anxious.
"He's been eating for sixteen hours straight!"
The cook herself was thinking about what this man is doing. He's been eating all day but never once did his belly bloated.
But they wouldn't know what he truly does when the time was stopped...
The reason why Avion was desperate to get strong was not because of his contract with the Romen Family.
Dragonian Sheran will come someday and he has now someone to protect.