"What?"
Amon nodded before picking up another piece of meat from the grill.
He wrapped it with his chopsticks before bringing it toward Seraphina’s face with a completely shameless expression.
Seraphina stared at the meat for several seconds before her cheeks became red.
"You really like doing this, don’t you?"
Amon smiled. "Open your mouth."
Seraphina grumbled something under her breath that Amon couldn’t understand before finally leaning forward and taking the bite.
She chewed the meat while glaring at him, although there wasn’t much anger behind her expression anymore.
After swallowing, she immediately returned to the topic that had been bothering her.
"What do you mean it’s incomplete?"
Amon placed another piece of meat onto the grill before looking at her.
"You probably won’t notice it right now." He paused for a moment before continuing.
"But after cultivating it for some time, you’ll eventually reach a point where the circulation starts feeling incomplete."
Seraphina’s eyebrows slowly tightened. "How long?"
"I’m not sure." Amon shrugged while turning the meat over. "But you’ll know when you reach it."
Seraphina stared at him suspiciously before another thought suddenly crossed her mind.
Her eyes narrowed slightly when a thought appeared in her mind.
"The way you’re talking about it..." She leaned closer toward him. "You know where the other half is, don’t you?"
Amon’s lips slowly curled upward.
He picked up the cooked meat and took a bite before answering. "I’ll take you there."
Seraphina’s eyes immediately widened.
"Where, when, and why?"
Amon continued chewing. He swallowed the meat before calmly answering. "When the time comes."
Seraphina’s expression became annoyed. "Tell me now."
Amon shook his head. "No."
"Why?"
"Because I don’t want to."
Seraphina puffed her cheeks slightly. "You’re behaving like an annoying bastard."
Amon ignored her complaint and continued eating.
After a few moments, he decided to change the subject. "Why didn’t you go to college last year?"
Seraphina’s expression immediately became quieter.
She lowered the chopsticks in her hand before answering.
"You mean during my junior year?"
Amon nodded. "Yeah."
The students could potentially enter college after either their junior or senior year.
It depended on their performance during the academy’s Potential Assessment.
Students who performed exceptionally well could receive offers after their junior-year assessment.
Those who weren’t accepted, or simply chose to remain at the academy, could take the assessment again during their senior year.
Seraphina had possessed more than enough talent to qualify during her junior year, yet she had stayed.
’If I remember correctly, she had an S-rank potential.’
Amon looked at her curiously. "You had the ability to go last year, didn’t you?"
Seraphina’s expression fell slightly.
She stared at the food in front of her before letting out a quiet sigh.
"I did."
"Then why didn’t you?"
Seraphina remained silent for a moment. "My mother wanted me to stay."
Amon raised an eyebrow. "Something related to your family?"
She nodded slowly. "There were some family reasons."
Amon looked at her for a moment before asking, "What kind of family reasons?"
Seraphina shook her head. "I’d rather not talk about it."
Amon immediately stopped asking. "Alright."
He wasn’t going to force her to talk about something she clearly didn’t want to discuss.
The two continued eating afterward, although the atmosphere had become slightly quieter than before.
By the time they finished their meal, most of the food on the table had disappeared.
Amon leaned back in his chair and let out a satisfied sigh. "That was good."
Seraphina nodded while taking a sip from her drink. "It was."
Neither of them seemed particularly eager to leave.
Still, the afternoon had already passed, and eventually, they left the restaurant and began walking toward the nearest bus stop.
The two of them stood beside the road while waiting for Seraphina’s ride.
Amon looked toward her with a small smile.
"Did you have fun?"
Seraphina looked at him for a moment before quietly nodding.
"I did." She paused before looking away. "...Although it would’ve been better if you did something more."
Amon’s eyebrows immediately rose. "What did you say?"
Seraphina’s face became slightly pink. "Nothing."
Amon gave her a look of suspicion. "...I heard something."
Seraphina suddenly pointed toward the road.
"That’s my ride."
A black luxury car was slowly approaching them before stopping directly in front of the two. The rear door opened automatically.
Seraphina stepped toward the car before turning around one last time.
She looked at Amon for several seconds before a beautiful smile appeared on her face.
"Bye."
She waved her hand before getting inside.
Amon smiled and waved back. "Bye."
The car began moving away, and Amon continued watching it for a few seconds.
Though he quickly noticed the driver staring at him through the rear-view mirror.
The man’s expression was cold enough to make Amon uncomfortable.
Amon frowned. ’The fuck is your problem?’
The car disappeared around the corner.
Amon shoved his hands into his pockets before turning toward the bus stop.
’Whatever.’
Amon was finally back in his room an hour later.
He collapsed onto his bed and stared at the ceiling while remembering everything that had happened during the date.
It had been surprisingly enjoyable.
Amon closed his eyes for a few seconds before remembering something important.
"System."
He immediately opened the System panel.
Several notifications appeared in front of him at once.
[Tenfold Return Activated.]
[Investment detected.]
[Target: Registered Wife -- Seraphina Vale.]
[Investment: Glacial Earrings.]
[Investment Grade: Silver.]
[Return Multiplier: ×10.]
[Calculating benefit...]
[Reward generated.]
[You have received: Glacial Fox’s Mana Core.]
[Effect: Increases the user’s Ice Mana affinity and mana capacity.]
Amon’s eyes widened slightly as a smile formed on his face. ’Not bad.’
He quickly opened the second notification.
[Tenfold Return Activated.]
[Investment detected.]
[Target: Registered Wife -- Seraphina Vale.]
[Investment: Moonlight Orchid.]
[Investment Grade: Bronze.]
[Return Multiplier: ×10.]
[Calculating benefit...]
[Reward generated.]
[You have received: Moonlight Meditation Technique.]
[Effect: Improves mental recovery and increases the efficiency of mana meditation during nighttime.]
Amon stared at the reward for several seconds. ’Even a flower gives me something useful.’
His smile slowly widened. The Tenfold Return system was really ridiculous.
It was judging how useful his investment was to Seraphina and returning something that could benefit him.
Amon opened the final notification.
[Tenfold Return Activated.]
[Investment detected.]
[Target: Registered Wife -- Seraphina Vale.]
[Investment: Feeding.]
[Investment Grade: Bronze.]
[Return Multiplier: ×10.]
[Calculating emotional and physical benefit...]
[Reward generated.]
[You have received: Cooking Mastery.]
[Effect: Grants advanced knowledge and instinct regarding cooking, ingredients, seasoning, heat control, and food preparation.]
Amon stared at the final notification.
His expression slowly became strange.
"Cooking?"
He had expected money, maybe an item, or perhaps even another skill related to combat.
Instead, the System had given him the ability to cook.
Amon opened the skill information again.
The amount of knowledge inside it was far greater than he had expected.
He suddenly understood how different ingredients reacted to one another, how to control the temperature of a stove, and even how to prepare meals that could improve physical recovery.
Amon’s eyes slowly brightened.
’Wait.’ He sat up on the bed. ’This isn’t actually useless.’
If food could improve someone’s recovery, cultivation, or physical condition, then this skill could potentially become another way to invest in his wives.
Amon’s smile became wider. ’This might really be the best long-term investment.’
He fell back onto the bed while staring at the ceiling.
Amon slowly closed his eyes, but just before he fell asleep, another thought entered his mind.
’...I still need to find the other half of Seraphina’s cultivation technique.’
That wasn’t something he could simply buy from the market.
The remaining half was inside a dungeon, and according to the information he had seen before, that dungeon would only appear in roughly two weeks.
Amon stared at the ceiling for a while longer.
’Two weeks.’
His fingers slowly tightened against the blanket.
By then, he needed to become much stronger.