Chapter 0072 Dietary Therapy

This time, Grimm had indeed been reckless in consuming the Focus Potion. According to the procedure he had researched in advance, there should be an interval of at least three to four days between doses to avoid the cumulative damage of the potion's effects. However, relying on his youth and robust constitution, his body still in a period of rapid growth, he could not endure the long wait and ultimately chose to take another dose.

The consequences were immediately apparent.

The first time he took the potion, his constitution only dropped by 0.85 points, but the second time, it decreased by 1.05 points. It was conceivable that, if Grimm were to take a third bottle, his constitution might plunge by nearly two points in a single dose.

One must understand that the body parameters calculated by the chip were, after all, just a data representation of his physical attributes. Each of the four main attributes was not isolated, but supported and influenced each other. For instance, spirit and agility affected long-range accuracy and attack frequency; spirit and strength influenced reflexes and explosive power; constitution, the foundation of all attributes, affected vitality, defense, resistances, and evasion in conjunction with the others.

When Grimm's constitution fell from 4.98 to 3.17, this nearly two-point decline brought about more than just a reduction in vitality—it triggered a general weakening of his entire life system.

Now, Grimm felt as though his whole body had been hollowed out.

The emptiness and hunger brought on by the rapid decline of his constitution never left him, making his internal organs feel as if they were ablaze.

For the moment unable to stand, Grimm could only ring the small bronze bell on the wooden table.

As a silent, special ripple spread out, a wooden face suddenly protruded from the previously blank surface of the table.

“Master Grimm, what special service do you require?” The wooden face actually spoke.

“Food! I need food! Now, immediately!”

“What level of food would you prefer? We have the standard noble set, made with the finest ingredients available to human nobility, each set for only one magic crystal. We also offer the magical energy set, made from mid- to high-level magical beasts from the depths of the Krela Mountains, each set for only five magic crystals.”

“Magical energy set—I want it now!”

“Understood! Your order is accepted. Please place your payment into my mouth!” As it spoke, the carved wooden face on the table abruptly opened its mouth.

Grimm took five magic crystals from his pouch and placed them into the mouth. What had been solid wood now seemed to open into a crevice leading to some hidden space, swallowing the magic crystals whole.

After consuming the crystals, the wooden face suddenly swelled, transforming into a square wooden box. When the box finally burst apart into countless wooden shavings that retracted into the table, a steaming steak appeared on a silver platter.

Exquisite silver cutlery, a fragrant fried steak sprinkled with red, blue, and white vegetables and a delicious sauce, and a goblet of aromatic wine completed the meal.

Though Grimm had never paid much attention to food and was not particularly picky, today he had to admit that a carefully curated meal was a tremendous physical and psychological comfort for an apprentice wizard long immersed in monotonous routines.

Caring nothing for dining etiquette, Grimm devoured the steak with the ferocity of a starving beast. Only when every morsel had vanished into his stomach did the burning hunger begin to subside.

“Chip, can you determine what kind of meat this is?”

“Beep. Armored rhinoceros, 87% probability; berserk beast, 10% probability; ash-pouch beast, 2% probability...”

The chip listed a lengthy roster, but the probabilities for the latter seven or eight were negligible; only the first few were likely.

Grimm licked his still-parched lips and downed the wine in one gulp.

He could clearly sense that the magical energy set he had just consumed was vastly inferior to yesterday’s earthfire dragon meat. Moreover, the most probable source—the armored rhinoceros—was an earth-element mid-tier magical beast, whose elemental aura did not match his own affinity. While it still provided a great influx of vitality, it did nothing to bolster his fire-based talents.

It seemed that, if he wished to supplement both his life force and his affinity for fire, he could only choose the flesh of fire-element magical beasts—and the higher the tier, the better.

Driven by hunger, Grimm rang the bell again.

As expected, when he frankly requested a meal made from fire-element magical beasts, the wooden face promptly recited a list of delicacies.

Scarlet Flame Tiger: 15 magic crystals per pound

Fire Lizard: 20 magic crystals per pound

Blazing Hound: 25 magic crystals per pound

Flame Swallow: 30 magic crystals per pound

...

Grimm listened attentively, occasionally interjecting with questions. Soon, he chose the dish most suited to him: stir-fried heart and liver of the Blazing Hound.

After paying 25 magic crystals, the wooden face quickly devoured the remnants of the previous meal and conjured a new dish.

This time, it was not a steak but a still-beating fresh heart. The fist-sized heart seemed to harbor a source of fire. When it first appeared, it was raw and bloody, but as the fire within flashed, flames curled upward to the ceiling, then vanished in an instant.

As the rising heat slowly dispersed, a fresh and fragrant stir-fried Blazing Hound heart and liver appeared before Grimm.

He first pierced the heart with his knife, pressed his lips to it, and drank the warm, satisfying heart’s blood within. As the searing, enticing heat traveled down his throat to his stomach, a surging, explosive warmth forced him to close his eyes and savor the moment.

Soon, after wolfing down the meal, Grimm cut the Blazing Hound heart into even pieces, sending each into his mouth in turn. With every bite, a flood of fiery energy burst within his belly, making him want to close his eyes and moan in satisfaction.

The surging fire-element energy coursed through his body, drenching him in sweat and leaving him feeling utterly invigorated.

After consuming two servings of Blazing Hound, his depleted constitution was partially restored, and his spirit had also grown slightly.

Strength 4.04, Agility 4.30, Constitution 3.34, Spirit 10.07.

Once the wooden face had cleared away the remnants, Grimm, cradling his now-round stomach, laboriously dragged himself to the large bed to begin his daily meditation.

It must be said, after such targeted nourishment, the spiritual boost he gained from this deep meditation reached an unprecedented 0.11 points—an increase of 0.03 points above his usual 0.08. Evidently, consciously raising the fire-element energy density within himself or his surroundings before each meditation could also improve its efficacy.

Grimm instructed the chip to record this finding and, in his spare time, began analyzing the most beneficial meditation methods for himself. Having done all this, he sighed and drifted off to sleep.

...

He slept until he naturally awoke.

Who knew how long had passed? When Grimm finally woke, full of vigor, his whole body brimmed with inexhaustible strength.

Of course, this was merely the swelling sensation after replenishing his strength; after all, his constitution was only 3.34, and his strength just 4.04. Such numbers were nothing to be ashamed of for a junior apprentice, but for an intermediate one, they were plainly “feeble.”

Even those who did not follow the body-tempering path should, as intermediate apprentices, have all three physical attributes above five. Only then would their physical fitness not hinder the growth of their spirit, preventing a lopsided development. Naturally, extreme cases like Parasite and Blackwood were exceptions.

Those fellows’ bodies could no longer be measured by ordinary standards, having transformed into unique constitutions. Entik, the Parasite, clearly possessed the miraculous traits of life-sharing and damage-splitting—a veritable cockroach, impossible to kill.

Blackwood’s constitution was astonishingly low, but he evidently possessed some ineffable special abilities. At the very least, none of the paralytic stares from Grimm’s Crocodile Hunter had any effect during their duels, evidently negated by that peculiar constitution.

Grimm stretched a bit, and just as he was about to visit the library, a knock sounded at the wooden door.

It was Mary.

Mary, dressed in her signature red, entered with her usual haughty stride, her eyes betraying a confusion she could not conceal.

“You... your spirit is already at ten points?”

The strange aura emanating from Grimm made Red Mary momentarily doubt her senses, but the spiritual fluctuation was unmistakably that of an intermediate apprentice.

“Yes, I just broke through yesterday. By the way, you’re here about the spoils, aren’t you? Good news—I managed to sell them all without a hitch and got these treasures in return!” So saying, Grimm, as if displaying rare gems, produced a vial of Focus Potion from his pouch.

Mary took the potion, studied it carefully, and a look of realization dawned on her face before she handed it back.

“Keep this for yourself! Such low-grade potions are useless to me now, but they’ll still benefit you. Remember, don’t take them in succession, and be sure to restore your body after taking them. Otherwise, your health will suffer greatly!”

Grimm was momentarily stunned.

He had considered that Mary might not care much for such things, but her casual return of the Focus Potion still exceeded his expectations. After all, within the Wizard Tower, a Focus Potion was worth five contribution points and five magic crystals. Anyone who had been to the underground would know just how precious those points were.

Thus, Grimm was left speechless for a time.