Mineral

Going back a few hours to the mansion's kitchen, it was mayhem. The chefs did their best to process the ingredients without caring about the spiritual energy consumption. Just as one of them was on the verge of passing out, another would continue their task.

"Keep the fire up! I want that meat to be tender as butter!" Marco screamed from his station. He carefully moved his fingers through the air in front of a grill full of eggplant slices. "Culinary arts of the fire dragon, Slumber!"

The fire suddenly flared up, covering the eggplants as a warm blanket in the winter. Marco smirked as he saw the spiritual energy stopped draining from the slices and calmed down. The earth element inside was stubborn, and he needed a lot more power to subdue it properly. With a sigh of relief, he flipped them in a swift motion and looked at the other stations.

The Earth element was the hardest to work on due to its natural stubbornness. On the contrary, the air element was very straightforward. The only problem with that is that they didn't know a good corn recipe on such short notice. Marco just had to admit defeat on that front and move on.

Water was prone to "spill" outside of the ingredients, so they had to encapsulate it with earth energy. That's why he had to make a sauce using watermelons and blue peppers. With some slices of hot tomato, the sauce turned out to be pretty good. The spiciness contrasted very well with the watermelon's sweetness, toning it down enough to not be painful for the tongue.

"Plates!" Marco screamed.

"Understood!" His sous-chefs screamed and prepared everything for him.

Several plates of salad floated in front of him, and a mantle of spiritual energy protected them from the fire below. With a soft grunt, he summoned his telekinesis with a thought.

"Finishing touches!"

The slices carefully rested on the dishes, overlapping each other with millimetric precision. Two orbs of water appeared from behind before splitting into smaller ones and covering the salads. With a hand movement, Marco summoned the full energy of his foundation establishment cultivation.

"Culinary arts of the fire dragon, Blessing of the gluttonous lords!"

A dragon's roar emerged from him as spiritual energy covered the dishes, preventing any leakage when they get cut. With a satisfied smile, he returned to work.

"Sir! We had a problem!" One of the cooks ran towards him just as he was about to start the desert. "The metallic eggplant isn't edible!"

"Hmm? Unedible?" Marco asked, confused. "Bring me a piece of the center."

"I have it here, sir." The man fished out a piece of the eggplant from his bag of holding. It looked like a piece of metal with glittering gems incrusted. He went for a bite, only to discover...

---

The talk behind doors didn't last for too long. The dinner was heavy proof that the product can and will compete in the market if handled correctly. After a final round of tests, they would begin production as soon as possible. Even if they are a failure, They can find their spot in the market as exotic spiritual herbs.

Duarte and the boys ate their desserts happily while the adults talked. It was a watermelon sorbet with an expensive foreign ingredient: Kokoa. Isaac recognized the chocolate flavor straight away but was surprised about the weird name it had. After inquiring a bit, he learned that it was from the Meka kingdom, a faraway land renowned for its secrecy. Only hand-picked merchants could enter and exit it, but nobody could get any information about it.

"What about the metal eggplant?" Isaac asked in puzzlement. The strange vegetable didn't come even near their plates the whole evening, and it was the most curious of the bunch.

"We couldn't process it as food, young master," Marco answered with a wry smile. Isaac noticed that he had one of his frontal teeth chipped off. "The kitchen staff and I are certain that it's a mineral instead."

"A...mineral?" Isaac opened his eyes in surprise. "Well, that was unexpected..."

"I took the liberty to pass it to the family's blacksmith. He'll give you a satisfactory answer, young master." Marco bowed and went back to the kitchen.

The boys continued chatting among themselves about the training, their prospects in the Magnolia sect entrance in 2 years, and the atmosphere inside. When the reunion between the family heads concluded, Dustin finally left with his mother. She took his hand and bowed towards the family before going out.

"Did you enjoy the food?" Joanna asked him as they made their way to the Mann mansion.

"Mmm. It was tasty and...spicy." He shuddered a bit after saying that word.

"Something happened, little one?"

"N-nothing..." His cheeks burned red once more. "L-let's keep walking!"

-You're like an open book, darling.- She thought to herself with a small smile on her face, thinking for a moment how to tease him. However, the talk she had with Dixon weighed more on that moment.

"Dustin, how's your relationship with Isaac?" The abrupt question from his mother surprised him. He took a couple of seconds to recover a bit and answered.

"Well, I think we're friends... He's very kind to me, but he's strict with training and keeps talking about crops whenever we have free time." He scratched his head. "I don't hate it, but i don't want to become a farmer..."

"What do you want to do, then?" Joanna inquired with a curious expression.

"I want to be a fighter!" Dustin puffed his chest with a big smile. Joanna could see his eyes as bright as the stars and with dreams of reaching beyond what she could offer him. "I'll be strong enough to protect you, dad, and Isaac."

"Oh? You will protect us?" Joanna said, ruffling his hair. "I want to see that day, little sunshine~."

"I-I will." He slightly blushed once more, but he didn't try to escape.

After a peaceful way home, Dustin went to sleep straight away. It was a rollercoaster of emotions like he never experienced before, so the boy was tired. His mother, though, entered her study and sat on the main chair. She let out a deep sigh and began writing in the Mann secret language.

After a quiet night home, Dustin arrived the next morning accompanied by his mother. She exchanged pleasantries with Wilson and let the boy flee from her towards the backyard. After the boy disappeared, she nodded solemnly and left the mansion. Wilson narrowed his eyes for a moment and closed the door. An instant later, Wilson appeared inside Dixon's office in a puff of smoke. He knelt on the ground respectfully and waited for his master's answer.

"Stand up." Dixon's stern voice came from behind the desk.

"I understand." Wilson stood up and looked at the papers over the desk. "Joanna Mann is making her moves as we talk, master."

"Perfect." Dixon nodded. "How is the progress with project A?"

"Smoothly, master." Wilson nodded. "The results of both experiments will come out in the next days."

"What about project B?" Dixon slightly smiled but immediately resumed his stern expression.

"Without a hitch. The price was appropriate given the circumstances." Wilson handed him a note with several names and prices written in the Leigh language. "But it's getting hard to suppress...unwelcomed ears."

"Great job, Wilson." Dixon nodded a couple of times and tapped the table with his fingers. "Continue protecting Isaac and deal with those pests swiftly."

"I understand." Wilson nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

---

As his project was a success, Isaac decided to go all out. He had hundreds of seeds from the time he went to the market, and he planned on planting them all, eventually. However, since he knew it would work, Isaac wanted more variety this time.

Dustin was elated that he didn't have to dirty his blue robes, change into embarrassing costumes, or anything that Isaac threw in between, like farming lessons. After getting 10 gold coins, approximately 100 silvers, the boys and Wilson departed to the market once more.

The lively scene didn't change that much from the last time. People still shouted their wares, bargained, and some even had arguments. With a smirk, Isaac departed to war once more. While Isaac was more interested in the seeds and some tubers, Dustin got attracted to the several weapons and armors on display in different shops. He wanted to browse the shop, but he knew it was impossible with his status and lack of funds.

-I'll get more powerful in the future, and I'll buy everything i want.- The boy thought to himself while tightening his fists.

"Something's wrong, Dustin?" Isaac came from behind and patted his head. "Missing Martha already?"

"Isaac!" His face turned like a tomato. "T-that's not true!"

"Don't worry, i understand." Isaac quietly laughed as he patted his back. "But still, don't think about women while we're here. We have work to do."

Several figures in the shadows nodded to each other as they saw the boys. Wilson noticed something amiss and quietly disappeared in the air. Several men took notice of this event and nodded to themselves before moving to the boys.

"And a lot of company, it seems..." years of fighting gave him a 'sixth sense' towards danger. It wasn't anything like fantasy books where the main characters felt the killing intent, but just enough to tell him that something wasn't right. "Wilson's not here...shit, prepare yourself, Dustin." Isaac got into stance. "We have to fight our way out."