Down on luck (2)

When they arrived back at the store, Maria had this disheveled person sit down at one of the booths while she went into the kitchen to get something for him for him to eat

As they walked to her store, this person had introduced himself as David.

To her surprise, she found that even though he looked like he was in his early thirties, he was actually only…eighteen years old.

It was just something that he was born with, he had always looked much older than his actual age.

He had come from an average family and every single part of his life was normal, except for the fact that he had basically given up the chance to go to a proper college for hunters because he wanted to rush his awakening.

He had thought that he was the special one who would receive a powerful skill in this awakening.

After all, this was something that had happened before.

The awakening that he underwent was a new process that the Hunter Organization had created.

It would artificially inject mana into people, allowing them to awaken their abilities even if they didn't awaken naturally.

Of course, David had the chance to awaken naturally if he just waited since he was still young, but he couldn't wait since he thought that he was special.

It was also something that he had fought with his parents about, which was why they didn't support him. It was also why he had had to work so hard to earn the money for the awakening.

As soon as he turned eighteen, he had started following hunters into dungeons as a porter. He had basically risked his life to earn this money that he used for the awakening.

But it had all been for nothing in the end…which was why he couldn't accept it and had been in despair.

David just sat there in the cafe looking around, but he didn't see anything special about this cafe.

But he wasn't surprised since he felt that Maria was a very normal person in the first place.

It made sense that she would run a normal cafe like this.

It was just too bad that it was his first time in Hunter City, so he didn't really know that this cafe was in a very special place. This was one of the best spots in all of Hunter City, being right by the main portal of the city.

It was in a spot where most of the hunters that came to Hunter City would pass by, so there was no way that this could be considered a normal cafe.

After looking around, he stared at Xiao Miao and Xiao Lang who were by the booth.

They were just looking at him with calm eyes that made him feel a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't mind the company. He used to have a cat back when he still lived with his parents, so seeing a cat again was soothing for him.

He even tried to reach out to pet Xiao Miao, but all he received was a cat paw slap to the hand.

Xiao Lang even moved in front of Xiao Miao and revealed its teeth to him, as if he was crazy for even trying to pet Xiao Miao.

At the same time, Xiao Miao looked at him with a look of disdain.

David had never been looked down on by a cat like this, so he really didn't know how to react to this.

The only thing he could do was sit there with a bitter smile on his face, but he still watched Xiao Miao with a fascinated look.

It didn't take long for Maria to come back with a tray of steaming hot soup with some bread on the side.

When she appeared and the fragrance of the soup hit him, he couldn't help being stunned.

That was because this was a smell that he had never experienced before.

The rich flavours that came from the soup was something that he never thought was possible to be found in a soup.

He couldn't help drooling a bit when he smelled this and he was looking forward to eating it.

It even helped him forget about his problems temporarily as he was only thinking about having a taste of this soup.

Maria could see this look on his face and she couldn't help revealing a faint smile.

If there was one thing that she was confident in, it was the flavours of her cooking. After all, this was the special skill that she had awakened, so it could be considered the one thing that she was best at.

After putting down the soup, David didn't hesitate to pick up the spoon and dug into the soup.

This was a thick chowder that Maria had made and the moment that it entered his mouth, he could taste all the different flavours that were contained within this soup.

There was the clear taste of cream that was the underlying base of this soup, but there was also the richness that came from the different ingredients that she had cooked with the cream.

There was the taste of the vegetables that had been stewed so long that their essence had been infused into the very foundation of the soup.

Then there was the shrimp that floated atop the soup, that had just the right amount of flavour to them.

The shrimp had the taste of the ocean, but it also had the taste of the cream surrounding it which made it silky smooth. Neither taste overpowered each other and they came together to create perfect harmony between the two tastes that elevated each one to another level.

In short, every part of this chowder came together in perfect harmony to create a perfect taste.

David thought that this chowder couldn't get any better until he remembered that there was bread that came along with this chowder.

He took a piece of bread from the basket and brought it over to the chowder, dipping it into the thick soup. He let the bread remain in the chowder so that half of the bread could be infused with the taste before bringing it out.

The bread was toasted, so it was hard to begin with. But as if soaked in the thick chowder, it slowly became softer and softer until it was just the right degree of soggy.

David moved it up and down twice to let the remaining drops fall down before bringing it up to his mouth.

In one swift bite, he bit off half of the bread and chewed it inside of his mouth.

The bread might have seemed hard because of it being toasted, but the found that even without being soaked in the chowder, it had an amazing fluffiness inside of the hard exterior.

It was almost like biting into clouds.

As he chewed the soft and fluffy bread, he felt the chowder soaked into it spewing out with each bite, filling his mouth with taste.

He couldn't help chewing more and more until there was absolutely nothing left in his mouth. Then he quickly dipped the bread back into the chowder and finished off the other half.

Just like this, he finished off the chowder and bread in less than two minutes, but there was another problem when he finished eating.

Even though he had finished, his stomach gurgled to show that it was still hungry.

But Maria had already anticipated this and had brought over another tray with another bowl of chowder and another basket of bread.

When David saw this, he couldn't help revealing a grateful look before chowing down on this bowl as well.

By the end of it, he had finished off three bowls of soup and three baskets of bread all by himself.

Of course, it was because he was hungry from skipping breakfast this morning. He normally wouldn't have been able to eat this much.

The other factor was that…it was just too delicious.

After he finished his meal, he sat there with a desolate look on his face as if he had remembered his problems and was thinking them over again.

Maria came back after putting the trays away and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

David was surprised to hear this, but he looked up and gave a nod in response. After a pause, he said, "Thank you…"

It was two simple words, but they were filled with his sincere gratitude.

He had been in a pit of despair just now and if it hadn't been for Maria reaching out to him at the crucial moment, it was unknown what he would have done. He might have even done something crazy in an attempt to fix this situation…

But luckily Maria had been there to stop him.

Maria just nodded with a smile before asking, "What are you planning on doing now."

After all, she couldn't just leave him alone.

Since she had decided to help him, she would help him to the end.

David looked up at her when he heard this, but he didn't reply right away. He just sat there with a blank look on his face as if he didn't know what to say, but Maria didn't force him to speak.

She just waited for him to think this through himself.

After a long period of silence, he finally said, "I'll go home…"

Maria didn't say anything, but there was a flicker in her eyes that showed that she had expected this.

David said in a voice that almost seemed like he was speaking to himself, "My family had been supporting me the whole time even though I acted that way. They sent me money and checked in on me when they could…even though I tried to push them away…"

He gave a long sigh before saying, "Since I won't be able to achieve my dreams, I think it's better if I go home and make up with my family. Maybe we'll be able to think of something together, maybe not, but it's better to be with people that care about me at this time."

After saying this, he looked up at Maria as if he was asking for her approval of this plan.

In response to this, Maria gave a nod.

After hearing his story, she knew that he didn't have it as bad as he made it seem, he just hadn't thought it through.

There is nothing thicker than blood in this world and if family didn't take care of you, no one would…

This was what she had learned after losing her parents and having to take care of her little brother herself.

Before David could say anything else, the door suddenly opened and a voice said, "Maria, I saw that there was another figure in the store, so I was worried that you were in trouble."