Gauss was so moved that he almost cried when he ate the meat.
The aroma of the meat filled his mouth, making every taste bud on his tongue and every cell in his body cheer with delight.
His body was satisfied!
The time spent enjoying the food passed quickly.
In no time, he was already full.
Gauss let out a satisfied burp, his mind completely blank.
"Sir, sir..."
As he was about to fall asleep, a gentle, sweet voice called in his ear.
He opened his eyes drowsily.
"Please settle the bill; it's 2 Silver Coins and 50 Copper Coins."
"Huh? How much?" Gauss, still somewhat dazed, instinctively asked.
"2 Silver Coins and 50 Copper Coins," the beautiful waitress politely repeated.
"Is it really that much?" Gauss wasn't trying to dine and dash; he was just wondering if he really had spent that much money.
2 Silver Coins and 50 Copper Coins, he was shocked just a few days ago when Haylir treated them all, and the four of them spent 3 Silver Coins and 40 Copper Coins on one meal.
And now he's being told that he ate almost as much alone as the four of them did together?
Was he the extravagant one all along?
Ouch! One meal cost him 0.03 of a house. Gauss's heart was bleeding.
"You can check; these are all the dishes you ordered." The waitress, still composed, handed over the menu.
"Fried fish and chips, air-dried ham with cheese, thick-cut high-temperature charcoal-grilled steak (seasoned with salt and olive oil), borscht soup..."
The menu was full of items he had checked off himself, a dazzling array.
He remembered, during the meal, it seemed he ordered more dishes several times because he wasn't full.
And so, he kept ordering more and more.
In his heart, Gauss added up the total and reluctantly found that the amount was accurate.
He did indeed enjoy a feast worth 2 Silver Coins and 50 Copper Coins.
The stacks of dishes beside the table were the perfect evidence.
Even after paying, Gauss's heart still ached as he walked out of the tavern.
With an increase in income comes higher expenses, which is quite reasonable, but this meal escalated too quickly.
"It was that inexplicable surge of appetite that beguiled me," he sighed.
But to be honest, apart from a slight heartache, his whole body felt quite comfortable.
It was as if the massive meat feast had filled the gaps left by his growing body.
"Oh well, think of it as an investment in myself. Investing in oneself isn't painful, not painful..."
Gauss convinced himself.
Current cash: 28 Silver Coins and 52 Copper Coins
Gauss silently calculated his savings.
At the same time, he marveled at the insatiable desires of humans. As income rises, so does expenditure, sneakily.
The money seemed abundant, but it couldn't withstand spending.
Considering the difficulty of going from luxury to frugality, Gauss felt a growing desire to earn more money.
——
The next day swiftly arrived.
"Morning, Sofia," Gauss greeted Sofia, who was mopping the floor in the ground-floor hall as he came downstairs.
"Morning, little Gauss, would you like some breakfast?"
Upon hearing Gauss's voice, Sofia paused her work, leaning on the mop to inquire.
"Uh..."
Images of almost nauseating black bread and pickled soup flashed in Gauss's mind as he compared them to yesterday's feast.
As he replayed the scenes in his mind, recalling the bitterness to savor the sweetness, he realized there was no going back.
His palate had been spoiled by gourmet food, or perhaps this was the cost of becoming stronger?
"Hehe... Maybe next time, Sofia. I'm not feeling particularly hungry today." Gauss forced an awkward smile, waving his hand.
Under Sofia's resentful gaze, Gauss cheerfully walked out of the inn.
Sofia remained in place, starting to doubt her cooking skills, pondering silently.
Could it be that my culinary skills have severely declined? But haven't had any complaints from other guests?
It's a question that would probably trouble her for a while.
The morning bell rang, and Gray Rock Town was already awake.
Breakfast stalls were everywhere on the streets.
Gauss spent 4 Copper Coins to buy two meat pies.
Sorry, Sofia, I am now a meat lover.
Poor black bread and vegetable soup can no longer provide the nutrients my body needs.
"Didn't expect just a street vendor to make pies so delicious." Gauss chewed the food with big bites, savoring the aroma in his mouth.
Of course, he wouldn't admit that this was due to the bonus effect from recalling the black bread earlier.
The recently awakened body quickly regained vitality under the nourishment of the gravy.
This morning, his plan is to practice Magic Missile.
Mage's Hand would be set aside for now, and its usage frequency must be reduced.
The thing he fears most right now is using Mage's Hand too much. What if it reaches proficiency and triggers the guidance for his Professional Path?
By then, if it's set in stone and the 0th Ring Trick Mage's Hand becomes his core skill, he would be left with no choice but to cry without tears.
Mage's Hand proficiency lv2 (15/20); it's not clear whether lv3 or lv4 or even some other level is the standard, so it's already a bit risky now.
After breakfast, he began to walk towards the exit of the town.
There was naturally no place in town for him to conduct spellcasting training, so he could only head to the vast wilderness outside the town.
Of course, he's not the first to do this.
In fact, many adventurers have the habit of training here, the plains outside the town are large enough to accommodate their training without interfering with each other.
Walking a short distance, he found an empty spot with no one around.
Gauss began his formal training.
Closing his eyes to meditate, he found the feeling of successfully casting the spell last time.
After all, it had been several days since he last successfully cast Magic Missile, and at that time, he entered a particularly focused state.
Now returning to the town, resting and relaxing, it wasn't easy to regain the casting feeling.
"Magic Missile!"
A blue light shone in Gauss's palm, but soon it quickly extinguished.
He wasn't too disappointed by this.
This was within his expectations, as a 1st-level Spell is more challenging.
However, based on his experience with training Mage's Hand, at lv1 stage, as long as he was willing to spend time and effort, there shouldn't be too much trouble.
After all, this spell was already imprinted in his consciousness, and the Adventurer's Handbook saved him a lot of learning and meditative modeling processes.
All he needed to do was practice.
Practice until the proficiency growth slows down, and then plot the next step.
"Magic Missile!"
"Magic Missile!"
...
Tired, rested a bit.
"Magic Missile!"
"Magic Missile!"
After a bout of practice, Gauss found that this 1st-level Spell was indeed different from the 0th Ring Trick.
When practicing Mage's Hand days ago, even if practice failed, it wouldn't have much effect, but now with this Magic Missile, even if not successfully cast, multiple attempts still bring a kind of mental fatigue.
Fortunately, this fatigue wasn't intense.
Perhaps thanks to his uncommon 7-point Spirit Attribute.
All he needed was to lie on the grass, bask in the sun for a bit, and rest.
Finally, after Gauss's patient practice, he rediscovered the feeling of casting the spell.
It was an indescribable moment, as if guided by intuition.
When a breeze blew by, his entire magic power was mobilized.
Swiftly entwining, converging, and focusing in his hand, releasing strange energy fluctuations, while also drawing in surrounding natural magic energy. Eventually, the magic power intertwined and solidified in his palm.
A Magic Missile formed in his hand!
Magic Missile! Success again!
This time there were no enemies charging at him, so he had ample time to observe the spell in his hand.
This was a translucent spherical energy, enveloped by a thin white casing, with the internal magic power surging rapidly, like countless tiny streams intertwining within.
This Magic Missile wouldn't harm himself.
Moreover, he vaguely felt that he could control the movement trajectory of this Magic Missile through his consciousness.
Focusing his mind, Gauss noticed that the Magic Missile indeed shifted slightly by the distance of a fingernail in his palm.
It seemed that he could indeed manipulate the Magic Missile with will, but currently, proficiency was too low to control it as freely as he wished.
After the observation, Gauss hurled the Magic Missile towards an uninhabited spot in the distance.
Once the Magic Missile left his hand, it began to accelerate in a straight line!
The magic effect propelled it to peak speed in an instant, creating a splendid blue arc in the air within his line of sight.
"Boom!!"
A thundering explosion resounded.
The Magic Missile exploded upon hitting the ground.
The blue magic energy burst like fireworks; even during the day, one could see the beautiful outward magic fluctuations.
After a long time, when the residual magic waves vanished and the dust settled.
The grass-covered ground was left with a cobweb-like shallow crater about several tens of centimeters in diameter, with a fist-sized depression at its center.