Chapter 193 Are you Hungry?
6 hours later.
"Hmmm…" Alex, who was still sticking on his current disguise, was currently tilting his head, as if he was busy on thinking of something.
Held within his left hand was a metallic ball, which he was idly throwing up and down every often.
Even with his hand unconsciously doing this motion, Alex"s attention was not focused on it.
Instead, his eyes were currently narrowed in concentration, as he seemed to not take note of his surroundings.
Seconds later, and the reason for Alex"s unnatural behavior was revealed.
"Once I go back to Alina, I will have to tell her about what I did here in this city… If I did that, then she will know about my "date" with that Anya! Of course I only asked Anya out so that I can obtain one of the materials from her… But even with that reason, I"m sure that Alina will be p.i.s.sed to me… Well, I can understand why she would be angry…" Alex muttered these words to himself as he began to look panicked.
"What should I do to make her less angry when I come back? Sigh, it seems like my incoming days will be difficult…"
After saying these words to himself, Alex let out another sigh as he pocketed the metal ball on his pocket.
"…I think I should worry about the homecoming matter tomorrow, for now, I have to get through another cringy romantic dinner!"
As Alex said these words, his whole body could not help but tense up, as he started to dread the date that he will have with Anya later.
"Come on Alex, you just have to spout those "fair maiden" nonsense to her. That"s not that difficult at all!"
But even with these consolations to himself, Alex knew that he was just barely able to comfort his own self.
"Ugh whatever, let"s just get this done with." Alex muttered to himself as he strode out of his apartment.
"Now then, where should I bring her?"
***************
"Are you still suspecting Sigmund?" Anya, who was currently dressing up, was talking to her butler Eris. "You know that even if he"s a powerful Symbolist, his power has no bearing against mine!"
"Miss Anya, you can only say that from what you saw from his abilities earlier." Eris replied as she glared at Anya. "But are you sure that Sigmund"s power can only reach that level?"
"Oh, you think Sigmund is hiding his power from us? Why would he do that?" Anya asked Eris as she tilted her head in confusion. "Don"t you think you"re just becoming too suspicious of him now?"
"Suspicious my a.s.s." Eris barked back as she glared at Anya once more. "Miss Anya, can you tell me again the power of the Symbolists?"
"By using their mental strength, Symbolists can etch Symbols on different mediums, and these Symbols will bring out different effects on the physical reality itself. These effects will vary depending on the symbols used, and on the Symbolist itself." Anya said, as she recited the common information about Symbolists that have been spread throughout all educated Celestials.
"And what else?" Eris muttered as she started to comb Anya"s hair.
"The weaker the mental power of a Symbolist is, the more Symbols they need to etch in order to bring out a certain effect." Anya replied quickly. "For example, a Mortal Tier Symbolist would need to etch 100 Symbols in order to create a gravitational field, while a Heaven Tier Symbolist would need only around 50 Symbols to achieve the same effect. And for a Paragon Tier Symbolist, he/she might need only around 5 Symbols to create that gravitational field."
"Go on." Eris said as she was now straightening the pleats on Anya"s skirt.
"Because of that, a Symbolist"s focus relies on 3 major things." Anya said as she began to look a little irritated. "The first thing that they focus on was their speed on etching Symbols. The faster they are, the better it will be for their survival on their fights. Second is their mental strength. The higher their mental strength was, the higher their Symbolist Tier will be, which will reduce their needed symbols."
"Their third and last focus was on researching new Symbols and better application of their current Symbols. It was only through this method that they can discover new paths on their quest for Symbols, and I hardly blame them for doing it, although some of their actions on research affects a lot of non-powered people." After saying these words, Anya could be seen glaring at Eris as she pursed her lips. "Okay Eris, I already recited the basic knowledge about the Symbolists… Now, how could that be related to Sigmund?"
"Miss Anya, couldn"t you see the discrepancy from the way that he fought earlier?" Eris replied as she began to look cautious. "He only needed around 15-20 Symbols to conjure the objects that he needed to defeat Igneus, and he did that in just around a second! Tell me, Miss Anya. Doesn"t that look suspicious to you? Someone with that kind of skill is most likely a professor or even a political official among the Symbolists! That just means that him approaching you is some kind of a political move for him!"
"Eris… are you doubting me now? Surely you"re just joking, right?" Instead of giving Eris a logical argument, Anya only gave Eris a light smile as she looked at her. "We have been through a lot already… don"t tell me you still do not trust my decisions?"
"!!!"
No matter how fearless Eris was, she still could not help but feel cold as she looked at Anya"s eyes, which looked like they will burn a hole through her head.
Eris found herself unable to move as she felt like she was being stared down by a monstrous creature right now!
"No, Miss Anya, I was just… concerned for you." Eris managed to rasp these words out as the pressure that she felt began to increase. "I would never… doubt your majestic will!"
"Good, then that means you have no qualms about my date later." Anya replied as she retracted her smile.
The pressure on Eris disappeared at that point, allowing Eris to breathe normally again.
"Ha, ha, ha…"
As Eris slowly tried to get her bearings back, Anya stood up from her seat as she finished preparing her appearance.
"Eris, let"s go out now. Its already 9 in the evening. Mister Sigmund will come any moment now." Anya cheerfully said as she pulled Eris with her, not noticing the slightly pale expression on Eris" face.
"Miss Anya… I hope you will have a fun date later." That was all that Eris managed to say as she and Anya stood inside the lobby of their hotel. "But be rest a.s.sured, if that guy tries to do something on you, I will be the first one to stop him!"
"Oh Eris, you don"t need to make an effort like that." Anya replied as she waved her hands nonchalantly. "Can"t you see that I am there? Even if Sigmund has ulterior motives against me, my power is enough to crush him! So, just sit back and relax!"
"…If you say so, Miss Anya." Eris replied as she saw the silhouette of Sigmund appearing right outside of the hotel.
"Oh, he arrived right on time. What a punctual man… He really is interesting." Anya said as she and her butler walked out of the lobby, with their heels making clacking sounds on the floor.
As the sounds of their heels echoed throughout the hotel, Eris could not help but shake her head, as she wished that what happens later night would not be that bad.
"Even if Miss Anya sleeps with this guy, I can still accept it. But if he tries to kill her, I will be there to stop him, even at the cost of my life!"
As she made this promise to herself, Eris" posture started to straighten, as if she had already made up her conviction.
"…" Anya, who saw the change that happened with her butler, could not help but giggle as she seemed to have realized what was going on through her mind.
"Ara, ara, now Eris is also fired up. Today really is a great day!"
**************
Half an hour later.
"So, how do you like these dishes?" Alex asked Anya and Eris as he stared at the two of them, who were both busy stuffing their mouths full. "Are you both satisfied?
"Of course we are! These foods are much better than what I ate before!" Anya managed to say even if her mouth was already full. "You think the same thing too, right, Eris?"
"…" Eris, who was also gobbling up the dishes at an insane rate, only frowned as she seemed to be struggling to praise Alex.
Alex, who saw Eris" reaction, only shrugged his shoulders, as if he already expected her to do something like this.
"Well, what I"m feeding you right now were all foods that I cooked." Alex said as he placed more dishes on the table. "If Eris is not happy with my cooking, then I will just have to perfect any cooking skills that I am lacking right now."
"You don"t need to change anything, Sigmund. Your cooking is perfect the way it is right now!"
"…"
For their dinner, Alex decided to just cook for Anya and Eris.
Alex"s original plan was for him and Anya to eat at a good restaurant, but after testing out the foods from all the 5 Star Restaurants in this city, Alex found out that his cooking was actually better than theirs!
If Alex"s foods were much better than these restaurants, then it"s just obvious that the foods that Alex should give Anya was the one that he made!
Obviously, when Anya and Eris heard this proposal by Alex, Anya started to look disappointed, while Eris looked like she was about to lunge at Alex.
But once he served them a plate of honey-glazed roast turkey, he was able to sway both of them to his side.
"Muuu Sigmund, if you were not a Symbolist, I could have hired you as my personal chef…" Anya said in a daze as she started to eat a pair of dumplings. "Um! This is so good! It"s so juicy!"
"Well, I"m happy that you enjoy it." Alex said as he personally felt satisfied with what he was seeing.
Mission or not, seeing people getting happy with his cooking was a great feeling for Alex, almost euphoric even.
And the fact that it was his target that was being pleased by his cooking was enough to make Alex laugh inwardly to himself.
"Now that you have finished these plates, let me bring out the Main Course." Alex said as he stood up. "Give me a few minut- WATCH OUT!"
Alex suddenly dived forward, pus.h.i.+ng both Eris and Anya away from the dining table.
At the instant that Alex did this, he saw a ma.s.sive spear piercing the place where he, Anya, and Eris were sitting earlier.
"What the h.e.l.l, why did someone attack my place?" Alex thought to himself as he realized that tonight was going to a direction that he never expected.
"Ugh, I really hate interruptions!" Alex muttered to himself as he glared at the spear with intense hate, as if he was wis.h.i.+ng for it to get destroyed. "I haven"t eaten my Main Course yet!"