Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 282: Night Banquet — Wolf and Cat

"This thing is really delicious, so sweet!"

Walking along the bustling commercial street, Finnie held the street food in her hands, nibbling on it like a little hamster.

Compared to her, Ellie was much more bold and unrestrained. The little wolf-girl currently held a skewer of meat in one hand and a glass of wheat juice in the other, exuding the aura of a "society big sister."

After a few sips of alcohol, the big sister pretended to be drunk, swaying unsteadily as she leaned towards the "mountain stronghold wife."

However, Sherfilia very punctually slipped into the gap and blocked her.

"Please don't lean on Master with your mouth all greasy from eating," she reminded with an expressionless face.

"Tch..."

Ellie pouted but felt she had a point, so she actually complied.

Lin Mo also bought a few snacks that looked good. How should he put it? Most of them didn't taste bad, but they still felt inferior to Blue Star's street food stalls.

Perhaps it was due to the memory filter...Accompanying the girls as they ate, played, and bought a bunch of things—mostly trendy junk or nice-looking ornaments—they didn't spend much money in total, less than 5 gold coins.

Since they had the Spatial Ring, they could just put everything inside, so they didn't have to carry anything by hand.

However, with more and more things being carried around, the Spatial Ring's 100 cubic meters of space was now over half occupied.

Some items could be cleared out, but even so, overall space was still somewhat insufficient. He wondered when he could get a bigger one.

Buying one was definitely out of the question; Lin Mo wouldn't spend money on such a thing. He could only hope for a fortuitous encounter like a Secret Realm.

Time came to evening. The setting sun slowly descended on the horizon, and the orange-red evening glow bathed the noisy city. Dinner time had arrived.

Lin Mo led the girls through the crowded streets. The coming and going pedestrians didn't seem like locals. Some carried weapons and wore armor, clearly adventurers. Others were dressed luxuriously, likely nobles from out of town.

Naturally, they would have a good meal for dinner. Coincidentally, he still had the heart and protective heart meat harvested from killing that Unicorn Black Beetle earlier. They could find a high-end restaurant and arrange for a reliable Chef to help prepare it.

Of course, they definitely had to bring the little cat-eared girl from home along for the meal. She should have just finished class around this time and was probably about to return to the dorm.

Since the return time wasn't certain and he was afraid she might eat first on her own, Lin Mo quickly contacted Lena using the Mana Communication tool.

This little tool was distributed after enrolling in the academy. It seemed to be built around the academy's mana device as a core, establishing a mana network, so it could only communicate between each other. Despite this limitation, the advantage was that it was much cheaper. Otherwise, the academy couldn't afford to distribute one to every student.

Passing through the crowded streets and returning to the Royal National Academy, when he pushed open the dormitory door, unsurprisingly, Lena was already waiting for them.

Sitting in the living room was also Flora, who seemed to have just finished her teaching class.

"How was it? Did the mission go smoothly?" Flora asked, sipping hot tea and showing concern upon seeing them return.

She was just being polite symbolically. After all, in her view, with Lin Mo's strength doing such a mission, there was simply no way anything could go wrong.

However, somewhat unexpectedly, Ellie shook her head: "Smooth it was, but we encountered something rather unexpected..."

"Oh? What happened?"

Flora immediately became serious. She knew that if even Ellie, with her strength, called it "unexpected," it definitely wasn't a minor matter.

However, Lin Mo didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked: "Have you eaten dinner yet, Mentor Flora?"

"Not yet... So what did you encounter?"

Compared to something as trivial as eating, Flora was clearly more concerned about the "unexpected" event he mentioned.

"We'll talk about that in a moment. By the way, would you like to join us for dinner?"

Seeing that Flora seemed about to refuse, Lin Mo added: "What I'm going to say is also somewhat related to this meal."

With things put that way, Flora naturally couldn't refuse anymore.

"Alright then, I'll listen to you."

Saying this, she headed towards her room: "Wait a moment, I'll change clothes and be right out."

This sentence reminded Ellie and Finnie, so they also hurriedly rushed towards the rooms on the 2nd floor to change.

Although Lin Mo had now mastered the combination of [Cleansing Technique] plus fire element, allowing him to clean his body directly without worrying about getting wet, the outfits worn for outdoor adventuring were naturally different from everyday clothes. For safety considerations and combat convenience, they definitely weren't considered good-looking.

Lin Mo wasn't very particular about these details, but the girls obviously thought differently. They genuinely took time to tidy up, even taking a bath, before putting on carefully selected clothes.

By the way, Lin Mo was also dragged back to his room by Sherfilia, pulled into the bathroom for a bath, and she prepared a decent-looking set of clothes for him.

After all, coming from a noble family, Sherfilia still cared quite a bit about aspects like "etiquette" and "demeanor."

Lin Mo found it somewhat troublesome, but thankfully he didn't have to do anything himself; it was completely Sherfilia's full-automatic operation, so he didn't say anything.

After quite a bit of fussing, it was already almost 7 PM when they went out.

But anyway, there was nothing to do tomorrow, so being late didn't matter.

Under Flora's lead, they directly arrived at the Royal Capital's most luxurious, highest-end hotel—the Royal Palace Restaurant.

As the name implied, this restaurant was opened by the royal family.

Although not the largest in scale, its location was excellent, and it basically had no cheap dishes. Even many nobles didn't dare to eat here frequently.

Only those with the rank of Earl or above had the financial means to eat here occasionally, and even then, mostly only when discussing business or important matters.

Lin Mo entered the restaurant. Inside, it wasn't noisy but very quiet. A staff member immediately approached: "Respected guests, how many in your party?"

As she spoke, her gaze swept over the group before her.

It paused for a moment when passing over Ellie and Lena, but quickly moved away.

Although bringing two Half-Orcs was a somewhat strange combination, the other few people looked quite proper, with a noble demeanor.

Their duties, besides welcoming guests, also included chasing out those obviously unsuitable for entering the establishment.

This was the Royal Palace Restaurant, not a place just any Tom, Dick, or Harry could enter.

Lin Mo replied: "Six people."

"Understood, please follow me..."

The staff led them to a quiet room. The room's decor was very exquisite and elegant, indeed having a bit of a palace feel.

The tables and chairs in front were deep red, carved with various patterns, the craftsmanship very refined.

The chairs had cushions made from magical creature fur, sitting on them was very soft.

It must be said, the environment aspect was definitely very well done.

"This is our menu. If you need to order, you can tell me anytime..."

After saying this, the staff stood straight to the side, quietly waiting.

Lin Mo opened the menu and flipped through it. Indeed, this restaurant's dish prices were very expensive. There were basically no simple home-style dishes. Even considering the scarcity of ingredients, there was a very high markup.

For example, lemon wine, commonly found in taverns, normally cost around 30-50 Copper Coins. In slightly more upscale taverns, it might reach 2 Silver Coins.

But in this restaurant, a glass of lemon wine cost 50 Silver Coins.

Although the menu's introduction boasted endlessly about the lemons and wine used for mixing, it was just some "conceptual" stuff, with no substantial difference.

However, this incredibly exaggerated markup was actually only reflected in these cheap, ordinary things. If it came to the actual dishes, it wasn't as exaggerated as dozens of times—probably around 2 times the price of some high-end restaurants. Moreover, they were all made by Chefs who had reached at least the Advanced level, differing in both taste and effects, so there was some justification for the high price.

Lin Mo ordered a few dishes he was interested in, then handed the menu to Finnie and the others beside him, letting them choose.

Then he waved to the staff member in front: "You can help process ingredients and cook here, right?"

The staff member was momentarily stunned: "You mean processing service for self-provided materials? Yes, but there are certain requirements regarding the material's value..."

The implication was that ordinary ingredients wouldn't be accepted.

Lin Mo nodded: "Take this to your head chef. I think he'll be interested."

Saying this, he took out the well-packaged Unicorn Black Beetle heart and protective heart meat.

"...Alright."

The staff member nodded, somewhat skeptically taking the ingredients and leaving.

She naturally had to first report to the supervisor. After all, although the Chef profession couldn't compare to Alchemists and Blacksmiths, after reaching a certain level, they also held some status.

Their restaurant's master chef had very high skills; some Transcendent Level experts were quite polite to him. He was personally hired at a high price by the prince who opened this restaurant and wouldn't easily take action normally.

If any random material was sent to him, she'd probably be scolded bloody.

Lin Mo roughly knew this but wasn't worried.

Mid-Level Lord-Level magical creatures were themselves relatively high-end ingredients. Moreover, the Unicorn Black Beetle was a relatively special material, also quite rare in the Doria Kingdom. Materials worth several thousand gold coins carried significant weight.

Sure enough, after a short while, the staff member hurried over, telling them it was already being processed and prepared.

Lin Mo nodded, signaling the staff to step aside. Taking advantage of this time, he could also chat with Flora, who was full of curiosity, about matters related to the Silent Forest and the upcoming Hunting Competition.

"What I just had the staff deliver was obtained during this adventure..." Lin Mo got straight to the point. "A threat level 14 Unicorn Black Beetle."

Flora immediately frowned: "Why would a Unicorn Black Beetle appear in the Silent Forest?"

The Silent Forest had many varieties of magical creatures, all sorts, but it didn't include large beetle-type magical creatures.

This type of creature had never appeared in the Silent Forest.

Sure enough, Flora hadn't heard of it either.

This made Lin Mo more certain of his thoughts: "So after killing this creature, I've been thinking about this problem."

Flora also seemed to remember something, suddenly looking up. The two spoke the same word simultaneously: "Secret Realm!"

"Places like the Silent Forest, with many magical creatures, high and unstable mana concentration, indeed have the possibility of unknown Secret Realms existing... Actually, in the past, Secret Realms have been discovered in the Silent Forest before."

"Oh?"

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow, very interested: "Tell me more?"

"You should know about this; it's related to that little girl from the Warrior Academy."

Lin Mo was momentarily stunned: "You mean... Eve?"

Flora nodded: "Exactly. It's precisely the widely circulated rumor about her obtaining an Epic Level skill from a Secret Realm. According to her description to the academy at the time, she accidentally entered during a training trip. Later, the academy sent many mentors to investigate, but found no results. Many speculated the Secret Realm had closed. Over time, it was abandoned..."

"So, is this Secret Realm related to Eve's Secret Realm?"

Lin Mo frowned. If so, why didn't she mention it back then?

"Only she herself knows that... Of course, it's possible she herself doesn't know. After all, back then, whether entering or leaving the Secret Realm, she was muddle-headed."

That was also true.

Lin Mo nodded: "So, how should the current situation be handled?"

"You mean..."

"Of course, the upcoming Hunting Competition... With an unknown Secret Realm appearing and dangerous magical creatures already emerging, will the Hunting Competition still be held normally?"

"Of course it will."

Flora smiled: "This is an annual grand event; how could it be easily canceled? Moreover, whether entering a Secret Realm or encountering magical creatures that escaped from one are extremely low probability events. To be honest, within the Silent Forest itself, there exist creatures with strength greater than that. Even without this unknown Secret Realm, participants could still encounter opponents far exceeding their own strength."

Simply put, the Hunting Competition itself carried considerable danger. Every year, there were participants who died during the competition; it wasn't unusual.

Of course, the Kingdom and the academy still took participant safety very seriously. While holding the Hunting Competition, the Kingdom would also dispatch many powerful experts.

This included academy mentors entering as well, firstly to supervise, and secondly to provide assistance in case of unexpected situations.

"I see."

Lin Mo nodded. He didn't know much about these competition rules, not being a local and not having experienced them through constant exposure.

"In short, no need to overthink it. I'll report this to the academy. At that time, they should send more mentors... Moreover, my mentor, Elvish, and several other deans or vice-deans will also go together."

...

As they chatted, the dishes were also served one after another. First came the dishes they had ordered earlier.

The quantity wasn't large, only six or seven dishes in total. After all, dishes made from high-quality ingredients contained very ample energy and were easy to fill up on.

Lin Mo tried each one. Except for one dish that was quite exotic with a subtle taste, the others were all very good.

That rather exotic dish was also something he ordered out of curiosity. It wasn't exactly bad, just the combination was bold, unconventional. After a few more bites to adapt, it actually became more delicious the more he ate.

Finally served, naturally, were the dishes made from the Unicorn Black Beetle materials.

The head chef chose two cooking methods: one was roasting, the other steaming.

But it wasn't ordinary roasting, nor ordinary steaming.

The protective heart meat was cut off, divided into evenly sized diamond shapes, then wrapped with Qi and Blood, and continuously roasted using fire magic.

Because ordinary fire couldn't thoroughly cook this ingredient, magic had to be used. But if control was improper, it could easily ruin the meat, so Qi and Blood was used for protection. Precise control of the Qi and Blood adjusted the intensity, controlling the "heat," ensuring every part received even and appropriate roasting.

Simultaneously, this method could also maximally preserve the energy contained within the meat itself...

As for steaming, it involved cleaning and processing the Unicorn Black Beetle's heart, directly injecting Qi and Blood into it, shattering it into paste from the inside, and molding it, "carving" out the original appearance of this magical creature. The surface only had an almost transparent membrane left, allowing clear visibility of the inside.

Then, similarly using magic flames for heating, while using Qi and Blood for protection to prevent membrane damage...

The subtle control required, as well as coordination with mage assistants, were quite difficult.

It must be said, there was indeed some skill involved.

It's just that the molded appearance... It wasn't that it didn't look like it, nor was it bad.

Precisely because it was too similar and too good, it somewhat ruined the appetite.

After all, this thing came from a bug, and what was "carved" was also a bug's appearance.

But it must be said, the head chef's skills were impeccable. The roasted protective heart meat was crispy outside and tender inside, well-seasoned. Combined with the originally high-quality ingredient, the taste was truly stunning.

As for the heart, it melted in the mouth, overflowing with fragrance.

No seasoning needed; it was top-tier deliciousness.

Most importantly, after a few bites, Lin Mo felt a warm current surge through his body. His whole spirit perked up, feeling refreshed and clear-headed.

The prompt floating before his eyes also told him this wasn't an illusion.

[Gained basic attribute Constitution +1!]

It really directly added an attribute.

And not just that. That warm current still surged within his body, making him feel full of vitality, his body quite full and robust.

Truly good stuff!

Lin Mo smiled with satisfaction.

Simultaneously, the others present also had similar reactions, clearly benefiting greatly as well.

Indeed, choosing not to sell this thing was the right decision.

This meal was truly satisfying!

In the end, this meal cost Lin Mo 2300 gold coins.

Of that, 2000 gold coins were the price of the dishes themselves, and the 300 gold coins were the processing fee for the Unicorn Black Beetle.

Looking at the price alone, it was definitely outrageously expensive. However, they were eating ingredients that were themselves very expensive—each dish was meat from Lord-Level magical creatures or special vegetables of similar grade.

There was definitely a markup, but it wasn't to the extent of being a scam restaurant.

Flora wanted to pay the bill, but Lin Mo naturally couldn't let her...

Not to mention anything else, just the help Flora had given him before was worth far more than this amount.

Returning to the school dormitory, actually, regarding Lin Mo's request for a mentor dormitory, the academy had already started arranging it. However, such matters required approval and procedures, so it would probably take a few more days.

But Lin Mo wasn't in a hurry anyway; staying at Flora's place was quite comfortable. When approved, he might not even move over.

After all, moving things back and forth was troublesome, and he'd have to tidy up the room again.

Having just returned from an adventure outside, then fussing for half the day, and drinking quite a bit of alcohol just now, everyone was genuinely somewhat tired this time. Returning to the dormitory, they quickly went to their respective rooms to rest.

However, for Lin Mo, it clearly wasn't time to rest yet.

According to the pattern, it seemed it was the little wolf-girl Ellie's turn today.

But somewhat strangely, Ellie, who was usually very proactive at this time, hadn't come over for a long while.

Lin Mo waited for a while, feeling something was really off, so he pushed open the door, planning to check the situation.

Arriving at Ellie's room door, it wasn't locked, but he still knocked.

"Um!"

The voice inside sounded very nervous and excited: "Please come in..."

Lin Mo could naturally tell this wasn't Ellie's voice, but he still pushed the door open.

Unsurprisingly, Ellie wasn't in the room at all. Appearing before him... was the little cat-eared girl who had unusually drunk alcohol at the dinner table, her face full of blush.

Even more exaggerated, what she was wearing now was a very "revealing" outfit.

Her body was wrapped with some red ribbons, like a gift.

"Uh..."

Lin Mo rubbed his temples. How could he not understand? This was definitely a "surprise" prepared for him by Ellie.

However, it actually worked out perfectly.

He didn't know if this girl had seen through his thoughts, thus arranging it this way.

Lin Mo closed the door behind him, locking it, and slowly walked towards Lena, who, due to clumsiness, had messed up the red ribbons and accidentally tied herself up.

"Li... Lin Mo, sir..."

By the time Lin Mo reached her, the little cat-eared girl's face was already red as if about to drip water.

She nervously closed her eyes, her eyelashes lightly trembling.

This adorable appearance really made it hard not to smile warmly.

Actually, ever since Finnie "graduated," Lena, the only one at home who hadn't yet "achieved success," seemed somewhat pitiful.

Even though Lena was a relatively slow child, after a series of teachings from Ellie and even direct approaches, she now understood what was going on.

Those things she originally didn't dare hope for, others had already obtained long ago.

So even if, due to her personality, she wouldn't say it out loud, she would still somewhat develop pessimistic thoughts like "why can't I?"

Regarding this, Lin Mo had actually noticed as well.

It's just that after all, the time spent with Lena was relatively short, and there hadn't been a suitable opportunity.

This time, it was Ellie making a small sacrifice, creating an opportunity for her good sister.

With things having reached this point, Lin Mo certainly had no reason to back down either.

His current thinking was very clear...

For straightforward or simple-minded girls like Ellie and Sherfilia, he didn't need to worry; progress would happen naturally. But for shy girls like Finnie and Lena, he couldn't always put the pressure on them.

He was no longer that once insufficiently confident youth. So, facing the shy and almost tearful Lena, he unhesitatingly leaned down, gently embracing her soft body...