Free Web NovelChapter 98: The Second Test
"Old man, are you starting trouble again?" Theodore says with a funny squinted expression while Zane stares at him before snorting.
"Alright, let’s feast!" Old man Zane says in a cheerful voice, raising a metal cup filled with beer.
At that moment, we start digging into the delicacies. My face nearly turns pale when I see most of the food is vegetables and mushrooms. The only source of meat here are pheasants.
I swallow hard and force a smile, making myself eat. I’ve already fallen for elves’ food thanks to Aleena’s cooking and her mom’s, but this one completely shatters my expectations. There isn’t a single trace of seasoning, even in the pheasant meat.
Is this what Theodore means by becoming one with nature? Eating nature’s raw taste... damn.
Aleena seems to notice my expression and gently steps on my toe, giving me a funny look and winking at me to not scrunch my face. It’s clear she’s also forcing herself to eat it.
To make matters worse, there isn’t a single bottle of water on the table, only beer. We have to use beer to quench our thirst, and that only makes things worse because the bitterness mixes with the aftertaste of vegetables and pheasant in a pretty awful way.
After about thirty minutes, we finally finish eating, especially after old man Zane keeps passing more vegetables toward me.
My stomach is slightly bulging, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be dealing with one hell of diarrhea in a few hours. As a vampire, too many vegetables shouldn’t even be in my diet. Heck, I was supposed to be strictly carnivorous. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"Haha, kid. You passed the second test!" Zane suddenly says, patting my back, catching me off guard along with everyone else.
"What do you mean, dad?" Theodore asks.
"Well, I strictly told Ilana not to season the food. I wanted to see if my son-in-law would eat without complaining," the old man reveals.
What the heck, you sly old dog.
"What was that for, dad?" Theodore questions again, probably pissed off from eating unseasoned food just because his dad wanted to make a point. Tiriana covers her mouth, clearly struggling to hide the laugh creeping up on her face.
"I intentionally told Ilana not to season the food to test if my son-in-law has enough endurance to tolerate his wife on the day she cooks a bad meal," Old man Zane adds.
"Grandpa—you did that for me?" Aleena asks in a low voice, her cheeks turning pink as she looks at me with a strange gaze.
I don’t say anything and just rub the back of my head. Does this old geezer seriously think I would complain? Only dumb, snobby young masters in face-slapping novels would dare complain.
"Wow, dad, you keep surprising me. But what if he had failed the test?" Theodore asks.
"If he had failed, I would’ve simply pointed out his mistakes and corrected him. A man needs patience and shouldn’t lash out at his wife for everything. Jacob is a good kid and a perfect match for Aleena. However, there remains one last test—whether Jacob can protect his family in a bad situation," Zane says with a serious expression.
"Seriously dad, you still want to spar with him? Jacob had amnesia in the past and just started practicing magic. I don’t think it’s a good idea," Theodore says, trying to convince him since I’ve already passed two tests.
Zane shakes his head.
"Don’t think too much of it. You already told me beforehand. I just want to see for myself," Zane says, getting up.
As he looks at me, I also stand.
Aleena locks her hand with mine, nodding at me before releasing it. I simply wink at her. Surprisingly, the nervousness I felt earlier is gone, replaced by a strange wave of excitement.
"Alright, follow me Jacob," Old man Zane says, and I oblige, walking out of the room. On the way, we pass Ilana along with two other maids.
Getting outside the treehouse, I notice the sun is brighter, streaming aggressively through the leaves and illuminating everything. It looks really cool.
"Jacob, where we’re going to spar is about fifty miles away. Catch up to me," Old man Zane says, and the next moment he shoots up into one of the trees, hops across to the next, then lands several meters away and starts running at a fast speed—around seventy miles per hour.
"What the actual fuck?!" I curse loudly as I start running after him.
I don’t see his figure again, but thanks to my refined Mana Control, I’m able to follow a faint trail of his mana. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
FWOOOSH!
My body moves like a blur past patches of flowers, several rabbits scattering in fear as I run by, slowly picking up speed as I enhance my body with mana.
This is something I’m still researching and learning on my own. Mana isn’t just for spellcasting—it can also be woven to enhance physical stats, allowing superhuman feats. The most important factor is strong Mana Control, and the second is the size of one’s mana pool. The larger the pool, the higher the feats one can perform.
I imagine the full construct of my body and coat it with mana, then allocate the remaining amount to further enhance my legs.
Then suddenly—
BOOM!
"WOAH!" I let out in surprise as I shoot forward in a burst of speed before tumbling onto the ground and rolling several meters. Thankfully, I don’t sustain any injuries thanks to the dry patch of grass.
Instantly, I get up and start running again, excitement coursing through me. I’m not used to this level of speed, but even so, figuring it out makes my blood pump.
I run at about fifty miles per hour and slowly the old man’s figure appears ahead. He turns his head to look back, clearly surprised, but a smirk forms on his lips and the next moment, he vanishes.
"What the heck?" I curse, seeing his figure disappear in a blur. This speed should be around a hundred miles per hour, if not higher.
Instead of panicking, excitement builds in me. Rather than channeling all my mana to my legs like before, I do it gradually, increasing my speed step by step.
60 mph.
64 mph.
75 mph.
99 mph.
105 mph.
Woah.
My body moves like a flash, everything around me becoming streaks rushing past. Within a minute, I catch up to the old man, whose hair is being swept back by the wind from running at this speed.
He looks surprised and seems to be having the time of his life. But I feel this old geezer could still go faster, since I can sense a remaining pool of mana surrounding him. I, on the other hand, have no mana left to spare—so this is my limit.
