Twenty minutes of meditation might not sound much, but that increase is cumulative. With his wealth, Evans and James can eat this kind of food three times a day, which amounts to an additional hour of meditation. In other words, these two will have an additional meditation session than everybody else. No, they will have 4 meditation sessions if they buy the Meditation Recovery Potion.
"I need to hurry up and become powerful enough to make money hunting," Zane thought. "Before this month ends, I need to be able to buy magic food once a day."
The cheapest magic food in the cafeteria was the Kicking Rabbit, which cost only 20 magic crystals. This means that Zane needs to be making at least 140 magic crystals a week by the end of this month. One hundred and forty crystals are the equivalent of $140,000. No, the 140 magic crystal is just the food expanse, meaning he needs to be making more if he wants to buy other stuff, such as potions, magic robes, use the meditation ward, and other stuff.
"This might be a bit much," Zane thought. Can he achieve financial freedom with just hunting? Lysana told him that not all magical creatures condense a beast core, meaning the primary source of income is from selling their body parts. But how many of them will Zane have to hunt to reach the state where he can eat magical food every day? Will he even be able to hunt so many alone?
"I need another source of income, but where?" Currently, his only other income originates from his hacking job on the dark web. "Wait, hacking? Those jobs usually take weeks, maybe months. But now, I have nothing but time." The entire school year is condensed into a single Earth month due to time dilation. By using the difference, Zane can take on many projects.
Evans — who was ignorant of Zane's inner turmoil — materialized a set of plates and kitchenware before passing one to everybody. "Come, let's eat and enjoy this rare and new delicacy together."
No one immediately moved, which made things a bit awkward. Zane —who understood the mindset of people such as Evans — took the initiative to serve himself food. Although he was full since he had just come from the cafeteria, he would not miss an opportunity to increase his mana capacity.
Tom Nguyen followed up after seeing Zane's boldness, and then Ahmed and Sanjay also took a plate. Devonte was the shyest, but he also followed up because he couldn't be the only one not eating — that would be weird. However, his movements were careful, and he took the least amount out of everybody.
"What a unique taste," Tom Nguyen uttered. "It reminded me of —"
"Pork," Zane said.
"Exactly, except a bit more juicy and shewy."
"Wait, is this pork?" Ahmed asked, spitting out the bite he was chewing into his napkin.
"Are you muslim?" Zane asked, and Ahmed nodded.
"Well, boars are in the same genus as swine, so I don't think you can eat it even if it's a magical boar," Zane stated.
"I'm sorry, Evans, but I can't partake in this feast."
"No need to apologize. On the contrary, I'm the one who should apologize for such an oversight," Evans replied. "How about this: I also brought this magical fruit juice and dessert. Maybe you can enjoy those?"
"I'll have a bit of juice. As for the dessert? I can wait for everybody to finish their meal."
Evans nodded, then retrieved the cups and a pot containing a purple liquid. He first served Ahmed while apologizing a second time, then poured himself a drink. Once that was done, he passed the pot around so everyone could serve themselves. The taste of this drink, brewed from a fruit called [Cocyrox], was a perfect blend of the mellowness and sweetness of mango and the slight sourness and tongue-tingling of pineapple.
Of course, most of the people enjoying this drink did not focus too much on the taste; their priority was the effect. A cool feeling rushed into Zane's mind, and he suddenly felt his mind more active than before; he felt calm, collected, and, more importantly, all the mental fatigue from the orientation vanished.
"A wonderful taste and effect," Ahmed praised. Knights do not have as much mental energy as Mages, which makes it easier for them to suffer from mental fatigue during their mana channeling training. So, drinks with such an effect will probably become a favorite among knights.
"Indeed," Tom Nguyen nodded. "I wonder how it's made, though?"
"I doubt they just blended the fruit. There is probably a recipe," Zane commented.
"Do you think it's in the library?"
"What? The recipe?"
"Yes."
"Probably not. And if it is, there must be a price attached to it."
"Most good things in the magical world seem to require money," Ahmed interjected.
"Right? You would think a civilization with magic would escape the shackles of capitalism, but no," Tom Nguyen sighed.
"Something tells me, with their overwhelming power, the situation might be worse," Zane added.
The conversation flowed naturally now that everybody had food and drink and knew a bit more about each other. Knowing they were going to spend at least a year together, everybody tried to do their best to get to know each other. However, as the conversation continued, three groups began to form.
Ahmed, Sanjay, and Evans began talking a lot about business, investments, economics, and related topics. Zane and Tom Nguyen first started talking about Harvard before shifting to the world of Academia, and lastly, they talked incessantly about mathematics. No one understood what these two geniuses were saying, so they left them alone. Lastly, Devonte kept to himself, and James had long fallen asleep on the couch.
Dessert refocused the conversations; specifically, it re-centered everyone on Evans. Zane glanced at the gel-like substance in front of him, with countless bright red spots that shone as if they were the stars in the Milky Way. The thing looked beautiful, like a piece of art, but something about eating it felt wrong. So, Zane hesitated briefly, and so did everybody. Only after Evans took the first bite did everyone spoon a small portion to taste.
The taste was hard to describe; it was sweet, but there was also a well-defined spicy taste that did not last long. For a moment, Zane thought he was eating a volcano. The effect of the magical food soon took hold, and the sensation was similar to that of the Stimuli Potion he used to learn the Gremorian Language; his mind was sharper, allowing him to absorb and process information more effectively.
"What is this called?" Tom Nguyen asked.
"Fire Gelo," Evans replied in Gremorian.
"It's wonderful."
The conversation continued, with most people sharing their input on the food's taste; the only exceptions were Devonte and Zane. The former seemed quiet by nature, while Zane was deep in thought, analyzing his roommates. The long conversation was enough for him to get an inkling of their personality.
"Evans is rich and magnanimous, but that's not his true nature. He was probably trained to make friends and connections in new environments when there is something to gain. If any of the people in the room are talented, he'll make friends and even invest countless magic crystals in them. If not, he'll only show the minimum amount of respect.
"Tom Nguyen seemed quiet, polite, and even a bit shy, but just like all people with high IQ, he's arrogant by nature. He's only hiding it now because he's in a new environment, doesn't know about his magical talent, and, more importantly, because of his low economic status.
"Ahmed is mild-mannered and easy to get along with, but he's a man of great conviction. As soon as the tower appeared, he quit his job to focus entirely on his extraordinary path. With such conviction and his talent—which are probably high, since he was accepted into a training program—he should go far in the tower's training. However, as a muslim and a trainee, he'll be required to take many lives. Can he accept such a life? Can he overcome this hurdle?"
Zane glanced at Ahmed before continuing to enjoy his food. He did not know the answer. After all, not everybody is so adaptable to violence as he is. So, only time will tell. But if this religious man cannot overcome this hurdle, he probably won't survive long.
"Sanjay is opportunistic. Throughout the conversation, he mostly spoke with Evans and even said a few flattering things about James. In his eyes, those two might be a business opportunity. He might also have an inferiority complex about his status as a Rune Warrior."
Sanjay is the kind of person that Zane would stay far away from; in times of prosperity, they will be there, but in times of misfortune, they will be the first to run away. Of course, this was just his preliminary understanding of the group. One conversation is not enough to truly know a person.
Zane calmed himself as he thought about the remaining two roommates. James was arrogant and looked down on anyone who was not of a similar status to him. If this man has a high talent for magic, he'll be unbearable to live with. If he doesn't, well, he'll still be unbearable.
"I hope I'm wrong about him," Zane thought while internally shaking his head.
"The last one is Devonte. Extremely talented, but he appears to have low self-esteem because of his poor family background. His situation is probably even worse than mine, and this Knight Program might be his only chance at a good life."
Zane will be spending an entire year with these people, not to mention the possibility of meeting them on Earth or during a shift. As such, it's best to understand their personalities and how to get along — at the very least, know how not to annoy each other.
While everybody was in the middle of their conversation, James finally woke up from his nap and walked to the table, directly facing Evans. Ignoring all eyes on him, he conjured his own food from his bag of holding and also ate. Zane sighed to himself. These rich people probably bought millions of dollars' worth of gold and exchanged it for a magic crystal. Life was truly unfair.
A slight tension condensed after James came over, but everybody chose to ignore him and continue the conversation, except for Sanjay, who tried to salute him. However, James only nodded to him. Suddenly, a ringtone disrupted the room, and all eyes turned on Zane, who calmly reached for his phone in his pocket.
"I'm sorry, gentleman, but I have to cut this welcoming dinner short."
"Hmm? Where are you going? Is there a program I don't know about?" Evans asked.
"No, I'm going to the library first, and then meditate in the training room," Zane revealed.
"Now? Can't you go tomorrow?" Evans asked, who felt it was rude to leave the dinner when everyone was acquainting themselves.
"Time waits for no one," Zane calmly stated.