Chapter 470 Can you cook?
It was a peaceful evening with a sky clear except for the dark clouds that had begun to obscure the brightness. The birds were singing a beautiful melody behind Hubert, who had his legs casually propped up on the wooden table in front of him as he relaxed on a chair with his eyes closed.
The old man rubbed his white beard and hummed softly as he savored the moment, but he nearly jumped and lost his balance from the chair when a loud shout pierced the air around him.
"You bastard!!!"
Hubert swiftly regained his composure and shifted his gaze to identify who dared to call him a bastard.
His eyes narrowed as he observed two familiar individuals running towards his humble hut. One dressed immaculately in white, and the other... well, his attire was so grimy with dirt that it obscured the color.
"What's going on?"
He stepped back and picked up a common stone from the ground before focusing on the man in white.
"How dare these fellows disrupt the peace near my home."
Hubert raised the rock and exerted some of his strength to hurl it towards the man clad in white. But the old man's eyes widened slightly in surprise as the man with purple eyes evaded his attack, causing the rock to strike the person behind him directly on the head.
Kyle cursed again and massaged his throbbing forehead.
"Who the heck dares to..."
He paused in the middle when he saw a familiar face opposite him. It was Hubert, the old man he had been looking for. Kyle quickly wiped the dirt off his forehead and glared at Aze for ruining his clothes. He had been trying to catch the man to beat him up, but he ended up falling into another pit on the way.
'Damn it, now my first impression is ruined all because of this guy.'
Nevertheless, he quickly went up to Hubert to greet the old man. However, Hubert stopped him with a raised hand.
"Human, state your business from a distance and leave, 'cause I don't have time. I am a busy soul."
Kyle's eyebrow twitched, but he stopped in his tracks and first greeted the old man by asking how he had been, only to receive a curt response in return.
"I am fit and perfectly healthy. Just tell me, why are you... two here?"
Hubert glanced at Azazeal for a second, then he fixed his gaze on Kyle once more, as he already had an inkling of why they were here. He made a mental note to punish both Hazel and Joshua because they are the only ones who could inform Kyle about the fact that he taught others in the past, and all the people he taught were able to successfully leave this land.
Kyle's expression turned serious as he looked at the old man.
"As you already know, a transcendent rank physique is necessary to leave this land. I am here to ask you to help me because I believe you have the most knowledge about this land, and you are currently the strongest person as well. I have to leave this land as soon as possible. I can't stay here. So, please help me reach the transcendent rank physique."
Hubert hummed nonchalantly. He had indeed helped many young people in the past, and he had to say it wasn't a good experience because he knew once he took someone under him, he had to take responsibility for that person.
However, he didn't refuse immediately because when he healed Kyle's injuries, strangely, his spiritual energy willingly entered the human body to heal the latter's injuries as if it liked Kyle's presence. This piqued his curiosity about the human. Not to mention, he could see the determination in Kyle's eyes and knew from his experience that even if he rejected the human today, the latter would do anything to reach the transcendent rank physique.
It might take Kyle a longer time to reach the physique, but the human would surely reach it. Moreover, the second thing that made Hubert hesitate from outright rejecting him was the other man who came with Kyle, the one who had been silently standing and watching everything from the side.
Hubert sat down on the chair and glanced at Kyle as he placed his foot on the table.
"It's getting dark, don't you think? Also, I'm feeling quite hungry at the moment... How about we continue this conversation over some food?"
Kyle blinked, realizing where this was heading, and the old man's next actions confirmed his thoughts. Hubert gestured toward both him and Aze before pointing at the small hut in the distance constructed of wood, dry leaves, and clay bricks.
"Go, you two, hunt a wild goat from the back of the mountain and prepare a good meal for all of us since I am too old to be doing so much work."
Kyle's eyes traveled toward the man with purple eyes who seemed unfazed and spoke up without a second thought.
"But I am not good with cooking. No one has ever liked it? How about Aze..."
"Can you cook?"
He smirked when he finally noticed a faint flicker of annoyance in those purple eyes, but his smile vanished when the man replied back with a nonchalant voice.
"I can't."
Kyle was itching to argue, but he clamped his mouth shut as Hubert slammed his palm on the table.
"What's with the uselessness? If you can't even cook, why are you two even here? Go and tidy up the house... wait, it's already clean, I did it last night."
Hubert massaged his temples, feeling a massive headache coming his way as he glanced at the two people opposite him. However, he couldn't help but notice that the one in white clothes had still not asked him for help, even though from the faint aura he sensed in the past, Aze should also be a pseudo-
divine rank. Nevertheless, he held his thoughts and rubbed his chin with a pensive expression.
"Alright, I have decided."
He clapped his hands together and drew a leafless bud on the ground with his finger. The bud looked like a flower that hasn't bloomed yet.
"This is a rare herb known as the Vitalis. It enhances body endurance if its bud is consumed. Locating this herb is hard, but with a sharp sense, you can discover it on this mountain. The one who can gather 1,000 of them for me, I will train that person until they reach the transcendent rank physique."
Kyle stared at the drawn image of the herb, and after a few seconds, his eyes lit up.
"I saw them a while back!"
Hubert's eyebrow twitched as he raised his head to gaze at Kyle, only to see the silver-haired human sprinting back toward the direction he came from.
The old man turned around to gaze at Aze, the silent one, but the man with purple eyes had also started strolling in the same direction as Kyle without giving a damn about him.
"...."