Green Monster Epic

After dinner, servants immediately came to clear the table. After enjoying a rare moment of relaxation, Allen's face fell again as he began to check on the progress of his student with a disappointed expression.

"How well have you mastered those legendary specializations I asked you to master?"

"Teacher, I've not only mastered the specializations you asked me to, but also the two specializations that Drizzt borrowed from their clan, okay?"

Upon hearing Allen's question, Coyle immediately sat up straight, answering seriously.

"Do you think you've made much progress in these past few years? Have you felt any signs of breaking through to demigodhood?"

"Teacher, I've tried the 'Rage Vortex' you've always talked about, but even if I focus all my attention on meditating and condensing that so-called Rage Vortex, I can't even maintain it for more than a few minutes before I can't withstand the increasingly powerful pressure inside the vortex."

"I simply can't maintain the liquid form of my circulating rage!"

"What exactly is that 'Belief Dust'? Teacher, you always talk about it in vague terms. I really can't find a direction to break through, let alone condense it!!"

Coyle shook her head, lowering her head in frustration and defeat, her mood becoming somewhat heavy.

It wasn't that she wasn't working hard enough, but in these nearly hundred years, she had tried countless methods, constantly exploring the experiences and key points her teacher had told her about advancing to demigodhood, only to be met with failure after failure. Even the strongest nerves couldn't withstand such torment, so the gnome student at this moment felt somewhat self-deprecating and wanted to cherish the existing time and leave behind beautiful memories with her lover.

"Everyone has the things they cherish most in their hearts, as well as their own persistence and pursuit, which is why we become unique individuals. Teacher is only telling you about my own accidental condensation of Belief Dust, so you can learn from those experiences. The process I experienced can only be used as a reference. If you want to find your own seed of belief, you can only ask your own heart."

"Just like when you embarked on the path of legend, you need to understand what you truly care about and expect."

Allen solemnly imparted to his beloved student the experience and conclusions he had been constantly thinking about and exploring over the years, not seeking to illuminate her path forward, but only to give her a force to move forward and comfort.

"But teacher, what I care about most is right here by my side!"

"The tribe I lived in since I was little, my dearest teacher and compatriots, my lover..."

Coyle's eyes were confused as she muttered to herself.

"Is that really all? Have you truly seen your heart clearly?"

Allen asked a soul-searching question, while also producing an unknown dish in his hand. This was a new dish he had carefully modified from the 'A Great Dream' recipe specifically for his student, making it more suitable for legendary-level powerhouses to eat -- 'Dreamland'.

"Eat it, and see your own heart clearly!!"

Coyle raised her head, her eyes dazed, until she saw the dish full of strong magical aura that Allen handed over.

"Teacher..."

"All I can do for you is this. The rest is up to you!!"

"Don't feel burdened. Teacher is doing all of this because I believe in my own vision and training ability. You can definitely do it. You must persevere!!"

"Mm!!"

Watching Coyle tearfully bury her head and eat the magic dish, and then quickly collapse on the dining table, Allen's thoughts drifted away.

Carefully recalling these years of nurturing Coyle, Allen actually felt a bit of self-blame. Coyle's talent and disposition were excellent, and the training methods he planned for her were indeed in line with her own endowments, but precisely because of such arrangements, she had never experienced too much hardship and setbacks in her life, lacking a lot of the colors of life that she should have personally experienced.

At the same time, Allen had always confined Coyle to the tribe. Although a large part of the reason was that the tribe lacked a powerhouse to guard it, the end result was that Coyle's actual combat experience and the choices she made in moments of life and death were extremely rare among legendary powerhouses.

The missing experience may have ultimately become a major obstacle for Coyle to break through to demigodhood. So, having thought of these key points, Allen naturally had to find a way to help his student make up for it.

'A Great Dream', as a magic dish combining illusion and psionic systems, is characterized by allowing the eater to experience a virtual life of their greatest fear or desire in a dream, thereby allowing people to explore the most real thoughts in their hearts.

Back then, Allen was able to break through to demigodhood after adventuring in the Mansha Goddess ruins in Crescent Bay. During that adventure, Allen had also fallen into a false dream in the depths of the ruins, as if he had truly faced the arrival of death, which Allen still remembers vividly.

And the 'A Great Dream' dish was created by Allen based on his dream experience in the ruins.

Quietly waiting for Coyle to wake up, occasionally joyful giggles could be heard from her mouth, or faint sobs. Expressions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness rotated on her beautiful face, the scene being both comical and eerie.

As an enhanced version of the 'A Great Dream' dish, 'Dreamland' had even more outstanding effects. Coyle, with her legendary peak's powerful mental strength and willpower, indulged in the dream for a whole night. When the Muer Fortress was re-illuminated by the morning sun, this legendary gnome powerhouse opened her eyes with tears in her eyes.

"Teacher..."

"Wuwuwu ~ ~"

What Allen didn't expect was that the student, who had just opened her eyes, looked around at the sudden change in the environment with a dazed expression, and then began to sob softly with teary eyes, hugging Allen's right arm tightly and refusing to let go.

"..."

This made Allen a little confused. It took him a while to remember to raise his left hand and comfort the girl's head.

"What on earth did you dream about that made our strong Coyle cry so sadly?"

Coyle always had a kind of magic that made it difficult for Allen to associate her with her nearly four hundred years of age. In his eyes, this gnome child, although no longer young and at the peak of the wilderness powerhouses, was still the pure little girl in his memory.

"I dreamed that Drizzt and I had a pair of cute, very cute twins, and I gave all my..."

"But, those two children, one was schemed against and killed by other adventurers when he went out to adventure, and I left home to track down the murderer..."

"It wasn't easy to return home, but Drizzt and my other child were gone again..."

"And teacher, and our tribe, I don't know where they went..."

"I was wandering alone in the wilderness, searching and searching..."

Kou'er recounted her experiences in the dream, her voice breaking with emotion, causing Allen to feel a pang of guilt. He wondered if he had been too harsh with this medicinal treatment.

"It's just a dream. You're awake now. Your teacher and our tribe are still here," Allen said, filled with emotion as he tried to comfort her.

"But I'm scared! What if you all really disappeared? What would I do?!" Kou'er clung tightly to Allen's arm, pressing her small head close, as if only by doing so could she truly hold onto him and prevent him from getting lost.

"The answer to that question is something you need to find for yourself. Your teacher can't tell you," Allen replied.

Allen had originally intended to examine Kou'er's mental gains after emerging from the dream, but he was unexpectedly met with her near-breakdown, causing him some worry and fear. However, he quickly realized that he had been protecting this girl too well, arranging everything perfectly for her, which had diminished her ability to make her own decisions. This was a flaw and a problem in her personality.

Now, it seemed he had to wait for Kou'er to readjust her mood and recover from that illusory dream before Allen could continue communicating with her.

This took a full four or five days before a familiar smile finally returned to Kou'er's face, and she regained some vitality.

During this time, Allen was not idle. He met with several important figures, including the master of the Mansa Wilderness branch of the Assassin's Guild, the demigod archmage Javin, whom Allen had hired to maintain order but had not yet had the opportunity to use. There was also the special envoy of the Dwarf Kingdom, who had repeatedly requested an audience. Even Night, the Dean of the Truth Magic Academy, who had been operating discreetly in Nasir Fortress, personally came to represent the Truth Council, located tens of thousands of miles away, seeking cooperation with Allen.

Their purposes were actually quite simple. They were all astonished by Allen's highly publicized culinary skills and wanted to establish connections with the Greenwood Tribe regarding cooking. Of course, it would be best if they could purchase the master-level dishes cooked by Allen himself.

Allen was happy to establish connections with these powerful forces. He would definitely need their support in the future, or at the very least, he needed them to remain neutral at certain critical moments. Therefore, after intense but friendly negotiations, Allen reached preliminary agreements with several forces, waiting only for him to improve his cooking skills and fully master those profound culinary techniques before he could begin trading with them in multiple ways.

Of course, in exchange, Allen also benefited greatly. Various rare inheritances, magical and divine art books, and other strategic resources that were difficult to find elsewhere were about to be collected into their tribe due to the exchange of resources in Allen's hands, enriching their tribe's foundation.

"Teacher, you went too far this time! It took me several days to recover!" Allen personally prepared a delicious lunch for Kou'er to help her recover her spirits. As soon as she sat down, she offered a spoiled complaint.

"My poor children… I'll never see them again…" The inability to bear children had always been Kou'er's greatest hidden pain. She hadn't expected that this dream would actually fulfill that regret, although the ultimate result was endless pain. However, the beautiful moments within still captivated her.

Allen was momentarily speechless, vaguely feeling that this method had been too powerful. He hadn't expected the aftereffects to be so severe, but it only strengthened his resolve for Kou'er's upcoming arrangements.

"Your teacher can't control your thoughts and dreams. Everything that happened in there is either what you most desire or what you are most afraid of losing."

"Have you ever considered what your true inner self is like in this illusionary dream?" Allen asked earnestly, while handing Kou'er the master-level dish 'Bedrock' that had been reserved for her.

Kou'er noticed the extraordinary nature of the dish before her and immediately lowered her head to examine it carefully. Then, she raised her hand and pushed the dish back.

"Teacher, it's better to leave such a precious dish to the other children in the tribe. With my current strength, even if I eat it, it won't have much effect. It's really a waste!"

"Eat it if I tell you to. Your teacher has a lot of confidence in you. Besides, you're not enjoying this dish for nothing. After you finish this meal, there will be something very important that you need to handle," Allen said sternly, pushing the dish back to her without allowing refusal.

Although the actual effect of the 'Bedrock' dish on Kou'er's improvement was not significant given her current strength, Allen valued the strengthening of her physical body with earth-based magic more. The most important aspect of advancing to demigod was reaching level 10 in physical body grade, which would help Kou'er's breakthrough to some extent.

Moreover, Kou'er's fighting style had always been similar to Allen's. The biggest shortcoming hindering her sustained bursts of power came from her physical body. Strengthening her physical strength after eating this dish would make up for some of her flaws.

"Teacher, just tell me what you want me to do!" Hearing that she had a mission to carry out, Kou'er immediately sat up straight and asked Allen for instructions with a solemn expression.

"Finish this meal first. I'll tell you after you finish eating!" Allen didn't directly answer Kou'er, but pointed to the delicacies he had cooked, with the focus naturally being on the valuable 'Bedrock' dish.

"Okay!" At this time, the resistance in Kou'er's heart diminished greatly because Allen said he would entrust her with a mission. She looked at the unadorned earthy-yellow soup in the exquisite plate before her, hesitated for a dozen breaths, and then resolutely picked up the spoon and began to eat.

Soon, Kou'er's blood vessels began to boil and clamor. A burp escaped her mouth, accompanied by a puff of yellow smoke. Within her body, vigorous earth-based energy surged and churned, eventually flowing throughout her body with the powerful beat of her heart, gradually changing Kou'er's physical condition.

"This soup is really filling!" Kou'er actually had a large appetite, but she was filled by this small bowl of soup, no larger than the volume of her fist. She put down the spoon and stroked her chest, then performed an internal inspection of her body and quickly opened her eyes, revealing a hint of joy.

"Teacher, I now have the talent of Earth Force!"

"As long as I stand on the earth to fight, I can obtain a continuous stream of energy from the earth to replenish my consumed stamina and share the energy impact I endure," Kou'er happily reported. Hearing Kou'er's joyful report, a rare expression of satisfaction appeared in Allen's eyes. At least with this talent, Kou'er's ability to fight continuously had greatly improved, and her ability to protect herself in the future had also increased.