Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Dionmya’s words caught Celia’s attention.
She responded to Dionmya for the first time,
“What do you mean?”
The moment she responded, everything in front of Celia seemed to screech to a halt.
Everything around her was still moving, but in Celia’s eyes, everything from George’s movements to the falling leaves, had become abnormally slow.
Immediately after, the scenery before her changed.
When she came back to her senses, she was already in a garden.
“Come this way.”
Celia looked over and saw a beautiful woman with silver hair and blue eyes waving at her.
The woman was dressed in classic mage robes. The style of her robes was so retro that Celia wondered if she had been sent back in time by magic.
“Dionmya, this place is—”
Celia addressed the woman by name while looking around with a puzzled expression.
Dionmya welcomed her with great enthusiasm. She waved her arm, and Celia felt herself flying uncontrollably the woman
The chair moved out automatically, and Celia was thusly plopped down from across Dionmya.
“This is your mindscape.”
Dionmya poured Celia a cup of black tea as she explained.
“My mindscape?” Celia took the black tea from Dionmya’s, expression confused.
“Yes, I made some modifications.
“Do you like it?”
Looking at her own reflection in the tea, Celia immediately understood.
She had been pulled into her own mind by the woman across her.
With this in mind, she hurriedly looked up and asked Dionmya,
“What about my body outside?”
“Don’t worry, the flow of time here is different from the outside world.”
Dionmya’s expression remained the same, and she made no visible actions. But a water mirror appeared in midair.
When Celia looked at the water mirror, ripples appeared on the surface, and she saw her reflection change.
The scene reflected in the mirror was no longer herself but George.
The George in the mirror was as still as a statue.
However, Celia quickly realized that this wasn’t the case. It wasn’t that George was motionless, he was just moving very slowly.
Beside her, Dionmya patiently explained,
“Even If you stayed here for a whole day, not even a minute would have passed outside.”
Dionmya vanished the water mirror and elegantly took a sip of black tea before saying to Celia in a playful tone,
“If you’re willing, you can stay here for an entire year, provided that you can last that long.”
“I understand the situation now. So why did you pull me here?”
“To explain things to you of course, didn’t you want to know more about the Fruit of Gifts?”
Upon hearing this, Celia immediately sat up straight and listened attentively to Dionmya’s lecture.
“Do you know what the essence of the Fruit of Gifts is?”
Dionmya was obviously not one to keep people in suspense.
Celia had just begun thinking when Dionmya revealed the answer.
“The essence of the Fruit of Gifts is another person’s life. The Fruit of Gifts is a person’s life, condensed into fruit form. Anyone who eats the fruit will then receive the other person’s knowledge and abilities that they’re compatible with.”
Dionmya was very pleased with the surprised look on Celia’s face.
She continued, “Actually, there’s nothing to be surprised about. If you think of it receiving an inheritance that’s being passed down, it’s quite easy to understand.
“This is why, a long time ago, the Fruit of Gift had another name: “The Inheritance of the Strong.”
“The Inheritance of the Strong?”
“In theory, even the death of a talentless chef is able to produce a Fruit of Gifts.”
Dionmya took a sip of her black tea and continued to patiently explain to Celia,
“But reality is, all the known Fruit if Gifts come from powerful individuals who are at least of Legendary status.
“That’s why this name came about.”
After the short lecture, Celia now had a much clearer understanding of the Fruit of Gifts.
After digesting this information, she looked at Dionmya in puzzlement.
“But what does this have to do with our current situation?”
Dionmya didn’t hurry to answer her question. Instead, she responded with an enigmatic smile.
She passed the pastry on the table to Celia, who shook her head and pushed it back.
Dionmya didn’t mind this. Instead,she picked up her fork and knife and dug into the rejected pastries.
“Mmmm, delicious.”
Closing her eyes, Dionmya savored the soft, delicate texture of the cake.
Then, she looked at Celia and asked,
“Are you really not going to have some? It’s delicious.”
“I’m not in the mood.”
Deep down, Celia was anxious to find out what was going on and why the woman before her said that there was no hope for them
But Celia didn’t let that show on her face. Instead, she held her temper and raised her hands under Dionmya’s curious gaze.
“Since this is my mindscape, I should be able to create anything I need.”
Concentrating hard on the imagery in her head, Celia aimed her hands at the small round table in front of her.
Seeing this, Dionnya had a vague idea about what Celia was trying to do. Her lips curled into a smile, and she couldn’t hide her admiration and satisfaction towards Celia.
“Just as I expected. She’s intelligent, flexible and talented.”
After some time, changes finally appeared on the small round table.
The space on the table became distorted and the table became filled with even more snacks.
It didn’t stop there. A small cabinet filled with various snacks and desserts appeared beside the small round table.
“Help yourself,” Celia said, her voice sounding weak and tired.
Clearly, conjuring these was not easy for her.
Hearing Celia’s words, Dionmya happily reached out her hand.
“I shan’t stand on ceremony then.”
“So this is the dessert people are eating nowadays. It’s so delicious!
“This one too! They’re all too delicious.”
After a long while, Dionmya finally finished her meal. Celia also managed to recover a little.
Celia looked expectantly at Dionmya. The latter wiped her mouth contentedly then said to Celia,
“You still haven’t figured out the crux of the problem after such a long time?”
“Eh?” Celia looked at Dionmya in confusion, uncertain as to why she’d said that.
Seeing that Celia still hadn’t understood what she meant, Dionmya sighed inwardly.
“As expected, the moment it’s something related to that young man, this silly little thing would become exceedingly clumsy.”
Picking up a delicate pastry, Dionmya explained,
“What is this?”
“Cake.”
“Besides that?”
Besides that…
“Stupid, this is human food.”
Dionmya had given such a big hint. If Celia still couldn’t comprehend what she meant, then she would have to consider changing her apprentice.
Celia frowned and thought for a moment. Combining this with the information about the fruit of Gifts Dionnya had explained at the beginning, she suddenly had an epiphany.
“I get it! Despite its name, the Fruit of Gifts isn’t something just anyone can eat. The user must be compatible with the fruit.
“That’s right!”