"Sir, if this is the delicacy that caught your eye at first sight, then you have really good taste."

A short halfling said with a professional tone and a smile, "The three-layered castle mushroom is one of the most precious and elegant plants in the darkness of the Underdark. Only the dwarfs in the distant Blingden Stone City know its cultivation and preparation.

's secret.

Traditionally, the rhizomes of the triparius fungus were washed, soaked and dried to make delicious spongy bread, a recipe most popular in the markets of the ancient city of Orens.

But one thing you won’t find anywhere in the market is the Svenbrian Mushroom Lasagna, a dish that the svirfly gnomes keep only for themselves. Hence its name: Svirnet Mushroom Lasagna.”

Brian looked at the short, fat halfling standing in front of him with interest.

The halfling had a smile on his face, and his long gray hair was curled around his ears, level with his elegant and smooth collar. Even in this closed stone room with only a few vents, as a prisoner, he wore well-tailored clothes.

Expensive clothes.

Anyone can tell with just one glance that this is a halfling who knows how to enjoy life.

Because halflings are a race that loves comfort, and have a strong love for peace, quiet, fireplaces, homes, and most importantly, food.

In stark contrast to humanity, these simple pleasures are the only ambition of this unique and ambitious team.

Whether living in the luxury of a halfling cave in a lush pastoral landscape, living on a rugged adventure trail, or even serving as a slave, halflings continue to alternate between two emotions about food: tasting.

and desire.

Because of this, halfling slaves are the best treated in the drow cities in the Underdark, and are often treasured as servants.

Brian turned his attention to the sumptuous food placed on the stone table.

Now, it has been nearly two months since he came to the ancient city of Orens as a slave. He has stayed in this stone room enclosed on all sides from beginning to end, never leaving even half a step.

Fortunately, his treatment was pretty good.

The drow wizard arranged for him a halfling servant with excellent cooking skills, and he was almost free to enjoy fine wine and delicious food.

The most important thing is that he actually systematically learned the magical knowledge about the Underdark here.

This special opportunity, for him, is simply something that can only happen but cannot be sought.

If he wasn't worried about his future fate, Brian would really want to stay a little longer.

However, as he continues to learn, he has clearly felt that his upcoming destiny is approaching quickly.

After all, his understanding of the evil race of drow made him understand that the better treatment and attention he received, the more dangerous the role he would play next.

"I just said it casually, I didn't expect you to actually make it." He said casually, looking at a bowl of food that was very similar to spaghetti on the table.

This otherworldly pasta is made from powdered rhizomes of the nutty triplex mushroom and is filled with a faux vegetable ragout made from the tops of the rare plant.

This was a bowl of food that moved him quite a bit. The only flaw was that the bowl the food was placed in was only the size of a palm.

"Mother Jonara has told me that as long as it is your request, I will try my best to satisfy you." The halfling still had a smile on his face, but his tone of voice was deliberately aggravated, as if there was some mystery hidden in his words.

When Brian heard this, his expression changed. He heard what the other party meant and smiled, "Thank you for your help, Elton, you let me taste the delicious food I have been waiting for."

After he finished speaking, with a thought, a small bowl as big as a palm flew into his hand.

Then, he concentrated again and used the special ability he had mastered, "Secondary Creation Technique".

Lesser Creation.

For wizards, it is a conjuration spell that requires at least the ability to cast fourth-level spells.

But in the hands of a psychic who is proficient in the creation system, it is only the lowest level of spiritual power.

The fundamental reason is that the creative psychics have the means to extract ectoplasmic energy from the astral realm, and there is no need for wizards to prepare complicated casting materials.

The so-called ‘star realm’ is somewhat similar to the starry sky in the real world.

It is said that the origin of all matter in the multiverse was born in the star realm.

Brian didn't quite understand this point of view at first, but since he mastered the creative knowledge about psions, he vaguely felt that this statement still had some basis.

This is because creative psychics do not need to prepare expensive and complicated spellcasting materials when creating things out of thin air. The only thing they need is the ectoplasmic energy or crystals they extract from the astral realm.

Just like the spiritual energy he was currently using, light blue light surged in his palms, and in the blink of an eye, two slender crystal chopsticks appeared out of thin air in his hands.

Under the surprised gaze of the halfling Elton, Brian digested the food in the bowl slowly and methodically.

Although he has been immersed in the study of magic knowledge in the past two months, it does not mean that he has not considered his situation and the method of escape.

The halfling servant in front of him was one of the links in his thinking about his escape plan.

This was the good karma he established with the other party after many trials and verifications.

Although the small favor of asking the halfling to help him would not have any effect on the situation at hand, he thought that he was prepared and might need it at some point.

However, Brian was worried that Jonara, a drow elf who was a wizard, was secretly monitoring his every move, so he could only choose to use very cryptic words to communicate with the halfling servants.

The two of them just seemed to be having a discussion about food, but in fact, the real meaning was that Elton conveyed to him that he had successfully completed what he had told him.

"Your Excellency, come and try this again." When the halfling Elton saw Brian finishing his meal, he immediately pointed to another delicacy, winked playfully, and introduced with a smile:

"If you have ever followed a caravan or traveled around the Sword Coast, you must know that Greentown is a halfling town surrounded by walls to the east of Baldur's Gate, two months away.

Then there's a good chance you'll miss the real town entirely, because while quaint country cottages are connected by narrow paths, the entire ground seems crowded, so the town's buildings are mostly built in spacious cellars.

These cellars can extend three stories underground, where the halfling residents connect the tunnels of the underground passages all to one another and then operate shops and inns from these cozy, fireplace-paved underground spaces. There, you'll find some of the town's most popular underground spaces.

Specialty cooking: fried cheese bread with fat tomato broth.”

Hearing the halfling's endless words, Brian pretended to listen with great interest and searched for information in his long words.

It wasn't until the other person finished speaking that he looked at the other person thoughtfully, secretly remembering Baldur's Gate and Greentown in his mind, and then turned his attention to the food with a string of smelly and long names.

Obviously, the halfling Elton helped him with a small task, and if he was lucky enough to escape, he also needed to fulfill a small request from the other party.

In fact, he is quite familiar with Green Town, and he once had the honor to go to a halfling's underground tavern and taste the delicious food.

I was also lucky enough to taste the ‘fried cheese bread with fat tomato broth’ that Elton mentioned.

Halflings not only know their cheese, but they also know countless ways to prepare cheese.

Buttered bread, spread with a layer of cheese sticks, sprinkle with seasonings, deep-fried, then cut into strips or dipped in soup.

These sandwich breads are sometimes served with spicy flavors, often sprinkled with dill, nutmeg, basil, etc., depending on the chef's mood.

The same goes for the accompanying soup, usually chunks of tomato but occasionally a smooth red pepper puree.

It stays warm and acts like a dip, and once the cheese is perfectly melted into the soup, it's easy to drink.

Fried cheese bread is one of the most unique halfling recipes and is very popular across the Sword Coast.

Thinking of this, he looked very interested, picked up the spoon and tasted it with relish.

Seeing the change in Brian's expression, the halfling Elton smiled and bowed as usual, and left the room quietly.

Brian had long been accustomed to this kind of situation.

After he finished enjoying the food sent by the halfling, as usual, he picked up a magic book called "Seven Transformations of Shadow Energy" again, and studied and read it carefully with the help of the light of the candle.

In the past two months of study, he not only understood the basic principles of the spells released by this group of drow wizards who lived in the dark area all year round, but also learned two relatively practical low-level spells based on the knowledge he had mastered.

They are the second-level protection spell "Magic Field Backlash" and the third-level conjuration spell "Mucus Devouring".

The former allows the target to be counterattacked by his own spells when he casts them, while the latter allows him to summon an 'ooze monster' with a challenge level of around level 5, the Dread Eater, to assist him in fighting.

As a wizard, he knows very well that the truly powerful spellcasters are not how many spells they have mastered or how many powerful magic equipment they have, but how many unknown and strange spells they have developed.

Because during a battle, if you follow the common spell list among spellcasters to duel with others, you will easily be targeted or offset by all kinds of fancy counter-spells.

For example, from the moment you raise your hands to chant and prepare to release the "Fireball Technique".

Some experienced spellcasters will instantly judge the power, flight speed and trajectory of the fireball through the arcane energy surging in the air, and then think of countermeasures and counterattacks as quickly as possible.

Relatively speaking, if the spellcaster releases an extremely strange and unknown magic.

Then when the enemy responds, not only will they not be able to understand the function of the spell immediately, but they will also need to spend more time if they want to use their own secret knowledge to determine the characteristics of the spell.

In this case, it would be impossible to quickly think of the simplest and most effective means of resistance.

Therefore, the well-known spells mastered by spellcasters are generally used to deal with non-spellcasting professions who do not know much about spells.

When fighting against real spellcasters, using these well-known spells can easily backfire.

This is also the real reason why it is difficult for spellcasters from their player base to get advantage from the original resident wizards.

Because of this, as a spellcaster, Brian will always try his best to learn or develop his own magic.

He also knew that the drow wizard Jolana provided him with delicious food and drinks, allowing him to do everything possible to understand the true purpose of learning drow magic.

After all, his opponent was a talented drow wizard. How could he do it without some preparation?

Thinking of this, his mind quickly recalled a young drow wizard he once met in the ancient city of Orens.

"No matter how strict a society is, there will always be one or two deviants."

Recalling these words, Brian vaguely speculated that his opponent might really be that weird drow alternative he knew...

If that was the case, he felt that if he chose to go head-on, his chances of survival would be slim.

In this case, he would have to change his original plan.

Regardless of whether it is her or not, it is always right to be prepared, he comforted himself in his heart.

"What are you afraid of?"

Suddenly, a cold voice came from behind without warning.

Brian, who was in a trance, looked startled and instinctively turned to face the drow wizard Jolana Tux.
Chapter completed!