The elder mage narrowed his eyes at Roy and asked in a bewildered voice, "Boy, how did you… get so slim?"
Smiling back at Vizards with his whole face, Roy replied, "As you already know, I was the host of a deadly parasite. It kills a person by inducing mana intolerance in them whilst creating shells containing Mana in their body called Mana Fat. These shells don't have a long lifetime, but until they live, the mana is contained inside them, never leaking out, which in turn, protects the host from harm. I was meant to die the day they decayed. But I've already gotten rid of it. So I'll be fine.
"Anyways, it was the cause of my obesity. It had created Mana Fat in me. There's this technique I got from the Wind Fairy King's trial grounds that allows me to convert Mana into Mana Fat and vice versa. Its name is Tyrant's Body Meditation Technique. With its help, I burned down all my Mana Fat. That's how I slimmed down so much and now look like this."
Roy was really a good actor. He had got it from his system, but for obvious reasons, he couldn't outright tell them that.
Thus, he twisted the truth with such honesty that they believed him.
If his acting skills were sub-par, he would have felt troubled making them believe him.
Arlo eyed him from head to toe as if Roy was some exotic animal in a zoo. 'My nephew finds treasure lands connected to each other in his first outing, and then he even gets his hands on a rare technique that saves him from the trouble of dieting and exercising. Just how lucky is he? Is he the Incarnation of luck?'
Roy wasn't ignorant to his passionate gaze.
He found it quite distracting. "Uncle, why are you looking at me like that?"
Arlo rubbed his palm together, beaming at Roy. "Allow me to rub some luck off you."
Roy stepped back from him, "N-no?"
Although Roy declined, Arlo proceeded to knead his head like dough.
Because of coming into physical contact with him, Arlo noticed something about Roy that widened his eyes to the size of saucers. "Why do I sense you're a Level 1 Apprentice halfway up to the next level? Is it my imagination?"
"No, it's not. I've reached the first level of magic, established a magic spell model, and nourished my magic sea to six times its original size!" Roy proudly exclaimed.
Arlo and Vizards were taken back by his claim.
"Y-You did what?!" Arlo exclaimed in shock. "… according to my estimation, it should've taken you three days to advance to the first level with the help of the magic circle. How did you accomplish it in less than 12 hours?"
Vizards slapped the back of his dumbass friend. "Idiot, this boy used the mana generated from burning the Mana Fat and the mana injected into his body by the magic circle to shorten the time he needed to open the Magic Gate. It's a move not many can think of. He's so smart; how can he have an uncle like you?
Arlo rolled his eyes at Vizards. "Can you not diss me in front of my people?"
"You were asking for it." Saying this, Vizards revealed a close-lipped smile.
"It still doesn't explain how he upgraded his magic sea by so much," Arlo said.
Roy smiled mysteriously. "I've my ways."
Vizard turned to Roy and, in a light-hearted manner, said, "Boy, I see you're in pretty bad shape. Luckily, I've items that can fix you up. When I was young, I was fascinated with the idea of making humans beautiful. That obsession led to their creation."
He took out two bottles, handing them over to Roy.
One had a murky, slimy substance. Pointing at it, Vizard said, "This can help you tighten your loose skin. Just apply it to your skin and let it sink inside, and your skin will stretch back to its original look permanently."
The other bottle that he had given to Roy had a yellow liquid. Pointing at it, he said, "Drinking it would erase all the stretch marks on your skin and smoothen it out."
Roy showed him a respectful gesture as he said, "Thank you for showing me such generosity, elder!"
"Don't mention it." Vizards waved his hand.
Kicking the rules of the empire out of her mind, Amelia immediately stepped up to him.
"Master, allow me to apply the paste on you." She offered.
"Mm-hmm." Roy voiced out his agreement.
He unclothed himself and sat down on the ground.
Taking the bottle out of his hand, she opened its lid and dabbed some paste on her palm. Its smell rushed into her naval cavity. It looked eerie but surprisingly smelled nice. With gentle movements, she rubbed it all over Roy's body.
A couple of minutes later, his skin was no longer loose.
But… marks of imperfections were still plenty on his body.
To vanquish them, he drank the Yellow Elixir.
An instant later, he looked like a handsome and healthy young man who could make girls fall for his esteemed self left and right.
All of a sudden, horrifying cries could be heard coming from outside. But eerily, they disappeared almost as fastly. They looked each other in the eyes. They were equally curious about the cause of the scream they had just heard.
"Let's go take a look outside."
"Okay."
Roy, accompanied by two members of his family and an elder mage, went out of the workshop and entered the street. Working through the crowd, they came in front of a stone stele.
It was at this moment that they heard a man exclaiming, "This thing is the devil's work, I tell you. It sucked two people away right before my eyes. Don't touch it. Or you will be whisked away to hell too."
Arlo immediately dashed up to him, grabbed his collars, and lifted him 2 feet above the ground. "Don't spread falsehood." He angrily scowled at the man.
Like a chicken pecking at grains, the man moved his head up and down in a nod. "Okay, okay, let me go now."
Arlo released the man.
As a result, he fell to his butt.
"Who went missing?"
Right after, the bearded man was questioned by Roy.
The man cleared his throat and, in a slightly drunk way, replied, "Miss Yadira and her son. This thing suddenly appeared in the middle of the road as if magic. The kid's interest was piqued. He touched it and vanished. His mother realized that it must be what caused the disappearance of her child. She tried to inspect it. But it also sucked her in. What could it be if not a product of witchcraft?"
