Rise of the Crusader

222 The Key To A Man’s Heart

“Whew.” Bane cleaned off the sweat that was all over his face with the hand towel.

Then, seeing the others leaving the training room, he hurried out as well.

“At this pace, Raphael would properly have become an S-Rank metahuman before he reaches the third year.” Said Bane, as he stared at Raphael.

“No lies! His growth is insane, and he’s yet to become an enhanced metahuman. I can only imagine how powerful he would become once he becomes one.” Aiden added.

“It’s hard to believe that we were far above him a few months ago.”

Bane and the others had gotten to know Raphael’s power rank in the training, and hearing as well as seeing the figures, it made them reconsider a lot of things about themselves.

Most of them had used the break to relieve the tension of the second-year assessment and enjoy themselves to the fullest. But that didn’t seem to be the case for Raphael.

He seemed to be as though as he spent the break, training every single day.

“80,053” Aiden muttered those numbers with shock evident in his voice.

.....

There was disbelief written all over his face, and despite seeing it with his own eye, he wasn’t able to shake it off.

As for Raphael, he kept the usual poker face, as he walked down the corridor.

“How was it?” Upon seeing the seven of them, Elisa’s voice rang out.

Quickly they began to give their short replies, but among all that was said, the one that picked Elisa’s interest was Bane’s reply.

“Is it perhaps possible that Raphael is a reincarnation of a dual cultivator?” Bane asked in an excited tone.

Though the possibility of that being true was near impossible, Aiden and Devon couldn’t help but wish for it to be true.

Responding to Bane, Raphael raised an eyebrow, he had read a few fantasy novels and dual cultivation was something he was familiar with.

Raphael shook his head a moment after, then turning towards Elisa, he said, “It wasn’t bad.”

Elisa nodded her head with a smile on her face upon hearing Raphael’s response. She leaned towards him, and raising her hand, she removed the dirt that was on his hair.

“Why don’t you go freshen up, food will soon be ready.” Said Elisa.

“Aww,” Becky muttered.

Becky glanced at the two couples in front of her, with her cheeks raised and her mouth slightly open.

This time around, Raphael wasn’t the first to react, but it was the owl on his face. Gus let out a hiss, and then a snort, which caused Raphael to chuckle.

“Haha!” Aurora quickly placed her hand on her mouth.

Her eyes widened soon after, and ignoring the gaze of everyone, including Raphael, she headed to the upper floor quickly.

It had to be known that Gus let out those snorts and hisses a lot of times, but the person who seemed to understand Gus was Raphael.

None of them had ever gotten to understand any of what Gus said, apart from Raphael, but as Aurora laughed right after Gus snorted, they couldn’t help but stare at her differently.

Seeing Aurora walking towards the staircase, Aiden arched an eyebrow, “That’s weird, don’t you think.”

A nod came from Devon and Bane afterward.

“I guess, she must have created a gadget or something that can make her understand beasts,” Bane said.

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah, after all, we don’t only have one freak in that field in the house, there’s two of them,” Bane replied Aiden.

The topic was soon moved past, and as Raphael took off to freshen up, the others moved briefly as well.

Shortly after they left the dining area, they began to appear in the dining room one after the other.

Bane, Aiden, and Devon were the first to make their way to the dining, then Melinda, Becky, Aurora, and lastly came Raphael.

“Hmm, This is lovely, Elisa,”

“Fantastic.”

“Yeah, the food is really delicious.”

Merely tasting a few of the dishes that were in front of them, Melinda and Becky began to sing praise to Elisa for what she prepared.

While it seemed as though Melinda and Becky were exaggerating, the truth was that they weren’t. Even though they had eaten Elisa’s food several times, it was nothing compared to do the ones she made when Raphael was around.

It was as though Elisa included a special ingredient that was only to be used when she was preparing food for Raphael.

“The food is… Exceptional!” Aiden exclaimed with his mouth full of food.

Definitely, Gus agreed with Aiden’s statement, as he shook it repeatedly. There was no doubt that even Gus found the meal Elisa prepared remarkable.

“Splendid! Simply, splendid!”

Bane’s voice suddenly rang out.

Bane lowered the bowl of soup, “Indeed, the key to a man’s heart is his stomach. Now I see, why you have my brother’s heart completely.” Bane said.

Elisa’s flashed a light smile at Bane, and the others. However, as pleasing as it was to hear them praise her cooking, it wouldn’t mean much if someone didn’t approve of it.

Elisa stared at Raphael, hoping for a word or two from him, but as no words left his mouth, she heaved a deep breath and then sat.

“This is one of the most luscious meals I’ve ever had,” Raphael said, taking hold of the glass of wine in front of him.

A smile formed on Elisa’s face the instant Raphael spoke. She stared at him with love and affection. Certainly, it felt good hearing him say those words.

Raphael raised the glass of wine, and as the others raised their glasses with him, he smiled, and said: “To Elisa, for preparing such a heavenly dish.”

“To Elisa.”

“To Elisa”

“To Elisa”

Followed by them hitting their wine glasses against one another gently, they gulped down the content right after.

A smile hung on their faces, and as they were about to dive back to the dishes in front of them, a notification sound suddenly came from the right of their wristwatch.

The expression on their faces changed very quickly.

“It’s time.” Upon reading the message, Aiden’s voice rang out.