Chapter 701 – Dreamweaver World 39

“You want to study under me? One dream crystal coin isn’t enough — it’ll be at least two!”

Matina slammed her hand viciously on the stone table, the joints of her gaunt fingers turning white. “Groot’s Transfiguration classes, organized by that old coot — no matter how many instructors he throws at it, none of them compare to me alone! All of his so-called Transfiguration masters put together couldn’t beat me in a fight!”

She suddenly leaned in close to Mo Lan, a dangerous glint flashing through her cloudy eyes. “But don’t get too excited — if you study under me and can’t learn Shadow Walk within three days, I’ll stuff you into a teapot and boil you alive!”

The shadow of the teapot in the corner immediately began dancing with excitement at these words. The shadow of its spout gaped open dramatically, making an “om nom” swallowing motion, then pantomimed tossing things into its belly.

Mo Lan: “…”

Compared to Old Groot, who always asked for the moon and whose opening price hike started at twenty-five times the base rate, this fierce-looking Matina who had only asked for two dream crystal coins was truly much “gentler” when it came to doing business.

At this moment, she finally understood the brilliance of Groot’s seemingly nonsensical letter of introduction.

He had deliberately belittled Matina, saying her lessons were “worth one dream crystal coin at most,” while “inadvertently” revealing that the Transfiguration course in Greenwood Village had charged “two dream crystal coins.”

This approach of openly disparaging while covertly inviting comparison had perfectly targeted Matina’s competitive nature, provoking her into setting her price at exactly “two dream crystal coins.”

But what Matina didn’t know was that the tuition Mo Lan had actually paid Greenwood Village wasn’t two dream crystal coins at all — it was a full five!

Even more brilliant was that Groot had left room in the letter — he’d specifically emphasized “charge one at most, Greenwood Village only charged two,” which both gave Matina space to raise the price and created an opportunity for Mo Lan to “voluntarily offer more.”

This way, Matina would feel she’d gotten the better end of the deal, while Mo Lan could boost her favorability by paying an extra crystal or two.

He had even accurately gauged Mo Lan’s personality, knowing she might be willing to add a coin or two to build a good relationship with Matina, but would absolutely never add so much that people would think she was some kind of money-scattering fool.

In the end, what Mo Lan paid Matina in tuition would still not exceed the amount she’d given Greenwood Village.

One letter. Just a few short lines. Even the scribbles were calculated.

Mo Lan watched Matina, still fuming as she tore Groot’s letter of introduction to shreds, and suddenly felt a deep admiration for Old Groot. The way that old man could read and manipulate people’s hearts was simply terrifying.

Mo Lan saw through Groot’s calculations but had no intention of exposing them — after all, he had genuinely put thought into saving her money.

Besides, apart from Groot, no one knew how much tuition she’d actually paid.

Mo Lan pulled three dream crystal coins from her backpack and said thoughtfully, “Lady Matina, here is my tuition. One-on-one instruction should cost a bit more than a group class.”

The wrinkled corners of Matina’s eyes twitched slightly, and the corners of her mouth curved upward irrepressibly.

“Hmph! At least you have good taste!” Matina swept the crystal coins into her sleeve in one motion, her voice dripping with poorly concealed satisfaction. “Much better than that short-sighted old coot!”

She even stomped her foot, and with her movement, the teapot’s shadow suddenly sprang to life. Like an attentive little servant, it floated over to Mo Lan, its spout-shadow tilting elegantly to pour her a bowl of steaming tea.

“Have you prepared the materials for the tribe conversion?”

Matina asked abruptly. Her voice was still gruff, but her tone was noticeably softer than before. “If not, go to the general store at 28 Withered Shadow Street and find Isaac. Tell him you’re my student, and he’ll have everything ready for you!” She raised her own tea bowl and drained it in one gulp, the tea stains leaving several glowing traces at the corners of her mouth.

“A Dryad body…” she scoffed, lightly poking Mo Lan’s arm with her stone cane. “Fine for fiddling with flowers and plants, but it can’t handle the power of shadows! Make sure you eat your fill before the tribe conversion ceremony — you’re in for a rough time. A Dryad body is far too different from us Shadow Tribe folk.”

Mo Lan caught the kindness behind her words and hurriedly produced her residency guarantee letter, tribe conversion ceremony materials, and Shadow Hunter profession invitation.

“Teacher Matina, I’ve got everything prepared!”

Matina glanced over them. “Hmph, well-prepared, I’ll give you that!”

Mo Lan clearly caught the flash of satisfaction in her eyes.

Just then, Mo Lan’s stomach let out a timely, protesting “grumble.”

She rubbed her belly self-consciously and offered a slightly sheepish smile. “I’ve been traveling for quite a while though, and I am a bit hungry…”

She deliberately drew out the last word, her eyes sneaking a glance toward a black iron stew pot hanging by the fireplace. The pot looked well-aged but was impeccably maintained, and the wooden rack beside it held quite a collection of spices.

From this, she made the bold guess that Matina was probably someone who enjoyed experimenting with food — and this might be an opportunity to close the distance between them.

“I still have some ingredients in my pack that I gathered on the road,” Mo Lan said with a blink, her tone sincere with a touch of anticipation. “Would you mind if I borrowed your pot and fire? I could cook something to eat, and also…” She paused deliberately. “Let you sample my cooking.”

The flames in the fireplace suddenly crackled and popped, as if voicing their approval.

Matina’s shadow on the wall made an exaggerated gulping motion, while Matina herself kept a straight face, waving her hand with feigned reluctance. “Do what you want! But if you dare burn my precious pot… I’ll use your shadow as a scrub rag!”

She hadn’t even finished speaking before the stew pot’s shadow had already hugged the pot and hopped down from its hook, carrying it over to the fireplace.

Mo Lan’s eyes lit up, and she immediately began pulling out ingredients.

She planned to use the ingredients she’d purchased earlier in Greenwood Village, combined with her own culinary skills, to make something special.

First, she carefully presented a bundle of blue mushrooms wrapped in leaves, their caps still dotted with undried dewdrops. “These are blue pine mushrooms. They make the most delicious soup broth.”

Next came a piece of herb-cured dried salt meat, its red-and-white marbled texture flecked with bits of rosemary and thyme.

This was salt meat she had made using her own recipe after collecting meat ingredients from the dream realm.

Matina’s nose twitched involuntarily, and on the wall, her shadow had already sneaked over for a sniff.

Last to emerge was a small bag of jade-green tree fruits, their skins crystalline and translucent, with honey-like syrup faintly visible flowing inside.

“These are honey crystal fruits, a specialty of Greenwood Village,” Mo Lan said, shaking the bag like she was showing off a treasure. The fruits clinked together with a crisp sound. “They’re sweet eaten raw, but once cooked, they become an exquisite seasoning.”

Though Matina still wore a stern expression, her gaze was already glued to the ingredients Mo Lan had laid out.