Achievement Unlocked:
Culinary Adventuring
For discovering 5 unique recipes the cooking skill and tab are added.
“Wow, I got a recipe Mia! Heck, I even got a new skill! It seems that I just needed to cook a variety of things.” I said excitedly.
“What recipes did you discover? Mia asked. “I’m guessing eggs, that juice, some meat….”
And so having quickly flicked open the new menu, I listed out the recipes that I had acquired. “It looks like ‘Fried eggs’,’Boiled eggs’,’Scrambled eggs’,’Steak’, and ‘Juice’.”
“Wow, I never imagined that our diet was so varied…” Mia joked dryly. “So what do the recipes and skill descriptions say?”
“The cooking skill description says that it allows successfully cooked recipes to add bonuses to meals that I make.”
“What kind of bonuses? I know that they vary, but what can you currently offer with them?” She excitedly asked.
Hurriedly flipping through the recipes I made a list. “It looks like a quick ‘stamina recovery rate’ boost with the juice and actual ‘stamina’ with the egg dishes, with meat providing a small amount of ‘HP recovery rate’ and ‘Stamina’ as well.” I told her.
“The eggs and juice will help working in the field.” She commented.
“Agreed, but the bonuses seem pretty lackluster though. I wonder if it is because of how common and cheap the ingredients have been. Or it could just be the simplicity of the dishes… I'll need to experiment some more.`` I pondered aloud.
“That would make sense, currently we only use cheap ingredients. Hopefully next year we will be eating much better than we are now.” Mia replied.
“How about this, every year that we upgrade our average produce quality we start buying the goods of our prior quality.” That way we'll always be making more money selling our goods than we are spending, but allowing us to upgrade our quality of life every now and then.” I suggested.
“Um, I am excited with the thought, but that might be getting a bit ahead of ourselves.” Mia replied with a blush on her face.
My face flushing red with a heat for the hundredth time that day I hurriedly interjected. “I didn’t mean it like that! I mean, I’m not opposed to it, but I just was thinking, but not about that….”
I stopped speaking as Mia’s face went from embarrassed to slightly confused, to laughing all before I had quit my rushed response.
“I guess that we should just see what happens… and take it one day at a time.” I said softly trying to salvage the situation without further harm.
Finishing her little laugh, at my expense, Mia looked at me softly before giving her response. “Well, I am glad that I am not the only one flustered by the past few days. I have been ecstatic with the outcome so far, but we should take it slow to see how it goes.” Seeing my face happy but losing some of its excitement from the first part of her statement, Mia quickly added: “That being said, I see a lot of value in preparing a plan to grow our quality of living long term without crippling our future progress. So consider the plan approved!” She finished with a smile that lit the softly lit room.
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“It is a bit to get used to, but I am glad to have it.” I said before pausing in thought. After a moment of thought I couldn’t help but to wear a smile.
“Did you think of something?” Mia teasingly asked. “You have that grin that I have come to associate with your cute little schemes.”
“It’s nothing, I was just thinking to myself.” I tried to evasively add.
“Do not just think that you can end this whole situation with a lame excuse like that when you clearly have more to add!” She replied quickly.
“It really is nothing…I was just thinking to myself about having a girlfriend now.” I stated softly.
“Oh!” Mia said while holding the ‘O’ shape with her mouth for a few moments afterwards. And so with a mischievous look crossing her eyes she calmly added, “I guess you could say it that way.”
~~~Rumble~~~
Unsure of what to do, Rumble continued on his way further out from the pond. The frogs having given him multiple options for fighting, all having led to weak monsters so far, he was hopefully approaching a stronger den of them. With this being his last chance before dark, the stress was mounting.
The fact that Brad, the bonded companion and best friend, was constantly getting buffs and debuffs had Rumble confused. He could understand it if his health bar was moving, but from Rumble could tell, it was all related to speechcraft… something that Rumble barely felt the need to bother with. He knew what was important, and talking sometimes got in the way of the important points to be made! At least that is what Rumble assumed, not being able to speak the human language himself.
With Rumble’s thoughts still muddled trying to figure Brad’s situation out, Rumble decided to let them free from mind as the path being traveled opened up into a clearing with a deep depression in the ground leading into a dark tunnel.
What could that be? Rumble wondered. Maybe it is the den that I am looking for. Rumble pondered before setting off into the darkness with only a shrug of his limbs to mark his hesitation due to uncertainty.
With the path approaching complete darkness, it had started to turn sticky to walk on. The entire thing being covered in what could only be described as soft sticky thread. Following the only way down, Rumble soon sensed the tunnel coming to a dead end, but not before seeing 8
bright eyes, full of thought, staring him down.
With only a moment of pause, both parties acknowledging each other and their intentions, the two charged one another.
The red eyed behemoth charged straight at Rumble, fangs cutting the dark with their venomous gleam, with its 8 legs holding it centered in the tunnel by grabbing out in every direction the thing would’ve been terrifying to almost anyone else. But Rumble wasn’t just anyone, Rumble was a seedling of the highest order. With dreams of one day rising through the clouds, Rumble made sure to do everything to fulfill those lofty aspirations. And so with a last minute slide along the right side of the tunnel, Rumble passed just between the first and second legs before jumping up and dramatically grabbing the monstrosity’s waist in a strong grip.
With the great beast’s momentum carrying them both up the tunnel, Rumble was never even struggling to stay attached due to strong roots holding tight. Having taken a strong hold, Rumble combined his feet into a strong point shaped appendage before driving it up and into the enemy's rear half. And so with the combination of pain and bursting out into the open, the beast dropped hard onto the ground outside.
Having tried to squish the little guy, the beast of the dark was horrified with the realization that the opponent had been driven completely into its abdomen.
And so ended the clash of the titans in a completely one sided duel. Rumble having collected more that he could easily carry, returning home, pride evident in his stride but still confused at his partner’s buff/debuff predicament.
~~~Brad~~~
With dinner having become an experiment to discover a new recipe, with a side of him being exceptionally happy with how the day had turned out, Brad was attempting to make a stew with some of the last bits of cheap meat that they had in stock. Having even snuck a few of today's vegetables, he was feeling sure to make Mia happy with his creation. And so with his mood high and confidence only slightly outstripping his ability, Brad was putting his heart and soul into the meal.
~~~Mia~~~
Not sure what to do with what was presented to her for their meal, Mia was struggling to keep a smile. Brad had clearly given it his all, even having snuck a few vegetables that he was obviously trying to use for a celebratory meal regarding their new relationship… but the smell was something out of a horror story. It looked wonderful, but smelled anything but. So with great effort, she managed to get through the first hurdle of their relationship without hurting her boyfriend's feelings.