Saturday, May 4th, 2069
The mystery of my new Skills—possibly four of them, both intrigued and worried me. Intrigued, because if the Skills acted like Mining, Cooking or Fishing, I would unlock a new Stat—and in this case, multiple Stats. That thought gave me pause. Surely these four wouldn’t unlock my final four Locked Stats, right?
Meaning I would most likely be doubling up on some.
I shook off my tangent and returned to considering my worry. Why was I worried? For the obvious reason. Smegma claimed Skills inherently came with limits and filling up on all these ‘Blue-Collar’ Skills, wouldn’t be good in the long run.
Warm drool leaking from my mouth reminded me of the cooking food, and I hurriedly removed it from the Pan. I then waited, letting it rest, while I crossed my fingers and hoped Smegma would return before the Cleaners and Hunters ringing the crater decided they couldn’t wait any longer.
I would totally understand that sentiment too. It felt like Mental Fortitude was the only reason I wasn’t immediately devouring each piece of Porcu-hog Heart Bacon with Sautéed Grackle!
“Uhh did you see the new—“ Smegma said, as he popped back into existence.
[—yep! If I get some privacy I’ll try to activate a spent Mana Crystal, but right now, I need some instructions.]
Smegma scanned the ringed crater before turning back to me. “This isn’t like the Mirage Fish. It isn’t high in calories and isn’t soporific. Still, the medicinal effect should occur even if people just have a small taste. Since we don’t have anymore Grackles, without returning to the Gardeners—cut it up into eighty portions.”
My eyes began making the cuts, and I frowned. [That will only leave about four ounces of meat per person.]
“I know you’ve got to be thinking with your own stomach right now, dumbass. You can just Cook more without the Grackle to fill them up,” Smegma retorted, his voice sounding almost jealous. “Right now, all you should be caring about is that everyone gets the buff from eating this recipe. You can fill up bellies later.
Maybe he remembered what this tasted like—
“Stop it, and just start portioning!” Smegma ordered.
Thankfully, my eyes met Dave’s. He became the first one to break his drooling stupor to advance on the food. If I portioned this food, it would likely be uneven—but—
“Dave, can you turn this into eighty even portions, including the Grackle Sauté and Mince equally with each piece?”
My words caused him to start, and his somewhat unfocused eyes blinked a few times as he registered the words. I realized then that he had been intending to devour the food, as the aroma from the resting meat only grew more succulent. He nodded even as his jaw clenched and he wiped his chin.
His breathing was forced through clenched teeth in loud hisses. Seeing the impending disaster of the nearby observers and small portions, I began cooking more of the Heart Bacon. Thanks to his Cut Skill, it didn’t take longer than a few seconds to portion, which of course brought us to our next issue to overcome.
Dave was clearly barely keeping himself back from devouring the entirety of the pork. How could I hand it out—
“Form a line!” Alexus shouted. “Food will be handed to each of you individually.” Her words had a very small effect as the Hunters on guard began to move. Even Dana, Lauren and Eva, her own Mana Banks, didn’t budge. “Hunter’s,” she tried again, her voice firmer. “Get everyone in line!”
Alexus then followed her own orders and immediately began grabbing the people closest to her. The first two Cleaners she grabbed blinked and began moving as instructed, as if they’d woken from a pleasant daydream. The third, she had to forcibly manhandle.
Dana, Lauren, and Eva were thankfully of the first category of people. I turned to Dave. “Will it be more helpful to abstain from eating a piece or have one now?”
His jaw clenched tighter and his hissing breath intensified but he did manage to get out a head shake. That told me quite a bit and Smegma realized it too.
The Demon muttered, “Shoot, I didn’t think this would have such a profound effect on people.”
[Why would the Hunters be less affected?] I asked, already considering one possibility.
“What you’re thinking right now is part of it. They’ve had training to overcome fear and other emotions in battle. However, the more prevalent side is likely they’ve had food of similar quality before. The Cleaners, Miners and Gardeners you brought likely haven’t even been near Portal food of this quality this before.”
[But, Human’s eat Monster Meats on a daily basis.]
“Sure, you all eat F-ranked Monster Meat, but not only is it the poorest cuts, from what I’ve seen your family eat—it also isn’t prepared with a D-rank Portal Fruit.”
[So, I just spent a great deal of expensive materials on one meal?] I asked.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“No clue. I can tell you that Demonic Vault and my Abyss Sect would have given you ten Mana Coins for the Grackle and a hundred for each heart. What you humans would have paid is unknown to me.”
I looked at Alexus, who was near the front of the line of Cleaners and Mana Banks. I motioned for her to come over and she misunderstood, bringing the first person in line with her. That first person was Eva though, which made me somewhat happy.
I quickly flipped the Heart meat I was currently cooking in the Frying Pan, and was dexterous enough that I finished and met Alexus and Eva as they crossed the eight feet of crater to the coal pit. Then I stood there dumbly, wondering if I should let Eva take a portion for herself or hand her one.
It wasn’t like I had thought to bring disposable plates or even napkins. Even Smegma didn’t berate me with his usual snark. I guessed he couldn’t, considering we’d come right from signing papers that bought us P-cubed.
Eva solved the problem by tentatively snatching herself a piece. It was in her mouth before anyone thought to react—but Alexus solved a further problem by physically escorting her away with the mouthful of food.
That then became the procedure for the next twenty people who came by to grab a bite. It gave me no time to ask Alexus my intended question about prices, until the twenty Cleaners and Mana Banks had each taken a portion. Only then did the five Hunters come forward to also have a much-earned piece.
The rich aroma had faded somewhat at that point, which allowed Dave to take a piece calmly and move off to join the other Cleaners and Banks with larger chunks of the Heart bacon without the Grackle. He carried these pieces inside one of the smaller Pans that I’d acquired when we needed to cook the one-hundred Mirage Fish or risk death.
Alexus eyed the food, and then me, not taking a portion for herself. A glance over at Eva told me why. She was thinking of giving a second helping to her Mana Bank. This beyond everything else that had happened made it even more clear to me, just how much Alexus cared for her Mana Banks.
She was a true Selfless, which only made my earlier accusation of being a Greed, more embarrassing.
“Dave’s handing out additional portions without the Grackle Fruit,” I whispered, my cheeks red. I could barely meet her eyes as she regarded me once more.
“The what now?”
I motioned to the top of each of the ham slices. She narrowed her eyes and took a piece for closer inspection. She looked at the minced pieces that had adhered to the meat, and the caramelized skin that had been placed atop each portion. “The Amaranthine Fruit?”
“Yeah,” I answered with a shrug—again realizing that my naming schemes were coming from a very unreliable source.
“Hey, I’m right here,” Smegma said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that reaction to food before,” Alexus admitted as she seemed to oscillate between eating the food and questioning me. She decided on the former and popped it into her mouth. A hum of appreciation came from her. “Mmmm. It melts on your tongue! You know, with skills like that you could likely be a chef in a top restaurant, right?” She shook herself, seeming to get back on track, but then asked another question about the food. “What did you do to the meat for the tenderizing effect?”
My brain was completely blank. I hadn’t done anything to achieve that—not really. Not knowing what she meant, I suggested, “Maybe it’s just the quality of the meat?”
“What did you use?”
“Porcu-hog Heart,” I admitted sheepishly.
She scoffed loudly, and then started laughing. “Good one.” I watched as her eyes narrowed in true suspicion. “Wait—was that the Tenderloin Medallions? You know each Hog only has a single portion of about two pounds. If you used that—”
I held up both hands and waved them furiously. I hurriedly said, “I didn’t use the—Tenderloin Medallions—“
She looked at me pointedly even as I regarded her. Considering her reaction to my admission of using heart meat, I scanned up the crater to the people eating, or rather, choosing not to eat the second portion of heart meat that Dave offered. It seemed like they weren’t eating because the ones that were looked like they were chewing through shoe leather.
“Grackle has a tenderizing effect on certain meats,” Smegma explained, a bit too sagely, and definitely too late.
[You couldn’t have said that earlier!]
“I’m unreliable, remember?”
Even as my muscles threatened to tense in frustration at the Demon I motioned up at the people eating. “I can assure you it’s heart meat. Amaranthine Fruit can tenderize tough meats.”
“No, it can’t. Amaranthine Fruit is a great snack for anti-cramping, and is often used in Alchemy to produce cures for Petrification—” it dawned on her and me the moment she started saying the potion name and fruits effects. Anti-cramping and Petrification Cures could both be considered softening of something hard or tough.
She undid her ponytail, finger brushed it out and then retied it, clearly, thinking as she worked. Then, just to confirm what I said, she grabbed a portion of the cooked Heart meat without the Grac—Amaranthine Fruit. Her jaw worked overtime to part the meat, but she did force it down after some excessive chewing, which was more than I could say about the people behind her.
Still, her reaction answered one of my earlier unvoiced questions without meaning to. Clearly heart meat wasn’t the choicest of cut, at least not for humans. That didn’t mean it was worthless, but at least I was less likely to cause problems from using it. Unlike the Tenderloin Medallions, apparently…
I really hoped my crew was keeping those in peak quality.
My stomach unknotted, and I took a piece for myself. As soon as I placed it into my mouth I felt the melting sensation she described. It wasn’t actually melting, so much as my entire mouth was salivating to the extreme and my tongue pressing it into the roof of my mouth as it spasmed.
The combination was enough to separate the fibers of the meat and turn it into a paste, drenched in my now highly flavorful saliva. I swallowed convulsively, eyeing the portions. I wanted to snatch four more pieces, but a red screen that was now blocking the other portions from view and Mental Fortitude stopped me.
You have consumed a Well-Cooked Meal made by a Professional.
Your Stamina Stat has increased by 1 for eight hours. [Locked] will regenerate at an increased rate for eight hours.
My unfocused eyes, or what likely looked like an unfocused look to others caused Alexus to put a hand on my bicep. “Are you okay?”
I shook myself and nodded, glancing at Smegma as I scanned back to Alexus. He was smiling broadly. He smugly said, “Ask Alexus if she feels different?”
“How are you feeling?” I dutifully said.
“Good, why are you—huh—actually, now that you mention it, I feel really good. Almost like I didn’t fight in this Portal the last few days!” She answered. Smegma’s smile grew broader.
“That’s what we’re going for,” Smegma crowed. “Now hurry up and Heal all of your workers so we can go deliver this to the other groups, and kick Jagger’s ass.”