“Thanks for your work again today.” One chef spoke up to another, offering a deep bow of gratitude. “With the Aurans around, the dinner rush has been really hectic lately.”

The other chef merely shook his head with a calm smile, his blond hair still tied back from the work in the kitchen. “It’s fine. Though, didn’t I suggest you stop using the skill system when cooking? It will just make the dishes lose their uniqueness.”

The first chef gave a somewhat bitter smile when he heard that. “Yeah, but… it’s hard to keep up with the demand if we don’t use it. Better to have consistently good dishes than risk something getting burnt during a rush, right?”

The blonde, kitsune chef gave a small sigh at that. “I suppose, though I’m still against it. It’s those little intricacies that make every dish special, after all.”

With a nod, the first chef glanced towards the door. “Any idea what you’re up to next, then? I’d be happy to have you stick around longer, if you’ll be in town.”

“No, I was just passing through, and wanted to pay a visit.” He said, one hand coming down to stroke along the edge of the cooled stove. A smile appeared on his face as he thought back to his past. “It’s always important to remember where you came from, after all.”

The other chef blinked, eyes going wide. “Where you came from… Aznod, does that mean you--”

“Not yet, but I’m close.” He shook his head, a somewhat bitter smile on his face. “Had they released the information about the forging any sooner, I’d have likely achieved my first goal. As it is… I suppose that this opens up a future path for me.”

The other man gave a small nod. “Is there anything that I can do to help?” He had known Aznod since the man had just started his career as a chef, and had seen him taking to it like a natural.

Aznod knew that his old friend meant well, so he considered it seriously, before nodding his head. “If I could use your kitchen, now that everything has been closed for the night, that would be much appreciated. I’ll be sure to clean up after myself when I’m done.”

The man hesitated at that, as he knew what would happen if Aznod failed in his plans. However, he ultimately gave a small nod. “Alright, then.” Saying that, he pulled the keys from his pocket, passing them over to Aznod, who gratefully accepted them. Once the other man had left the building, he looked around the empty kitchen, a small smile on his face.

“I suppose it’s time to get started.” He said, extending one hand into the empty space beside himself. A knife seemed to flicker into existence in his hand, his other producing a deck of cards.

Each of these cards contained an ingredient that he had personally hunted or gathered after achieving his Divine Soul. Some of these items he had to go to other worlds merely to collect, and had been forced to seal them in mass-produced capture cards. “If divinity can be forged, then what’s to stop it from being served?”

This thought had echoed in his mind ever since Aznod heard about the process of forging divinity. In order to find the perfect combination of ingredients, he had practiced with multiple different energy combinations. What cuisine would stir ki to act in a specific way? How about mana? Was there a dish that could cause the very forces of nature to kneel in its presence?

In the process of his experiments, he stumbled across two traits which made his dream possible. The first was an appraisal energy, one specifically focused on analyzing the properties of food. Of course, the effects involved only applied to when he himself ate it. It was impossible for the energy to predict whether the food was meant to be served to someone allergic to it.

The other trait he acquired was a special title, the Miracle Chef, a title obtained when he became the highest level chef in the world. The effect of this title was quite simple, in that it allowed him to mentally practice with ingredients in a manner similar to the Scholar’s ability, Mental Archive. However, instead of a repository of information, it was a grand kitchen with any appliance he had ever handled. The ingredients could be pulled from any that he had worked with before, and the title allowed the quality to be reproduced perfectly.

In this way, he had gone around to harvest countless monsters, dismantling their corpses and experimenting with the usable byproducts. Anything that he believed had even the slightest chance of being involved in the process, he gathered for his experiments.

By the end of it, Aznod had made multiple discoveries, and increased his Chef level by leaps and bounds. The energy that he had created prevented him from ingesting any of the more poisonous substances that he made with a failed trial, while those that succeeded turned into bonuses applied to his base stats.

One discovery that he made… the sad acknowledgement that forging divinity was truly easier than preparing it as a dish. This was true for no other reason than the existence of divine gold. Divine gold served to reinforce the divinity during the forging process, and he had struggled to find a proper alternative. After all, when gods die, they don’t leave behind a body that can be dismantled.

However, he was not one to give up, and had been working on a way to resolve this crisis. In the end, he came up with a way to do so, through the use of card magic. By sealing a shard of divinity within a card, and then using a fusion card to combine it with a card containing a slab of meat, the meat becomes infused with divine properties. This, among other things, amplifies the taste of the dish prepared with that meat, and stimulates the divinity of the consumer.

After testing this out, he looked back at the forging process again, thinking what the best parallel would be. While serving divine meat was great, it would overpower the rest of the dish, defeating the purpose of having the customer’s divine spark turned into a dish that would help them reach godhood.

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Since divine gold dust is used by sprinkling it on the ore prior to forging, I should make my divine ingredient a spice. Thanks to this line of thought, Aznod now possessed a full line of divine spices. However, his journey was far from over with only this.

Shaking his head, he removed the distracting thoughts from his mind before beginning to toss the cards onto the empty counters one by one. “I won’t be able to enjoy the full process until after I’ve ascended anyways.” He muttered to himself. “For now, just a standard dish to help me with the next step.”

Just as the divine forging came with a warning to not use in the middle of the three-step ascension, he believed that divine cuisine would have a similar conflict. Thus, he planned to put his theories to practice only after he had achieved his first domain.

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“We greet the Lady Goddess.” Two elven figures draped in dark purple robes dropped to their knees, both of them sporting pitch black hair. The ground surrounding the pair appeared shattered and distorted, making it seem as if an explosion had gone off.

Nearby, a third figure appeared to emerge from the starlight itself, wearing the night’s sky as a dress as she descended to the earth below. “Congratulations to the both of you.” She said in a warm tone, expressing her admiration for the two female figures that knelt before her.

“We thank you for these words.” The two spoke, still in unison, causing the Goddess to chuckle lightly.

“You can drop such grand formalities, I promise.” Though Leowynn had told them so time and again, perhaps it would be easier to accept now that the two were no longer strictly mortal. “Were you both able to obtain the domains that you wanted?”

The two nodded their heads, the one on the right being the first to speak as she lifted her head. “I have achieved the domain of Night.” She answered, her eyes black pools. Meanwhile, the one on the left had silver pools in her eyes.

“And I have achieved the domain of Moon.” She spoke up, her body relaxing only slightly at Leowynn’s former words.

“Congratulations, Strea, Lyra. Then, the next step will be to consolidate your power within the void.” As these were the first of the Fallen Gods to ascend under Leowynn’s guidance, it was up to her to show them how to utilize their powers, based on what she had learned on her own.

The two nodded again, looking like they were about to speak before Leowynn lifted an amused brow. They simply sighed, content to nod their heads and let her continue. “Good. Now, let’s go. I need to check on the Guardian, still.”

The two glanced at one another as Leowynn tore open a gap in the void, a pitch black portal leading to an infinite nothingness. Without hesitation, the two followed Leowynn through, where they found themselves surrounded by a welcoming sensation. The power of the void embraced them, fueling their newfound powers in a way that they had never imagined.

“Where is he…” Leowynn muttered, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Behind the two of them, they could see the sphere which represented the universe that they had just come from. Although it was not exactly small, it was far smaller than the size of a planet. That said, Leowynn herself seemed to have become utterly massive upon entering the void, so it was possible that size was subjective in this realm.

“Ah, there he is.” She smiled, seeing the armored guardian in the distance. Her eyes flashed, scanning through his information to make sure that he did not show any signs of corruption. Only once that had been done did she let out a small sigh of relief.

“Okay, it looks like he won’t cause any trouble for the two of you, and most of the void monsters in this zone have been dealt with already. Now, let’s have you establish your sanctuaries.”

Hearing Leowynn’s words, the two glanced towards one another again, Lyra lifting her hand cautiously. “Lady Goddess, how are we to do that?”

“Find a position within the void that you want to set up as your starter point, and condense your domain in a sphere in front of you.” As she said that, she gestured towards another sphere idly floating in the distance. Unlike the one behind them, this one seemed far more rugged. The limitless galaxies within were replaced by what seemed like a single planet, making the two quickly realize what they were seeing.

“Is that your sanctuary, Lady Goddess?” Strea asked with wide eyes, though Leowynn shook her head.

“No, that’s the sanctuary of a friend of mine. She ascended as a Fallen God like yourselves, so she was the first to establish a sanctuary within the void. Now, the two of you will be following her example. Once you’ve set it up, this sanctuary will be your permanent base of operations. No matter where you are, or which world you’re in, you will be able to return with a thought, allowing you to pull yourselves from danger.”

“Although this is a bit harder, it will also be possible for you to manifest your sanctuary within a world for a short period, offering you aid in battle.” As Leowynn began to list the benefits of the sanctuaries, the two Fallen Goddesses looked through the vast void.

“Lady Goddess.” Strea spoke up. “Which of these worlds represents Spica? I would like to place my sanctuary near that world.” Lyra blinked, realizing what Strea was implying, before quickly nodding her head in agreement.

“It’s… that one over there.” She gestured, pointing towards a distant sphere. “Why Spica in particular, though?”

“Because it is the world created by the Goddess Ryone, your mother. A world where starlight holds the power everyone spends their life pursuing. It’s clear that she created this world with you in mind, so I thought it best for us to position ourselves around this world, as your first Fallen Gods.”

Leowynn blinked at that, giving a small nod of her head. She couldn’t fault Strea’s logic, as Spica really had been created with her in mind. Even the name had been chosen based on the name of a star in Dale’s former world, though that particular detail would naturally elude anyone from this time. She watched as the pair made their way over to the place where she had gestured, extending their hands forward.

Black energies began to wrap around the two within the void, small spheres condensing before each of them. The inside of the spheres were dark, lacking even the single celestial body of the sanctuary that she had shown them as an example. “Don’t worry.” Leowynn’s words calmed them as soon as they began to fear that they had failed. “Establishing the framework of your sanctuary comes first.”

“Once you have the sphere formed, and have made sure that it won’t be destroyed easily, you can consider working on improving it. Within the sanctuary, the worlds of the one who created it become law. You will be able to shape the land based on your thoughts, creating whatever scenery you wish for. Unless a stronger Fallen God invades your sanctuary, you will hold a considerable advantage.”

“Finally, if you want to stabilize your sanctuary further and enhance its power, you can do so by hunting monsters within the void, using their energies to contribute to the quality of your sanctuary.” When the two Fallen Goddesses heard that, their eyes went briefly wide. As they had been embraced by the void, they could see the true forms of the monsters lurking within it. This also meant that they knew just how numerous the monsters within the void were, though most seemed to be avoiding the spheres representing major worlds, as the Guardian was protecting those.