Ainen was dumbfounded, to say the least.
'Limitless Chef system… and I Cook Limitlessly talent, and I am getting Mystic Chef awakening, so that's what it is?'
He wryly smiled. This looked like a powerful bundle of arsenals.
'Well, it sounds interesting and helpful to my survival and well-being, so I'll have to make full use of it.'
Ainen didn't enter the town right away.
For now, he wanted to cook up a feast.
First, he recovered Mana using his newfound method.
Then, purely with his control of flames, Ainen skillfully skinned all monsters with thin blades of flames, forming a stack of meat slabs.
Afterward, a grand spectacle unfolded before the eyes of the foxes, causing them to get excited.
Ainen created a large, flaming slate four inches thick, solidified, but with a mechanism of flaring flames up according to his control, and tossed all the meat slabs on it as he started cooking them.
He could feel the state of meat through heat permeating them, allowing him to adjust the temperature accordingly and cook them to perfection.
Of course, he was going to make a new kind of dish this time as he came up with a recipe based on ingredients, herbs, and vegetables he had seen in the town.
He didn't have vegetables right now, but there was no need for the veggies right now.
The flames turned and tossed the meat slabs, cooking them quickly.
He was using a lot of flames, so Ainen emptied his Mana swiftly, but he finished cooking the meat halfway.
Afterward, he stacked the cooked meat before recovering his Mana again and flying towards the river.
After storing over 1000 liters of water in his Inventory, he returned and formed a large crater before smoothing it to make it like a cooking pot.
He dumped the water and started boiling it.
'Hmm, the herbs I have might not be enough for this proportion.'
Ainen looked at the foxes and smiled. "Hey, cuties. Can you go and find stuff ?"
He showed them the various kinds of plants he had collected that could be used as seasoning and to enhance taste.
The foxes cutely barked in their sharp tones and nodded, perfectly understanding him.
They left like a silent wind, disappearing from his view.
Ainen lowered the flame's temperature, letting the pot slowly boil the meat after putting the plants he had crushed and prepared.
And then, he started recovering Mana again.
The three foxes came back after twenty minutes.
Ainen was surprised. These cute fellows brought a lot of such plants, encasing them in three different giant ice boxes!
"Haha, good job. Now just watch and wait. It'll be done soon. A delicious hotpot."
'I can bring back half of this pot, prepare it with vegetables, and sell it today.' Ainen grinned.
After preparing and using the large batch of herbs, he flamed up and finally completed the dish in ten minutes. Fresh chapters posted on N()velFire.net
He tasted the soup and grinned. "Perfect.
He first stored half of the giant pot in his Inventory before creating three big bowls on the ground and filling them for the foxes.
The foxes cried in joy and started wolfing down with their tails wagging happily.
He also made a bowl with wood and filled it up before digging in.
[Strength increased by 5.]
[Vitality increased by 7.]
[Agility increased by 4.]
[Arcane increased by 4.]
[Mana increased by 6.]
[Cognition increased by 4.]
[Stamina increased by 3.]
[Strength increased by 3.]
[Vitality increased by 5.]
'The soup is damn strong, and the variety of juicy meat that absorbed the flavors…' Ainen closed his eyes, feeling a bit strange in his stomach, but he also felt absolutely energetic and full of vigor.
He looked at the foxes and wryly smiled. 'Damn.'
They were growing faster!
Their bigger potions were finished soon, and they looked at him.
Ainen chuckled and filled up their large bowls again.
"We got a lot. Eat to your heart's content."
Indeed, he had cooked a ton of food. It might have actually weighed more than a ton with the mix of soup and meat.
Ainen filled another bowl for himself and started eating.
His appetite had increased a lot as he got stronger as well.
Ainen soon finished the second bowl, gaining more stats and looked at his status.
—> I Cook Limitlessly.
After filling the portions for the foxes, he grabbed another bowl for himself.
The stats continued to increase, but in small quantities.
He ate three more bowls, but halfway through the third bowl, he stopped getting stats.
Ainen breathed deep and leaned against the tree, his belly protruding.
The foxes were not yet. They were slowly growing, and it felt like they would only stop after finishing the giant pot.
Ainen filled their bowls before he looked at his status to see the final numbers.
—> I Cook Limitlessly.
—> Mana: 50 ( Maxed )
'Huh?' Ainen blinked. 'Maxed?'
Ainen tried to add one stat point to Mana, but instead of increasing to 51, he got a notification.
[Your Mana stat is already at the peak of Mortal life rank. To rank up from Mortal to Awakened and break the limits of your lifeform to increase your stats more, you need all stats at 50, your level at 50, successful formation of Magic Core, and acquire a class rune by natural or external awakening or by forming a contract with beings who can grant class runes. Upon meeting these requirements successfully, you can ascend to the Awakened life rank.]
Ainen blinked. 'Damn.'
'Wait, so these foxes who are already two life ranks above me…they already have a class, and they are level 150.'
'It looks like I'll need to visit the Adventurer's Guild and get more information.'
Ainen grinned. 'And I am strong enough to become an adventurer, so I might as well give it a try. After all, if I want to cook limitlessly, I have to explore this world. And it seems so-called interdimensional restaurant is something I can take anywhere, given its name.'
The foxes ultimately ate everything.
They were already the size of wild dogs, reaching half a meter tall and a meter long.
But their stats didn't change at all.
After eating, the foxes fell asleep without a care in the world, but the area around them seemed chilly with white sparks creating a faint dome.
Ainen chuckled. 'Yeah, I don't think anyone can harm them here.'
Still, he used his newfound mastery of Fire Manipulation to cut wood and built a crude hut to cover them.
Right as he wrapped up everything and departed, a sweet notification rang in his head.
[Congratulations. You have completed the side-quest: Survive (1)]