Preparing the food was much more fun than I was expecting. I never really saw cooking as sothing more than just making food, but I started to get a real appreciation for the craft. They explained how much care they could put into a dish and how the crops and the at would work together, enhancing each other's flavors. That was sothing that I heard about before. From both people in my life who were proficient in cooking and so of the old shows that Pops used to like, but I don't think I ever truly understood what that ant. Hell, I still wasn't entirely sure, but at the very least now it sounded more realistic.
In the end, I was able to give a proper buff to the amount of Energy they would provide. And just like the System had told , this wouldn't affect the amount of particles that could be generated. Basically, my {Energy Extraction} allowed to use part of the Energy spent on the cooking process to create small storage areas inside the food that could then be used by whoever consud the al. According to the System, the reality was sowhat more complicated than that. Sothing to do with the subatomic particles wasted so Energy when they were converting from one thing to the next and the skill was just helping that conversion to work a bit more seamlessly. But my version of the explanation felt a bit more neat in my mind. It was easier to explain to soone else if I needed to.
More than that, the food that I made gave a few different buffs. One dish, which I only helped put in the oven or the small furnace that was being used as an oven, gave a minor benefit to eyesight for so ti. The stew with at, potatoes and stead veggies made anyone who ate it handle changes in the temperature better. aning that it would take longer for them to get cold or hot during the day. And the last one was a dish that I made pretty much from scratch. So noodles with marinara sauce. This one gave a buff that would increase people's body and mind by one.
The number didn't seem to be that big, but it was considerable. Especially since anyone who ate would receive the benefit. It didn't matter if they were tier two or tier one. If, when we were about to attack the Eater's nest, I was able to create sothing that gave a more significant buff. Maybe five points or, who knows, even ten, the end result could be a massive increase in our army's power. However, hoping for sothing like that was probably too much. I barely had thirty points in my attributes in total. Increasing people's attributes by ten with just a al sounded like sothing that would take a very powerful skill or a very high level, and I wasn't entirely sure I would be able to do that.
And on a different note, I couldn't really understand why the buffs were behaving like this. In my mind, they really didn't make that much sense. Not entirely, at least. Sure, so people said that carrots were good for your eyes, but a carrot cake? I couldn't see the cake or the sugar on it being helpful in that. And yes, maybe stew could help with temperature since it was a warm al. But so was any other al that was cooked. And it wasn't as if stew by itself was eaten only during the cold. As a matter of fact, the fact that it had at on it made it more likely to have sothing to do with increasing attributes. Since we were consuming an actual animal. And the pasta giving a blanket buff related to all attributes, to body and mind, I couldn't really understand why that was happening with this specific al.
'Sys, can you help figure this out? Why are these buffs happening like this?'
[System is unable to assist user Cassandra in uncovering this information at the mont. There is not enough data for System to co up with a conclusion. User will be required to either make more dishes with similar ingredients in order to understand the minute differences that the various aspects of cooking can create, or user will be required to acquire a specific skill that explains said differences.]
I nodded but didn't say anything else as we finished the al. The four Rodenti who were working with were all happy with the results. And so was I. Especially since this was the first ti I was making food for so many people. Everything was massive. The pots, the amount of firewood being used to boil everything, even the utensils here were made to be enough for a battalion. Which, in a sense, that was the case.
Once we were ready, the kitchen staff quickly started to set up a few different plates, and I helped them. Imagining that this would be for soone important. But once they were done, and I turned to them, asking, "So, who should we take these to?"
The staff just turned towards with confused expressions. "Us. This, our plate."
They were really taking the best parts. The juicier parts of the at that was in the soup and the stew, the parts of the sauce that had the most tomatoes, and the noodles that were holding their shape the best. They also pointed to a few other dishes that were around and said, "For friends."
My ti with Rex made understand that they were not specifically talking about friends in general but their own personal friends. We continued, and I set aside a couple more dishes for my companions since we could also let our friends have their al too.
Once we were done, we headed to the main building where everybody else was waiting. The mood there was already happy and excited. There were dozens of Rodenti drinking and offering beverages to my companions, who all seed to be enjoying themselves. But as we walked inside, there were cheers, and they all let us sit where we wanted. Only after all the kitchen staff was seated and had given out the plates that we were carrying did the other Rodenti get up and start heading back to the kitchen. It was clear that here they would eat and serve themselves, and that's why it was so important that we made our own plates before them.
We spent ti exchanging stories, talking about what happened with the witch, the Rodenti updated the people we rescued about the latest happenings in the village. Halfway through this initial part of the party, the System gave a notification.
[User's subclass has leveled up. Cook has reached level 2. One extra point in Mind acquired.]
'Why did I just level up? I wasn't really doing anything cooking related.'
[User might have not been actively cooking during the level up, however user's buffs were being distributed at an increased rate. This also allows user's subclass to increase its proficiency. As a reminder, subclasses behave differently than main classes. They do not require an increase in particles to level up. Instead, they require a deeper understanding of the class. Having this many people consu food made by user in such close proximity gave enough information for System to perform the level up.]
'Is there any information that could help sohow?'
[The information received is not sothing that would help user directly. Instead, it will help System to better control and understand the behaviors of particles related to subclass.]
'Well, I'm not going to complain about that one. Thanks.'
Just as I finished that conversation, Rico stepped up to the center of the building and raised a glass of the unique blend of wine that they were making here. I honestly was surprised by how tasty it was. Especially considering that they didn't have any knowledge about ferntation before they had started. This was a big conversation that Riley was having with a couple of the Rodenti who were responsible for the wine making process here.
"Family. The feast now is for one thing. To celebrate family return. But more! We all thank the humans! Without them, less friends. Less family. They prove not all human bad! So are good. So are friend!"
There were loud cheers as the speech was apparently over and the party continued.
Eventually, I decided to ask about one of the things that we ca here to do. "Rex, did you get a chance to talk to them about helping your family?" Official source is NovєlFіre
My Rodenti companion shook his head. "Not yet. It's party. Ask later."
I nodded, realizing that maybe I was a bit too eager to think about that kind of thing, and we continued to enjoy ourselves.
When things started to die down, so of the Rodenti just got up and left. Not even saying anything when doing so. And that seed to be the norm for them. They didn't have to worry about so norms of being polite and making sure to say their goodbyes once they were about to leave. I found that both odd and refreshing at the sa ti. Not that saying bye to people when I was leaving a party ever felt like a hassle, especially considering that in the Hidden Horn village there were not that many people. But it was interesting to see the difference in culture between us.
At the end of our al, we were also guided towards the house where my friends and I would be able to spend the night. The Rodenti didn't really use beds in a regular sense. Or at least not as we were used to. Instead, they had bedding. Almost like small nests for people to sleep inside. It was quite comfortable, even though without the Belt of Frost I would feel it was a bit too scratchy for my taste. Still, we were all happy with the results of this small detour, if we could even call it that.
But I also wanted to ask one thing of my companions. "Did anyone else manage to level up their subclass already?"
"Already? As in you got it?" Michael asked.
"Yeah. I got the level up during dinner. Apparently, making a feast for a crowd like that helped my System understand how the buffs behaved on different people. That seed to be enough to level up, but I don't think I can count on that to happen again. It felt very much like a oneti thing, you know?"
Michael and Astrid nodded, but it was Riley who spoke next. "I got my second level a few days ago. But I didn't get any skills."
"Did you get any attribute points?" I asked, just trying to confirm if that was the standard or if what happened to was not sothing I should expect.
But as soon as the words ca out of my mouth, I realized that it was probably a stupid question. Riley didn't know more about the System than I did. Not to ntion that we had no way of confirming if getting extra attribute points was going to be a standard thing or not until we were deeper into the levels.
"I did. One in mind," Riley replied. It was funny to think that a cook and botanist would have similar upgrades. Then again, it did made sense.
"Maybe that's why I'm not getting levels as quickly," Michael frowned. "I've been only doing arrows for the most part. That could be the reason why I haven't leveled up even though I keep making a bunch of arrows anyti we have so mont to rest."
"That could be the reason," Riley nodded. "But it could also be because you keep doing the sa arrows over and over again. I an, instead of trying to co up with sothing different, you keep creating the sa handful of variations, right?"
"Yeah," Michael sighed and started staring at his arrows with a serious expression.
Right after that, Rex walked into the house with a massive smile.
"Friend! Rex talk with chief. They want help! Rex can bring them to ho. Just need so help."
"Of course they do," I sighed. It felt that every ti we went sowhere, we ended up doing favors for soone else.
"No. No. Easy help. They need food. We make mushrooms!" Rex turned to Riley.
"If it's just that, then maybe we can work. They do have an underground river passing by, and there are places that could work as greenhouses," the witch said.
I nodded, and it seed like, this ti we wouldn't have to stay for too long before continuing with our mission.
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