Arcane Chef - Slice of Life x Adventure LitRPG

With everyone back, it was time to plan our actual departure—and what the plan even was.

Or so I thought anyway.

Micca suddenly appeared next to me.

"We got you something special!" she said excitedly. A moment later, an old-looking book appeared in her hands, and she handed it to me.

The Culinary Experience

Master Cook, Brù Din

"You got me a cookbook?" I said, quickly flipping through the pages. Recipe after recipe filled the book—so many new things to try. There was even a whole section on sauces!

"This is amazing!" I practically yelled, giving Micca a hug.

It really was an incredible gift. Up until now, I'd only been going off the super basics I'd learned from Martin and Geo. I'd been meaning to buy a cookbook ever since Boltron, but one thing had led to another and I never got the chance.

"You're welcome. It was Jen's idea too," Micca added.

I gave Jen a hug as well, even though she was still distracted by Crisplet.

"Thanks for the book—it's amazing," I said.

She just chuckled. "You're welcome. Now tell me what happened to Crisplet. He looks so... fierce now!"

Crisplet shot off a burst of bright embers.

I gave her a rundown of what had happened and explained his new abilities, with Crisplet happily demonstrating along the way—even going so far as to hit Liane again with Disruption Flare, catching her completely off guard.

"Hey! What was that for?" she snapped, turning around to glare at us.

"Sorry! Crisplet was just demonstrating his abilities," I said. But Crisplet didn't help the situation. A single ember flew over and hit right on Liane's forehead.

"Right, you little ball of ash! Come here!" she growled, vanishing on the spot.

Crisplet dashed back into the oven, sealing the entrance behind him with a puff of ash. I couldn't help but laugh.

I was just about to start reading through the book when Micca tugged my attention back again.

"Put that away—you can read it later. We have so much food to give you. It felt like we bought out their whole market," she said, already pulling items from her storage.

She started with the meat, since there was less of that. They just didn't have the storage space. She pulled out twenty Grumfels, two boars, and five large slabs of Buvul.

I stored everything as she passed it over, before she moved on to the vegetables: three full sacks of tubers, carrots, onions, garlic grass, and three large pumpkins. Then came more rolled oats, two sacks of flour, and a small sack of mixed whole grain.

Next came the fruit. There were dozens of apples and oranges, along with several I didn't recognise—including one that looked like a star. She also pulled out piles of berries in all different colours and sizes. One in particular stood out: a giant, spiked green fruit I definitely didn't recognise. When I stored it, I got the name: Graviola.

Once that was done, Milo remembered to hand me the dough from the baker, and we all sat down around the table to go over our plan. Crisplet was there too, seated on the opposite side of the table from Liane, I noticed.

"Right, let's talk about the plan," Hari began. "We're heading to the capital. It's a fairly long trip, and it'll take even longer with the stops we've planned along the way."
He pulled out a map and spread it across the table.

"We have a couple of options. First, we could head straight east toward the capital. It's the most direct route, and we can stop at Dunhearth along the way—it's only a few hours out of the way."

"Alternatively, we could head south, cut through just past the forest, and meet the southern road. Then we'd follow the coast east. It would add significant time to our journey, but we may,"—he lingered on that word—"be able to reach Trev's friend in the army before he arrives in Portland."

He looked around at everyone. "Usually the army group moves slowly, visiting all the towns and villages along the way to recruit as many people as possible."

Everyone nodded—except Micca, who spoke up.

"What happens once he reaches Portland?"

"Well," Hari said, pausing, "they ferry soldiers across the gap to Lands End pretty regularly. That's where they join the front line. If he's already crossed... there's not much we can do at that point."

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He looked to me, almost apologetically.

"If we find him, can we do anything to help?" I asked, worried it would all be for nothing.

"Well, yes and no. Officially, once he's signed up, that's it. However, he's from an orphanage," Milo said, his voice tinged with irritation. "A couple of gold coins would probably convince his superior that he was 'lost on the road'."

"It's that easy? Don't they even care?" Micca asked, clearly shocked.

"Not at all. Several households have purchased guards that way, ones I know of personally," Milo replied.

"I'd like to help him if we can," I said, looking around. Crisplet gave a burst of embers, though I suspected he just wanted to support me.

"I don't mind either way. The trade-off here is that the longer we wait to reach the capital, the more word will have spread—about your connection to dragons and Lily," Hari said. He continued, "So it's important to note: worst-case scenario, your friend has already crossed. By the time we reach the capital, every powerful faction and family will have heard the rumours and will want to see you... for various reasons."

Jen chuckled. "Let's be honest—they'll know regardless. Messengers would've been sent the day Boltron was attacked, and probably a dozen more since."

"I say we go find his friend. If we don't do it now, we're leaving him to his fate. And even if he survives, we all know no one comes back from that isle unchanged," Liane said.

Everyone nodded.

Micca had a look of concern. "If you're heading that far south... shouldn't I stay here? I don't even have my own horse."

"Not at all. We have a spare horse now, thanks to our attackers. Let's call it payment for the cut you received. But actually, you're part of my plan for all this," Hari said with a smirk, clearly pleased with himself. "I've been thinking about it. The story we're going with is that you're a merchant who's hired us for protection, and you'll be buying a bodyguard for your move to the capital."

"As stupid of a plan as that is... it could actually work," Jen said, laughing a little at Hari, who looked mildly offended that his plan had been called stupid.

Once everyone agreed, Hari pointed on the map and showed us his intended route. We wouldn't be heading through the Dark Forest. Instead, we'd travel along the main path toward Greenstone. As soon as we cleared the thickest part of the woods, we could turn off onto a southern road.

"If we have any hope of catching your friend, we'll need to move fast. We'll head straight for Portland, then work our way back up from there to increase the likelihood of finding him," Hari said, plotting the path on the map.

I just nodded. Part of me wondered if George even wanted to be pulled away from it. After all, it was a dream—for some. But surely once I explained what he was really in for, he'd understand. I hoped so. I knew Darren and Brandon were there too, but I was never close to them.

"When do we leave?" I asked.

"First light tomorrow morning," Hari replied.

And just like that, everything was set in motion.

I wandered back into the kitchen and looked at the giant blob of candy. It had hardened, but was still very sticky—as I found out when I picked it up and tried to break it into smaller pieces. It was near impossible. The thing was just too solid.

Looking over my shoulder at Liane, who had followed me in, I asked,

"Any idea how to break this into little shards?"

"I could stab it with my dagger a bunch, but then I'd need to clean the sticky stuff off it. Hmm... I have an idea. Milo!" she called out.

"Yeah?" Milo called back, stepping into the kitchen.

"Can you crush this block of candy into little shards?"

Milo didn't answer. He just got to work. The tray began to shift as the stone deformed around the outside of the candy, forming a loose box. Then, from the top, a small stone pillar grew and started pressing down on the blob.

A moment later, a loud crack rang out—followed by several more—as the candy split and fractured under the pressure.

I just stared in awe. That was so cool.

When Milo decided it was done, the stone structure crumbled away, leaving behind nothing but a pile of mostly crushed shards.

"That's perfect!" I said, taking a small piece to try. It was super sweet, as expected—still sticky, with a really nice honey taste. I couldn't help but bite down. It tasted amazing.

Liane grabbed several pieces and started handing them out to everyone. The rest I stored away for now.

Would you like to store [Common] Honeyed-Herb Mana Candy x73 for 5 mana? Yes/No

I was surprised it was considered common, despite the buffs it provided—but I suppose, at the end of the day, it was a pretty simple recipe.

I got to work on dinner that night, pulling out the book Jen and Micca had given me. I found something that looked easy enough to try. It was essentially just Buvul steak, but with a rich pepper sauce on top. The recipe seemed simple: pan-cook the steaks, and while they were resting, add a little water and flour to the juices left in the pan to make the sauce.

It suggested using Buvul stock instead for better flavour, which involved roasting the bones, then making a soup out of them and some vegetables, reducing it all the way down.

I was getting distracted—back to the steaks.

***

Dinner was amazing. The steaks were a big hit, and even without the stock, the pepper sauce turned out really nice. There were definitely a few improvements I wanted to try next time. Some garlic grass could go well in the sauce, and maybe a little cream too.

The buffs were minor—just a touch of endurance from the Buvul—but I also got mana regeneration from the wood, which was a pleasant surprise.

Before heading to sleep, I set up all the jerky I'd cut earlier. After seasoning it with a mix of herbs, salt, and pepper, I added some fire salts Jen had picked up to half of it. It wouldn't offer much in terms of buffs now that we had Crisplet, but they added a great flavour with just the right amount of spice.

I also filled up twenty vials with the spider soup I'd stored and gave half of them to Liane.

Lastly, I turned my attention to the pan still coated with hardened candy—and immediately regretted not pouring it out sooner. Even with Milo's help, it took forever to clean. In the end, Crisplet had to burn it off entirely, scouring it with ash. That particular pan was stained for good now.

The next morning, I woke early and got a porridge going, using milk and some of the berries. Then I grabbed the jerky from inside the oven and portioned out twenty rolls, adding a variety of herbs to each batch.

For the rolls, I gave Crisplet some treant wood to use instead.

Soon after, we were heading to the horses. The sun hadn't even started to rise, and everyone was still half asleep, so little was said between us.

It took a little longer than expected for Micca to get on her horse. She'd ridden before, but rarely—and not in a long time.

The horse didn't seem too pleased with its new rider either, but after a few soft words, it calmed down, and we made our way to the gates. We caught them just as they opened for the morning and rode out into the cold air.

"It's going to be winter soon, right?" I asked. I could feel the chill starting to bite.

"Yeah, not long now," Milo replied.