Arcane Chef - Slice of Life x Adventure LitRPG

Everyone was so engrossed in their food that no one was talking. There were only the occasional appreciative noises from Liane and Jen as they ate.

It really was delicious. I'd never enjoyed mushrooms at the orphanage—they were always bland and chewy—but these Death Caps had a rich, earthy taste that was beautifully amplified by the Garlic Grass and creamy sauce.

What I was especially curious about were the buffs, since I'd used a new wood for the cooking. But no one seemed to be reacting.

I opened my status to check—and was immediately hit with a wall of notifications.

Lily had clearly taken my request seriously. There were already over fifty combat notifications, and I suddenly felt bad for whatever unfortunate monsters she'd gone after.

I did wonder where she'd gone. I doubted she'd destroyed random wildlife in the forest, not after the dragon had mentioned she was the forest's protector while she napped. Maybe there were factions of feral creatures she focused on?

I was getting distracted.

Buffs. I had Fire Immunity, +3 Perception, +3 Dexterity, +5 Endurance, Minor Lightning Resistance, Minor Poison Resistance, and a new one—Ember Surge.

Ember Surge caught my attention. I couldn't see any details about it in the notification list, but it appeared in my ability list as a passive skill. I was curious about the source. It didn't seem like something I'd get from that particular wood—there wasn't anything especially fire-related about it.

The only fire-related elements in the meal were Crisplet and the Fire Salts.

That's when it clicked—synergistic layering. The system had mentioned that using multiple related ingredients could unlock additional effects.

Was Ember Surge the effect?

"I don't suppose anyone knows what Ember Surge is?" I asked curiously.

Milo shook his head. No one else responded either—clearly just as clueless.

As I watched my status screen, still seeing notifications pour in, Crisplet wandered over and produced a small flame under my hand. The moment the fire made contact with my skin, I watched as my stats jumped: +3 Strength, +3 Endurance.

The effect lingered for a few minutes after the flame disappeared. So, the passive triggered when I came into contact with fire? And did the type of fire change the effect?

I shuffled closer to the campfire. Milo watched me closely as I reached out and placed my hand into the flames.

This fire was different—made using Storm Pine.

"It looks like the passive is providing buffs based on the fire I'm in contact with. Crisplet's fire gave me Strength and Endurance, while the campfire's giving Intelligence and Dexterity," I said, glancing over at Milo.

"How curious," he murmured, already pulling out his notebook. "I imagine that would be incredibly potent against fire creatures—being immune to their attacks, but also growing stronger from them. Not to mention in especially hostile environments, I expect that buff would stay active the entire time, giving you a constant stat increase."

He started scribbling notes, already deep in analysis mode.

I looked at Crisplet. "How did you know what it was?" I asked curiously.

I didn't know what I expected in return, but Crisplet just struck a little pose, then floated back into the fire, where he began building something.

One day, I'd really like to be able to talk to Crisplet.

"So... are we going to address the Grovul in the room?" Hari asked, glancing around at everyone.

I just stared at him, not sure what he was getting at.

"You came in with Lily casually walking behind you. Not only that, but she took a nap—right here, in the open," he said, sounding exasperated that no one else was asking questions.

"Wait till you hear what happened in the forest," Jen muttered. Everyone's eyes turned to her, but Hari wasn't letting go of the topic that easily.

"I'll be shocked at that in a moment. First—what happened? How? Why?" he fired off rapidly.

"Well," I began, "I thought it might be useful to see if Lily was watching, and if she was behind the lack of creatures we'd seen. Especially when I spotted the carcass of something while foraging. But also... I wanted to see if she could guide us to something special."

I grinned, thinking about the honey. "And she did!"

"Crisplet attacked Lily, by the way," Jen added.

"What?!" Milo gasped, eyes wide.

Jen chuckled. "Lily was inspecting his new form, and Crisplet used Disruption Flare on her."

Liane laughed. "That little terror! The skill even works on something that powerful?"

"That's hard to say," Jen said, smiling. "She blinked a few times, but I don't think it worked for long."

"I didn't bring the honey out because it's a very large piece," I added, "but it's Rare quality. I'm hoping to turn it into a dessert."

"Or more candy!" Liane chimed in, grinning.

"Could you add runes to the candy?" Micca asked, joining the conversation. "Like... what if you had a mould with the rune shape built into it?"

"It would work to an extent," Milo said, already thinking it through. "You could definitely imprint the outer ring of the rune using a mould—that part doesn't require mana infusion. But for the magic word itself, he'd need to activate his skill and inscribe it manually. That said, it's perfectly doable."

"He could use a hot metal tip to melt it in, right?" Jen asked.

"That would work for sure," Milo replied with a nod.

"I'd need more runes first before I can do that," I said, a little embarrassed I still hadn't studied further.

"Whose fault is that?" Milo teased. "Get studying."

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The rest of the night passed without issue. We set up a watch rotation, with Liane and Hari taking the first shift as usual.

I did wake up at one point to the sound of fighting outside, but it was over before I had time to react. They never called for help, though Milo went out to check anyway.

He returned a few minutes later and let us know what had happened.

Some Sky Wolves had gotten bold and tried to jump Hari.

It went about as well as you'd expect.

***

The next morning, we didn't stay at camp long—much to Liane's complaints—and were already on our horses as the sun rose on the horizon.

I didn't get a chance to test Sable's food, but a discussion with Hari and Milo gave me a few options. The one they figured I had the best chance with was a grain mash.

It would be made with apples, carrots, honey, and soaked grain. Into that, I could mix the dried Lemon Tea Grass. Since it was a complete dish, I might even be able to infuse it as a whole. I wasn't sure, since I didn't actually cook it, but it was worth a shot. Even if Infuse didn't work, disguising the sour taste would still make it a success.

That would be my goal for today.

It was shortly after lunchtime when we came out of the forest road I remembered and turned south. The path we followed could barely be called a path at all—if you didn't know it was there, you'd easily miss it.

We travelled late into the evening again, only stopping for a short water and rest break for the horses in the late afternoon before carrying on.

The trees had thinned around us now, and I found myself wondering if Lily was still following—especially now that we were leaving the forest.

***

Night came, and I got straight to work on dinner. I'd promised Lily something different, and while riding earlier, I'd found a recipe in the book I wanted to try. It seemed super simple—a Honey and Garlic Grass marinade.

For the dragon tail, I scraped some of the Pyrrhosite instead of using regular salt. I also used Purify on both the crystal and the dragon meat. Maybe it would help?

The recipe had suggested using it on chicken, then roasting it over a fire for a sticky caramelisation.

What I went with instead was six Grumfels, which I butchered myself. I asked Milo for a stone bowl and mixed regular honey with chopped Garlic Grass. I wasn't ready to try the magical variety yet—just in case it turned out to be super potent.

For Lily's meal, I pulled out the remaining half of the dragon tail. Despite it being absolutely massive, I managed to remove a large, roast-sized piece from it before storing the rest. I prepared a separate marinade for it in its own bowl.

While both meats were soaking in the marinade, I turned my attention to the horse food. I pulled out whole grain and some oats, adding a generous portion of the dried horse feed. In a large stone pot, I chopped up several apples and carrots, then tossed in a couple handfuls of the Lemon Tea Grass we'd already dried.

I mixed everything together and let it soak, then tried to Infuse the whole thing.

It failed.

But it didn't matter. The Lemon Tea Grass itself still held the speed buff.

Taking a small portion out to Sable in a stone bowl, I offered it to her cautiously—only to watch her dig in happily. She especially seemed to love the apples.

Once she was done and had a quick brushing, I reported my results to Milo, who nodded in approval and suggested we feed it to all the horses the next morning.

"I'm surprised it let me store that," I said aloud.

"Why would you be surprised? It's not the most appetising meal, but everything in there is edible. It'd just take you some time to chew the grain. How's it different to your porridge, aside from the added grasses and no heat?" Milo replied.

And when I thought about it that way, it honestly made a lot of sense. I guess in my mind I'd labelled it horse food, but if I were starving, I'd have no issue picking out the apples or carrots—or even eating the honeyed oats.

I got back to work on the meats, deciding to add mashed tubers tonight as well—just to have something besides meat on the table.

The Grumfels went onto spikes, while the chunk of dragon tail—which Liane was expressly told she was not allowed to touch—was placed on a grill that Crisplet made.

We didn't need to worry about Liane anyway, because halfway through cooking, Lily appeared again.

She simply flopped down next to the fire and started watching the food cook.

It caught us all completely off guard.

But with Lily present, there was absolutely no chance Liane would risk sneaking a bite of dragon meat.

Even she had her limits.

"Thanks for all the experience," I said, sitting near Lily. She'd earned me 172 notifications, which had pushed me up to level 21—nearly 22. I'd even gained level two in Resonate Balance and Precise Palate. I needed to make more of an effort to use my abilities regularly, especially Purify.

The Grumfel was ready first. I served it up to everyone after infusing each plate, popping a small candy to help with mana recovery—much to Jen's outrage. Apparently, candy at dinner was forbidden.

I didn't see why.

A short while later, Crisplet indicated that the dragon meat was ready. I removed it and placed it on a stone plate, using Infuse once more. As expected, Lily instantly appeared beside me for the sniff test. One cautious bite later, it vanished.

She then spent a few minutes eyeing my Grumfel until I gave in and offered her the remaining half.

And just like that, she was gone again.

It was still surreal.

"I'm never going to get used to that," Hari said, watching the spot where Lily had vanished.

"You're not alone there. But the pressure seems easier to handle now, doesn't it?" Milo added.

"You're right," Jen agreed. "Before, when she used to appear, I could barely move. Now, especially when she's just pretending to sleep, I can feel the pressure—but it's nothing like before."

"It feels like there's a cold weight on my shoulders," Micca said with a shiver. "I don't like it."

"You're not supposed to like it," Milo said with a chuckle. "That's the point. It's a difference in power level. You're meant to feel fear—and run. Or try to."

"Do you not feel any of that, Trev?" Micca asked, frowning at me.

"Honestly? No. I used to be able to feel when she left, like a soft pressure lifting, but that was it. I actually found Kara to be far worse," I said.

"That makes no sense at all," Milo muttered. "Even the fact that you could hold a conversation with the dragon—while Lily's pressure felt trivial to you—is not normal."

"I don't know if it's a class thing, or just a you thing," he added, shaking his head. "I've never heard of any class that completely bypasses beast pressure like that."

Liane was eyeing off the last half of Milo's Grumfel, which he definitely noticed.

"You're just as bad as that cat with food, you know," he said with a laugh, handing her the piece.

"How many days do you think until we reach Portland?" I asked, as Liane reappeared at her spot with her prize.

"Normally, if you were travelling by wagon from Forest's Edge, it'd take three to four weeks to reach Portland," Hari explained. "But at the pace we're going—and if we can keep increasing it with buffs—I think we could get there within a week."

"It'll be a long ride," Jen added with a laugh, "and we're going to be sick of the road by the time we arrive."

"Well, that's just the start of the journey—hopefully," Hari said. "Once we reach Portland, I'll ask around about new army arrivals. If they haven't passed through yet, we'll need to get back on the road and find them."

"Is it possible we miss them?" I asked. "Like… what if they pass us while we're checking some other village? Wouldn't it be better to stay in Portland and wait?"

"You can't miss them," Hari said with a short, humourless laugh, shaking his head.

"By the time they reach Portland, they'll be a mass of a couple hundred boys and girls who can barely hold a spear—already looking broken."

I frowned. "I don't understand. We were taught it was an honourable and glorious thing."

"Trev," Liane said, her expression darkening, "the orphanage doesn't train you to be a good fighter. It's hoping a few of you survive long enough to become one after fighting for your life over several years."

"But… I was taught how to use a sword. And other weapons," I said, confused.

"You were taught how to swing a stick, sure," Liane replied. "But the orphanage doesn't teach proper swordsmanship. That's why, when new adventurers get assigned to groups, it takes time for them to integrate—they basically have to relearn how to fight."

"So… everything I was taught was a lie?" I asked quietly.

I'd heard similar things before—from Cee, from Jordan—but I'd always pushed it to the back of my mind. Hearing it again, now that we were going to find George… it all came rushing back.

"Pretty much," Hari said. "I'm sorry, Trev."

He paused for a moment, then added, "But I'll make you a deal. You said you learned the sword, right? How about I train you myself? One hour every night. It won't help your class—but knowing how to use a sword properly might just save your life."

I nodded slowly. I didn't know what to think, not really. Every time someone told me this, I'd shut it out. But maybe, with training… maybe I could show Hari that what I'd learned wasn't useless.

Maybe I could prove it hadn't all been for nothing.

"Okay. Deal," I said.