NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: Breaking Out
Looking at the black-gold mystery box in front of him with exotic patterns, Ainen thought. 'Please give me something good that can help me get out of this predicament.'
Ainen pressed the lock-symbol button on the box.
The patterns on the mystery box shone before it blasted open with colorful sparks.
[Congratulations. You have acquired a skill—Flight (A)]
'Flight?!'
Ainen was shocked.
A mystic rune floated out of the box and shot straight into his forehead.
He didn't feel any pain, but he could clearly feel the existence of another executable power in him, similar to Fire Manipulation.
He used the skill and felt as if the world around him was lifting him up. His mana was consumed, and he began floating up!
'I'm flying…'
Ainen flew around for several seconds before coming down.
Sitting down, he focused on his Innate Talent—I Cook Limitlessly.
'I Cook Limitlessly…that was indeed the case back on Earth.' Ainen smiled.
He had learned all cuisines of the world, and he was still visiting all places worldwide to hone his cooking skills despite already being the undisputed number one chef of the world.
'Let's see what this innate talent does.'
But when he saw the innate talent's details, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
[Innate Talent: I Cook Limitlessly]
Rank: Limitless.
Effect:
—> You can view details of everything, living and non-living, and cook them.
—> You can designate everything as ingredients.
—> The food you make can bring out the full potential of ingredients. Depending on the attributes of ingredients, your food may give temporary or permanent powers. The quality of powers gained depends on your cooking skills as well as the quality of ingredients.
'What the…'
Ainen looked at the dead bodies of the goblins. This time, he focused.
[Dead Goblin]
Level: 5
Ingredient rating: E
Attributes: None.
Note: There's a low chance of gaining some stats if grilled and eaten.
'Fuck.'
Looking away, Ainen took a deep breath and focused on the important thing.
To make more spells using Fire Manipulation and become better at using Flight.
As for cooking goblins? He didn't plan to do that. Eating humanoid figures felt strange, like he was eating humans.
…
In the blink of an eye, three hours passed by.
During these three hours, Ainen made some good progress.
[Fire Manipulation]
Rank: S
Proficiency: 38%.
Spells:
—> Flame Knives.
—> Blaze Bird.
—> Fire Snakes.
—> Flame Wall.
—> Fireball.
—> Great Fireball.
Aside from making these spells, he also gained considerable proficiency in Flight.
[Flight]
Rank: A
Proficiency: 52%.
Effect: Allows you to freely fly.
Increasing proficiency in Flight also increased his speed of flight and lowered mana consumption.
His spells of Flame Manipulation were also more refined, taking less Mana than before while having better execution.
As Ainen was taking a rest, with his Mana recovered to 90%, he suddenly heard the sound of the cave's stone door moving.
'Are they here?!'
He was already in the corner, as that spot wouldn't be visible to the goblins right away unless they turned their heads.
'One?'
It was only one Goblin, a different one from the Goblin that dragged him.
Seeing the corpses of four female Goblins, the Goblin was startled.
But before it could open its mouth, a flame knife pierced its neck completely before emerging from the other side and hitting the wall.
The goblin managed to look at Ainen, but couldn't speak anything and died a second later.
[You have killed a level 6 Goblin]
'I didn't level up…'
Ainen got up, his eyes determined. 'But I have to kill more goblins if I want to get out of this place.'
He left the cave slowly, but to his left were a group of five goblins talking to each other. They also had bows, daggers, and swords.
Moreover, they spotted him the moment he came out of the cave.
" $#&#!!!"
Ainen quickly pointed his palms forward. 'Great Fireball!'
Instantly, 30% of his mana was depleted.
A giant fireball the size of 1 meter radius shot at the group and exploded.
[ You have killed a level 7 Goblin Warrior. ]
[ You have killed a level 8 Goblin Archer. ]
[ You have…]
'I have to hurry.'
Ainen had no time.
He dashed past the charred, dead bodies of the goblins and turned to the left.
There were ten goblins sitting in a circle, while the kidnapped humans were still gagged and bound, but their numbers were fewer than before.
The Goblins saw him instantly when he arrived, and immediately shouted while dashing at him to attack.
'Blaze Bird!'
An eagle-like flaming bird with a two-meter wingspan and one meter of length materialized and shot at the incoming goblins.
The goblins panicked, but the bird was fast, and this spell was very mobile and quick, while having the power to take out multiple enemies of this level.
The bird dived right in between the group and exploded, killing four goblins and injuring others.
[ You have killed a level 9 Goblin Warrior.]
[ You have killed a level 8…]
Ainen still had half of his Mana.
He didn't waste time and conjured Flame Snakes that flew at goblins who were downed and finished them off.
Now, he was down to 10% Mana, but he had leveled up to 9, which gave him 20 stat points.
He added 8 points to Mana, increasing it to 25 from 17.
Ainen gained 80 Mana points instantly.
He looked at the people who were tied and gagged.
There were no more goblins in sight, but that didn't mean there were none.
The way out of this cave was not here.
Ainen quickly saved the twelve people by burning their bonds without much effort.
'If they stayed here, they would die…'
"H-Help us!"
"Can you get us out of this place, please?!"
The people saw Ainen and quickly begged him to help.
"I don't know where the exit is, but it should be there. I am going there."
Ainen didn't know what else to say.
He didn't want to waste more time, so he quickly dashed past the bodies of goblins he had killed and made another turn.
There it was!
An exit!
And there were no goblins in sight!
Ainen's eyes lit up.
He quickly dashed forward while the other people also came running behind him.
But as he neared, he heard the sound of battle and cries.
As soon as he got out of the cave, he saw five humans wearing different types of outfits and wielding weapons, killing goblins with ease.
The goblins outside were also stronger, as all of them were above level 10.
But over fifteen goblins were already dead, and the remaining ten were about to die.
'T-This…'
The other people who exited the cave saw the people, and their faces brightened.
"W-We are saved!"
"Adventurers are here to save us!"
"Somebody in the town must have posted a quest!"
"M-Mom, I will return soon…"
Ainen looked at the adventurers. All five of them looked young, mostly in their twenties. One swordsman, one female spear-user. Two mages, one male and one female, and the only guy who looked in his late twenties was a priest.
Ainen could somehow see their stats, as well as their ingredient values, which weirded him out.
'All of them are between levels 25 and 30. I guess these goblins are a piece of cake for them.'
A couple of minutes later, the battle ended as all goblins were killed.
Ainen was glad these adventurers came here. Otherwise, the fate of these people he just saved would have remained the same. He could fly away using Flight, but these people wouldn't have been able to escape from 25 goblins, and he didn't have enough Mana to kill them all.
'I need to learn some physical combat skills as well. Relying only on Mana and Magic will limit my survival rate.'