Supreme Magus

"Well, I can teach you, if you don't mind." Elina offered Ripha a clean apron.

"I hoped you would say that." Menadion replied while putting the apron on. "I'm in desperate need of cooking lessons. I want to learn how to prepare all of Epphy's favorite foods and be for her the mother I never was, even before Threin died."

"That's a wonderful idea, Ripha. I'm sure

Solus

…" Elina put emphasis on the word to correct Menadion without spreading salt on her wounds. "Will love it. I'm more than happy to help you."

"Thanks, Elina." Ripha said and she was sincere.

Getting used to her daughter's new name wasn't easy and it was the first time someone cut her some slack.

"Breakfast is the simplest meal of the day to prepare so it's good practice for a beginner." Elina said. "Raaz needs energy and Kami needs to eat for two so we'll make a few eggs and sausages.

"The kids usually prefer milk and biscuits but those we bought yesterday. Lith and Tista eat everything and a lot of it. Solus is going to charge at the jam bread so make sure there's only so much at her arm's reach."

"When in doubt, prepare a number of portions of everything equal to half the number of guests. This way, if someone wants a serving or just a bite there's no need to cook again. What's left we can pack and give it to the farmhands. They eat like hungry locusts."

"Got it." Menadion nodded, taking a large pan and melting a knob of butter before adding the eggs. "I just need to wait for the egg white to turn actually white, right?"

"Right. Also, make sure they don't stick to the pan or taking them out is a mess." Elina instead, took care of the sausages since serving them over or undercooked was an easy beginner mistake.

'I still don't get how an Awakened can be a bad cook.'

She thought.

'It's not Body Sculpting, you just have to follow the recipe. Lith learned as a kid and thanks to Fire Vision-'

"What are you doing?" Elina asked, her train of thought derailed.

"I was thinking about a rune Sally used to convert my blueprint of Solus' Fury to modern magic." Menadion replied. "We could use it for Ragnarök to-"

"I mean with the eggs!" Elina pointed at the smoke coming from the pan. "They are burning!"

"Good gods!" Menadion lowered the flame and raised the pan but it was too late.

The product of her work would have made the pigs in the barn wrinkle their noses in disgust, eating it only out of professional pride.

"This doesn't make sense. The fire isn't supposed to be that strong." Elina scraped at the ruined mess of the pan while trying to figure out the problem.

"I might have tampered with the safety measures of the stove." Menadion scratched her head in embarrassment.

"Why would you do that?" Elina was flabbergasted.

"I was bored. It was taking too long to cook the eggs."

"And then you got distracted anyway?" Elina took a deep breath, holding the need to cover her face with a hand in frustration.

"As I said, I was bored. Eggs are just eggs whereas each rune is a small world in itself. You can spend hours thinking about a single rune and not one moment is wasted."

"But all this food is." Elina pointed at the charred eggs. "Ripha, cooking is like magic. You can't just pour more mana just to speed up things. You need patience and dedication. Lith set the stove like that because if the heat is too strong, everything burns.

"You could get food that's burned outside yet raw inside!"

"That explains a lot!" The glimpse of enlightenment shone in Menadion's eyes.

"Ripha, be honest with me." Elina sighed, seeing that Menadion's mind was already otherwise busy. "Do you want to learn how to cook?"

"Of course." Menadion replied, confused by the silly question.

"Then stop wasting food and time. I'm the master and you the apprentice." Elina handed the clean pan back to Ripha, her tone devoid of her usual warmth. "We do things my way. No altering the recipe, no messing with the stove, and no daydreaming. Are we clear?" Your journey continues at mvl

"Yes, Mom. I mean, ma'am." Menadion was taken aback by Elina's sudden change of attitude.

"Our chickens worked hard to make these eggs and lots of starving people in Lutia would cry seeing this mess." She pointed at the trashed eggs. "No food gets wasted in my kitchen unless there's a damn good reason."

Only then did Ripha remember how poor Lith's household had been until he had started working as a healer. Of how hard was for them to put food on the table and fix the house before winter enough to keep it standing until spring.

"Amateurs." Much to everyone's surprise, it was Salaark speaking.

She clicked her tongue in disapproval while cooking a T-bone steak, frittata, bacon, pancakes, and blending together milk and fresh fruit with air magic.

"Grandma, that's too much." Elina said. "I want to teach Ripha cooking not just showing off. Also, who's going to eat all that stuff?"

"That's not for you. You two can keep cooking. This is for Shargein. My Featherling needs to eat to grow big and strong. Isn't that right, darling?"

"Yummy! Yes, Mommy." The Wyrmling wagged his tail while his stomach gurgled in excitement.

After seeing the difference in the wooden figurines carved by Shargein, the Overlord had decided to step up her game. Her competitive spirit allowed her to excel at almost everything. Unless she was truly motivated, then there was no "almost".

'I won't let the old lizard outshine me in the kitchen! Or with the bedtime stories he comes up with. Or the playdates he organizes. Or…'

And the list went on.

"What's this delicious smell?" The bacon lured Raaz to the kitchen.

"Are those pancakes we smell?" Aran, Leria, and the triplets joined their forces for a Dolby Surround effect.

"Dammit, Grandma! I wanted to keep things simple for Ripha's first lesson." Elina grunted. "Change of plans, Ripha. Ask no questions and follow my lead."

More than once Menadion went this close to get distracted but a timely nudge or a glare from Elina kept her grounded.

Lith would have loved to help, but with three people already cooking there was no space for a fourth.

"I hope you enjoy breakfast." Elina smiled despite the exhaustion she felt. "Ripha helped me so remember to thank her."

Menadion knew there was no ill-will behind Elina's words yet she couldn't help but think Elina was covering her own back from potential criticism.

"Thank you, Grandma Ripha." Everyone said, making her almost choke on her first bite.

'I already feel bad for ruining breakfast and now this? And to make matters worse, why does being called grandma irks me so badly?'

She thought.

The various dishes were good, but not up to par with Elina's standards. Even with lots of help, Menadion had made a few mistakes here and there. As for Elina, splitting her focus between her own pans and Menadion's had taken a toll.