NOVEL NEXT Chapter 169 Chef
It was morning, and the sun blazed high.
The Spell Ship they were on was unsatisfactory in many ways. Its cabins couldn't isolate the influx of smells from outside.
Amidst the thick scent of sulfur, Alka awoke in his bed. He heard the ticking of the clock by his bedside and turned his head to look.
After confirming he hadn't overslept, he got up, washed up, and left the captain's cabin.
As soon as he stepped outside, he heard a beautiful singing voice. Julia was at the ship's bow, singing to the sea. She seemed to have opened up recently. It had been rare to see her sing before.
Beneath the ship, numerous sea fish were gathering, peeking up towards Julia.
Alka didn't disturb her and walked towards the lower deck cabins.
The doll at his waist suddenly moved, transforming into Lucilia and climbing onto Alka's shoulder. She even stretched lazily.
"Do souls sleep too?" Alka couldn't help but ask, watching Lucilia stretch.
"I don't sleep, but I need to rest." This was primarily because controlling the doll induced a fatigue-like sensation in her soul, requiring her to rest in the Magic Mirror.
Just then, Alka caught a whiff of a fragrance in the air. It was coming from the dining room.
Following the scent, Alka arrived at the ship's dining room. Jason was in the kitchen learning something, and Juanlu's guiding voice could be heard.
After all, Juanlu was the only stranger on the ship. Although his voice was different from yesterday's, there were still similarities. From his voice, Alka could tell he seemed to have recovered considerably and was no longer as hoarse and weak as the day before.
When the two walked out of the kitchen, Alka froze on the spot. Lucilia, who had been sitting on his shoulder, was so startled she fell off.
Alka snapped back to his senses and quickly raised his hand to catch her.
"You are...?" Alka stared at the bald, powerfully built middle-aged man before him, likely in his thirties or forties. A stranger has come aboard, was his first thought.
But Alka already had a hunch that this man must be Juanlu, whom they had rescued the previous day. The problem was that the transformation was so exaggerated, both Alka and Lucilia found it fundamentally unbelievable.
Although Juanlu still had some bandages and signs of wound treatment, he was much better than the day before. Compared to his stick-thin frame from yesterday, he had now become a muscular, robust man. If not for his height and voice, it would be hard to believe he was the same pitiful wreck they had found yesterday. His recovery was simply too fast, surpassing their imagination.
Seeing their shocked expressions, Jason, who was beside them, grinned mischievously. He couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Haha, didn't see that coming, did you? He gave me quite a scare this morning!"
Since Jason had temporarily taken over as the ship's cook, he had gotten up a bit earlier to make breakfast. However, when he came down, he found an unfamiliar figure in the kitchen and almost got into a fight with him. Thankfully, the robust man quickly explained that he was Juanlu.
Juanlu reached up to scratch his shiny bald head and said helplessly, "It seems my transformation really startled you all."
The aroma continued to waft from the kitchen.
The voices of Chadite and the others sounded from behind. Drawn by the aroma, they too entered the dining room.
Looking at the robust man, Chadite blurted out, "Who's this?"
Indeed, everyone else showed the same confusion.
Alka waved a hand, signaling for them to discuss it later.
Everyone went to the nearby dining table and sat down.
Juanlu finally spoke. "This is a unique physique of our people, stemming from a Treasure mastered by our ancestors."
"Eating enhances our strength and heals our wounds. We also have very good appetites."
Who would have thought Juanlu had such a physique? It sounds quite impressive.
Such special physiques weren't unusual among families who had mastered Treasures.
As mentioned before, the human physique and its internal Magic Power retraction are highly susceptible to the surrounding environment. The benefit is their ability to easily adapt to their surroundings. The downside, however, is their equal susceptibility to influence from high-energy objects or harsh environments.
Take the Realm of Pitch Darkness, for instance. If one were to stay too long in the Prison of Pitch Darkness, especially if they reproduced there, their offspring would be prone to developing physical abilities related to the Dark Element. Of course, this development takes a long time.
But on careful consideration, it's hard to say whether these aspects are ultimately good or bad.
Harsh environments inherently force adaptive changes in one's physique. While this might lead to various problems, it at least ensures survival. However, if a family possesses a Treasure, such changes occur rapidly and are largely beneficial. Especially for a family unit, noticeable physical changes can appear within one or two generations.
The most typical example was the Frost Bloodline they already knew about. According to records, this family had possessed the Frost Nova for just over two hundred years. Yet, in only a few generations, their descendants developed bloodlines related to Frost. This resulted in all descendants of their race possessing unique bloodline abilities—such is the change brought by Treasures.
However, there's a prerequisite for this: one must activate their internal Magic Power retraction and become a Toucher.