Hours later, after the absorption ate a good portion of his stats, he finally called it a day. He headed straight to the kitchen to start cooking.
He wanted to make more dishes with superior products like the thornbull, and the Plean fruit.
He sliced the wagyu, er, the thornbull meat into thin slices, and then he added the sunberry reduction. He garnished it with shaved salty purplesteps for crunch and a touch of nettleflame oil for subtle heat.
[Thornbull Carpaccio with Sunberry Reduction (C)
Increases Stamina recovery by 30% and 20% defense for 20 minutes.]
He peeked out at the garden, seeing Syl there helping with the plants. Athie was there too and she was teaching him about the plants. Elves seemed to have proficiency with plants, including half-elves like Leiah.
They looked like mother and son. She was so gentle and beautiful, and anyone would want to be embraced by her.
So he did. Embrace her.
He needed to go to the garden to pick a few stuff anyway, not caring whether he had some in the cellar.
"Finn?"
He kissed the side of her cheek. "You’d make a wonderful mother," he said, before (reluctantly) parting with her softness, though decisively still holding her hand.
"Time to eat," he said, and the two entered the house hand in hand.
Athie followed behind them even with that straight face of his, but his little steps were quite swift.
He really liked this uncle-in-law’s food...
...
Sylwen looked at the beautiful dish in front of her. She used chopsticks to get the thinly sliced, richly marbled meat that seemed to melt in the mouth.
The meat itself had a savory-sweet flavor with a faint herbaceous undertone, which was wonderful, and the sunberries brightened it with its citrusy tang.
Before meeting Finn, she had never found joy in eating. It was simply sustenance. Even when she was hungry, the food she’d consume didn’t feel special, and it wasn’t just limited to the taste.
One had to note that essence food was not uncommon in elven territory, especially among nobles, because the materials there were superior. However, despite this, Finn’s food was still much much better.
Was it because there was so much care placed into making this?
"You are too amazing..."
"Wow, you like my food so much?"
She chuckled, nuzzling at him so naturally and he melted under her touch.
Pang, who had snuck in and got his plate, just gave them a blank look, and Athie blinked, shrugged, and continued eating.
His face was a bit stoic, but the way he was chewing and the way his pupils dilated in each bite was indicative of how much he was enjoying it. Very cute.
Finn also turned his attention to this nephew-in-law of his. "If you need anything for your projects, just tell me, okay? I’ll make sure your shares are great."
Athie, although technically a hired alchemist, was given free rein to do what he wanted.
This time...he was thinking of making an Honesty Potion, which had been one of the inheritances he received.
He wanted to shove it down those rebels’ throats, since he really couldn’t understand why they did what they did.
The adults were, for now, unaware of what was going on in the little guy’s head. They just enjoyed each other’s company and the food in front of them.
...
While the family was happily eating, there were a few guests who’d look in their direction in envy. The aroma of the food...was too much!
However, Finn had placed a sign on the kitchen indicating whether he was open to cooking for others for points, and it was closed at this time, so they could only suffer the fragrance.
Fortunately, they had a canteen which also served delicious food!
The interesting thing about the canteen was that there was an occasional Class-E essence food among the dishes! This shouldn’t be possible, as automation shouldn’t create such a thing.
But that was only true if the ingredients were typical.
As time went on, their stock of many raw materials had an increasing ratio coming from the gardens, some were also from the Level 2 areas. So, if the meal put together obtained better ingredients than others, then there was a chance it could churn out essence food.
It was just that it varied a lot, and no one would be able to predict which food would be essence food. Sometimes it was the meat, sometimes it was on the side dish.
There was no way to tell who’d get it, and it became a bit of a lottery, increasing the sales of the canteen even further. The staff were very busy making sure the ingredient stocks were decent!
Finn smiled. He was looking forward to increasing his farm size.
...
That night, Finn absorbed another bulk of cores he gathered that day. The essence food and being in the inn for a few hours, even if he was awake, recovered a lot of his stats, giving him more time.
Unlike others who could only absorb one to three a day, Finn absorbed a handful each time.
He surrounded himself with dozens and dozens of cores, realizing that it added not just ambiance but also improved his absorption. It was as if the force from the extra cores would keep the energy within a zone rather than let it leak out.
He kept his sister’s egg next to him, sitting nicely on a cushy pillow.
While he spent several hours sitting like this, he did not notice that some other cores next to him were also losing color, and the egg next to him started gaining a particular luster.
He was drenched in sweat, and he headed to get a relaxing shower. He felt the power in his veins, as well as the core filling up inside of him. Perhaps, it would not take long for him to reach his next upgrade.
That quest to raise his level to fortified within a year might be easier than he thought.
"Good night, baby sister," he told the egg as he carried it over. It now had its own crib Durgan made for her. It was said that one should talk to babies to stimulate their growth.
What he did not expect was for it to be heavier than usual (he was tired and didn’t notice it had gotten quite a bit bigger), and even started vibrating.
Crack
He gaped, looking at the egg. His eyes widened, and his brain lagged, belatedly realizing what in the world was happening.
"It’s...finally hatching!"