Golden Experience

This [Cooking] tree only had [Preparation], but when [Preparation] was acquired, a new [Cooking] tree with the same name as the tree appeared.

It seems that for Cooking, recipes exist, just like in Alchemy, and if you gather the ingredients listed there and use the appropriate equipment, the process will proceed automatically with the help of your skills, and the food will be ready to be served.

I thought it would be a bit difficult to prepare the right equipment, and when I acquired [Cooking], the skill [Kitchen] was added to the tree.

[Kitchen] is like [Philosopher’s Egg] in [Alchemy], and in short, it is a cooking utensil that can be made to appear by consuming MP. The shape changes according to the recipe, and it can be used as the most suitable utensil. In the case of recipes that require multiple processes, such as boiling and baking, the entire set appears as if it were a kitchen. Naturally, MP will be consumed accordingly, which means that the MP required for each recipe will vary. This is similar to how the [Philosopher’s Egg] consumes different amounts of MP depending on its size.

If [Cooking] is a skill with the same specifications as [Alchemy], it is possible that magic skills for each attribute, such as [Heating], [Cleaning], [Energizing] and [Crushing] were required to acquire [Cooking]. I already had a full set of skills when acquiring [Alchemy], but without that, it would be a very tough requirement.

I wonder if there are those who have gone to such lengths to acquire [Cooking] skills.

If you think about it, there is no way an ordinary NPC who doesn’t do much combat would be able to acquire that many skills.

Then, how do the cooks in those towns usually prepare their meals?

Are most of them cooking without using skills?

…If there is someone who is a knight or a mercenary who usually focuses on combat, has acquired magic skills in all attributes, and also wants to cook as a hobby, he or she may have it. If he also wants to do Alchemy on top of that, there is a possibility that the Philosopher’s Stone could be on the market.

So far, we have not heard of any such items flowing into the market. The same is true on the social networking sites where players gather, as well as in the information coming from Gustav and his team.

So we may not have to worry too much about it for now.

Even if they are there, it is as if they are not there if they do not intend to put anything or information out into the world.

Even if we will bump into each other at some point, what I can do now is to strengthen my own faction.

For example, in the [Alchemy] tree, it is possible to extract metals from ores, which is what players need for the time being, even if they do not acquire [Alchemy] but only [Refining].

Similarly, it seems to be possible to cut, boil, and season food without [Cooking]. It is also possible to prepare fermented foods such as alcohol and pickles with this skill, and when activated, the necessary enzymes and yeast bacteria seem to come out of nowhere and start reacting on their own.

In other words, if one makes full use of the pre-boiling and fermentation skills in [Preparation], it is easy to turn harvested soybeans into natto (fermented soybeans) using only this skill.

Perhaps cooking rice is also possible with this skill. Soy sauce can also be made.

As long as you have soybeans, rice, and salt, you can make natto rice without limit. It is a terrific skill.

“I don’t think I’ll ever need to cook with this. All I need is a pot, a bowl, and chopsticks, so I don’t even need [Kitchen].”

Although I don’t like natto that much, I was actively eating it because I had heard that isoflavone contained in soybeans works similarly to female hormones.

My parents’ house is an old house, so such ingredients are always stocked. No one has ever found me suspicious.

Anyway, it seems that not many NPCs or players are actively acquiring [Alchemy] and [Cooking] to the end for the above reasons.

At any rate, I took a moment here to review my skills. Something might have increased.

In the past when I was looking for [Subordinate] it was easier because I had fewer skills, but that is not the case now.

After not a few hours looking into it, [Extraction] appeared in the tree of [Preparations]. Its effect is described as ‘separating and concentrating the ingredients contained in a subject’.

It seems to be a skill that can be used as an auxiliary skill for all the skills of [Preparations], [Alchemy] and [Cooking], for example, if it is activated during [Preparation], it can extract ingredients, and during [Cooking], it can extract soup stock.

Dashi can also be prepared by [Preparation], but it seems that by using [Extraction], a soup stock can be made in an instant with no added flavor at all. I don’t usually cook, so I am not sure if that is great or not.

I will have to try it to see how the quality will be affected when potions are created using materials from which only the ingredients have been extracted, but I don’t think it will go bad. In some cases, you may end up with something great like the Philosopher’s Stone.

There is no cooldown time set for potions, and they do not increase satiety, so if the amount of recovery is not enough, you can simply drink more. However, if you want to get a big result in a short time, such as during a battle, a large amount of recovery per bottle can make the difference between life and death.

That is useful. I will let Remy and the artisans under her command acquire and verify this later.

But first, [Alchemy].

How can it be used in [Alchemy]?

To be honest, I don’t really care how it can be used.

What is important is how we can use this skill to look beyond fusion.

In [Cooking] and [Preparation], we can extract ingredients and broth from materials at the beginning or in the middle of the process.

It is said that the effect is automatically selected depending on the situation.

In other words, if it is used during the fusion process, it may be possible to [Extract] only the characteristics from the ingredients.

‘All right, then. [Philosopher’s Egg].”

It’s quick to try it anyway.

I [Summoned] one newt and put it in the crystal egg that appeared.

The newts are still living in large numbers in the river, which was named the Confine River on the map. When they run low, I just have to go back and [Summon] them.

[Extraction]!”

The crystal egg glowed for a moment, and in the blink of an eye, its interior was filled with a mysterious liquid.

The newt inside seemed to have died. It is difficult to tell whether an amphibian is alive or dead by looking into its eyes, but as expected, one can tell when a subordinate dies in front of one’s eyes.

The way they float in the liquid inside the crystal egg looks like they were pickled in formalin, which I had seen in some reference material. In the past, it is said that organisms collected as specimens were soaked in a solution of formaldehyde and placed in bottles to preserve them. It looks just like that.

I wonder if this is an item related to the properties that this liquid was [Extracted] from, given the circumstances. Let’s see…

The window that appeared said [Hiers Newt Dashi].

“…I see.”

No wonder the Newt is dead. He was souped up alive.

I mean, even though it was certainly a validation of a possible death, I feel like I did something cruel that was not supposed to happen.

All I can say is, “As expected, I’m… sorry about this.”

While activating the skills related to [Alchemy], I’m sure I activated [Extraction] towards that target.

Is it that somehow it was judged to be in the process of cooking in spite of this?

Or does it mean that all the cases of activating [Extract] on its own only bring the result of “soup stock” in a broad sense?

It is true that extracting ingredients from medicinal herbs, for example, is no different from making soup stock.

This is the same as brewing tea or making coffee.

That is essentially what extraction is all about.

But you know what? Dashi, tea, and coffee all have one thing in common: they all use water as a solvent for extraction. I wonder if a special solvent is needed when extracting characteristics. When there is no such solvent, the extraction is done with water for the time being, and as a result, dashi is obtained.

This seems likely.

So far, all the [Alchemy] is being done by skill. The necessary tools are also provided by skill on its own.

The same is true for [Cooking], where all cooking utensils will be automatically prepared by using [Kitchen]. If the specifications are the same as those of [Alchemy], it is even possible to have all the seasonings you need.

Salt and sugar exist on their own, and there should be a variety of other seasonings, but these are items for characters who cannot use the [Kitchen] or [Cooking] functions. Perhaps “Condiments” may have the same specifications.

If so, it would not be surprising if they have the skills to automatically manage processes that require solvents.

What that is is unknown at this point, but if it exists, we should be able to acquire it someday.

The experience is still there.

But then I tried everything for a while, and no skill that seemed effective was unlocked.

I guess what I need is not a skill, but a solvent.

If that solvent can be made, this too can only be [Alchemy].

Having seen so many items, the recipe has been filled up considerably.

But if we don’t know the name of the solvent, we don’t know if it’s in here or if the recipe has already been unlocked.

Trying them one by one would be nice, but I don’t know how long that would take. And if it’s not in the recipe, it’s a waste of time.

I’m sorry Blanc, but I don’t think I can go any further at this point…

We need a breakthrough. We don’t have enough information.

Naturally the best thing to do is to follow the whereabouts of that “hero” involved.

He himself may not be of much value, but he will surely be in contact with the “doctor”.

If he is an NPC, capture him and threaten or “use” him; if he is a player, ask for his help in return for gold, information, or anything else he desires.

I think Blanc is probably the one closest to us right now. It may be too late now, but I’ll let her know you’ve heard from her…

*

<Hee…… ro? Ahh, the transforming one!>

<Yes, that’s right. It’s still difficult to give a character the ability to morph in the current state of the art.>

<Well then, fufufu. Azalea is after him now! This could happen! This could happen!>

This is a line I would have liked to have said too. I was slightly envious.

<Azalea, weren’t you supposed to be the field leader for taking control of the town? Have you had enough of controlling the town?>

<Well…>

The hero was torn to pieces by the Giant Corps and respawned in the town, which was under attack by Blanc and her men.

However, he found himself in a rooming house that had been rented by an NPC.

Azalea found him rolling out into the street after he was knocked out of his room by an NPC who had seen him transform into a monster-like form.

The NPC looked up to see that he could afford to knock out a lodger in the middle of an attack by a huge horde of undead, but to that person, the monsters outside and inside the house might as well be the enemy.

Anyway, the man who had stood in front of them just before, died, and then appeared before them again a short time later.

Azalea therefore considered him a player just like her master and decided not to kill him.

She knew that even if she killed him, he would soon come back to life. Besides, Blanc, her master, seemed to be obsessed with this man in some way.

If that was the case, it would be better to let him swim around and find out his base outside of this town.

Azalea transformed into a bat, one of which remained where it was and the two began to follow the man.

The man did not seem to intend to fight any more in the town and fled the town at once.

Soon after, the town was overrun and all the inhabitants were turned into vampires under Blanc.

<──So, two bats disguised as Azalea are now chasing after our hero!>

<That’s wonderful.>

The situation is better than I thought.

If possible, I would like to go to Blanc and check it out in person.

<Blanc, um…>

<Ah! I just got a call from Azalea’s leftovers, who’s over here right now! It seems there’s some kind of shack on the outskirts of town, and this hero guy went into it!>

<Wait, leftovers… Won’t she feel sad if you call her that?>