Chương 11: Core Ingredient

I spent most of the day milling about with one question burning in my mind… What was I going to do now? The townsfolk still gave me a wide berth. Many stared at me with a mix of fear and curiosity. Their glances often shifted from me to the even stranger Darwin, who had tried his best to make friends with many of them. Darwin had tried once with a particularly enthusiastic attempt to become friends with a six-year-old, which resulted in the child screaming, dropping their fruit pie, and running for their mother.

Now my companion simply followed without the bubbly bobbing, his orb of water almost seeming more like a prison. The day moved on around us despite everything. Vendors called out prices from behind stalls. Cartwheels rattled over the packed dirt road. The smell of fresh bread intermingled with horse manure in a charming sort of way. Somewhere nearby, a blacksmith hammered metal in steady, ringing strikes, each one making Darwin's large goblin eyes twitch in a different direction.

Eventually, Lina caught my attention, and she seemed excited about something.

"Rook!" she called, waving her hands.

"Over here, over here!" She was standing near a merchant. One I didn't recognize. A traveling merchant of sorts, his cart sitting atop three wooden blocks and his burro relaxing in some shade nearby, eating a patch of grass. The cart was covered in tied-down cloth, small hanging charms, and a dozen little wooden boxes that smelled faintly of blood. A few flies buzzed near one of the sacks, only to veer away soon after, repulsed by what was inside.

"This man has rare monster parts. You know… for your class." The merchant man smiled, his thick mustache hiding most of his mouth.

"Ah, good sir, my monster parts are the freshest in the land. Hunted by two close associates, each with an Uncommon Grade class. One can even store the parts to ensure freshness. It is as if you hunted them yourself. I know that you alchemical types prefer fresh ingredients."

"I'm not an alchemist, I'm a—" Suddenly, I realized that this man didn't know I was a special grade. Best keep the information to myself "—I'm just a common cook." The merchant stared down at me as he gave his belly a slap.

"Sorry, lad; I thought I heard you say you were a cook." I nodded.

"Then what use do you have for monster parts?"

"... to cook with." The man got a strange look on his face, somewhere between disgust and concern.

"You… eat the monster parts?" I nodded again.

"And they taste… good?"

"I'm, uh… sorta new to my class."

"I've never heard of a cooking class that specializes in monster parts. I um… well, it's not for the merchant to pick and choose what a customer wishes to do with the product. So… anything catch your eye?"

"Eye!" Lina chirped in.

"Goblin eyes! Do you have any?"

"Goblin eye, goblin eye!" Darwin mimicked, bouncing back and forth.

"Your companion there is quite lively," the merchant said.

"And… very strange. And yes, I have five goblin eyes. Don't ask me what happened to the sixth—""We'll take them!" Lina said.

"Forty copper… and I'm giving you a deal, lass."

"Forty copper!" I replied, incredulous.

"No thanks, I don't have—""Deal!" Lina said, handing the merchant some coin. The man pulled on his mustache in a pleased manner. He had expected a haggle, and since none had come, he'd made quite a profit, I suspected. The copper disappeared into his pouch with a soft clink. Lina smiled as well. She knew she'd given the man a deal, but I wondered why.

"Anything else I can get you two?" the merchant asked. Lina shrugged, looking at me.

"Anything else?"

"Do you have dire-rabbit hearts?" Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The merchant reached down and pulled out a sack. It was bloody, and I could see that it held a heart-like object. A faint chill rolled off the bag when he opened it, carrying the metallic scent of fresh meat.

"As a matter of fact, I do," he said.

"Two of them. I can sell 'em' for ten copper each."

"I only need one," I replied, reaching into my bag.

"We'll take both," Lina said, reaching out to hand over more copper. This time, her hand lingered over the merchant's.

"But I need one more thing from you." The merchant stared her down.

"What is it?" Lina smiled from ear to ear.

"I need you to teach me what you know about monster parts… and how to sell them."

Lina had told me to head back to her shop in a few hours. I'd spent my time with Madam Moolisa. I thought about going to see Tavian, but I didn't feel up to it. I swore to myself that I would the next day. Moolisa grazed in the little fenced patch beside the shop, her bell clunking whenever she shifted. The shade there was thin, but she seemed content enough, tearing at the grass with slow, lazy bites. Darwin hovered nearby, watching her chew with intense focus.

"The grass won't taste very good," I assured my companion. Darwin bobbed sadly. Eventually, Lina arrived and beckoned me inside. As before, we cooked, following the instructions as best we could for Goblin-Eye Soup. The shop's back room was warm and close, smelling of dried herbs, and with the faint lingering stink from our last attempt with monster parts. Lina had cleared the prep table, set out the ingredients, and placed the goblin eyes in a shallow dish. As we prepared it, I felt something stranger.

Like my soul itself was growing and expanding. I checked the system. System Goblin-Eye Soup (Lvl 2) EXP: 30/200 I was gaining experience toward leveling up the recipe. Good to know. I added the goblin eyes to it and then, with a pinch of salt… Nothing. No magical glowing. No fresh, fragrant smell. No thickening. The pot looked as if it were still full of muddy water and barely boiled goblin eyes. Gray steam rose from it in weak, unpleasant curls.

The eyes floated near the surface, pale and rubbery, bumping lazily against slices of potato and mushroom.

"This seems… different," Lina said.

"We followed the recipe."

"Should we try it?" I stared at the soup… if it could even be called that.

"If you want," I replied.

"I did pay a decent amount of copper for this…" She took out two bowls, filled them, handed me one with a spoon, and then stared down at the single eye in her bowl, which was lazily floating around. Lina looked up at Darwin.

"This one is for me." Darwin said nothing, but looked less than impressed with the display of food.

"Well, here it goes," she said. She took a big spoonful and put it in her mouth… and spit it out not a few seconds later. Immediately, she jumped up and drank some of the liquid from the soup. She spat that out as well. She ran to another room, where she gathered a water jug and drank the entire thing in one long gulp.

"That was the worst thing I've ever eaten!" she complained from the other room, dry heaving as she did. I stared at my own bowl, acid burning its way up my throat. The smell alone had gone from unpleasant to damn near hostile. Bitterroot, goblin slime, and undercooked mushroom all fought for control, and somehow everyone lost.

"We must have done something wrong," I concluded.

"Oh, what gave you that idea?" Lina asked sarcastically.

"And who is this 'we'?" I ignored her and set the bowl down, pushing it away.

"Oh, no, you don't," she said.

"Come on. If I had to try it, then so do you." Lina grabbed a spoonful with the eye and tried to bring it to my mouth. I escaped the back room as quickly as I could. She stepped into the main room, laughing.

"Oh, come now—I'm just playing with you. You'll need to find me a healer if that vile concoction is actually poisonous." I laughed, but there was little humor in it.

"I wonder what I did wrong." We both went quiet as we thought. The failed soup bubbled softly behind us, mocking me from the other room. Lina snapped her fingers.

"Maybe each recipe only works once?" she suggested.

"Doubtful. I earn EXP for the recipe, and it has multiple levels."

"Well, let me see your skill." As she asked, I pulled up the system and shared it with her. Her eyes darted as she read it. Finally, she smiled.

"Core… ingredient," she whispered.

"Oh, yeah… what does that even mean?"

"Now, hear me out. In the first Goblin-Eye Soup, what ingredients did you provide?"

"Hmm… just the goblin eyes themselves, really."" Exactly! And, looking at the recipe, the goblin eyes are listed as the core ingredient. What if a core ingredient is something that only you can provide? Something that needs to be found or killed by you specifically? Your class is strange… It is a cooking class, but with earning stats through slaying monsters and eating them, in addition to learning combat skills… I'd say you are actually a hybrid combat class."

"Combat?" I replied, suddenly going cold.

"But I've never even been in a fight before." Lina shrugged.

"The system works in mysterious ways. But there is one way to test my theory."

"And how is that?" I asked. She reached behind the counter and pulled out the sack with the two dire-rabbit hearts.

"By making another recipe."