After returning the equipment and finishing the small talk, Zephyr left the Guild and returned to the Communal Dormitory in the alley behind, his goal clear.
Get something to eat.
Whether he could gain a talent similar to Magic by gorging on Hellhound meat... it was really hard for Zephyr not to look forward to it.
Arriving at the room, he looked at Liliruca who was resting. The Hellhound meat collected in the Dungeon had already been placed on the table.
After moving the necessary ingredients to the public kitchen, Zephyr began to process the leg meat.
The muscle fibers of the Hellhound were indeed coarse. If pan-seared directly, the texture would be very tough, so the system recommended long-term stewing or braising. Consequently, he chose to make a meat stew.
He used a kitchen knife to cut the leg meat into large chunks, placed them in water to boil and blanch away the blood foam, then removed them and rinsed them clean with fresh water.
He heated oil and added ginger slices, garlic cloves, and dried chili peppers to sauté until fragrant.
As the oil temperature gradually rose, he poured in the blanched meat chunks and stir-fried them until the surfaces were slightly charred and the meaty aroma was released.
He added soy sauce, rock sugar and used high heat to reduce the sauce and coat the meat.
Then, he added water to cover the meat, put in star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, and dried tangerine peel, and turned the magic stone stove to low heat to simmer after bringing it to a boil.
The taste should be pretty good. I have to thank the Demeter Familia. If I didn't even have various seasonings, I wouldn't dare imagine how to cook these monster meats.
After finishing these tasks, Zephyr watched the sauce in the pot bubbling and churning, and an extremely rich aroma began to permeate. This was completely different from a regular meat stew, it had an extra smoky base note.
When the Hellhound meat was thoroughly stewed and felt quite soft and tender when poked, Zephyr reduced the sauce.
The surfaces of the meat chunks were coated with a layer of thick liquid, and the fork could sink into the meat with a light poke—it had been stewed to the point where the meat separated from the bone.
Stewed dishes.
It's hard to demand good presentation for this kind of thing, and as for sharing it with Charles, he had to test it for toxins himself before considering it.
Zephyr picked up a piece of Hellhound meat, let it cool, and stuffed it into his mouth. The moment his teeth bit down, the fibers of the meat easily fell apart, and the coarse texture of the leg meat had completely disappeared after the long stewing.
The savory soy aroma, the meaty aroma, and the smoky aroma—three layers of flavor bloomed in his mouth one after another.
The finishing touch was the slight sweetness brought by the rock sugar, which neutralized the saltiness of the soy sauce, making the overall flavor of the meat stew rounded and full.
"Delicious!"
It was much better than Zephyr had expected. Thanks to the extremely rich magic power within the Hellhound's body, a depth of flavor was added to the entire dish that ordinary ingredients could not replicate.
He continued to shovel it into his mouth, carefully feeling the changes in his body. When he confirmed there was no abdominal pain, no nausea, and no abnormal sensations, the final conclusion was that this stuff was not poisonous.
Immediately after, he began to feast, continuously shoveling the meat stew into his mouth.
Rapid Absorption allowed his feeling of fullness to fade extremely quickly, continuously clearing up space in his stomach.
But just at this moment, as the Gourmet Cells were continuously absorbed, reaching a critical value, he felt as if a raging fire was burning inside his body.
Sweat constantly seeped from his forehead.
Not only that, under the constant baptism of this heatwave within his body, his clothes were soon completely soaked.
It was as if flames were burning inside his body. It wasn't a painful burning, it was closer to some kind of high temperature spreading outward from the depths of his heart. The temperature of his blood was rising, and his heartbeat was constantly accelerating.
Regarding this, Zephyr felt pleasantly surprised. The changes in his body were very similar to the sensations he felt when he previously obtained [Unicorn] and [Dragon Scales].
A new talent was awakening.
Immediately after, the system's notification appeared before him.
[Obtained Talent: Blaze]
[Effect: By consuming your Mind, you can simulate a fire sweep comparable to a Hellhound. The specific consumption depends on the duration of the talent's activation.]
Not bad.
His Magic attribute had long been raised to a B-rank but in the past, he simply couldn't use it.
During his casual chat with Lefiya, he roughly understood the auction price of a grimoire, which required about 100-200 million valis.
This thing was absolutely not something he could even think about.
But having said that, the existence of the Strongest Gourmet Hunter System opened up a path for Zephyr that he had never imagined before—hand-crafting his own magic.
Using magic requires consuming Mind. Then wasn't his [Blaze] talent, which also consumed Mind to use, a kind of magic from an objective perspective?
That makes sense. If I remember correctly, the number of magic an Adventurer can have is somewhat similar to the magic slot limit in DND, at most... only three?
These were all common knowledge that he had gradually acquired during his conversations with Lefiya.
Now, by just relying on devouring monster meat, he could acquire attack methods similar to Magic.
Holding the idea of trying it out, Zephyr tentatively mobilized the newly obtained talent within his body. Along with the consumption of Mind, a warm sensation welled up from the depths of his throat.
But thinking that this was in a public kitchen and if he damaged the facilities, he would have to pay the Communal Dormitory for damages, plus the fact that many of the buildings were wooden structures, he dismissed the idea of trying it out.
Let's just continue eating.
...
After stuffing this super-sized meat stew, which was at least 2.5 kg, into his stomach, Zephyr burped with satisfaction.
There is nothing more comfortable than being able to get stronger while enjoying delicious food.
The time to set out for exploration tomorrow was quite early, and Orario had no other nightlife, so he prepared to return to his room to wash up.
However, just after returning to his room, he saw that Lili had woken up.
Having lived together for this period of time, he didn't feel any awkwardness. He purely regarded her as a younger sister.
He greeted her with a smile, "Awake?"
To be accurate, Lili hadn't even fallen asleep. As for the reason, it was of course because this guy in front of her didn't even know many details that an Adventurer should know, and suddenly said he had found a suitable Familia.
When in the Dungeon, the high-pressure environment meant Lili had no time to overthink. But when she returned to the Communal Dormitory to rest, those experiences in the Soma Familia were like nightmares that couldn't be forgotten.
Looking at Zephyr, her habitually feigned tough attitude softened involuntarily the moment she spoke.
"Can you tell me now, which Familia are we going to join next?"
"It's the Loki Familia."
"?"