Chapter 23. The Nature cook
"Hm, this time, should I try putting this one in?"
Ian pushed the herb and fruits he had gathered from who knows where, into the pot. Bubbles popped up in the pot as the color of the liquid changed.
The liquid within the pot turned purplish and shortly firmed up like pudding.
Ian stared at it for a minute, but as he was about to taste it, something happened. The liquid within the pot started bubbling up and gradually exploded.
Boom!
With the sound of the system message, Ian again failed the recipe!
'I wonder if I will even make a recipe or not.'
Ian thought as he sighed in desperation. It was the 17th time in a row that he had failed. He was now even starting to believe that he was cursed or something.
It's already been three days since his fight with Krysil. After the fight, Ian quickly sold all the items he had gained after defeating Krysil.
As they were rare grade items, there were many people who wanted to buy them; thus, it was easy to make a deal.
After that, Ian quickly headed towards the blacksmith's shop and bought a set of leather coat and pants. He even purchased a sword as a secondary weapon.
His previous equipment had lost all its durability, so he had to use his money to buy new equipment.
As he was leveling up, his previous pieces of equipment had started to lose their touch. Even the Blaze dagger had begun to lose its sharpness.
The only reason he hadn't sold it yet was because of its ability.
Well, he can't use low-level equipment forever. That's why he bought a new pair of equipment.
* * *
Rating: Uncommon
Effects: Defence+20, Agility+3
Requirements: None
Durability: 100/100
A leather coat with fashionable design on it. Strangely, one can feel their body becoming lighter when one wears it.
* * *
Rating: Common
Effects: Agility+10
Requirements: None
Durability: 100/100
Leather pants made from the body of moles who resides in the northern part of the continent.
* * *
Apart from this, Ian also bought a steel longsword, in case something happens with his Thales spear.
* * *
Rating: Common
Effects: Attack+20, Defence penetration+7
Requirements: Level 20
Durability: 200/200
A longsword made of steel, which is hardened by an apprentice blacksmith. It is a good weapon for penetrating the enemy's defense.
* * *
After buying all the items, Ian had started to sort out the skills he had gotten when he had accepted the quest 'Harun's sole wish.'
It was the cooking skill called nature cooking.
Previously, Ian didn't have much time to look through it, but he had high expectations for it. Nature cooking had provided him with additional skills like 'gathering' and 'slicing'.
He had high hopes from it.
Ian had already seen the effects of Red spirit grass soup, so he wouldn't take it lightly at all.
* * *
-Passive skill
-Proficiency: Beginner Lv. 1
-The skill made by Harun during his years of traveling. Just like its name, it's the cooking derived from nature. You can make various recipes by combining different ingredients.
-All the created recipes would be listed in the 'Recipe book'.
* * *
-Passive skill
-Proficiency: Beginner Lv. 2
-You can gather the ingredients directly from nature.
-You can appraise the ingredients quickly as the proficiency goes up.
* * *
-Active skill
-Proficiency: Beginner Lv. 1
-You can slice up the ingredients.
-The higher the agility, the higher the speed of slicing.
* * *
Aside from the skills, he had also gotten a single title. It was the title of Nature cook.
* * *
-This title is given to those who have learned the skill 'Nature cooking'. They are the cooks who take directly from nature and cook dishes filled with the scent of mother earth.
-Effects: The chances of getting success in cooking would increase. Senses like smell, hearing, vision, and taste would be developed.
*Your cooking will have the essence of nature.
* * *
After reading the information about the skill and the title, Ian quickly headed to the Grenuo forest. It was a place that was out of bounds for him previously.
But after he became close to level 30, he was able to freely move inside the Grenuo forest. In these three days, his level went up by 1, making him level 30.
It was slow compared to his previous leveling speed, but it was common knowledge among the players that it was really hard to level up after reaching level 30.
That's why he had to hunt for hours just to level up once, but it was not very difficult for Ian.
With his titles and equipment bonuses, he was quickly able to hunt even higher level monsters. His skill 'Master hunter' title was in use here.
For the last three days, Ian had been gathering all the herbs and fruits he could see, cramming them into his inventory. He did not even spare the poisonous fruits from this fate.
After that, he had tired nature cooking several times, but he hadn't had a single success.
Ian had high hopes for it, but it was all for naught.
Aside from trying nature cooking, Ian was also hunting some goblins and trolls in the forest. That's all that he had done for the past three days.
'I wish I would have someone helping me.'
Sitting in the forest, Ian thought that hunting in a party would be far easier compared to hunting alone, but Ian didn't like to hunt in parties.
In the fantasy world, mercenaries would not hesitate to kill each other for a treasure. This is still a game, killing for a rare item here is the norm.
Moreover, hunting in a party means arguing over items.
"Maybe, if I can hatch the egg somehow, then, I will get a pet who can fight with me."
Ian took out the egg from his inventory and stared at it. The white egg has some moon-like patterns on it, and one can even mistake it for some kind of piece of jewelry.
There was one more thing that Ian had noticed in the last three days. It was that the egg would shine when exposed to the moonlight.
It was a rare discovery.
After finding the egg, Ian had searched about the pet system in Ark. Still, he hadn't been able to find any information regarding it.
The only class capable of taming monsters were summoner and monster tamer.
Although one could get a familiar by finding a random pet egg, but they are really rare. It was not easy to find them, and even if one found it, no one knows how to hatch a particular egg.
Some eggs would hatch slowly over a period of time, while some would hatch by specific methods.
Ian was sure that his egg belonged to the latter category. It was not a good thing for him, as he has to search for information about it.
Although it was a tiring job, Ian was willing to do it. It was because he was sure that the egg contained a rare pet.
Just the grandeur of keeping a rare pet was enough for him to go to the troubles of finding a hatching method for it.
'It's time to start the hunt!!'
Ian stood up from the ground and took out the Thales spear. It was the time for the hunt.
* * *
A Forest Bear's thick arm swung past Ian's head.
Whoosh!
Along with a terrifying sound.
'Whew.'
A Forest bear was a monster with green fur and a huge body. It may look cute at first glance, but it was a ferocious monster, especially when it comes to fighting.
Most of the Forest bears would attack with their front paws. Just a hit from them was enough to knock out a player.
Moreover, they look terrifying at a close glance.
Ian did not run in such a terrifying situation. The moment he dodged the attack, he lifted his head up and faced the Forest Bear eye to eye.
He was utterly unintimidated as he seemed ready to strike a blow with his spear at any time.
The Forest Bear also didn't take his eyes off of Ian. He expressed fury at Ian and Ian only. It was Ian who had first attacked him, so he wouldn't show any mercy.
He didn't have any room or reason to look away from someone clearly showing hostility towards him.
"Uwohhhh!!"
The Grenuo forest shook along with the Forest Bear's sonorous roar.
The Forest bear attacked with his front paws, and Ian blocked it with the Thales spear, but the strength of the Forest bear was too much for Ian to handle.
Slide!
That's why he lowered his body and slid to the left. Then, he thrust his spear into the ankles of the Forest bear.
"Uwohhh!!"
The Forest bear let out a painful cry as he stepped back. His eyes were full of anger. He couldn't wait to attack Ian with all of his strength.
But before he could come to his senses, Ian had already stabbed his sides.
"Thrust!"
The Thales spear drew out a shiny white trace in the air as Ian thrust the spear will all of his strength. It was a skill Ian had gotten after reaching level 5 in his spear mastery.
The spear plunged directly into the Forest bear's chest, ending his life.
Ian smiled when he saw those messages, but below them, there was another message.
After hunting for over an hour, his satiety had fallen down to below 40%. Ian was also feeling some tiredness is his body. It was better to stop hunting here.
"What's the time?"
Ian muttered as he opened the character info.
There was an option which would tell both the real world and Ark time there.
'It's already morning.'
It was currently close to evening in Ark, but it was already morning in the real world. His sister would be up soon, he had to log out.
But as he was logging out, he suddenly got an in-game message from Ria.
-Ian, are you there?
-Yes, I'm here. What's the matter?
Ian quickly messaged back. He can imagine the stature of a gentle and shy girl from the messages.
-Um, it's nothing. It's just that Clara and I would be entering a dungeon with our friend tomorrow. I was wondering if you can come. You don't have to go if you are busy, but it would be really great if you could.
Ian smiled when he read the last message.
For some reason, he felt that Ria was similar to his sister. That's why he replied positively.
-I can come.
-Really! That's great. I will message you the coordinates.
He didn't like hunting in parties, but he was already acquainted with both Ria and Clara. Moreover, he had already experienced hunting with them.
They were not like other people who would fight for every single item drop.
It was another reason that he agreed to her request.
"Log out."
Ian shortly logged out after that. It was time to do his duties as a big brother!