Kale headed to the outskirts of the market district to tend to the man as me and Lilith headed back to Kale's house.
Once me and Lilith got there, I sorted out the meat and vegetables onto the kitchen table.
…I'm like a hundred percent sure I can make a bomb ass meal right now. Watching the fight made me hungry for some reason and I really didn't want to wait for kale to come back.
Lilith was in the living room, studying how to read. Kale had some books about Some tales and Lilith seemed interested in them. Thinking about it now, there wasn't any book store here in the city. In fact, it seemed like no one really has ever read a book besides Kale and Tera. It might be somewhat uncommon for someone to be able to read. Books seemed to be a rarity as well. I remember back at home, Synthia had a bookshelf that only consisted of some books, most were what I've already read. I'd say she had like six books on her shelf, she probably had to find them somehow with Gerald.
Ok, enough book talking. How about we get into some cooking talking?
Now, how would I have cooked chicken in my old world? Well… mom would marinate it in something, put salt into it. Let it sit for a while before she'd bake them in the oven. That nice aroma would drift around the house when they were done. Problem is, I have no idea what some of these vegetables or seasonings even are.
One of the vegetables that kale grabbed looked like a Carrot, thought it was a little more…ok it was a carrot. Another vegetable looked like a blue cabbage, it smelled like a cabbage so I'm just going to assume it's one. And then I notice something similar.
A potato.
Now, it would be astonishing if this world had fries. But knowing this world isn't that technologically advanced enough, probably not.
But I'm knowledgeable of how French fries are made because of YouTube. So I win.
I grabbed a knife from one of the drawers in the kitchen and began to cut the potatoes, making somewhat thick slices. From what I remember, I have to put these in cold water for some time before I can fry them.
Another issue, does this world have oil? I'm pretty sure they do, Synthia cooked meat before and they had an oily look to them sometimes.
I rummaged through kale's kitchen, looking for any type of oil looking liquids. And then I found one, at least I think.
Putting it on the table, I grabbed a bowl and casted a water spell into it. Is it weird that I'm using my own mana to make food? I keep imagining it's my own fluid.
After prepping the food and leaving it, I headed out into the living room where I saw Lilith laying on the couch with her doll.
"Food is getting ready."
"I thought Kale was cooking it?"
"Uh…he got busy, so I just decided to cook."
"Do you know how to cook? Synthia told you?"
"I guess you can say that."
"I can cook too!" Lilith lifted herself into a sitting position, holding her doll.
"Want to help then? There's a new recipe I could show you."
Heading back into the kitchen, I explained to Lilith what I was making. It confused her at first since she's never heard of fries, but she kept nodding her head as I gave her instructions on how they were made.
An Hour passed, and I had Lilith dry the potato slices with a clean rag since we didn't have any paper towels. I poured this oil looking substance onto the pan that kale had, it did look like cooking oil but it was greenish.
"Ok, now we gotta heat up the pan with fire. How does Kale turn this on?" I kept looking for a button or something on this old looking stove. It has a large door on it that was empty inside.
"Don't you need to put logs at the bottom and then light it? That's what Kale told me."
"Ok, where does Kale leave the coal?"
"Outside."
I headed to the toward and stopped at the front door, I could hear someone walking to the house.
Kale did mention to not open the door for anyone, but it's been an hour now. Maybe kale is back?
But these footsteps didn't sound like boots like the ones he wore. They had a tapping sound to them, like…High Heels.
It's Tera. She's probably coming here to mess with Kale. It's not every day she comes to visit, but when she does, it usually ends with her leaving Kale embarrassed or her evaluating me.
I probably shouldn't let her in, it's a duty Kale gave to me.
"Kota, I can sense you are at the door. Are you waiting for me?" I heard her past the door. I can't even feel mana but her presence was very much there behind that door and it was scaring me.
"It's uh, Lilith!" I said in a high pitched voice.
"I'm right here though?" Lilith said behind me which made me scream. How the hell did she come up behind me without me noticing?
"Hoho, Kota. Lying to me? But Please…open the door, I'm not here for Kale…"
"Kale told me to not open the door for anyone, and I am not going to br-."
Click!
Lilith opened the door for her, looking at me weird.
"Don't be rude to girls. She has something important to say…" Lilith opened the door more to let Tera in, who waved at her. Tera was wearing a cloak today, a black one with a gold outline to it.
"Thank you, Lilith. Anyways… here, Kota." She handed me a letter with a red stamp on it.
The stamp had an insignia of a magic crystal. Is this from the university?
"That's your invitation card. We had a lot of applicants this season, but you…you caught the eyes of some high profiled people." Tera started breathing heavily. Something about this woman and her lust for powerful people left me creeped out.
"High profile people?"
"The King and the principal of the university seem interested. Especially at the Chantless spelling you can do, speaking of which, can you show me that?" Tera walked out to the front lawn and kept waving at me.
The king? Wait, am I supposed to meet with him? Maybe meeting with Tera was the plan Arael had, but she just never showed it. That goddess is going to need to answer some questions.
"So what's the university like?" I asked, walking out the front lawn as well. I might as well show her. Of all the time we spent here, she hasn't really tested my magic abilities, only looked at them from the surface or what I've told her.
"Hmph, you'll see. In that card is the exact date when you'll be attending the entrance exam. During that exam, we will all be watching." Tera held her staff out. "Now try hitting me with a spell."
"You want me to hit you?"
"Yes, I just said that. Now hurry up and show me how powerful you can be!"
Man, I really wanted to make fries. God damn it.
Though, this might be a good time to evaluate how well my magic is now. I haven't been slacking on my magic that much, I still occasionally practice doing magic multiple times. I usually remember what Synthia told me and go with that. I'd say right now, I'm probably a little more comfortable with doing intermediate magic now.
Which gives me an idea of doing that one magic I used against Derrick. The one spell I thought was just fluke, a spell I made out of my flight for fight response.
Steadying my hand, I remembered the feeling I felt when I did that spell. The air around my hand froze. I felt the tingle in my hand again as the same white ball emerged in front of it. It wasn't too difficult to cast again. It still took a lot of concentration to do. But..
I did my first Intermediate spell. And it was something no one else has seen.
It surprised Tera, who was gasping and shaking her legs. A very weird response, but I was too focused on holding this spell together.
"Kota! What is that spell?"
"It's um…something I made when I fought one of my fathers friends. I call it dry ice."
"Can you chant it?"
I actually don't know the answer to that. Is there a logical way of answering this? Maybe it has to do with my former knowledge of my old world that allowed me to do this.
"I don't believe so. It kind of just…happens for me."
"Just happens? Remarkable!" Tera put her finger to her lips "This is getting me riled up, now Fire it!"
"At you? You don't even know what this does."
"You are assuming as if I can't defend against others' magic?"
"…Alright."
I wasn't sure what Tera was doing. but since she demanded it, I aimed the dry ice at her and fired.
Tera stood there still as it came flying at her, wishing her cloak up in front of her.
The spell hit her cloak, suddenly turning into a cloud as it painted her cloak in white. The spell did that as well when it hit Derrick, so I'm assuming this spell explodes on contact to spread its frostbite. However, watching more closely, I noticed that the spell was dissipating at a fast pace.
"I'm very impressed, Kota. You seem to have knowledge about magic that I'm very sure the principal of the university doesn't even know of." Tera shook her cloak as she said that. The dried ice on the cloak seemingly slid off. Her cloaks got to be magic repellent. "You'll be a fine student of mine once I get you."
"Why are you so sure that I'm going to be your apprentice?"
"Because, do you know how many teachers are at the university? We have enough teachers to have classes in each basic element, including any extra classes." She used her glove to wipe off any residue of the magic off her cloak. " but I'm a different case. I'm part of the special case classes, the ones who are experts in the…exceptions. Like you!"
I'm confused here, what makes me so special?
"You have the Duvul trait, which makes you a possible harm. Unless under the right guidance, like me!" She pointed at herself. "I've been told by the principal and even some people, like whoever lives here, that I am quite a good teacher. I can keep you on a leash if you like."
Gross.
"You also hold a very large amount of mana in you, even more than me which puts you in the eyes of many high profiled people. Which would mean you'd need someone to protect you personally."
"You'd want to be my bodyguard and teacher then?"
"There's no cons to it, is there? I get to teach you, and furthermore…" I heard Someone's footsteps as they grew closer, and then a very frustrated groan. It was Kale who had just gotten back from taking the robber to prison.
"I get to mess with kale more. It's a win-win scenario to me and to you."
Kale walked between me and Tera, almost walking like he's given up on life. "Kota, didn't I say to not let anyone in the house?"
"I'm actually outside your house, silly." Tera giggled.
Kale groaned even more, most likely cringing at her words before walking past Lilith, who was at the door.
But he stopped at the door, looking back at me and Tera. "Well? Screw it, come in…"
"With pleasure!" Tera basically hopped her way to the house as she said that. I followed along before grabbing a log. Lilith watched me as I entered inside with one before closing the door.
When I got into the kitchen, I saw that Kale was looking at the bowl of potatoes with a weird look. He picked it up and looked at it more closely before looking at me.
"What is this?"
"Potatoes."
"Yes, but what are you doing with it?"
"…Frying…"
"Frying? Like in oil?" Kale seemed confused by my usage of the potato, but I can't blame him. I don't think frying is really a main thing in Anos.
"Yeah, it gets all crispy and stuff. But it tastes good."
"Where'd you learn this?"
"Synthia."
"What the hel- erm, I mean it's interesting!" He patted my shoulders before grabbing the log from my hands and tossing it into the stove.
"I'll get the chicken prepared and Then have a chat with…Tera.." Kale said that last part in an annoying tone.
"Why don't you try with her? Maybe it won't be like your last relationship."
Kale frowned at that and patted my head. "Sorry, but I ain't ready for that. As I said, I'll keep it as it is now."
"Wait, hold on." I grabbed Kale's cloak, which surprised him. "Let me cook the chicken too."
Kale laughed at that, before realizing I was serious. "Did Synthia tell you how to cook?"
"You could say so."
"…Smart kid, huh? Alright, Me and Tera will be the judges of your cooking." Kale then walked out the kitchen.
Ok, I guess I'll need to prepare the chicken myself then. And fry the potatoes…
After spending thirty minutes prepping the chicken and marinating it with some spices from kale's drawer, I finally got ready to fry the potatoes before I noticed Lilith walking into the kitchen. She wasn't wearing her cloak and she wore a white dress that had a yellow ribbon on it.
"What uh…what's with the white dress?" I asked. I don't think I've seen her wear that before.
"Tera said that I should look more girly. It appeals to the boys."
Silly Tera, Lilith was already a stealer of hearts. You can't break a tomboy's mold. But looking at her now really set something off in me. Looking at her, I noticed her hair did grow a bit more than what it was some months ago. Actually, I haven't even bothered to notice my own looks. I'll need to have a check at myself at some point.
"Anyways...Are you here to help?"
"Yeah, I wanna see the fries fried."
She got beside me as I used a fire spell to heat the stove. Being a mage comes in handy in these sorts of scenarios. I then poured the oil into the frying pan.
A couple minutes passed and I started to toss the fries into the pan, hearing a hissing noise and pops as they plopped in.
"Woah! They're popping!
"Yeah, that means they are cooking." I grabbed a wooden spoon as I gently moved the potatoes around.
Lilith watched in awe as they started to change, from a tan color to a golden brown. Using the spoon, I whisked a couple out of the fries and put them onto a plate.
I saw Lilith go for one, but I slapped her with the spoon. I didn't want her to burn her mouth or anything.
"Ouch, hey!" Lilith said with teary eyes.
"It's still hot, don't touch it. Learn to wait."
"Hmph." Lilith took a step back and watched as I grabbed more and put them onto the plate.
Once I finished up, I put salt onto them and handed it to Lilith.
"They should be good now, Go tell those two that I'll be finishing the chicken now."
Lilith nodded before taking one fry and tossing it into her mouth. She munched in it before giving a big smile.
"It tastes good! It's like…I don't know!" Lilith ran off with the plate and into the living room where I heard kale and Tera.
"What's this?"
"Fries!"
"Oh, what Kota was making, let me see.."
There was a moment of silence from the living room.
"God damn! Uh- i mean, wow!" I heard Kale corrected himself.
"This is indeed nice! That boy is a cook and a mage!" Tera seemed to enjoy it too.
Hearing them say that made me feel more confident in my work. So I got to preparing the chicken.
Kale didn't have an oven or anything like it. Instead I grabbed a pan and put the chicken in it, placing it in the stove itself to bake it.
That'll be like half an hour or so. I think?
Putting a mental note in my head, I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. I saw Lilith grabbing a piece of fry as Tera and Kale were talking it up.
"The girl is well?"
"Uh, yeah. She's under me. Why wouldn't she be?"
"You're committed to training her then?"
"Of course, you see what she can do? She's got the speed and ferociousness to be a really good Fire King swordsman."
"That's funny, I thought you couldn't commit to girls." Kale almost choked on his fries as she said that.
"I…alright you got me there. W-wait,no. I meant commitment in another way."
"What would that other way be? Does it involve older women? Someone like me?"
"That's classified."
"Quit that bullshit, I know you can't commit to a woman."
"Pfft, not you." Kale kept taking nibbles of his fries as Tera was basically inches away from his face.
I sat next to Lilith, who used the floor as I watched these two butt heads. I never was a person who enjoyed seeing people argue, but watching these two made me entertained. So I kept listening.
"What about me is so bad?"
"Nothing."
"Really?"
"No, I meant nothing is good or bad. I see nothing in you."
"That's hurtful to an old friend." Tera pouted.
"Uh oh, tell that to the guy you keep teasing and somehow finds ways into his home."
"You should make sure that window of yours is locked."
"You should stop coming into my room, please."
Tera glared at him as she started chanting.
"Dear holy gods, I ask for the power of wind. The breeze mightier than a hurricane. Lift the world with its sheer power and send it afloat. I ask for a gust of wind!" When she chanted that, a gust of wind broke out into the living room. Pushing kale up into the ceiling.
It was a small gust of wind, but enough to make kale lift up and cause some of the stuff in the room to fly around.
Once kale fell onto the couch, he immediately stood up and looked at Tera with an angry face.
"Woman! Don't you do that!" He snapped.
"Or what? Gonna spank me? Anything you do, I could easily turn into a session."
Kale flustered at that, pointing a finger at her. "Stop making things sexual, kids are here!"
"Ah pfft, not like I've already put one of them under a charm spell. Plus look at them, we're entertaining them." Tera looked at me and Lilith when she said that.
She wasn't wrong. I was very entertained by this interaction between the two. Lilith was still eating fries, but she too seemed interested.
"Kids, don't follow how we act. It isn't healthy."
"That's because you make it unhealthy."
Kale paused a moment before grabbing me and whispering "don't be me." To which I nodded.
Lilith turned to me, pointing at the kitchen. "You should check the chicken, can I come with you?"
"Yeah, of course." I said as I got up.
"Oh, look at those two! Why can't we be like them?"
"I already told you, I don't want to!" I heard kale as I entered the kitchen.
Lilith followed along, hopping around as I opened the stove. It's been maybe twenty five minutes or so of just listening to those two bickering, so it's a good time to check in the chicken. Once I Opened the stove, I opened the lid of the pan and inspected the chicken. It was a golden brown, which seemed good enough for me. I casted a wind spell to blow out the fire and then used an ice spell to cool down the pan. It was quite amazing to see how much utility magic has in the household.
Taking the pan out, it was still warm. I took the chicken out and made slices of it and put them on a plate as Lilith watched. After I finished cutting some of the chicken meat, I cut the legs off and placed them on the plate as well, I mean why would I waste such good drumsticks?
"Can I have a taste of one of the meats?" Lilith asked.
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead and take it to the living room."
"Ok!" Lilith grabbed the plate of chicken and headed out to the living room, where I could hear those two still bickering.
Once I cleaned up the pan and kitchen, I headed back into the living room.
"Oh..oh…this is some good meat, Kota. I don't know what you did but..mmm" Kale started licking his fingers to savor the juice.
"Mmm…" Tera hummed as he looked at him.
"Stop. It."
"Your fault for doing that."
"You are sick."
Tera picked a piece of chicken and took a bite. She gave a surprised look as the flavor overloaded her.
"Oh! My, my!" She held her hands against her face as she swayed left and right. She then looked at Kale and gave a smug look. "I love meat that's seasoned…" licking her fingers suggestively.
"Stop. Please." Kale begged.
I sat down next to Lilith on the floor again as I began to eat too.
It wasn't that bad, the seasoning on the chicken was somewhat bland, but that was because of my lack of knowledge of the spices here. The meat itself was well done though, no pink colors or anything.
"Oh, I completely forgot why I was here. It was for Kota's date for his Entrance exam. Kota, open up that card." Tera pointed at the card that I had hanging out of my pocket.
Still munching on my chicken, I grabbed the card and opened it. Inside the card had a short paragraph about how excited they were to have me at their university and when they'll have me do the Entrance exam.
It will be a week from now.
"Kota is invited, huh." Kale took a look at the card as well.
"Yes, the principal was quite impressed with what I had put down for him."
"Tera, did you write a whole evaluation on Kota just to have him as your apprentice?" Kale eyed her.
"Pfft, nooo…I just wanted to…give him a good chance at getting into the school!" Tera was twirling her hair as she said that, avoiding eye contact with kale at the same time.
"…Right. Well Kota, congratulations!" Kale looked at me and smiled. "Your father must be proud."
"Yeah, he must be. Has my parents said anything?" I asked.
Kale shook his head. "They said they'll send a letter when they can, one is probably on the way right now."
"Did they say if they can visit?" I asked since
"…" Kale paused for a moment. Something was going on. "Well…It seems they are busy with…"
"Fucking." Tera blatantly said.
"Hey hey hey, woah." Kale looked back at Tera with a very scared face. "We can use kid words."
"Oh right." Tera cleared her throat. "Kota, your parents are having sex. This was something me and Kale were talking about."
"That's…nevermind." Kale gave up. He must've brought it up when I was cooking in the kitchen.
Ok, so if I'm getting it correct from these two, Gerald and Synthia are already on track of having my sister….But this wasn't really the way I wanted to confirm again since I almost choked on a fry.
As the night went on, our conversations ranged from Tera's daily chores at her job to kale telling stories that happened during his job. Soon I realized that Lilith fell asleep, curled up on the floor as she rested her head on my lap. Then I started to realize I was going to pass out from sleep.
"Well then, it seems these two are about finished." Tera said, She looked ready to leave.
"Yeah, I'll get them to bed. You should Head home." Kale got off the couch and lifted Lilith into his arms. "Cmon, Kota. Bed Time. I gotta train Lilith tomorrow." I stood up and walked behind kale as we headed up stairs.
Tera also got up, heading towards the front door before pausing.
"Kota, be sure to practice your magic…Cooking won't get you into the university…maybe, but it's a very low chance." Tera winked at Kale who gave her a grossed out face. "Hmph, No need for that. You already know I'll be back in a day or so." She then headed out the front door, closing it.