PREVIOUSLY
From what I could remember, the game never really showed the insides of the Gate and if you ever attempted to glitch inside, all you would be able to see is a white space. The [Gate Of Steel] was a sort of trial that anyone could attempt to challenge, but only a selected, specific few could really win the treasures inside. The one that Raegis was attempting would give her what she really, really needed right now but as for what type of challenge she would face? I had absolutely no idea.
I placed a finger on my chin. Would the challenge be mental, physical, or something abstract? I didn't know, and realized there was no point in beating my brain up for it, since it was going to be Raegis attempting it.
Not me.
I opened my eyes, to see that Raegis was hovering around the pot, basking in the aroma wafting out of it.
"Any closer and the stew's going to taste like your face," I said.
"What do you mean?" Raegis tilted her head.
"Like, the stew's going to-" I saw that she wouldn't understand so I shook my head. "Nevermind. Just don't get so close. It's almost done."
***
"Really?" Raegis smiled wide. "Raegis has never smelt something so delicious before. It looks like something Raegis's friend used to make, but it smells a lot better!"
I chuckled at that. I remembered how Raegis had a childhood friend, a boy that always liked to take care of the careless, curious and empty-headed beastkin whenever she wandered off from her abusive household.
It was heart-warming, but at the same time, a fire lit inside my heart. "Well, it's about to taste a lot better, so just you wait, missy!"
And wait she really did. Raegis grew silent, unspeaking for as long as the innard stew simmered inside my pot. Stars grew inside her eyes, and I realized if I made her wait any longer, she was going to pounce on the pot.
As I stirred the pot with the wooden spoon, my mind went back to my childhood in this life, before the Demon God incident. Before the horrific events, I remembered my first time awakening into this world with my otherworld mind, and how I'd despaired at being in the body of the one person you should never be in, inside the game.
But, after the despair, I remembered how I pondered over my plans so hard that my brain might as well have popped out. I wondered if my mom and dad never ever thought about how thier boy started speaking at the ripe age of 4, and how I easily cruise through the primitive school that was teaching basic mathematics for age 10s and above.
Well, I guess science and maths wasn't really that important for a world where you could spit fireballs at worst, and destroy the entire universe at best. That made me wonder. What if our Earth had gods, and magic and all of that shazam? Would we degrade in science too?
While I was certain that if the gods had suddenly decided to descend upon Modern-Earth, the world wouldn't degrade and instead, use the magic to forward their own science, I wasn't that sure about the scenario in which they taught magic to the humans back when we didn't even know how to count to ten.
Talking about not being able to count to ten, Elm was one of the few who was not so good at anything educational. While yes, she had an ungodly level of battle iq, her normal iq was not so good. In fact, I had to literally explain to her why one plus one was two, and so on.
Oh, how I wonder what she was doing right now. Elm was a good girl, and a good sister who always protected me, but then sometimes, I wondered how she even knew every single time I got into danger.
Oh well.
"Is it done yet?" Raegis asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
I rolled the innards around in the water with the spoon, inspecting the color. From all the spices and herbs I had put in, it glow a certain red, almost like someone had doused an entire bottle of paprika into the pot. But, that was exactly what I wanted to do.
Checking the innards, they felt soft to the touch, and also resembled cooked pork, with their brown color. The onion and bay leaves had grown translucent and the bay leaves swirled around the edge of the pot.
"I don't know," I fanned the steam into Raegis's face. "What do you think?"
Raegis drooled right there and then. "Raegis is hungry!"
I took the pot off the fire and set it to the side. I rolled the innards around with my spoon and wooden ladle and set the steaming pot on a nearby rock to let it cool. Then I went towards the opposite end, and took out two bowls for the both of us from my Dimensional Storage. I sat down, and before Raegis could paw the steaming pot, I made sure to pull the innard stew out into her bowl first.
Then, I did the same for myself. While the stew looked like it was a lot, between the two of us hungry, hungry hippos, we would probably finish it in under a second. Well, even if there was leftovers, I could just keep it inside my Dimensional Storage since it never spoils inside there.
"Let's eat," I said. Raegis basically dove into her bowl, and moaned in appreciation from the taste whereas I sniffed the stew first, and after appreciating it, I perforated an innard with the tip of my spoon before tossing it straight into my mouth. An explosion of flavours. The meat was soft and it parted, smooth and buttery as velvet.
I knew from its texture it was a quality ingredient.
"I didn't think using onions and bay leaves would make this much of a difference," I was about to get another bite but Raegis had held out her empty bowl to me with an excited smile on her face.
"More!"
I poured some more into Raegis bowl, and retracted my fingers before she bit them off. Then, I took another bite, this time, I took time to appreciate the soup. A delicate flavor that surprised even me exploded on my tongue. This was where you could really taste the spice which was good since it balanced out the somewhat sweet flavour of the innards.
"More!" Raegis yelled. She might as well have been clapping in anticipation. "More! More! More!"
But, I had a better idea. I took some of the flatbread from my Dimensional Storage and grinded it into small pieces so that it melted within the hot stew in our bowls. The flatbread was something I had made for Ivanka, and it was basically a modified verison of a ginger bread, but it smelt and tasted a lot better than the traditional version, if I do say so myself.
I set Raegis's serving on her bowl. "Bon A'petit."
Raegis didn't know what I'd just done, but she still hummed with hunger and excitement. She moved to devour it, but then stopped. And, she turned to look at me.
With a big smile, she said, "Raegis wanna eat together!"
"Well, alright then," I didn't hesitate and on the count of 3, we both took a bite out of the modified stew I had made.
Then and again, my tongue was hit with an explosion of flavours. It had been ages since Raegis had been able to taste anything so good so I saw her cry from the sudden activity in her palate. For me, I just closed my eyes and had to lean on my hand as the waves of taste rolled over me.
The innards melted like butter in my mouth, releasing a savory and rich umami flavor. The slight sear on both sides created a crispy char that gave way to a juicy bite. The flatbread sang of olive oil and dough, and was the perfect carb-laden counterpart to the tongue itself. Together, the harmony of mouth-feel and taste was simply debilitating in its power of pleasure.
It was pure ecstasy. I was really enjoying the moment. I wanted to hold onto it forever, in case the effect was fleeting.
As that first bite hit my gut, a warm feeling birthed in my stomach and began to spread throughout my body. Oh, I felt like I could take on the entire world right now, and Raegis must have felt the same since we both dug into the stew.
And, after a few minutes, the big pot of stew that would have been enough for a family of five, had been utterly devoured by just the two of us.
I sat up, overwhelmed. "Holy shit."
Raegis just burped but I could feel that she was raring to go, like her energy was full and she needed to do something to release it. I was of the same but this was where our road split, well at least for now.
"Raegis," I started. "It's time."
I didn't have to say anything anymore. Raegis nodded her head, and growled at the [Gate Of Steel] as she summoned forth an aura of steel. The Old Willow shook furiously at that, before a portal began to open in it's trunk.
I took one last look at Raegis and said, "Whatever you do, just make sure to come back, alive."
Giving her one last pet, I turned my back to her and said, "I'll be around the vicinity, hunting for some more meat before you come back. Hm, I'm thinking of making something fried, rich with oil and fat, huh?"
I could hear her salivating. Taking one last look at Raegis, I put up the most sincere expression with my eyes and said, "Good luck."
"Aye!"
And, then we split ways.