Neil awoke to the dark tent by himself this time. He had only slept for two or three hours but felt well-invigorated to continue moving on. The small cuts he had gotten in his earlier fights were now completely healed and his body felt ready to fight.
'What an incredible body!' He thought to himself as he realized all of this.
He quietly exited the tent in an attempt to surprise Amelia. Sadly it seemed the elf's skills of perception far surpassed his nimbleness as she immediately noticed him.
"That was only a few hours of sleep, are you sure you're good to go?" She asked him seriously.
"Yep, I'm feeling superb right now. Like I could slice a boulder in half if I wanted to!" Neil replied excitedly and eagerly.
"Good" Was Amelia's only response as she moved past him and into the tent.
Neil felt her behavior was different than it had previously been but decided not to pry. He guessed it was because of the increasing danger of the floors the two were now going to be exploring but he wasn't sweating it. He knew the dungeon well and even with his weaker state was fairly confident that he'd be able to make it out of all of the battles all right. If the earlier floors were any sign of the upcoming difficulty then he'd not need to worry just yet, he could just hold on as his companion sniped off the enemies.
He decided to look at his skills in more depth now that he had free time on his hands. His vitality and strength were reaching unheard-of amounts for someone at his level which pleased him greatly. And to add to that the skill he had gotten from the crusher's heart was one that only made him more tanky as his skin became even more durable than it had previously been.
He did see a slight downside to it as it meant it would be harder for him to come in contact with his blood which could be an important asset. That was especially true in a dungeon such as the one he was in as the monsters did not bleed at all which rendered his arguably strongest skill completely useless. Along with that, it meant he couldn't use his newly acquired skill Butcher's Feast as he would have no blood to consume.
He was becoming slightly worried about how he would control his mind as he adventured on as it was obvious that he would be adventuring more and thus would come into more and more contact with blood. If so many of his skills led to the deterioration of his sanity then he would need to find a way to boost his sanity both inside and outside of combat.
After looking over all of his new skills and stats he went back to his eyes to remember exactly what the upgrade did and was happy upon seeing it again and being reminded. His increased perception was simple but could be incredibly useful in a variety of situations. Even now he could notice that he saw much further and in much more detail than he previously had. Allowing him to make out the grains of nearby rocks and the details of the rocky ceiling which sat 50 feet above him very dimly lit.
Neil guessed he had passed about two hours looking over his new skills and imagining useful situations for them that he would try and put into practice later. He decided that now was a good time for him to cook yet another one of his meals and this time went for one that took a slightly longer time as Amelia was still sound asleep.
He pulled out a full featherless turkey, like what you'd see in a supermarket the week before Thanksgiving, along with a baggy that had a mix of ingredients in it that he had prepared. He then coated the turkey in the mix of sauces and herbs before letting it sit for around 20 minutes. While he would prefer longer for now this would have to be enough.
From there Neil cut up the turkey and placed slices onto the frying pan and over the fire as he had done with the prior meals. Again this was not his ideal cooking method but as they were currently in a dungeon he had little else to use and didn't have the time to cook the turkey whole.
From there he cooked the slices for around 15 minutes frequently flipping them. He was now satisfied as he had numerous turkey slices which he could eat as a meal and later snack on if any extras remained.
He had another idea that he felt might be stupid but could also be worth it in the future. He picked up the small baggy which had held the rub and was now empty. He pulled out his axe and slit his left hand which he held overtop the baggy.
"Ah," Neil slightly winced at the pain from his hand but continued across making a small cut across it. He let the blood drip into the baggy, not filling it up all the way but providing a decent amount.
After a few minutes of letting the bag collect his blood, he made sure to securely close it and place it back into his pouch. The wound was only a slight annoyance that Neil felt would heal rather quickly, and now he had a portable blood supply for his use.
After finishing that and wrapping his hand with some clothe from a small bag that Amelia had been carrying he now returned to the turkey he had prepared. As if on signal Amelia woke up, swiftly exited the tent, and followed her nose to the recently made meal.
"May I?" She said to Neil doing her very best to suppress the urges she was currently feeling.
"Of course, dig in" Neil responded cheerily, and in a matter of seconds, Amelia had slammed back four slices. He stared at her for a few seconds with a face of both awe and fear as he never knew such a thing was capable.
"What, you're making me feel embarrassed," Amelia said to him as he stared.
This had no effect on Neil who stared for a few more seconds before shaking himself out of the gaze that he had been stuck in. He simply looked towards the remaining slices and picked up a handful without saying anything.
'These will be my stash' He thought to himself as he realized he'd need to hide them from Amelia if he wanted any of it to remain for later consumption.
"How is it," He asked Amelia.
"Alright, I suppose." She responded to him. This irritated Neil slightly who had just seen her rapid eating and knew she felt they were better than alright.
"Then why did you shove them down your throat at such an unhuman speed," He asked the dark elf bluntly.
Amelia coughed upon hearing this and even blushed a little, not expecting Neil to call her out in such a way.
"Well, it's true that I'm not human, that's just how us dark elves eat" She responded to Neil calmly in an attempt to convince him that it was nothing special.
"Well, I'll have to start making much larger meals then" Neil replied smartly.
Yet again Amelia was surprised by Neil's response and this time just turned away from him, not allowing him to see the many facial expressions she was wearing along with the reddening of her face that was currently happening.
Neil remembered at this point that he had actually eaten none of the food yet and had only been observing Amelia. His hunger quickly returned at this realization and he began to eat a few of the turkey slices.
----------------------------------------------
Your vitality has increased by 5% for the next four hours as a result of eating this meal
----------------------------------------------
"No Way." Neil said loudly to himself in disbelief.
"What are you so surprised by?" Amelia asked to him in a more serious voice.
"The incredibleness of my own cooking" Neil responded to her in complete honesty.
"I don't know why I even ask. Your ego needs no more inflation in this subject." She responded to him in a slightly annoyed voice.
He shrugged this comment off and returned back to the message that had just popped up in front of him.
'How was this possible, I brought benefits from cooking when it wasn't even my class. It was true that one could attain a second class but that wouldn't be until he was much stronger, so how could this happen.' Neil pondered the recent development for multiple minutes before he finally decided to give up.
'I guess that just proves how good of a cook I am' He thought to himself happily as he ate a few more of the turkey slices.
He placed the five turkey slices that he had hidden from Amelia in his pouch and stood up. He quickly cleaned up there camping area and then looked towards Amelia.
"Ready to set off?" He asked her eagerly, as he was now feeling the desire to battle.
"Yes, I think it's best we go now" She responded staring the the entrance to the third maze.
With this Neil began walking towards the entrance with Amelia only a slight bit behind him. It was finally time for them to resume their exploration.