A few days after Groot became my familiar...
Now, Groot's status was like this:
[Name] Groot
[Age] 6 days
[Race] Baby Seedling
[Level] 8
[HP] 24
[MP] 21
[Attack] 18
[Defense] 20
[Agility] 21
[Skills] -----
Somehow, its level had risen drastically. It was probably because it had eaten so much food from my world...
Nothing happened when merely using something bought from my Online Supermarket (for example, sleeping in a futon didn't raise HP or MP or anything like that), so it must be happening when one takes something from another world into their body.
'By the way, that effect where the person's HP or MP or whatever gets buffed for a limited amount of time doesn't happen to Groot. Thinking about it, it might be because Groot's weak so it just actually leveled Groot up. And, it gives temporary buffs to those who are a certain level or above. If that isn't the case, then it's a question of if the food is causing Groot's level ups.'
However, testing that was fairly hard. I'd like to test it out if I found another Seedling, but I hadn't seen any at all. When I tried asking Hati, he said that, since Seedlings are so weak unless they're evolved forms, they fundamentally always hid or ran, so it was rare to see them.
Well, it wasn't a bad thing for Groot to level up, so it was all good.
I was really thankful for Groot's presence, too. It not only ate our food, it even cleaned the utensils and cookware and stuff. At first it ate the plate too, but when I said to not eat the plate and just eat the rest of the stuff I wanted to clean, it did as I said and cleaned the plate.
Thanks to Groot, even the tough stains that were left on the frying pan had been scoured completely off. I'd been using soap bought from my Online Supermarket to clean my cookware and utensils up until now, but that took quite a bit of water to wash away all the bubbles and foam. It was fine if there was a river or other source of water nearby, but if not, things got pretty tough. Thanks to Groot, that gets done with only a minimum of water. It even happily eats otherworld food — Groot's a really good kid.
Groot's favorite spot was on my shoulder. As for me, I was on Hati's back. Right now, we were in the middle of running through the forest. That said, I was fine because Hati had dropped the speed compared to before.
"Hati, the sun's gone down, so let's make camp around here for today." I called out to Hati, and he gradually dropped his speed before coming to a gentle stop.
"I want meat."
'Yeah, yeah.'
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I gave Hati a lot of meat, and had some myself with vegetables, while Groot ate the otherworld food that was leftover.
After dinner, I felt a sudden craving for something sweet. 'It really does happen... sometimes, it's just gotta be something sweet.' Looking over my Online Supermarket, I found something that looked great.
"That dorayaki looks delicious..." When Hati heard me whisper that, he slowly got up and came over.
"What looks delicious? I will not forgive you if you keep it to yourself." 'I get it, I get it. Wait, is Hati okay with sw- ...Right, that's a stupid question. There's no way he's bad with sweets after eating all those snack breads I got him.'
Groot was also jiggling like it wanted to try. 'One each should be fine for Groot and I, and five should be enough for Hati to get a taste...' hinking that I'd want tea if we were gonna eat seven dorayaki and some other Japanese sweets, I bought some green tea bags as well.
I removed the wrapper from the dorayaki and put it in front of Hati on a plate. I also took the dorayaki out of its package for Groot, but I placed them both in front of it. As for me, I started boiling some water for the tea first.
"Man, dorayaki is good. *slurp* Tea, too. Japanese sweets really are best with green tea."
"Ohh, this outer skin pairs well with the black insides. This is delicious." Just like I thought he would, Hati put down his share with a single gulp. Groot was also jiggling constantly like it was excited; I guess Groot liked it too.
'Hrmm, I feel a little guilty for eating sweets before bed, but there really is nothing more delicious.'
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I'd been trying to find a Seedling in order to get to the bottom of Groot's level ups, but I had a thought. If the question is whether or not the food levels it up, why not just give it regular food and see what happens?
'Man, I'd been so focused on having it clean up our food I had completely overlooked this simple experiment. I'm such an idiot...'
Thinking about it, Groot had no problems eating the dorayaki. It was par for the course, seeing as how Groot was a true omnivore that ate anything, though.
It would have been great if I'd realized it sooner, but it was such a normal way to do things that I'd gone right past it. That being the case, I'd decided to make a portion for Groot from today's meal as well, so that I could test things.
I'd save the food I would have fed it, and will just give it to Groot tomorrow. First, I appraised Groot before I gave it food.
[Name] Groot
[Age] 8 days
[Race] Baby Seedling
[Level] 10
[HP] 28
[MP] 27
[Attack] 25
[Defense] 28
[Agility] 27
[Skills] -----
Groot was already level 10?! Its stats were all still really weak, but it was leveling up way too fast.
'I guess the rest will have to wait until after it eats.'
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For today, I had already prepared something that went well with rice, so I was going to cook that: Spanish bird. This time we will have western style. I started making it yesterday with orc meat.
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Using a rolling-pin or tenderiser gently pound orc meat steaks to flatten them to ¼ inch thickness. Season with salt and pepper and spread 1 tsp of Dijon mustard evenly on one side of each pounded steak.
Lay 2 slices of bacon on each piece. Add a quarter of a gherkin, carrot and boiled egg. Roll the meat with the fillings tightly wrapped and bind with thread. These are your birds.
Melt the butter over a medium heat in a large skillet. Add the finely chopped onion and sauté over medium-to-high heat until soft and gold in colour (approximately 4-5 minutes). Stir frequently to avoid burning the onion.
Add the Spanish Birds to the skillet and sear them from all sides for about 2-3 minutes over high heat. Add bay leaves and all spice berries. Pour the beef broth mixture over the Birds so they are covered by 3/4. Cover with a lid and let it simmer over a low heat for 1.5 – 2 hours or until meat is soft.
When the meat is tender, carefully remove the rouladens from the hot broth with a large slotted spoon to an oven proof dish. Cover it with silver foil to keep it warm.
Now for the sauce. Add chopped vegetables (chopped, gherkins, carrot and egg), 2-3 tbs of vinegar into the skillet and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until sauce reduces by half.
Add the flour to 1 cup of water and whisk briskly with a fork to blend. Pour the flour mixture slowly into the hot broth. Increase the heat from medium to high and bring the sauce to boil. Continue to whisk frequently for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
Reduce the heat to low, remove bay leaves and all spice berries from the sauce. While the sauce is bubbling remove threads from the Birds. Using a large slotted spoon carefully place the Birds back into the hot sauce, cover and warm through for a few minutes. Season to taste.
Serve with boiled rice or potato dumplings sprinkled with fresh parsley.
For Hati, prepare a deep dish rather than a bowl.
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"Hati, Groot, food."
"Ohhh, what a smell to whet the appetite." 'Whet his appetite?' Isn't Hati's appetite always at full blast?' Just like always, Hati bit into it with huge chomps.
"Groot, you can eat this for today as well. But you can't eat the bowl, got it?" After I said that, Groot jiggled a bit and then enveloped the bowl.
I started eating as well. 'Orc meat is delicious as usual. Why is it so good? This other world really is a wonder. This dish is well done.
"More. Make it with extra meat." 'Yeah yeah, of course you'd want meat.' I made another bowl (extra meat) for Hati and gave it to him. Groot also looked like it wanted more, so I obliged it.
It seemed they liked eastern style.
'Now then, let's see what's up with Groot's stats since it's eaten?' I appraised Groot as it swayed back and forth, evidently satisfied.
[Name] Groot
[Age] 8 days
[Race] Baby Seedling
[Level] 10
[HP] 28 (+1)
[MP] 27 (+1)
[Attack] 25
[Defense] 28 (+1)
[Agility] 27
[Skills] -----
'Oh! Groot's been buffed.'
In other words, food buffed stats for a period of time, while what normally wasn't food raised levels...?
Well, at any rate, it all just meant that Groot was the only one that could easily level up. It was still weak as hell right now, but I did want to level it up a lot by feeding it otherworld food. Then it could contribute to assuring my safety along with Hati.
'Safety first, this is important.'
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"Stone Bullet!" A small pebble flew off with a whoosh and hit the tree that was the target, hard. Hurrying to check the damage, I found that the trunk had been gouged by the rock, if only slightly.
"Awesome! I've gotten better." As always, I'd only managed to make one stone bullet, but the speed and power had increased.
Right now, we were taking a small break to digest our last meal. I was using that time to practice Earth magic.
Right after eating, Hati said, "There is something I want to go check on," and went running off into the forest. He said he'd come right back and not to worry before putting a barrier up for Groot and I, so it was fine, though.
Groot was jiggling at my feet.
By the way, it was leveling up steadily ('Groot's leveling up just from eating the food from my world, after all') and was now level 13. I was really looking forward to seeing at what level it would finally evolve.
'Now then, back to practicing Earth magic. A normal person like me really does need to put in the work.'
"Stone Bullet!" I continued practicing Earth magic for a while...
'Whew, I'm tired.' I used a little too much MP. I needed to practice, but it was troubling that using too much MP left me so exhausted.
'If only I had more MP...' Well, it was no use lamenting what I didn't have.
'I should eat something sweet to help with the exhaustion.'
So, I ordered a chocolate bar and some canned coffee from the Online Supermarket. The coffee was black: the combo between the chocolate and black coffee was greatly effective because of the contrast between sweet and bitter.
While I was eating the chocolate, Groot wrapped itself around my leg. "What, do you want some too, Groot?" Groot jiggled in response.
I broke the bar in half and put it on Groot's tentacle, and watched it go to town: the bar was instantly dissolved inside Groot's body. Groot seemed to like the chocolate, and it jiggled as if asking for more while rubbing against my leg.
"You're really good at begging for stuff, aren't you? Wait a bit." I got some more chocolate and gave the bar to Groot. It jiggled happily while eating. I was way too sweet on this Seedling. I couldn't help it though, it was so cute, how friendly it was.
'Still though, Hati's late...' He said he'd be back right away, but quite a while had passed since then.
While I was resting leisurely with Groot to recover my MP, Hati finally came back.
"You're late, Hati. Did something happen?"
"It is fine. There was nothing serious. Hm? *Sniff sniff*..." Hati sniffed the air around Groot and I.
"W-What?"
"You two, did you eat something delicious while I was away?" 'Grk! This is about the chocolate, isn't it? Is the smell of chocolate that distinctive?'
"N-No, not really." I replied, and Hati stared at me hard.
"You cannot fool my nose, you know." 'Gghh... Dammit, he knows. Fenrirs really did have a strong sense of smell — not sure whether he's a dog or a wolf, but he's definitely in that family.'
"It was a candy called chocolate. I was tired from practicing magic, and sweets are good for when you're tired."
"I am also a little tired from running. Give me some of that so-called chocolate." 'Tired' my ass. There's no way someone with nearly maxed out stats like you would get tired just from running a little.'
"It is unfair that only you and Groot get to eat it but I do not." 'Urk, if he says it like that... Ahhh fine, I get it, I get it.'
Losing out to Hati's stare, I bought another chocolate bar for him. Groot was also "looking" at me like it wanted another, so I bought another one for Groot, too.
"Here, this is chocolate." Peeling the wrappers off the chocolate, I handed it all over to Hati before he wolfed it down.
"Hm, this is my first time experiencing this taste. I do not hate it." 'Hahhh is that so? Wait, this guy just ate ten bars of it! Won't he get cavities if he eats that much? Ah, right, he invalidates status ailments, so he won't.
By the way, Groot also happily ate the chocolate.
"How is your Earth magic?" Huh? Did he just change the subject?
"I still only get one stone out of it, but thanks to training, the power and speed has improved."
"Stone Bullet should be a magic that shoots several pebbles. That you still only manage one is..." 'Gnnrrn, I can't help it, can I? It just doesn't happen that way.'
"Like this, there really is no choice but to take you there," Hati whispered softly to himself.
"Hm? Did you say something?"
"Nothing. Rather, get on already."
"Yeah, yeah. Groot's already in the bag, right? Okay, I'm good."
"Then we are off."