The system mission was a nice twist to put on it, and most importantly, the rewards were quite important to him. 1000 exp was a lifesaver. He still wasn't sure where he would get the remaining 6000 exp for the level up but he would try to find it.
"Is there anywhere to cook here? A kitchen?" he asked wanting to get started immediately.
"There's a kitchen right there. You can get started immediately." Hemp replied, pointing over to the side where a door led over to a separate room.
Emery gathered himself and then walked over there. He gestured for Elyn and Citro to follow after. He wanted to go big for this particular meal. Those regular meals he'd been cooking up to now wouldn't cut it for this.
But overcomplicated dishes wouldn't be better. A recipe more advanced than his current abilities would only compromise the dish.
He stopped and then looked back at the gang leader.
"Do you have any other ingredients? Rice? Pasta? Noodles?" he asked.
Hemp nodded. "We do. Take anything you need from the pantry. It's yours to use."
That was a relief to hear. Hemp looked European, so something that was out of his expectations, or foreign would be a nice way to shock him.
'Chinese food maybe?' he thought to himself as he finally stepped into the kitchen.
It was sophisticated, to say the least. Several burners sat at the far end of the room, just waiting to be used. A large refrigerator and deep freeze hummed to the side, probably choked full to the brim with quality ingredients just waiting to be used.
A table sat at the centre. That would be his command centre. His workstation. The glossy surface brought back thousands of memories that he never thought he'd see again.
Overall, it was just amazing.
But was it going to be ideal for what he planned to make? Emery made up his mind. A communal dish made especially for everyone here, not just for Hemp.
Popular everywhere and now basically a staple for people familiar with Chinese cuisine.
Hotpot.
Yes, hotpot. Anything could be cooked. Anyone could request any ingredient.
How would it be eaten in the kitchen, though? Well, that was far too much for him to care about. He would make the broths first before thinking about all that.
"Elyn, get me two things from the store," he said, then described everything he needed to the girl.
"What else?"
"That's just it for now. I want to start as soon as possible,"
"Alright, I'll get going now," she said then walked to the store where the pots were.
Citro was about to follow after. Emery stopped the mongoose before it moved far.
"You're coming with me. I need your help as well," he said, then moved to the pantry. It was a cool room with multiple shelves, containers and drawers.
Very organized too.
He walked over to the section with vegetables and just sucked a considerable amount into his pantry. He would need quite a bit given their appetite and the fact that he was starting with the vegetable broth first.
"Eep," Citro said to the side, shaking his head,
"Eh, what did I need your help for?"
"Eep eep eep!"
"Don't blame me," he shrugged, "I forgot that I could do that!"
"Eep!"
"Tell you what, help me take out the garbage. I'll give you first pickings when I'm done."
"Eep,"
"Deal."
After that, he zoned in. He disregarded the mongoose and got straight to work. Mushrooms, onions, garlic, ginger, leeks etc. He washed all the vegetables that needed to be washed and reached for his knife to start cutting them.
'Oh, right. I forgot that the knife is gone.'
There was a rack of knives to the side, and he picked one of a similar size to his former one. Something about it just felt… wrong. He didn't know how to describe the feeling.
'Whatever,'
He cut the vegetables swiftly, and only the rapid-fire cuts of his knife against the chopping board could be heard on the entire floor.
Elynn had returned with two Dutch Ovens. Only one was necessary for this. He paused his task of cutting and poured a little bit of oil into the pot.
Swish!
Boom!
The burner came to life with an admirable explosion of heat and flames, which were almost completely blue. After lowering the heat a little, he placed the pot on there.
Soon enough, it had heated up. Now, some of the vegetables were ready to be added.
'I wonder if I can use mana to cook in the same way as I did in the clash against Konnor,'
That thought came to mind, and would probably not leave unless he did something about it. So he tapped into the stream of power into him but only drew a bit, in fear of the same thing happening again.
SKREE~
SWISH~
A green energy enveloped his body and transferred onto the rapidly cooking broth. Sparks of lightning that should have been nowhere close to a kitchen appeared above the pot and dove into it.
It was working!
Emery took advantage of this success and continued making the broth. His hands moved at a speed that would have been unachievable for his previous self. But here he was doing them. They blurred as he poured ingredients, removed some and stirred.
Wine. Water. Mushrooms.
An amazing smell overcame the defences of the Dutch oven and spread out into the entire floor. It wasn't even done cooking yet but the scent alone was this powerful.
[Host has discovered a new skill: Basic Energy Circuitry!]
[Details: Your body acts as circuits for the movement of energy, which enhances any action you may take]
[Host has created a new skill: Basic Energy Cooking!]
[Details: Your cooking is enhanced by energy whenever this skill is being used!]
'Heh, I never expected that to actually work.'
He lowered the heat while smirking and moved on to the next things. There was not enough time to sit down and explore every new thing he learned.
Now it was time for the most difficult parts about this hotpot.
The meat broth!