"Regular angels shouldn't end up in situations like that, right?" Adrian asked with his mouth wide open, after listening to my explanation. It took him a while before he could get those words out.
"Probably not..." I shook my head and paused for a moment before continuing. "But Nicola has an affinity for wind elements, and she's quite skilled at controlling them too."
I didn't mention that Nicola was recognized as the reincarnation of Liana, the Wind Angel. In Edenmere, this was considered an extremely high-level secret, mainly to prevent unnecessary unrest and to keep people calm. Most angels only knew her as the inheritor of the ancestors. Revealing this to outsiders would be unwise, and I could face consequence for it!
"So you two new angels really are quite peculiar, having affinities for wind and water. I've never seen anything like it..." Adrian fell silent for a long while, seeming deep in thought.
"Elemental affinity is determined by the elemental composition of one's body. If it's not the light element, then your situation...no, wait, that doesn't make sense either! Aside from the light element, an angel's body can't possibly contain other elements!"
"What's wrong? Do you think there's something off about it?" I asked, puzzled. I paused my cooking to pose the question.
It wasn't until I met Judith that I finally understood the origins of elemental affinity, thanks to her explanations.
The human body is composed of various elements in random proportions. When a particular element is present in a higher proportion, it manifests as an affinity for that element. The higher the proportion, the stronger the elemental affinity.
That's why angels with an affinity for water elements like me are extremely rare, because angelic bodies don't contain any water elements. This was also the main reason why Elara suspected the issue lay with my soul - a soul's attributes can influence elemental affinity to some degree.
"No, it's just..." Adrian looked at me, hesitating to continue. But under my expectant gaze, after wavering for a while, he eventually decided to voice his thoughts.
"I have a rather bold guess, but don't take it too seriously! What if...in that state when your wings turned blue, would you still be under the control of the light god Beluto?"
"Uh..." His question left me stunned. I had never considered this possibility before, and being confronted with it so suddenly left me feeling dazed.
"It's just a random guess, you don't have to read too much into it. I know that in that state, you had no consciousness at all. This is really putting you on the spot..." Seeing my reaction, Adrian quickly waved his hands in a placating manner, afraid that I might overthink it.
After all, he was well aware that my wings had only turned blue after I had nearly drowned, and that I had been completely unconscious throughout the entire process. From my perspective, it was virtually no different from being controlled by the light god.
So using that state to confront the light god was frankly unreliable. Who knew if my blue-winged mode wasn't just another dangerous form of being controlled?
Moreover, even if I were to take the risk, disregarding all the potential side effects and underlying issues, there was no way to replicate the process of making my wings blue when facing the threat of Beluto. It's not like I could just drown myself in this lake first before challenging the light god!
Or should I carry a bucket of water with me and publicly perform a drowning act in front of Beluto?
"Beluto, today this angel dares to challenge you, so prepare to die! Glug glug glug glug—"
As I entertained this ridiculous idea, the corners of my mouth twitched involuntarily. Even if I did go through with it, there was no guarantee of success. The more I thought about it, the more implausible it seemed!
"It's okay, I don't really think this method would work. Besides, even if my wings turned blue, my body should still be composed of light elements, right? There's no way it could completely turn into water elements, no matter what."
I waved my hand dismissively, not blaming him for voicing his opinion.
In fact, the phenomenon of my wings changing color defied conventional logic. But it was an established fact that had already occurred, leaving no room for doubt on my part.
I could only speculate that it might be related to the elemental composition of my wings. Although they typically appeared white, they weren't composed purely of light elements - which was also the reason why the angelic healing spell "Healing" had no effect on them.
And Reed had mentioned before that the blood vessels in our wings were connected to the magic circuitry, involving all sorts of principles that were far too complex for someone like me to fully explain.
Come to think of it, if Judith were here, she might have been able to offer some insight...
I suddenly regretted leaving that senior Sage Council researcher behind in the village. I had no idea if she had been discovered and eliminated by the four-winged Apostles.
Well, no matter. In about ten days, there would be a forced reset anyway, so I could just ask her then.
Who could have predicted that a casual conversation would lead to so many tangents and associations? Fortunately, it hadn't delayed my cooking process too much. After an hour, a steaming pot of sour fish stew was finally ready.
"It smells so good!" Adrian exclaimed, catching a whiff of the aroma from afar, even before the dish reached the table.
"Really? Hehe, this is my first time trying it out!" I beamed with pride.
Sour fish stew wasn't particularly difficult; many people knew how to make it. But recreating the authentic flavors using the various exotic ingredients found in this other world was an entirely different challenge.
It took me a long time to develop this recipe, which I had originally planned to surprise Reed with, since I had promised her back in Edenmere that I would cook for her to try. Little did I expect that Adrian would get to enjoy it first.
"Hmm..." Adrian stared at the bowl in front of him, hesitating for quite a while before finally picking up his spoon and scooping up a bit of the broth.
"Let me try it first. We're supposed to drink the soup, right?"
"Of course, you didn't think this was some dark cuisine, did you?" I felt a little offended by his attitude. He had exclaimed how good it smelled, yet now he seemed reluctant to take a bite!
"Dark cuisine?" Adrian blinked in confusion, but quickly realized what those two words implied and hurriedly denied it.
"Of course not, it looks absolutely delicious!"
With that, he forgoed the spoon and took a sip directly from the bowl.
"How is it?" I asked nervously, having finally seen him taste it.
To be honest, I had snuck a few bites while cooking, and thought the flavor was decent - otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to serve it. But considering the potential differences in taste preferences with people from this other world, it was hard to say if he would find it palatable.
Fortunately, his face didn't turn any bizarre shades of purple. After savoring the taste for a moment, Adrian finally offered his evaluation.
"It's a bit sour..."
"Huh?" Wasn't that stating the obvious? Sour fish stew was named as such for a reason - it was supposed to have a sour taste. Did he find it unpalatable?
"What's causing that sourness?" Adrian wondered aloud after seeing my perplexed expression.
"Lemon?" I guessed.
"No way!" Adrian exclaimed, as if I had said something outrageous.
"Why don't you try it yourself?" he suggested, pushing the bowl toward me.
"I already have, and there's definitely no lemon flavor!" I still found it hard to believe, but seeing his insistent look, I finally gave in and took a sip from the bowl.
"Whoa—pah pah pah!" I nearly spat it out. At first, I didn't notice anything unusual, but then an intense sour flavor assaulted my senses. Caught off guard, I nearly broke out in a cold sweat from the sourness.
"Why is it so sour? It wasn't like this earlier..."
The sour taste in the sour fish stew typically came from pickled greens, but the authentic way of making those required a curing process. With my busy travels, I never had the patience to slowly pickle greens. Even back on Earth, I would just buy the ready-made ones from the supermarket!
Now in this other world, there were no ready-made pickled greens available at the markets. My only option was to find a substitute.
The replacement I found was an ingredient called "Romnian Sour Grass." Not only did it look similar to pickled greens, but the flavor was extremely close as well. So I decided to use it directly as the souring agent for my sour fish stew.
"Romnian Sour Grass, huh..." Adrian seemed to recognize it when I mentioned the name.
"I've heard that this grass has a strong phototropic nature. The more light elements around it, the more intense its sour taste becomes."
"So it was a trap!" My heart sank as if a million wildebeests had stampeded through it. After all that effort developing the recipe, who would have thought it would change flavors in this unique environment! No wonder it didn't taste as sour initially - it was because I had just taken it out of my storage ring, before the light elements could fully affect it.
"However, the fish itself is quite nice," Adrian remarked, seemingly reluctant to give up. He speared a piece with his fork and took a bite, his face showing surprise.
"Since it's not as infused with the broth, when combined with the sour taste, it actually has a unique mellow quality."
"Really?" I asked skeptically, worried he was just trying to placate me.
"Of course, I'm not lying! Don't believe me? You can try it for yourself." Adrian kept putting pieces of fish into his mouth, not appearing dishonest, which helped ease my mind a little.
"It smells so good!" Another voice suddenly rang out, startling both Adrian and me as we sat eating by the doorway.