Chapter 33 - [Cooking!]

"Damn he was cool!" Olivia spoke out a few minutes after Adrian vanished. Though everyone was relaxed, their eyes soon turned to Julia with a bit of pity in them. But then all of them turned to Tisha who was sitting in the corner finishing up the last of the bread piece.

"How is he?" Asked Samantha with her eyes narrowing at Trisha. She wiped the bread crumbs on her mouth before she looked at Julia and then the rest of them before speaking with a far serious voice,

"He is strong."

The rest of them were a bit surprised but they kind of expected that from the information that they obtained from Julia. But the Samantha wanted to confirm something more,

"How strong? Was it the same as Luke where you can't read because he was too powerful? Or you could see his stats? Did you get any glimpse of any of his skills?"

And those questions, Trisha made a rather odd expression before speaking,

"I don't know. To be fair, I am sure he is strong but how much… I dare not say."

Everyone turned silent. Trisha seemed a bit scared as well before took a long breath before speaking,

"When I used my skill on him. It wasn't showing [The Target is too powerful!] or showing his stats but…"

"But?" Julia

"But?" Samantha

"But?" Flare

"It said, [You do not have the authority to view the status of the Target's information!]," Trisha spoke as she gulped before she looked at the rest of the girls looking at her with their eyes widening slowly.

[Adrian's POV!]

.

Moving back up on the roof, I then looked in the direction where Alice and Mark were. According to the map, they were with a few more players and a dozen NPCs there.

[Points: 634,871!]

[GM Points: 6750!]

Among the top 10 items of the [Shop], I think only 4 were left now. Two were weapons, an A-Grade Bow and a B-Grade Spear. Both of which weren't appealing enough to me.

The third one was an artifact which helped increase the fire resistance. It could be useful later, but I don't want it right now. Finally, there was this…

[Skill: Professional Cooking!

Grade: B

Description: Allows the user to enhance the effect of the food cooked by him to a certain degree! The taste of the food, the nutrition it provides, will be all boosted! There is a chance of getting temporary buffs from the food cooked by the user!

Effects:

-The food will be more tasty, highly nutritious and increase the mood of the user who eats it!

-There is a chance of gaining random buff from the food (Upto 10%).

-You can cook all types of foods and will naturally see recipes with just basic ingredients!

-You can see the cooking method of all processed and cooked food items.

Cost: 350,000 Points!]

Earlier, I wouldn't even be thinking of taking it, but now that I had so many points lying in waste with more to come, I decided to buy it. It's not like I don't like cooking. 

With that done, I bought about a dozen mana potions and half a dozen health potions. And then looking through the shop, I think someone was buying all the things that were cheaper. All the times except those which can be bought indefinitely, were sold. 

'There isn't even a single item below 100,000 Points anymore,' I thought before closing the [Shop!].

I closed my eyes for a few moments before collecting my thoughts and then I sighed as I reached two conclusions.

"It's Luke again," I spoke as I slowly got down from the top of the apartment. He probably was trying to put pressure on the rest of the people in the tutorial. His goal of superiority was pretty much obvious now.

Though… 

"He is still a fool, nonetheless."

My second conclusion was based on two things. Half the things in the [Shop]were useless or they were items that can be stolen. Other than the [Aura] [Cooking] [Mana Sword], all other skills were [E-Grade] or lesser. Essentially it was a waste of points. 

Second was that, nobody knows if points are only used in the [Shop] or maybe something else later on. There was no saying that new items won't be added in the future. I mean, we just got introduced to [Shop] in the tutorial, after all. Plus there was addition of those [Boats] as well.

"Well. It does not concern me," I yawned as I had taken all the things that I wanted from the [Shop!]. Unless new items appear, I don't think I would need to call that white goblin again.

Jumping from one building to another, I was more focused on hunting and increasing my GM Points. The tutorial was coming to an end, and I should make the most out of it. 

-Bang!

[You have killed a D-Grade Monster: Pelikan!]

[+500 GM Points!]

-Bang!

[You have killed a D-Grade Monster: Pelikan!]

[+500 GM Points!]

-Bang!

[You have killed a D-Grade Monster: Pelikan!]

[+500 GM Points!]

[In the South corner of the city: Near the forest area where the Group of Alice and Mark was!]

"Well. That makes about 1 Million Points. Do we even need anything from the [Shop] anymore? Most of the things are useless anyway," Mark spoke as he raised his silver bow, and took a shot at another [Pelikan!] coming his way. 

-Shing!

The arrow flew straight to the heart of that bird, killing it in one shot. 

"Maybe we will need it in the next Tutorial? There are certainly way too many points in the tutorial than we need for the shop. For now, let's just collect as much as we could," Alice, who was much more frank with Mark, now spoke as she clicked her fingers creating 10 [Fire Balls!] within a few seconds.

This is what she got after using her [Upgrade] skill on the [Fireball] spell. The quantity and the quality both increased with only a single upgrade. And given the gift Alice had, a single spell was enough to burn down a dozen water goblins at once.

"I am pretty much useless here, aren't I?" Alex, the third strongest guy in the group, had a wry smile as he stood there guarding the NPCs behind Alice and Mark. Other than him, there were two more people incharge of helping the NPCs in case they needed anything.

"Having you protecting our back is a big relief Alex," Mark tried to cheer him up, but that didn't go well as he then killed three more pelikans in the next three shots. Then Mark sighed as he spoke,

"I wonder what Adrian is doing. He should have gotten back to the safe zone, right? I still feel bad that we had to leave him urgently."

Though Alice didn't think it was wrong of them to do so.

"We were pressed for time, Mark. The quest was pretty urgent if you forgot about it," Alice spoke making Mark sigh as he mumbled,

"I know. But still…"

"Don't worry. Given how he is, he might be doing even better than we do. For now, if we want to be helpful, we must do our best as well," Alice said, cheering Mark up as he nodded and then looked at the incoming monsters.

"Hehe. Good thing he is naive," Alex spoke as he laughed a little before turning to Alice," but it's sad, right? I wonder how he will react when he finds that his friend is no more. What are you going to say to him then?"

Alice was confused before she asked," what do you mean he is no more?"

Alex scoffed before speaking," Please. Last I remember he was barely lucky. Plus he went out in the rain at night when the monsters were high, remember? Him not returning should have been a clue already."

"I guess so. But you see," Alice then created a couple of fireballs and threw at the monsters again before continuing,

"You probably don't know about him, but from the same class as him and as the class president, I was supposed to help out every person there is. Including Adrian."

The narration began gathering Alex's attention as he looked at Alice with slight interest.

"His story was far more odd than anyone else's. You can say he was surviving even before all this apocalypse," Alice spoke making Alex narrow his eyes at her before she continued,

"In the beginning it was a normal check up, but because I was intrigued, I looked thoroughly into his life. Even used my uncle's laptop. My uncle is a commissioner by the way. So it was something like this…"

"Adrian was an orphan and spent the first decade of his life in Saint Peter's Orphanage."

"At the age of 10, Adrian ran away from the orphanage when the father of that orphanage tried molesting him. He found a job in the back alley, and grew up among the thieves and gangsters, where killing or being killed was normal. Fun fact, that child molestor father was killed within the next three years."

"Adrian worked for 3 years, before he suddenly joined a middle school through some backdoor means. The date matches the death of that child molester. Adrian later also found a part time job where he worked relentlessly, paying for his rent and school fees. His daily necessities were fulfilled by his savings from 3 years."

Alice paused as she created another round of fireballs and threw at the last batch of goblins. She stretched a little before continuing…

"Our school was famous for bullying and fighting as well. There were many from rich backgrounds who loved to pick on aloof or silent kids. But yet, why do you think Adrian was never picked even once in his 3 years of high school? He should have been an easy target, right?"  

Alex was silent as he heard Alice's words before she concluded,

"You see Alex, Adrian isn't the type of person who would die from something like this. His survival skills are far more than anyone present in this tutorial. And if you still doubt my words, just think of this. Was he really lucky to find those NPCs?"

Alice then turned around focusing on the monsters in the sky, this time she had a slight smirk on her face.

"And while you still have time, why don't you ask the NPCs how he saved them. Maybe you will find something interesting?" She spoke before unleashing a few more fireballs. Alex on the other hand, looked at her with a deep gaze before he turned towards the NPCs.

Giving it a bit of thought, he began walking towards them. Especially the first batch that Adrian saved on the first day of the tutorial.