Arcane Chef - Slice of Life x Adventure LitRPG

The roads out of town were quiet, passing through farmland and sparsely forested areas. I noticed that two more wagons had joined us on the way out.

“Hey Milo?” I asked, getting his attention. “Is it normal for more wagons to follow the group?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty common. I’d say by the time we reach Boltron, we’ll be over seven wagons long,” Milo explained.

“And you need to guard all of them?” I asked, confused.

“No, not at all. We’re only paid to protect Troy and Saddie. We won’t just watch the others die, of course, but in the event of a large ambush or attack, they’re on their own while we ensure the safety of those who have paid us for the trip. They take the risk anyway because of safety in numbers.”

That made sense, especially after the ambush the other day, but it also raised more questions.

“Wouldn’t the extra wagons make the group a bigger target for attacks like that?” I asked Milo curiously.

“So yes and no. Truthfully, ambushes like the other day are not very common around here, and they become even less likely the further we get toward Boltron. It gets incredibly dangerous the closer we come to the Dark Forest, but the roads from the forest to Mount Divinus and Boltron are regularly patrolled. We’re far more likely to run into predators or territorial beasts than humans looking to steal our goods,” Milo said thoughtfully before continuing.

“Honestly, you don’t see many bandits on the road unless they have a village or town nearby where they can stock up, recruit, and get drunk.”

“So we’ll run into something dangerous?” I asked curiously.

“I hope not, but it’s certainly possible,” Milo replied.

Another hour passed before we stopped for lunch. I quickly learned that the other wagons had stopped on their own and set up camp at a respectful distance—but still clearly within sight.

Once Milo had set up the shelter, I pulled out the leftover boar from the night before. Unfortunately, it wasn’t still hot since we had eaten it for quite a while in the evening, but it was still warm and very tender. I surprised everyone when I also pulled out rolls that were still warm to the touch from the bakery that morning. Everyone joined in—Saddie and Jordan didn’t even hold back this time.

Oh, and I finally learned the name of Saddie’s driver: Simon.

When lunch was over, there wasn’t much boar left on the carcass, but some remained, and the bones could be used for soup, so I kept them. We quickly got back on the road.

I activated my Arcane Foraging skill, figuring I might as well try to train it a little, but I didn’t get a chance to use it actively. I pulled up my notifications and status since it had been a while since I last checked them.

Notifications:

You have reached Level 5 in Knifework

You have 1 available Evolution Quest

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal

You have earned 50 bonus experience for healing someone with your meal

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal

…

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal

You have earned 50 bonus experience for healing someone with your meal

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal

I saw all my increases from the meals I’d been handing out, but what really caught my attention was an evolution quest. I focused on it, trying to pull up more information.

Congratulations! Your Knifework skill has 1 available Evolution Quest:

Perform 50 perfect cuts. - 0/50

“What? Those skills can evolve? I remember seeing on my main class status that it said no evolution was available, but I guess that’s only for the Arcane Chef class itself?”

I asked Milo, riding alongside the wagon. “Hey Milo, what are evolution quests? Or, I guess, anything related to evolutions at all?”

“It’s pretty simple,” Milo replied. “Usually, you get a task that lets you upgrade or refine a skill every five levels. Once it’s complete, you can evolve the skill if you want, or just keep it as is. That said, be mindful—if you upgrade a skill, it resets back to level one.”

“Which skill did you get a quest for?” he asked.

“My Knifework skill hit level five. I have a quest to perform 50 perfect cuts, whatever that means,” I explained.

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Milo thought for a moment. “Well, every skill is different, so you probably won’t share the same paths as other cooks, being a rare class. But the quest usually hints at what the evolution will be. In this case, I’d guess it will make your Knifework more consistent or precise. Then again, it could be something totally unexpected. We’ll find out soon enough, right?” He smiled softly.

The afternoon passed quietly, and eventually, we stopped for the night. I noticed that Liane and Jen had left to go hunting. I was also gaining some experience from them engaging in combat, boosted by the boar’s buff. When we set up camp that evening, Milo put up the usual structure. I saw the other wagons parked nearby, but they were setting up tents and small campfires, keeping a respectful distance from the building.

As dusk settled, Jen and Liane returned to camp. Jen came in first, carrying six rabbits, with a frown on her face.

“Did something happen?” Milo asked.

“You’ll see,” Jen replied, clearly annoyed.

She placed the rabbits down next to me. I’d need to skin them, but skinning rabbits was fairly simple work by now.

It didn’t take long to find out why Jen was annoyed. Liane walked in with the biggest smile I’d ever seen.

“I got some!” she called out, practically bouncing over to me.

“Got what?” I asked, eyeing the large bag she was carrying — oddly dripping with a black substance.

She held the bag out to me. I took it cautiously and opened it. Inside was nightmare fuel: at least five giant green and black spiders.

“What... what is this?” I asked, nearly dropping the bag.

“They’re Leaf Bladed Spiders! Only baby ones, really, but I’ve always wondered what they tasted like. They’re super poisonous, but you.. you can cook them for me!”

“Uh, okay? I’ve never cooked spider before,” I said, unsure but willing to give it a shot. Who knows?

I decided to start with the foods I knew first, especially since the spiders were poisonous. I didn’t want to mix them with the rabbits and vegetables in case of cross-contamination. Either way, tonight I’d purify everything.

Once the rabbits were prepared, I tried something a little different from the usual roast. I quartered each one, browned them off, and in the pot. I cooked some onions, garlic grass, and peppers, along with diced tomatoes and a bit of water. Once that had cooked down, I added the rabbit back in with a little flour, then covered the pot and left it next to the heat to simmer for a while.

Next, I started the boar soup. I grabbed a spare pot and the mostly picked-clean boar carcass. There was still a decent chunk of meat left, though not the prime parts. I broke it up and placed the bones into the pot with onions, garlic grass, celery, diced tubers, plenty of water, and some dried herbs. I also had some split dried peas to use, making a boar and split pea soup. The peas would help thicken the soup once I removed the bones. This would cook overnight for tomorrow.

Once that was set by the fire, the rabbit stew had about an hour left, so I looked at the bag of nightmares.

Ugh, let’s get to it, I thought.

I tried to use Purify on the entire bag, and to my surprise it worked.

Would you like to purify 5x [Uncommon] Leaf Bladed Spider for 50 mana? Yes/No

Would you like to purify [Common] Woven Bag for 10 mana? Yes/No

I chose yes for both, not wanting to take any chances. The entire bag glowed blue as I emptied its contents onto the bench Milo had made for me, tossing the bag aside. Five spiders, each larger than my fist, crawled on the surface.

In the end, unsure what else to do, I went with the tried-and-true roast. I seasoned the spiders with salt, pepper, and chilli peppers, then rubbed them with finely chopped garlic grass. I also removed their enormous pincers—I honestly did not know if they were edible or not.

Milo gave me five stone stakes, and I impaled each spider on its own stick before placing them over the hot coals to roast slowly.

“Liane, I really don’t know how to cook these, but at least they’re purified,” I said with a bit of regret, certain they wouldn’t taste good.

She moved closer to the fire, eyes never leaving the spiders. “They look tasty already! How will we know when they’re cooked?”

“Er.. honestly, I’m not sure. Probably when they’re hot all the way through,” I guessed.

The answer came about ten minutes later. That’s when the spiders started to hiss and pop, and the liquid stopped boiling out of the holes Liane had made when catching them. Liane was just about to take one straight off the fire.

“Hold up, wait a second,” I said, grabbing all five stone rods. “I want to use Infused Flavour on them. Might as well see what kind of buff we get, right?”

Luckily, the parts still stuck in the ground stayed cool to the touch, so the rods weren’t too hot to handle. I held all five close together and activated the skill.

Would you like to Infuse 5x [Uncommon] Roast Leaf Bladed Spider for 50 mana? Yes/No

Selecting “yes” the spiders faintly glowed—and before I knew it, one was missing from my hands. I watched in both horror and disgust as Liane took a giant bite of it.

There was a brief pause before I saw her eyes light up.

“So good,” she said, mouth still full. “You have to try it!” She practically pleaded with the others.

“Not a chance I’m even touching those,” Jen said flatly, her face full of outrage.

Hari said nothing, just shook his head.

Milo shrugged and took a spider as well.

“No!” Jen cried out, shocked. “You will not try it, surely?”

Milo looked at her and shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt to try it,” he said.

“Yes! It can hurt to try it! Those things can kill people!” Jen replied, her outrage growing.

“But he purified it. It’ll be fine,” Milo added calmly.

By this stage, Liane had already finished her first spider and taken two more sticks from me, leaving me with just one. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try a little.

Just as I was about to take a bite, Jen gave me a look of pure offence.

“Not you too!” she said.

I decided not to argue and simply took a bite, crunching down on a couple of legs.

Honestly, the texture was unpleasant, but the flavours were surprisingly good. There was a spicy kick running through the spider, and the garlic added a nice touch. The crunchy exterior and soft, gooey inside took some getting used to.

“I think the rabbit will be better, but the flavours are nice,” I said after a couple of bites.

Milo nodded, having nearly finished his spider. Liane looked like she was in heaven already on her third.

“Are you going to finish it?” she asked, eyeing my spider.

I just laughed and handed her the rest, which she eagerly took.

I turned back to the rabbit and pepper stew, checking to see if it had reduced enough.

Satisfied, I cast Infused Flavour on it too.

Would you like to Infuse [Uncommon] Rabbit Cacciatore for 50 mana? Yes/No

Selecting “yes” I was confused by the name. I guessed it was already a popular, named dish? How odd. I started serving it up, filling ten bowls for everyone in the structure.

My mana was fairly low after all I’d done this evening, sitting at only 25 out of 300. But besides putting the pot and soup into storage, I should get most of it back when I slept.

My thoughts about mana were interrupted by Milo.

“I don’t suppose you checked your buffs in all that excitement, Liane,” he said, glancing over to where she sat eating the rabbit, still eyeing the stone stakes holding the spiders.

“Looks like we’re getting +2 Dexterity from the rabbit, and Minor Improved Stealth and Minor Poison Resistance from the spiders,” he added.

Liane nearly dropped her bowl.

“This is amazing!” she said in awe. “I’m going hunting tonight!” she declared.

Hari just sighed, knowing it would be pointless to stop her.

“Fine,” Hari said, defeated. “I’ll do the solo watch first then.”

I had a sneaking suspicion I’d be cooking more spiders very soon, and that tonight was going to be a great night for experience.