7 Growth

"Haaah..." a pleasurable sigh was released from Jim's mouth, it had been a week since the first usage of Cooking Assistance, he worked out like a madman every day, repeatedly seeing large progress, his muscles were more defined, his stomach had pulled in somewhat. Trusting the [Improved Rest] Function caused him to not think about moderation, he worked out until he couldn't move, purchased food from the shop and let the Cooking Assist fix it up, then ate, rested, and worked out even more.

[Strength: 23]

[Dexterity: 20]

[Vitality: 19]

[Agility: 18]

[Magic: 0]

He hadn't leveled up yet, nor had he figured out how to gain experience, but the repeated body training, high quality food, and supernatural-level healing caused him to catch up to a regular human's condition, then surpass it. His points had decreased by the dozens each day and his skills hadn't been trained, but the large growth in status caused him to fall in love with this lifestyle.

However, he felt it had been long enough, his skills needed to be increased sooner or later, might as well be sooner. After feeling slightly bad that he had purchased a supernatural ability and didn't use it, he set his mind to training it. Focusing on his hands he attempted to will energy into gathering in his palm similarly to when he was a teen, after several minutes, he felt a sudden jolt in his hand, the palm was shining, only slightly, but seeing the faint blue hue appear made him indescribably happy.

[Reiki Healing Technique Level Up]

[Reiki Healing Technique Has Reached Level 2]

Jim focused, attempting to feel the energy, it was like his senses were dampened, hardly perceptible, but his mind could just barely touch upon something, after a couple of minutes, the blue light suddenly vanished and he felt a wave of exhaustion. "Is my mp depleted? Wait, does this even use mp?"

Resuming working out, he ate, then attempted to use Reiki again, it was successful, but he could only keep it up for a handful of seconds, the recovery rate of energy must be quite low, Jim decided to take a nap, waking a few hours later he resumed training, working out, eating, then Reiki practice, the blue light stayed active for approximately the same time as his first attempt, the feeling of exhaustion wasn't as bad once it depleted though, rinse and repeat, he continued on with this routine for an entire month.

Suddenly during Reiki training, it was like his mind made a connection which wasn't there previously, he could feel the energy pouring out of his hand with his eyes closed, it was like a dense cloud of mist.

[Reiki Healing Technique Level Up]

[Reiki Healing Technique Has Reached Level 4]

Leveling up this skill has been considerably slower than any other, except for cooking, which only reached level 6 despite using it every single day, he had a feeling this was due to his actual comprehension, having it done automatically doesn't challenge himself and would cause far slower growth than learning the intricacies. "Hmm, it might be time to really learn how to cook." What was a satisfying but simple way to cook? Grilling! He had an old grill in storage, Jim decided to head to the store to buy some Charcoal, why wouldn't he use the Shop? Are you crazy? Jim is, but he's not dumb, okay, he's a little dumb. Let's put that aside, why use precious points when he can use cash?

After heading back he purchased another Buflan Steak from the Shop, the flavor was simply far above anything he had tried at the supermarket, this was one point he wasn't going to skimp on. firing up the grill in the small backyard, he placed the meat on the rack, using tongs to flip it over occasionally, he was a bit lost on what kind of timing to use, Jim began regretting using a Buflan Steak for learning, if he turned it into a burnt mess then his loss would be even worse.

Jim felt it was almost done, maybe, suddenly the back gate opened, his mother had returned and was surprised to find him actually cooking something, moreover the smell was terrific. She started to doubt her eyes for a second looking at Jim's greatly changed figure, but recognized it was really him.

"Make some for me too." She headed inside, Jim was lost for a second, but agreed, he didn't really want to wait for another steak to be done so just decided on splitting the current one in half and serving it like that. "Mmm..." Jane was in her 60s and had been through a lot during her life, but she had never tasted such a juicy tender steak, sitting back to savor the taste while slowly chewing, Jim was suddenly startled.

[Congratulations Host, Someone Has Enjoyed Your Cooking, 5 Points Awarded.]

'...WHAT!?', Jim stifled himself from yelling and let out his voice in his head, a Buflan Steak costs 2 points and is rather large, after someone had only taken one bite he got 5 points in return. Jim's mind started churning on how to best make use of this. He started intently watching his mother as she finished the meal, unfortunately no further points were awarded, he had hoped there'd be an additional award for each bite, oh well, this can still be used.

Jane had long since gotten to know her son doesn't like to talk much, his well-being was one of her greatest concerns, seeing him outside earlier was rather shocking, and cooking, too, he never took the initiative to do such things before, she decided not to bug him about it, if her prying destroyed this progress he had made, she would definitely regret it. So she just went to busy herself in her room.

Jim was lost in thought on how to capitalize on waht he had just learned, first he needed to check if it was a one-time award or not, he continued his training routine in his room, after waking from a short nap it was around dinner time, Jane was about to start cooking but he stopped her, he wanted to try making the soup, he omitted the God of Cooking's Soup Stock this time and just used store-bought bouillon.

The result was very satisfying, once he was sure the meat was fully cooked he served it in bowls, Jane's eyes shot open when she started chewing the meat and veggies.

[Congratulations Host, Someone Has Enjoyed Your Cooking, 20 Points Awarded.]

'Yes!' He made a fist-pump in his mind, knowing that it can be repeated is great, now he just needed to put this into practice. After careful consideration, he decided to purchase a portable stove, cleaning up an old crock pot and ladle, he bought a large amount of bouillon and decided to put his plan into practice.