126 Makeshift Kitchen

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this..."

Riku couldn't help but frown as he stared at the few ingredients he currently had in front of him. Now in the middle of a makeshift kitchen, the image of having a countertop, a stove, and everything he would ever need in the middle of an underground root system cave was something straight out of a magical fantasy land. Granted, everything that had happened to him in the past... month or so, if he was counting right, was very much completely out of this world. What more was having to cook underground using a stove and equipment made of literal Chaos to add onto the list of things that he never thought he would do?

"But you can still do it, right?" Nyx eagerly asked from where she was sitting. "I'm really excited to see what you have in store, my Champion."

"Oh, I have some ideas. I'm just trying to sort things out in my head at the moment," Riku quickly replied. "Just sit there and keep us safe."

Obviously, any chef of his caliber could work with any ingredient they could come across. While he was primarily a sushi chef, there were still some exotic ingredients like cassava that he could compare to this wooden thing that was currently in front of him. The scarabs came to him easily enough, at least. After all, fried insects were a thing in Southeast Asia, and he was sure that Nyx would eat anything so long as it was edible. As such, it all came down to how he would prepare edible wood without knowing what it exactly was and its potential.

"I actually have some idea on how to cook this wood thing, Riku," Shizu helpfully added as she stood in front of him from the other side of the makeshift counter. "I grew up in a mountain town, and we ate a lot of root vegetables."

"So you know what kind of food this thin is closest to then?" he quickly asked.

Shizu blinked before scratching the back of her head. "Erhm... Not really? But from the looks of it, it looks like some kind of cassava. We usually just boil it and eat it with salt or sugar."

Riku immediately frowned at such options. While he would concede that such methods were valid and often times adequate for eating, his pride as a professional wouldn't be content with just eating cassava like that. He needed to prove himself. He needed to make something that would actually hone his skills in cooking.

"Actually, how about cassava cake?"

His suggestion immediately put shock into Shizu's face and delight on Nyx's. After all, saying that he was going to make cake was already an insane proposition. On top of preparation and time, they were literally in the middle of hostile territory. Who knows when another mob of scarabs and ents would come crashing down on them? And that wasn't to mention that while they were fine with going down a few ranks in the Game, they still didn't want to be last.

"Are you... Wouldn't that take too long?" Shizu confusedly asked.

"It won't be too long, I'm sure," he insisted as he brandished his knife. "And besides, if Nyx here isn't worried about our placements, then we should be fine, isn't that right?"

"We're pretty much still third and fourth respectively," Nyx excitedly nodded with drool dripping from the side of her mouth. "Feel free to spend as much time as you want here. I'm sure it won't be too bad."

"And there's our answer," Riku scoffed back with a wave of his knife. "Knowing Nyx though, she might be embellishing the information a bit, but she wouldn't be dumb enough to risk our odds at winning the Game."

"Exactly! I don't even take offense to that," the goddess shamelessly added.

Shizu blinked before letting out a resigned smile. "Okay then. Let's get started."

With the fortune teller taking some of the lead, Riku went to work in preparing cassava cake for the three of them. With the dish being more of a Southeast Asian thing, he was surprised that Shizu of all people knew how to make one. He also knew, of course, but his knowledge on it was rusty since he only made it once during his time learning how to cook.

"Where's the sugar?"

"Down there."

"Any mashing tool of some kind?"

"I'll do it."

Like a well oiled machine, they blended well into their respective tasks, the two of them flying back and forth as they made their desert. Some time along the way, Riku even let Shizu do the rest of the cake while he focused more on the scarabs that needed to be prepared. Sticking with simplicity, he cut up some of the massive beetles into bite-sized chunks before tossing them into a mix of flour and other spices. He then threw them into a pot of oil to fry them before serving them on top of a pile of paper towels. For added measure, he made some vegetable tempura using the few other food items that Nyx got for them.

"I'm drooling already, my Champion!" Nyx vibrated from her seat like an excited toddler. "Can I have a piece of already?"

"Later," he pointedly denied her. "Also, you've been drooling since before we even started cooking."

"Yeah, Nyx. Be patient," Shizu giggled as she held up a batch of cooked cassava cake. "We can eat once everything's ready."

"But I'm ready now," the goddess grumbled.

Shaking their heads, the two Champions simply continued with their work. Eventually, they served their dishes onto the counter with Nyx already staring greedily at her food.

"Woah..." the goddess gaped in awe. "You two are the best!"

"Eat up then," Riku smirked as he began snacking on some of the cooked scarab he made. "We'll be moving after this, so best regain our strength now."

Standing by the stove, the former assassin couldn't help but smile in satisfaction at another job well done. Truly, seeing people enjoy his food only made his decision to become a chef make even more sense. It was nice to not use a knife to kill, even if he was still very much good at it.