A Strong Cook

Food supplies back then weren't going low per se, but with the addition of Licia and Claire, I had to buy a few more things in order to not run out in the near future.

It was also the first time I could use the money earned in the Dungeon for something useful, and I was quite happy about it.

While it's normally something I don't pay too much attention to, being the girls made the experience unique.

They were amazed by the quantity and variety of products, as well as their freshness.

Even though they knew about markets, they couldn't help but comment about how different the ones in their worlds were.

Licia: "There's so much in here, and everything looks so good, this is incredible!"

Claire: "No wonder you can cook so well, even in my father's state you wouldn't be able to find such high-quality ingredients. No, this may even be above what the royal chefs are able to procure..."

It hurts a little bit to hear her imply that I'm only good thanks to the ingredients I use, but I can't deny what I'm able to find in a modern market is obviously way better than even what kings and queens of medieval ages could find.

I also never thought of myself as a good cook, I do have experience cooking, but since it was mostly for my sister and myself, I only know how to do some basic stuff.

However, since they always react so strongly, I do have the desire to improve a little more...

As for the market, even though I wanted to enjoy their excitement even more, we eventually had to leave since I still had to prepare dinner and do my rolls.

So, once we were home, the girls went to take their baths while I organized the stuff we just bought.

Since it didn't take too long, I started making dinner right away.

And well... since we had a surplus, I decided to be a bit more extravagant. Although it would be dishonest of me to say that Claire's comment didn't might have had some weight to this decision.

The result, however, was predictable.

They were just as happy as ever, but there wasn't any noticeable effect...

In the end, if putting more stuff was enough, there would be no need or respect for chefs in this world.

Still, I kept in mind that I should try harder next time.

And with all of that out of the way, I started doing the rolls.

Now that I had five tickets, the [Skills Banner] was bound to provide something good amidst its variety of skills, so I went for it.

This earned me the following skills:

[Movement Speed Up

As the user already has this skill, its level and effects have simply been increased.]

[Mana Control

A skill that allows for less taxing mana usage when casting spells or using skills, as the user already possesses this skill, its level, and effects have been increased.]

[Swordsmanship

Allows for better usage of swords and bladed weapons to a lesser extent, due to the user already being in possession of this skill, its level and effectiveness have been increased.]

I already had these three skills, so all of their levels simply increased, alongside their effects.

While the majority of the tickets ended up not providing new skills, I was happy with this as well since they are some of my more powerful/reliable skills.

Among them, [Mana Control] is the one I used the least, but as time goes on when I can cast magic more often, this one was probably going to be as useful as the others.

Most mages have this skill at a high level, and it's essential to have it to use multiple magic at the same time.

Since I can increase its level without training, there was a lot of potential for me to reach their level, or even surpass it.

As for [Swordsmanship] and [Movement Speed Up], even though I don't use a sword, since the effects of [Swordsmanship] still apply to bladed weapons to a lesser extent, I was feeling more comfortable using my dagger.

And [Movement Speed Up], being a straight status increase, is always good. I can't think of a single situation where it wouldn't be good to have it, and my speed is an attribute I've been relying on quite a lot in fights as the monsters have a harder time dealing with a faster opponent compared to a stronger one.

However, I also got new skills.

[Culinary Arts

Allows the user a better understanding of recipes and more creativity when cooking.

Increases the overall cooking ability and enhances the taste of anything prepared by the user.

This is a passive skill, as such, its effects are always activated, the user, however, may choose to deactivate it at any time]

[Last Man Standing

For each ally defeated or killed in battle, increases the user's strength and defense appropriately.

There's no cap for this skill's effectiveness but it should be noted that the only targets counted for the purposes of this skill are the ones that see the user as an ally and that the user also sees as an ally.

This is an active skill, at a minimum it costs 1 mana point for every second it's activated. Every other target that is targeted by this skill, will increase its mana cost appropriately.

For this skill to be activated, at least one defeated ally needs to be targeted.]

...The timing for the first one couldn't be better.

Although simple, it is almost as if my Gift took pity on me.

I was just questioning my own culinary abilities, and so, even though it isn't a skill that makes me stronger in any way, I was looking forward to using it.

I welcome these kinds of skills that can make life better and the girls happier.

And thinking about the future, this would also be helpful to convince new summons to stay.

Based on my experience with Licia and Claire, offering a secure place to rest, and good food to eat, seem to go a long way, and getting better at cooking helps with that.

Contrary to this one, the second skill was much more combat-oriented, which was pretty good considering that any skill of this type should make whatever situation the ]Events] might present less risky.

Although to be honest, there are some problems with it.

Needing an ally to be defeated in order for it to be activated is a huge downside.

I'm not a monster to try and scheme to use this at the expense of the girls, or even Roy and Sam, and I would want to prevent a situation where this skill is relevant as much as possible.

Yet, I do understand that some things are inevitable, and since a situation like that was bound to be difficult, having this skill would certainly assist in making things better.

So it's situational, and while I hope I don't need it, I'm glad to have it.

Especially considering that the effect it has on me is quite good.

Overall, I'd say the results this time were quite good.

The strongest skills were repeats, but I was lucky with them, and the new ones had their uses.

Also, just the fact that I did not acquire [Faster Tree Climbing] made this set of rolls so much better.

As for my next task, I decided to claim and use the Kingdom Points available to acquire some skills for myself since I had devoted yesterday's points to the girls.

As for what I had in mind, first, I got Claire's [Fire Sword Arts].

Since she raised it to level 3, it ended up costing me 6 kingdom points, but since today I had claimed 13, it was fine to spend this much.

I was also curious about her [Blessing Of Abdure] since it was a skill I had never heard of, but when I tried to obtain it, a message appeared saying "This skill cannot be obtained". It didn't seem like I could circumvent this in any way, so I had no choice but to give up on that.

Next on the list was Licia's [Ice Magic], but even at level 1 it was priced at 10 points, so I had to pass on it too.

However, it wasn't such a big deal since we still had time and I could acquire it tomorrow.

And so, I decided to get Claire's [Fire Magic] as a replacement since at level 1 it only cost me 5 kingdom points.

With the amount of points I had left, there wasn't anything particularly interesting that I wanted to acquire, so I saved them until my next opportunity.

And then, it came time for the last business of the day, the [Mana Banners].

The most I ever got out of them was a dagger, and the rings that didn't have any effect, so my expectations weren't very high.

But now that my mana pool had increased and I could spend more without suffering from mana depletion, there was a chance I could get something better with a single roll. Especially considering that other banners had been unlocked now that I had more mana.

Still, even considering the new [Mana Banners], the weapons were the only thing that seemed worthwhile, so I went for it as usual.

What I got from it was the best drop ever. The same dagger that I had previously gotten.

It had been a while since I got it though, so perhaps increasing the mana spent on it increased the chance of a better drop.

And well... it wasn't as useless of a drop as the rings.

At least I could dual-wield the daggers, although it would probably take me a bit of time to adapt since I had grown accustomed to using a single dagger to fight.

Everything considered, outside of the times I rolled on the [Companions Banner], this was probably the best result I have ever had with the gacha rolls.

The [Mana Banners] gave me something good for once, and the rolls on the normal gacha banners provided me with a lot of great skills too.

Still, while the gains from the [Companions Banner] might overshadow the others due to the synergy it has with my Gift and the boom in fighting power of the party, the fact is that it comes attached with a few problems and circumstances.

And so, while not as fast, doing things this way allowed me to continue moving ahead while also reducing the risks.