Breakfast For The Cultured

After waking up from a full night of sleep, I usually take around a minute or two to get the strength to fight against the lulling comfort of my bed. The warmth of being covered up all night under a blanket is like the world's strongest drug against the cold air that awaits outside.

Today, though, there was no struggle to grow alert and awake.

…Not when mere moments after I awoke I found myself being little-spooned by a pair of dainty arms and a petite body pressing into mine.

I didn't jump out of bed or really react outwardly at all. But internally, I felt like I was having a heart attack as many conflicting thoughts threatened to break my brain.

Like… Who the fuck non-consensually jumps into a stranger's bed and holds them in their sleep?

"Demi-Human Females," the traitorous knowledge I possessed enlightened me right away. "Apparently, they're supposed to be very touchy-feely; especially to their superiors and people who rank higher than them in whatever hierarchy, be it social or strength-based."

That still isn't enough for me to forgive this kind of panic-inducing dread. I mean, how am I supposed to sleep again, knowing I could wake up with some psycho hanging onto me? My personal space was violated goddamn it! What if the next time it's not a cute cat-girl spooning me and instead I wake up to a knife being jabbed into my neck?!

"Why the fuck are you being so irrational?" It was getting annoying being chastised by my own mind, "Who would want to assassinate you of all people? The Emperor would have killed you already if he wanted to and you haven't made any enemies. No one, not even Alex, knows how valuable you are, so stop being such a paranoid idiot."

"Mhmm… Whatever," I grumbled as I broke free from Ily's hold over my chest.

I turned to look at her and… Of course, she was only wearing underwear.

I rolled my eyes as I got out of bed, covered her up with the blanket, and proceeded to leave for the kitchen after dressing myself with some of the articles of clothing articles I'd bought in Demoire.

…

[New Skills Alert!

New Branching Transcendence Path Unlocked!

Titles:

Name: Junior Spirit Chef

Grade: F

Effect: Effective Magic Potency increase, and Magic Cost decrease, by 5% when using Spirit Cooking Skills. Additionally, Spirit Cooking Skills are 10% easier to improve.

Skills:

Name: Magic Cooking

Grade: F

Description: The ability to synergize one's personal magic with spirit cooking ingredients. Currently, this Skill requires direct contact with an ingredient to imbue it with magic.

Name: Spirit Cooking Appraisal

Description: Derived from integrated knowledge via [Plant Identification], this Skill allows you to instantly appraise any Unique Class Spirit Dish or below along with some Epic Class Spirit Dishes.]

I couldn't be bothered to wait for Alex to wake up and cook me something to eat, so I decided to try my hand at some Spirit Cooking because… Why not? It was like a discount version of Alchemy that gave people who consumed it long-term buffs without the chance of getting poisoned with Pill Toxicity.

At worst, I'd just make and have to eat normal food. But, if I succeeded, I would be able to give myself a slight stamina boost for the next couple of hours.

[Skill "Spirit Cooking Appraisal" triggered.]

[Appraised Status:

Name: Shakshuka

Rating: Poor (55%)

Grade: Common

Effect: Reduces Stamina Cost for everything by 0.5% for 2 hours

Description: A simple dish of poached eggs made in a sauce of simmered tomatoes, garlic, onion, oil, peppers, and various spices. Accompanied with normal bread. There are enough servings to apply the Spirit Cooking Effect to four people.]

Four people? I didn't expect my first dish to be a success even if I wasn't using the Spirit Cooking equivalent to Practice Fodder that I had in my workstation. Though… I wasn't too sure about the potency of the Spirit Cooking. I made the whole pot of Shakshuka for myself, after all. It was a shame that the effects would not stack by the number of servings.

"Good morning, Quarth," Alex said just as I set the pot of food down at the kitchen table. "I didn't know you could cook," she wiped her eyes. "I've also never seen you get up this early…"

"Yesterday was exhausting," I shrugged. "You want to split my breakfast with me?" It was only common courtesy to ask.

"Sure," She smiled only to suddenly tilt her head in confusion as she looked at the pot of food. "Er… Just let me boost the taste," she did a poor job at hiding how uncultured she was.

"The Shakshuka Dish is actually my first attempt at Spirit Cooking, so you'll probably end up doing more than just elevating the dish's flavor."

"What?" Alex blinked at me owlishly as the glow of her hands died.

I, of course, ignored her in favor of re-appraising the dish.

[Skill "Spirit Cooking Appraisal" triggered.]

[Appraised Status:

Name: Shakshuka

Rating: Mediocre (68%)

Grade: Common

Effect: Reduces Stamina Cost for everything by 1% for 3 hours]

"Nice," I grinned as I stood up and fetched her a plate.

I came back with a spatula to divide the entire pot in half and put her food on the plate. Then from the pot directly, I started scooping up pieces of egg smothered in the tomato-based sauce and by god was it glorious. The experience convinced me that I could probably cook up literal garbage and Alex's broken [Amplification] Skill could make even that taste divine.

After watching how I ate, Alex hesitantly copied me and once she had her first bite, she too devoured her plate to the point of leaving it nearly spotless. I took her enthusiasm as the compliment it was before moving on to more serious matters.

"So about yesterday…" I slowly said to draw her attention. Only when I was certain she was listening intently did I continue saying, "I managed to establish a way to meet the Emperor's monthly stipulations pretty much whenever I want. Apparently, I'm already a good enough Alchemist to make millions of Zenicopper with just a few hours of dedicated pill-concocting."

"I won't go into why or how that is. You just have to understand that even in the worst-case scenario, I can just buy the ingredients, crops, herbs, and whatever else the Emperor demands of us."

"Ok?" Alex lamely intoned into a question. She didn't seem to know what to make of the bombshell I just dropped on her.

"Ok?" I mocked her, perhaps more than a little childishly. "Come on, Alex… Don't you have anything else to say? Not only did we suddenly get four completely loyal subordinates, but even without them around, you have me to cover for you if there is something — anything else — you want to do."

"Um… But I don't really want anything," She quietly said. "I'm happy with how things are. I have a roof over my head, a house free of conflict, and you never seem bothered to help me. There's always food stocked in the kitchen, the water is clean, and I'm free to take breaks when I'm tired."

Oh, she was so pitiful… I almost felt bad for being upset by her depressing attitude.

Almost.