Chapter 106: Mystic Chef’s Blessing Red was armed up: new leather armor, a bow and quiver on his back along with seven throwing spears, and his black sword.
He didn’t have a sheath, and it would be a hassle to carry it by holding the handle. It looked like he was dragging the sword if he carried it like that. So he covered the sword’s blade with thick cloth and carried it by holding the brown cloth that covered the blade.
He went to the open space in front of the half-ruined hall. Tob informed him that the Chief wanted them to gather there.
Red arrived in the area and found almost everyone was staring at him. He was doing something that put him in the spotlight yesterday. He defeated the hobgoblin who tried to take his sword. Then he confronted a group of hobgoblins who wanted to take Darla.
He came out on top in both confrontations, which was why he was in the spotlight today. Most of them were curious and followed with a small part of fear toward him.
The fear arose from the fact that the group of hobgoblins that confronted Red was not present this morning. The rumor about the cries and screams last night also had spread out.
They didn’t need to be smart to connect the dots. The answer was obvious. Red was here, and the other group was not.
He joined the crowd, but the goblins were afraid of getting too close to him. They stood over one step away from him.
Red didn’t really like the spotlight. If it was the old him, he might like the spotlight. He wanted the attention and recognition from the other goblins. But he found out that attention never brought him a good thing. Trouble always followed him after the attention.
Tob came in to rescue, nudging him from the side, "The Chief wants to see you, Boss!"
Red furrowed his brow, and Tob was concerned about that look. "The Chief told us to convey the message to you to meet him inside once you arrive."
Red looked up, scanning the surroundings. All goblins who met his gaze quickly nodded, confirming Tob’s words.
He said nothing and headed toward the hall. The crowd split up as he walked up to the hall. He didn’t see many hobgoblins. He figured out that most of them were inside, and he was right.
These were the most hobgoblins he had ever seen. More than fifty Hobgoblins were lining up on the side with the Chief at the other end. The hobgoblins stared, and some of them glared at him.
He didn’t show weakness, kept his composure, and looked straight at the Chief. That was when he was surprised; something was missing. The Matron, who usually sat below the Chief, was not there; two of them were not there.
’The attack! The matron was killed in the attack.’
That was when he recalled how the kobolds spread their group around the village to sweep the village. The matron must have been killed by that attack.
He was relieved that one of his source problems was no longer alive. He could leave the village at ease with no matron targeting him or his people. Another piece of good news before the war.
"You are finally here!" The Chief’s gruff voice resounded.
Red bowed his head toward the Chief.
"We will depart shortly after our warriors get their fill, but before that, we need you to go ahead and scout the situation for us. The Matron told me you are quite good at doing this thing. Are you?"
Red bowed his head once more, "Yes, Chief!" He responded firmly. His voice was not loud, but it was filled with confidence.
"There’s no need for me to tell you what to do, right?"
"No, Chief! I know what to do!"
"Good. Fill your belly and move out early!"
Red looked up. "But I have a question, Chief. I have moved a lot in the jungle, but I haven’t really found their village. Can I get a direction where their village might be, Chief?"
He needed a direction if the Chief wanted him to scout the area and create a path for them to attack the kobolds’ village.
"Take the middle path. You will find their village eventually if you go deeper!"
Red bowed his head for the last time before leaving the hall. He would not just scout, but he would kill any kobolds he encountered. However, he didn’t plan to fight another black-armored kobold by himself for now.
He didn’t have the Infernal Berserk’s assurance anymore as it was still on cooldown. It had a seven-day cooldown. So yeah, unless he was with the Chief or other Hobgoblins, he would not fight the black-armored kobold by himself.
He headed out, going back to the main kitchen. He hoped Darla had done something by now, or else he might have to leave with an empty belly. But he remembered how she mentioned the skill he gave her, Efficient Cooking, reducing his cooking time.
The main kitchen was still empty, which made sense since the Chief had all able-bodied people to gather. He arrived at the counter and saw the goblins were busy, running around in haste.
He didn’t find Darla as she popped up from the back. Their eyes met, and she quickly beckoned with her hand at him, telling him to come over.
Red didn’t know what Darla wanted, but he listened to her. She brought him deeper into the kitchen, into a storage room in the kitchen.
That was when he witnessed Darla do magic. A grilled Rabbon appeared in her hand out of nowhere. That shocked her, his eyes wide open.
"It’s the Epic Class... Mystic Chef’s skill..."
She gave him a long explanation, but he didn’t really understand her explanation. But he caught on to what happened. It was her skill from the glowing stone. He recalled the stone was called Epic Class Stone.
"Try eating this!" She offered him the grilled Rabbon.
That was another confusing thing. Why did she bring him here just to give him the grilled Rabbon? Couldn’t she take it out here and give him the food outside?
Red was confused, but he didn’t really bring it up. He didn’t have that much time, so he took the grilled rabbon and ate it. That was another confusion for him because Darla was staring at him with a weird gaze. It was like she watched him eating with anticipation.
It was just another thing he didn’t understand from the female human. He didn’t think that much as he devoured the grilled meat.
He finished the meat so quickly, leaving it just bones after twenty breaths. That was not enough to fill his belly. He was about to ask for another until he received a notification.
[You have consumed Mystic Chef’s infused dish, Mystic Grilled Rabbon.]
[You have received Mystic Chef’s blessing, Dexterity +25. Duration: 4 hours.]
His eyes widened when he read the notification. He didn’t really know what an infused dish was, but he knew who Mystic Chef was. It was Darla, and the food gave him a temporary buff. +25 Dexterity was a massive increase for him. It bumped his Dexterity up to 120.
Before he could ask her what happened, she took out something else. He recognized the grilled leg dire wolf. It was a little bit chewy compared to Rabbon, but it was still good. He snatched the dire wolf leg before she could offer it to him.
Red didn’t immediately devour it like the grilled rabbon. He used Appraisal on the food.
[Mystic Grilled Dire Wolf Leg by Mystic Chef.]
There was no confusing wording anymore. The notification mentioned the infused dish before, but he didn’t see it with Appraisal.
There, he saw Darla was staring at him full of anticipation, expecting him to devour the leg. He ate it, starting with the first bite. But there was no notification like before. He may have needed to finish the whole thing before it took effect.
Red finished the whole leg, fast and clean, leaving the dark-brown bone. He was disappointed that there was no notification. He thought so, but he was wrong, as the notification came a bit later.
[You have consumed Mystic Chef’s infused dish, Mystic Grilled Dire Wolf Leg.]
[You have received Mystic Chef’s blessing, Strength +20, Dexterity +20. Duration: 6 hours.]
He could not believe what he just received. Just like that, his Strength and Dexterity bumped up by twenty. It was like two levels’ worth of stats. He had level 13 Dexterity and level 11 Strength while he was still level 9.
An idea struck him. If he ate a lot of grilled rabbon, it was possible for him to have level 20 Dexterity. Not only could he shoot his arrow very fast, but he could run faster as well. That would secure his safety in the following war. The only thing was the duration. He didn’t know what hour meant yet.
"Want more rabbon..."