Chapter 107: Scouting Mission Red finished another grilled rabbon, and he waited, expecting another increase in Dexterity. Yet nothing came up. He even waited for a little longer, and nothing came up.
Not only didn’t he get the blessing, but his current blessing’s duration remained the same. It meant he could not get the same blessing from consuming the same type of dish. The blessing couldn’t be stacked, which was unfortunate.
Darla was about to offer the same rabbon, but he pushed it back, "Can’t... Different food..."
She quickly caught on, but she shook her head. Made the grilled rabbon and grilled dire wolf leg in a hurry, managed to finish before Red came, and the workers handling the gruel.
"Wait..."
Darla left the food storage, returning with a steaming bowl filled with meat gruel. She made sure to add more meat inside, but she didn’t give it to Red right away. She directed her right hand to the bowl and activated the skill, Infuse Dish.
Red didn’t interrupt, and he sensed the mana leaving from Darla’s palm toward the bowl. That was when he saw the mana blend into the gruel, and he sensed the mana from the food.
"Done!" She gave him the bowl.
Red took it, using his Appraisal on the gruel.
[Mystic Meaty Gruel.]
There was no further information. He wished to find what kind of buff he could get from the food, but the only way to find out was to consume it. He brought the bowl into his mouth and drank half of it.
Darla was quite worried about how hot the gruel was. She raised her hand, was about to stop him and tell him to be careful, but it was too late. It would burn her tongue and throat if it were her, but Red didn’t have that problem.
He chewed the meat for a while, then he finished the gruel in his second gulp. Red was focusing on the buff, not really tasting it properly. He calmed down now and realized the gruel was tastier than before. There was an additional complex flavor, something he tasted for the first time. It was hard to describe it, but he liked it.
[You have consumed Mystic Chef’s infused dish, Mystic Meaty Gruel.]
[You have received Mystic Chef’s blessing, Minor Stamina Regeneration I, Minor Health Regeneration I. Duration 3 hours.]
His eyes widened in surprise as the food gave him something other than stats. He willed toward the notification.
[Minor Stamina Regeneration I: Recover 3 Stamina per second! Duration: 3 hours.]
[Minor Health Regeneration I: Recover 2 Health per second! Duration: 3 hours.]
Red snapped toward Darla; he grabbed her and brought her to him, kissing her on the lips. That shocked Darla for a moment, and she responded properly when she found out what he was doing. Deep inside, she was happy because she could be useful for Red. She didn’t want to be a burden anymore.
"Make... save... more food... I return... afternoon... don’t let... others eat..."
Darla nodded, understanding what he tried to say. He wanted her to make more and keep it inside her inventory. He also told her not to share the infused dish with others.
There was no need for Red to be reminded about the last part. She must keep her ability hidden from anyone but Red. Especially the Chief. If it was found out, the Chief would take her from Red.
Darla might not fully understand the village’s hierarchy, but she knew the Chief held absolute authority. As of now, the Chief only saw her as one of the human slaves. That might change if the Chief discovered her ability. There was nothing that Red could do if the Chief wanted her.
She nodded, assuring him that she would keep her ability hidden.
Usually Red would stay longer, wanting to have more to fill his stomach, but not this time. There was a duration for the blessing, and he wanted to make use of it to the fullest.
He left the main kitchen. The kitchen was getting a little more crowded as the goblins flooded the kitchen. Red managed to pull more workers to help the kitchen before leaving the village. That would help to reduce Darla’s workload.
After he was done, he left the village, taking the middle path. He honestly hadn’t fully explored the jungle yet. He was taking it safe, just hunting the beasts he knew. If he could not find the higher-level Dire Lupus, he would go to his pond to fish for the Crimson Scales Biter.
This would be the first time he would go further out of the village. As usual, he climbed up the tree, moving between the trees. That didn’t slow him at all compared to taking the established path.
Red felt the difference of +45 Dexterity increase. He was faster and more agile; his reflexes were improving as he easily avoided the protruding branch covered by leaves. At the same time, he tracked his stamina regeneration.
He didn’t know what a second meant, so he had been tracking his regeneration. He found out that a second was a breath. One second equaled one breath. He finally understood the System’s measurement a little bit, but he still didn’t understand the hour.
Red tried to track the buff duration, but he stopped doing it the moment he entered a new area, an area he hadn’t explored. He knew because he found a furry creature that was around his waist.
This was the first time he saw this creature; that was how he knew it was an unexplored territory for him. He was currently staring at the red-brown furred creature, and they stared back at him. That was right; there were five of them, and three of them were smaller than the other two.
The two bigger creatures hid the smaller ones behind them. He could tell the two were the parents, and the three were their children. They were trying to protect their children, which explained why they were up high in the tree, hiding behind the thick canopy.
The creature had long limbs, a little bit weird from his perspective. He saw the sharp, short claw beneath the paw. Its eyes were all black, and it had a small protruding horn on its forehead.
He used Appraisal on the two parents, figuring out that the parents were the actual threat to him.
[Brown Mocue]
Level: 16
[Brown Mocue]
Level: 18
Red was surprised the smaller creature was higher-level than him. The children, Brown Mocue, peeked out from behind their parents. Their gaze radiated curiosity while the parents were intense and wary. He realized there was a difference in their gaze compared to the other beasts. Their eyes had this intelligence and looked smarter than that Jakar.
It was tempting to hunt them since they were higher in level, but he decided not to poke them while he was on a mission. Especially when he didn’t know how they fought.
He took a detour instead of taking the direct path. They looked like they were hiding, so he hoped they would not attack him. He kept his eyes on them as he took a detour, and they didn’t attack him.
This time he didn’t follow the path, prioritizing scouting the area first before leaving. He wanted to find what kind of creatures were living in the area. They could be a factor that might affect their battle against the kobold.
Red kept finding a new type of monster. He finally found a deer with a web-like horn. They were fast and agile despite being bigger than him. The big intertwined roots were not an obstacle for them as they easily jumped over them without getting slowed down.
He tried to use Appraisal, but what he got was three question marks. He didn’t get their name as well. Then he met another furred creature that was much bigger than himself. It was three times taller than him and four times bigger. It had red-flaming fur, a massive body, and claws.
He got three question marks when he used Appraisal on it. He marked the area before leaving, an area they must avoid. Fortunately, he didn’t encounter any beasts that he could not identify afterward.
Red encountered a pack of eight Dire Wolves. He did not consider them a threat. He could see their levels except one. The Chief should be able to handle them.
He also encountered a creature called Harke. A dull-yellow-furred creature, four-legged, but it didn’t have a tail. Its face was ugly and weird. It was weird because of its wide, big ears. Saliva constantly dripped from its mouth as if they were starving, and yes, they looked crazed as well.
Just like the dire wolf, they moved in a pack, larger than the dire wolf. He found two packs of Harke. One pack had thirteen Harke, and the second pack had sixteen Harke.
Their numbers were bigger, but their level was lower. They were around level 11 to level 14; the strongest in the pack was level 18. It was doable to hunt them, but he would put that on hold.
Surprisingly, he didn’t encounter any kobolds. If it was before the attack, he might have found more than ten groups already, yet he didn’t encounter any kobolds in his scouting trip. There was no way the kobolds attacked the village; all the kobolds were available.
He didn’t think that much as he marked the area where he found the beasts, and after some time, he finally found a village. He saw the settlement with a fence and four kobolds at the entrance.