System Change

“Alright!” Derek rubbed his hands together in anticipation of what Silvi was going to bring out. He knew that she’d be serving them something to do with wyvern meat, but he wasn’t exactly sure what.

While floating above the center of the table, Silvi’s Mage Hands began rapidly dishing out empty plates in front of each person. To start with, they each received a single medium-sized plate. Once that was placed, a massive bowl appeared directly underneath the bunny, on the center of the table.

Inside the bowl was what could only be described as a very colorful salad. There were greens that looked like lettuce and spinach, reds that had the appearance of tomatoes, along with other vegetables of different colors.

“This is our first dish!” Silvi’s voice chimed from above. “It is a salad that I painstakingly chopped up from the Echoing Willow Stick while it was still alive. It was very hard to do. Had to dodge so many leaves…” she explained.

“Wait…” Derek said. “What do you mean that you did it while it was still alive? Is that why it took so long for you to get up there and light it on fire? Were you playing with your food?”

“Maybe…” Silvi muttered. Then, in a lower voice from the crystal, said, “I had to make sure I got plenty of greens for any future cooking I did. They were the only parts that looked edible…”

“Oh well…” Derek shrugged. “At least you got them before they all burned up.”

“Exactly!” Silvi exclaimed. “Now… here!” With that, multiple Mage Hands began gathering handfuls of salad and carefully arranging them on the plates. One would think that, since it was salad, that Silvi would just place a certain amount on each plate and move on, but instead, she carefully made each plate nearly identical in presentation.

“Pretty!” Thomas said from his seat, then reached out to grab a piece from the plate, but when his hand drew in close, it was batted away by one of the Mage Hands. “Ouch!”

“Be patient!” Silvi said, and off to the side, Brandi looked on smugly. Next, a bottle appeared in one of the Mage Hands, and it went around drizzling some type of oil on each and every salad. “I’ve collected sap from the Echoing Toothpick and heated it with Moonseed Oil and mixed with other seasoning and ingredients to create a unique, nutty dressing for the salad.” Then, another bottle appeared, and it was sat down on the table.“Inside this bottle is something I call Wyvern Vinaigrette. It has a distinct tangy and citrus-like flavoring, and pairs very well with the oil dressing in my opinion, but it may be too strong for most, so you may choose to use it as you wish,” Silvi said. She had become more and more vocal recently and was pretty much over her one-word answers and sentences, but nothing got her talking like she did when discussing food.

“Let’s see,” Derek said and reached over to grab the bottle. Once in his hand, he poured a drop of it on the back of his hand, brought it up to his nose, and sniffed. He widened his eyes, as he could actually smell the tanginess of it, if that was even possible. He slowly brought his hand down and licked the drop off of it. Instantly, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips puckered. “Tangy? That’s super sour!” he said. It wasn’t a bad sour, but it was a bit on the extreme side, even to him.

“Like I said, it pairs well with the nutty oil,” Silvi said. “The oil dilutes the sour.”

“Might as well give it a shot,” Derek said, then went ahead and drizzled a small amount over his salad, then put it back close to the center of the table where anyone else would be able to reach it. To nobody’s surprise, Rudy quickly reached over and drizzled some on his salad, too.

Then, as Jacks was reaching towards the bottle, Rudy asked, “So, what exactly did you use to make this?”

“Wyvern Bile!” Silvi said proudly.

“Did… you say bile?” Derek asked.

“Yup! It makes a great ingredient, doesn’t it?” she said.

At that time, Jacks withdrew his hand from the bottle and left it there. “I think I’ll stick to having just the oil for now.”

“Your loss,” Silvi said.

Rudy was looking distraught at his salad. He looked like he wanted to cry. Derek, on the other hand, looked at his dish with more of a curiosity. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard of someone using some type of bile in food. He wasn’t that much of a picky eater, and he’d try just about anything once, so he just shrugged and waited.

Finally, the Mage Hands went around, crushing something over each salad. “These… are regular croutons… for texture.”

Derek had a chuckle at that. As she finished crushing the croutons over each salad. One thing that he noticed was that she was adding a large amount of everything to the giant bowl in the middle that was still halfway filled with salad. First, he thought she was planning on eating the large portion, but she had also been making herself a plate while doing the same with the others, so he didn’t say anything.

“Okay!” Silvi said excitedly. “The salad is ready! Dig in!” The Mage Hands lifted the massive bowl, then carried them over to bones. “For you and Ogre,” she said. “Everybody eats tonight!”

“Thank you, Miss Silvi,” Bones bowed, then took the bowl into his storage ring before righting himself and standing parallel with the wall once again. However, Derek could see the twinkle in his eyes. The man of little emotion was certainly happy.

“No time like the present,” Derek said, then took a fork and started jabbing at the salad—making sure he had a little bit of everything on it—before opening his mouth and taking a bite. “Oh, damn,” he muttered with his mouth full. The oil really had balanced out the sourness of the vinaigrette, leaving with a not overpowering tangy, but nutty, and even slightly smoky flavor.

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The greens were fresh and provided the perfect crunch that he was looking for, and the tomato-like fruit or vegetable went a step further and actually added a small amount of sweetness to the dish. Derek wasn’t big on salads, but he could definitely say that the Echoing Willow salad that he was currently eating was by far the best salad he’d ever had the pleasure of tasting.

Even with a completely full plate, he devoured the dish in minutes. Other than his exclamation and a few moans of delight around the table, not a single word was said until everyone had finished their own salad. Silvi was, of course, the first person finished with hers, and Derek was a close second. To be polite, neither spoke, and they just watched happily as everyone savored the dish.

“So good!” Thomas was the last person finished, and he cried out in delight.

“Worth missing your dungeon time?” Derek asked with a smile.

Thomas winced, but eventually relented. “Yes…”

“My stamina is full, and I feel like I could run around the city at full speed right now,” Rayna said. “Oh! Fifteen percent increased stamina recovery for one hour. Wow! That’s a long buff.”

Derek checked his own notification that had popped up and noticed that he actually had a twenty percent buff that lasted for an hour and fifteen minutes. He smiled and said, “You should have tried some of the vinaigrette.” He then told them all about his own buff.

“I have the same!” Rudy exclaimed happily.

“Still, it’s a great buff either way,” Malorie said.

“Yes, it is.” Derek agreed.

“Time for the main dish!” Silvi suddenly interrupted while floating back up above the table. She had dropped down and eaten her salad in the center of the dining table. There was plenty of room for her, after all.

“Oh… what’s next?” Derek was very much looking forward to the next course after the surprise of the refreshing salad.

“Behold!” Silvi’s voice chimed, then suddenly, a massive plate spanning from one end of the table to the other appeared. After that, her Mage Hands began arranging a bed of salad on the plate. Once everything was arranged nicely, Silvi lowered herself down, tilted her head forward, then a gigantic piece of meat appeared on the plate. “Smoked Wyvern Tail!”

“Smoked Wyvern Tail…” Derek repeated.

“Yes!” Silvi answered the non-asked question. “I found a nice clearing outside of the city and created a special place to smoke this. For the last week, I have been smoking this tail at a very low temperature with wood from the Echoing Twig. I seasoned it with a special blend of seasoning…” She looked at Derek. “I didn’t use those seasonings because I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy it without dying…”

“I’m sure they are all thankful for that,” Derek said.

“With the length of the smoke and the seasoning combined, it created a perfect caramelized shell to lock in the moisture and flavor,” she explained. The tail looked to have a charred-like exterior, or bark, to it, and there was still a subtle steam coming off of it.

“Looks and smells delicious,” Derek said, his mouth watering.

“Well… what are you all waiting for? Dig in!” Silvi said, and a bunch of plates once again appeared around the table. This time, some plates had mashed potatoes and other sides, but the wyvern tail was the main attraction. All the sides were nothing more than decoration to Derek.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Derek said, then reached out with his hand and pinched the bark, then pulled. As he pulled the bark off, a long, succulent strip of dragon meat came out with it. In the short time it took to get the piece of meat to his own plate, so much juice dripped down from it that it left a trail all the way. On top of that, the second that the bark was broken, the room exploded with the delicious smell of barbecue and led to everyone almost having sensory overload.

Derek’s breath actually quivered as he slowly brought the juicy piece of wyvern meat to his lips. With a deep breath, he placed the wyvern tail in his mouth and was hit with an explosion of flavors. The meat was extremely savory, with a mouthwatering balance of saltiness and sweetness. He hadn’t been one of the group to let out a moan during the salad, but he was unable to help himself after tasting the wyvern tail.

The instant he swallowed, it felt like his entire body was enveloped in a warm embrace. It was even more comfortable than the warmth that radiated through his body when he was drinking the Wyvern Brew. At that thought, though, Derek sobered up and was brought back to reality. In a panic, he brought up his status sheet and sighed in relief when he saw he wasn’t losing any health from the dish, nor did he have any other concerning debuffs.

Apparently, that was unique to the Wyvern Brew. Which made sense because Silvi wasn’t cooking the almost rotting meat from the dark wyvern, after all. It seemed he panicked and broke himself out of the immense pleasure of the dish for nothing. He couldn’t have that, now, could he? So, he reached forward, and this time, grabbed more than a pinch.

For the next half hour, nothing but moans and sighs of pleasure could be heard from the dining room of the Void Emporium. Everyone feasted to their heart’s content. During that time, Silvi struggled, but was eventually able to slice off a large portion of the Smoke Wyvern Tail and give it to Bones for him and Ogre to enjoy at a later time. Eventually, everyone’s plates, and all the other plates for that matter, were basically licked clean.

Not a single person in the room could lean forward, and they were all leaning back in their chairs with their hands on their stomachs.

“You have outdone yourself this time,” Derek said to Silvi.

“I know…” Silvi said. “Am cooking genius…”

“Yes… yes you are,” Derek laughed, but soon, his face turned serious as he was hit with a notification.

…

Congratulations!

New Title unlocked!

User cannot currently receive Titles.

…

He was then hit with the same notifications as usual when he unlocked a new Title that he couldn’t use. Still, the extra Title didn’t help him meet the requirements for his advancement. Soon enough, however, the Great System came in and began asking for assistance once more.

Achievement ‘Apex Appetite I’ Unlocked

???????

Requesting assistance from another system…

Requesting assistance from another system…

Derek smiled as he went through the notifications. He knew… hoped he knew… what was coming next. And sure enough, the Origin System answered, and granted its help. Soon, he received his new Achievement, and the perks that went with it.

Apex Appetite I

This Achievement (Title) is awarded for consuming a special meal created with multiple ingredients from monsters and plants at the apex of your current system tier by a user capable of such a feat.

Few system users ever encounter these monsters or plants, and even fewer live to tell the story, much less find a chef with the ability to create such a feast.

For accomplishing such a feat, all buffs received from future meals will have their potency and time limit increased by 10%.

Consume special meals created from apex ingredients of other tiers to increase reward.

Note: This (Title) Achievement has been graciously granted by a stronger system, and thus, will be carried with you throughout your journey.

“Silvi,” Derek said.

“Yes?” Silvi answered.

“Have I ever told you how amazing you are?”