Chapter 28. Lizardmen colony (2)

Chapter 28. Lizardmen colony (2)

It's been more than 2 years since Ark had opened its servers to the world.

In these two years, many rankers and famous players had come out, but most of them had combat-based professions.

There are not many famous people from professions like cooking, tailoring and enchanting.

The most famous person would be the player 'Leok' who was the highest level blacksmith in the whole world of Ark, and he was also number one in the blacksmith rankings.

It was said that he had somehow got access to the underground Iron dwarves village and learned their crafting skills.

The next most popular person after him would be the alchemist 'Jin' or the enchanter 'Lily.'

But these people were not at the level of those combat-based professions players. It could even be said that people were looking down on their crafting skills and craft skills-based players.

Although people looked down on them, some people had already realized their usefulness and that crafting skills players would slowly come out in the future.

These players would be blacksmiths, alchemists, enchanters, etc.

But what about cooking?

Many players, especially the rankers, had already learned the value of cooking. Ark's gourmet culture was slowly developing.

Cooks from the real world had already started playing Ark, and they were discovering new flavors. Still, no cook had become particularly famous yet.

There were no cooking rankings at all, and it could be said that cooking hadn't been explored much yet.

'The value of cooking will only rise from now on.'

That was how Ian felt about cooking.

If you are a low-level newbie, with little to no money, you will stand eating hard bread because you had no alternative.

But once your level reaches a point where you can afford to buy more delicious food, your tongue will automatically reject that hard bread.

When it comes to the bottom line, people are the same. They have the same list of desires, and when they fulfill it, it grows more significant by itself.

In particular, the basic needs of housing, clothing, and food are inseparable from life.

Moreover, the cooking skill worked in real life!!

As the cooking skill matures, it gives you a list of available recipes based on the types of ingredients that you have now.

You could try a new recipe in Ark, and it would stick in your head after you log out.

If you master the cooking skill at least to the expert stage, you would never need to worry about getting a job because any restaurant would hire you with arms wide open.

Virtual reality!!

It means that reality is precisely realized as it is in an imaginary world. In other words, what is learned in the virtual game also works in reality.

Ark is such a detailed and realistic game.

Of course, the majority of players who didn't bother learning craft skills as widely will never comprehend what it is really about until they experience it with their own hands.

Most people think of Ark as an adventure game with swords, magic, and dragons, but it was not like that at all.

Ark was a highly realistic game that was made to be the same as the real world.

You can't even call it a game after experiencing it.

"Ian, what are you cooking?"

Wayn asked him as he saw Ian peeling off potatoes with his dagger. It was a sight that he hadn't even expected in his dreams.

He could understand that Ian was good at fighting, but he even knew how to cook.

Moreover, he was peeling those potatoes like a skilled cook.

'Just who the hell is he?'

That question again appeared in his mind, but Wayn didn't have a way to know the answer to his question. He could only control his growing curiosity.

"Ian, what are you making?"

"I don't know."

"Huh? You don't know?"

Ria was surprised when she heard that. He was cooking, but he didn't even know what he was cooking?

Is he fooling them or something?

Various questions popped up in the minds of the three, but they kept silent and didn't disturb Ian.

From the way he was peeling the potatoes, they could at least guess that he had some experience in cooking food.

'Blaze dagger can't do much in fighting, but it's a great tool to peel off potatoes.'

Ian thought in his head. The dagger was a great weapon but his attack power was too low.

Ian can't even sell it as it was soul bounded but it looks like it would be a great knife to peel potatoes.

He first peeled off the potatoes, and then, Ian started chopping the carrots.

He first cut off the root end of the carrot and peeled it. Then, he sliced it crosswise into three equal pieces. Using one piece at a time, he cut it into thin strips.

Ian then turned the strips sideways so that they were at a right angle to the dagger, and then he proceeded to cut them into small cubes.

His hand movements were so smooth like it was a piece of art itself. His hands were like the blade, smoothly chopping the carrot.

It was to the point that Clara couldn't help but comment.

"Wow! You are so good at it. Do you frequently cook in real life?"

"Yes, I live with my sister, and I cook for her daily."

"No wonder you are so good."

Ian laughed slowly when he heard that.

He was actually using the 'slicing' skill while chopping the carrots. It was a skill that made him cut any ingredient, and Ian was using it for the first time.

He realized that the skill was not so bad.

Although it couldn't help him in fighting, it was an excellent skill for chopping and slicing.

After cutting and peeling all the vegetables, Ian proceeded by adding water to the pot. Then he waited for it to boil.

After that, he added the vegetable slices in it.

He also added some rich spices he had bought earlier from the grocery store. He stirred it for some time, but then he fell into confusion.

'What should I add with this?'

Ian was naturally trying nature cooking, but he was skeptical about what ingredient he should use.

He didn't want to blow up the dish this time. So, he searched through his inventory and looked for a good ingredient.

At that moment, his eyes fell onto the Lizardmen meat.

Lizardmen would typically drop three types of items. They were Lizardmen nails, their bones, and sometimes, their meat.

In rare cases, they would even drop their weapons, but it had a low chance of occurring.

In the three of them, nails and bones are used by alchemists in potion-making, and they could be sold rather quickly.

Lizardmen meat was rare, but it was not very liked by the people. As it was still meat, any restaurant would purchase it, but you wouldn't receive much money.

'Maybe I should use Lizardmen meat.'

Ian decided on the Lizardmen meat in the end. He had a feeling that it would work.

He added the meat in the pot and started stirring it. The color of the soup soon changed into red.

It looked delicious from the outside, but Ian still had to get the confirmation message that he hadn't failed nature cooking this time.

Suddenly, the soup started to boil, and bubbles started popping up and down.

'Will it explode again?'

Ian thought, but the soup didn't explode this time. It soon died down, and a fragrant smell started flowing out from it.

Several messages appeared then.

'It even increased my stats.'

Ian thought that it must be because it was his first time successfully making a dish. He didn't even remember how many times he had exploded the pot till now.

But in the end, he was able to make a dish.

Now, it was time to taste it. Ian slowly took a sip from the soup.

A sharp feeling ran down his throat as the food entered his mouth. The food was spicy, and Ian nearly spat it out, but the taste quickly blended.

It soon became tasty, and the speck of spice just added more flavor in it.

"It's delicious."

Ian muttered out loud, and a system message appeared at that moment.

* * *

The soup made with vegetables and Lizardman meat. Added with spices, the soup is spicy, but it will quickly blend and form a delicious taste.

After eating the soup, the attack power against the Lizardmen will increase by 10% for 2 hours.

* * *

Ian was wide-eyed when he read that.

He knew that dishes cooked with nature cooking would increase one's stats for some time. He had already tested it with the Red spirit grass soup.

But he didn't expect that it would increase their attack power against the Lizardmen and by 10% to boot.

Currently, they were not losing against the Lizardman, but it took time to fight with them. They even got injured from time to time.

If they could really increase their attack power by 10%, then it would just be an unexpected blessing.

'Nature cooking is more than I expected.'

Ian started to think about what kind of effects he could produce by finding out different recipes, but his thoughts were interrupted soon.

"Ian, is it ready?"

"I can smell a good fragrance."

His party members were already beyond hungry. Wayn was even drooling, smelling the fragrance coming from Lizardman vegetable soup.

"Yes, it's ready."

Ian said as he gave some soup to them in bowls. They smelled the soup before taking a gulp.

After a while, exclamations came out from their mouth.

"It's delicious!!"

"I have never eaten anything like that."

"I don't think I can go back to eating hard bread after eating this."

The three of them had only eaten hard bread until now. One of the reasons behind it was because they were treating Ark as a game, not as a real-world experience.

They never bothered to do something else other than fighting monsters.

Ian felt that it was a pity that they were missing out on exploring Ark. At that moment, Ian suddenly recalled something he had heard on the TV.

'Ark is not a game but a different reality!!'

Many people would think of it as a motto or a slogan, but it was just the sheer truth. It was a bad thing that people would just ignore it.

"Ian, I suddenly got a message saying that my attack power against the Lizardman has increased."

Wayn said as he looked at Ian with strange eyes. Clara was the same.

"I got that message too."

The last one to finish the soup was Ria. As she finished the soup, the message appeared in front of her.

"Oh, yes, my cooking is not like ordinary cooking. It can increase stats for some time."

Ian said like it was a casual matter, but Wayn, Clara, and Ria's faces were getting more and more strange as they kept looking at him.

Especially Wayn's face.

'Who the hell is he?'

That question again emerged in his mind. He wondered how many secrets Ian was hiding, but he didn't dare to pry into them.

He was already getting numb to Ian's strange antics.

'Either way, it's good that he's an ally.'

For some reason, Wayn was glad that Ian was an ally, not an enemy. He couldn't dare to think how deadly it would be to have Ian as an enemy.