Master Chef

With a full day ahead I waste no time.

As I made my way to the Owa Daim shrine I raided every monster encampment I came across. The Sheikah Slate had scores of bokoblin horns and fangs as well as a dozen or so of guts.

At about noon I arrived at the Old Man's House.

The reason for my sudden arrival is for the use of his cooking pot, in the game you use it to make various elixirs as well as special meals. Wandering around I found it near the front, not wanting to be rude even to an NPC I knocked on his door. No one answered, after waiting for a while I let myself in.

"Pardon the intrusion" (Link)

The house was small so after a quick glance I knew that he wasn't home. His house was orderly and tidy, on my right was a small bed with a cabinet at the feet. On the other side was a small table and chair, on top of the table I could see a diary. Being a little curious I pick up the diary. Skimming through its contents, the diary was mostly filled about the first few days on the plateau. As I continued reading he kept mentioning a spicy meat and fish dish, he has forgotten the recipe and longs to eat it again.

Rummaging around I tried to find the paraglider, but unfortunately I couldn't find it. It was probably with him.

Returning outside I light the campfire.

In the game, you can mix a maximum of 5 items. There were other restrictions as well. Mixing food and monster parts would result in the creation of dubious food and an elixir could only have one effect. There was also the possibility of having a critical chance. The critical chance enhanced the creation depending on what type it was, if it was a healing elixir the healing effect would be enhanced. Cooking on a blood moon ensured a critical chance. Still this world is a little different than the game that I know, some of the rules might be different.

My first question was the maximum amount of items I could use. Throwing in 6 acorns I waited for a few seconds, looking in the pot the acorns soon became darker, picking up one of them the Sheikah Slate registered it as a new entry. Originally an uncooked acorn would recover one health point, but after cooking it now heals 2 health points.

"Hmm, I thought it would magically coagulate and turn into one meal, not individual pieces" (Link)

That didn't answer my first question but now I had another theory. Taking out some hyrule mushrooms I toss 5 in the pot, picking one up the Sheikah Slate categorized it. Reading its description the mushroom would heal 4 points of health instead of 2. In conclusion, cooking boosts the healing effects of items by a multiplier of 2 while roasting food besides campfire increases by a factor of 1.5.

With that experiment done, I tried something a little more pricey. Grabbing a restless cricket I toss it in with a bokoblin horn. After a few seconds the materials joined together and inside the pot was an elixir in a bottle. Picking it up I read the description on the Sheikah Slate. It is an energizing elixir, it will restore 1/5th of my stamina gauge. Doing it again I add 4 restless crickets alongside a bokoblin horn. Again, magically it was pre-bottled, checking it out it restored a whole stamina gauge. This time I added 5 restless crickets and 1 bokoblin horn. After waiting for a while the ingredients wouldn't turn into an elixir. With my test finished I concluded that the maximum amount of items was 5.

Over the course of an hour I made various elixirs, using the restless crickets I made 2 other energizing elixirs. Using the strange spiny and stony crickets in combination with the bokoblin guts I was able to make 3 level 2 attack and defense boosting elixirs with a duration of an hour. I used guts instead of horns because guts were a more valuable part, the more valuable the part the longer the duration of the elixir. Finally, I was able to make 5 level 2 sneaky elixirs. Depositing them all in the Sheikah Slate, I go to the Owa Daim Shrine.

Located on a cliffside I had to climb to its location.

In the shrine the Sheikah Slate acquired a new feature, it was Stasis. It allows me to trap objects in place for a few seconds, I cannot use it on anything animate.

This shrine consisted of one large room with multiple puzzles along the way. The first obstacle was a rotating bridge, it was connected to a large gear on the left. I waited for the bridge to be parallel with me then I used Stasis on the gear, the bridge stopped rotating. Running across I cleared my first obstacle.

The second challenge consisted of an upward slanted slope, every few seconds a large boulder would roll down the ramp. Using Stasis I stop the boulder at the top and run up the ramp before Stasis undid itself. Near the top of the ramp was a chest, opening it I got a travelers shield. It has a shield guard of 4.

The last obstacle blocking the path was a round boulder. I tried to push it to no avail, using Stasis I trapped it in place and began hitting the boulder. While in Stasis objects gain potential energy proportional to the amount of force used. Hitting it multiple times I canceled Stasis and the boulder moved out of the way.

Obtaining the spirit orb I leave the shrine.

The last shrine was located near the River of the Dead, the problem is the weather conditions. It is freezing cold around that region. If I want that last shrine, I need to be prepared for the cold.

I need to cook the Old Man a spicy meat and seafood fry, after he has eaten it he will give me a warm doublet. The ingredients are a spicy pepper, a hyrule bass, and meat. I have plenty of bird meat I just need the other two.

Near the ruined Temple of Time there should be a large stone gate, spicy peppers tend to grow near the front of the gate. Making my way there I pick some up. Fish should also spawn around this region, checking the map I saw a large body of water fairly close to my location. Arriving at the place there were fish swimming around, using a bomb I threw it in the water. Detonating it I stunted the fish, taking a leap I jump in grabbing my loot.

It was dark when I got back to the Old Man's house. I saw him returning, on his back was a wooden backpack filled with wild edible plants. Upon seeing me he asked.

"Have you already completed the 4 shrines?" (Old Man)

He didn't say it with sincerity, almost as if he knew I came for something else.

"No, it is getting late, I was wondering if you could house me for the night" (Link)

Laughing he said some old proverb and allowed me to stay the night.

Later that evening I cooked the spicy meat and seafood fry, giving him a portion he began to cry.

Taking a bite I began to feel warmer, spicy peppers when cooked offer a cold resistance buff.

"The taste is just as I've remembered it, you must've gone through my diary" (Old Man)

Instead of getting angry at me for snooping through his personal belongings he instead laughed it off. Finishing his plate I offered him another serving, without holding back he accepted.

"Link, could you wait a moment I have something for you" (Old Man)

Going into the house he returned shortly with the doublet.

"Take this, it will help aid you during your journey" (Old Man)

I thank him and received the gift with open hands. Putting it on I felt even warmer. The Old Man chatted with me for a bit, I wasn't much of a talker and mostly nodded. In my old world, I was the introverted type always keeping to myself. Incidentally, Link was also the quiet type. Letting out a yawn we decided it was late enough, going inside I saw that he laid out some animal hides on the floor. Giving me a pillow and sheet I pretended to go to sleep.

After waiting for a few hours I drank a stealth elixir, once the bottle was empty it faded away. Checking his person I couldn't find it, I would've thought he carried it with him. Opening his eyes the Old Man startled me.

"Haha, you can't get a one-up on this old fool so easily" (Old Man)

Being caught in my actions I apologized, the Old Man said nothing more as he fell back asleep. Needing rest for the day ahead I too went to sleep.