Chapter 7 Eat Up

After a long day of toil, a hearty appetite naturally followed.

Ian headed to the kitchen. There were still some leftover ingredients in the kitchen and the cupboards.

For instance, a slice of smoked venison jerky and plenty of salted fish, a small jar of brownish-red sea salt, a small bowl of berries that smelled quite sour, and a small sack of wheat hidden deep in the cupboard.

When his uncle had come home, he also brought back a fresh fish, probably as an extra meal for himself this evening.

For a feudal society, having a good amount of meat was already considered very bountiful, and even luxurious.

Upon reflection, it wasn't surprising.

After all, on the Terra Continent, humans' physical quality far surpassed that of ordinary people in the medieval period on Earth; everyone could be considered a strongman upon reaching adulthood, and with higher productivity, the standard of living would definitely be better.

"Not bad, looks like I can make something tasty," Ian declared without reservation. Although his uncle was dead, the fish should not go to waste.

This grunt fish was still fresh, gutted with its innards removed. He set up a pot on the stove, filled it halfway with water, and then lit the straw and dry sawdust with the stored spark.

Once the fire blazed, having added some of the wood he had chopped, Ian tossed the cleaned venison jerky, free of surface grease and dust, into the pot to boil with the water and the berries, then went to the side to deal with the fish scales.

As the water gradually bubbled and boiled, he crushed a few berries that tasted like lemons, smeared the juice all over the inside and outside of the fish, coated it with a layer of meat juice and salt, skewered it with a wooden stick, and placed it in front of the stove to roast slowly.

Gradually, an aroma wafted over. The outside of the grunt fish was crisp and the inside was tender. The sour berries and meat juice mixed together and were quite appetizing. Meanwhile, the meat broth was steaming, and its primal, rich aroma rolled and bubbled in the pot.

On this night of joy from having eliminated a menace, a pot of steaming meat broth and roast fish was an absolute delight.

Ian always believed that one could be casual about most things, but with eating, one should be as meticulous as possible.

"It should be just about ready!"

Seeing that the timing was perfect, Ian took down the roast fish. He bit into it and immediately burnt his tongue, but soon he squinted his eyes and mumbled while chewing, "Mmm, tastes good!"

Though the roast fish was slightly bitter due to the lack of spices and the salt not being refined, the texture was indeed crisply defined. The pure protein chewed and ingested, that sense of satisfaction was incomparable to anything else.

After eating a few bites of the roast fish, Ian scooped up a spoonful of meat soup and gulped it down.

Truth be told, the venison jerky stew was a bit fibrous and the texture a bit tough, not very oily, but it was chewy and an important source of nutrition. The scalding meat juice was filled with a primal energy flavor, and there was also the caramelized layer from the venison's surface due to searing, contributing a savory taste.

Seriously swallowing down the precious nutrients, Ian even had the illusion that his body was rapidly absorbing all the nutrients from the food, turning it into the physical strength and growth energy of this body.

Perhaps... it was not an illusion.

Ian thoughtfully took another bite of the fish.

After all, the Terra Humans were not Earthlings; their bodies were exceptionally strong, and it was completely understandable that they had better digestive and absorption capabilities.

But for himself, perhaps due to the Awakened Spiritual Power... he now felt his body rejecting no types of nutrition whatsoever, absorbing them completely!

Still, instinct and common sense told him that ordinary Terra People, even those with strong digestive abilities, could not possibly be like him at this moment, beginning to replenish their strength mere seconds after consuming food.

Ian could almost vividly feel his cells rejoicing. Every tissue and organ throughout his body was absorbing nutrition, and this craving was nearly a hunger, making his heart race, his breath quicken, his blood surge under his flesh, delivering oxygen and nutrients to the extremities of his blood vessels.

"In the past, I couldn't have handled this much meat, and now, I'm merely filling my hunger, not even close to being full,"

As he felt his body absorbing nutrition and chewed the food in his mouth, Ian contemplated deeply.

Thinking of Ossenna's deformed right leg, he couldn't help but frown, "That's also strange, would a typical person get a tumor there? Such a level of bodily mutation is rare, even with failed genetic modifications."

"Perhaps it involves spirit energy and other forces? Anyway, the true power of Terra people should be far beyond the superficial aspects I know of," he reflected.

Ian could roughly guess the anomalies appearing in his own body.

Even setting aside elements like Terra's spirit energy, genetic adjusters on Earth encountered similar conditions.

In the Era of the Stars on Earth, everyone underwent genetic modifications; every person was a mini-superhero compared to the humans of ancient times, immensely strong, inexhaustibly energetic, able to freely control the hormone secretion of their own body, and capable of entering a state of peak performance at will.

However, all sorts of powerful genetic organs, enhanced muscles, and steel-hardened skeletons required nutrients, even special ones, to mature and develop.

Through testing, a perfect genetic adjuster, if unable to intake vast amounts of protein and carbohydrates during their childhood, would see all their genetic organs delay development or even completely stop growing.

In such a case, the former superhumans would transform into ordinary people.

Naturally, even genetic adjusters who failed to develop properly were still stronger than ordinary humans, yet they remained within the realm of the mundane.

Ian felt that many of the ordinary people on the Terra Continent might be in a similar situation.

The potential within them could be significant, but due to socio-economic restrictions or insufficient productivity, ordinary Terra people couldn't fully excavate the latent potential within their bodies.

"The Terra people of the past must have been a species much more powerful than the current Terra people, possibly through genetic modification, or maybe some magic creature, spirit energy being—nomenclature can vary, but the underlying significance is the same."

"But due to the cessation of spirit energy, the extinguishing of magical tides, a world-scale nuclear war, climate anomalies, or even the impact of a meteorite among other reasons, the civilization of the past lost its productive capability, and while Terra people still carry the features of a superior race, they have lost the relevant powers."

With some casual speculation, Ian didn't dwell on it further, simply overlaying the situation from his former Earth onto the Otherworld.

Having read many novels and watched plenty of movies, it was natural for him to guess these sorts of possibilities, but these were all unimportant.

"Being full is always better than being hungry, regardless of whether it's magic or spirit energy, or some other force. That much is certainly correct," he mused while conscientiously chewing the venison in his mouth and gazing at the boiling broth and bubbles in the pot. Ian's mind was clear, like a mirror: "Nutritional intake in one's youth greatly affects future growth, so eating more is always right. Even ordinary people must consume enough nutrients to grow strong."

"My awakened spiritual power can find most hidden special resources and materials in this world... That will be the source of future wealth, the assurance of life," he thought.

With this in mind, he forcefully snapped the crisp fish bone in his mouth. Ian crushed it with a crunch and swallowed it down.

His expression turned solemn, "The prerequisite is that I can grow up safely and obtain enough nutrition."

"Every meal is very important, very precious."

Convinced of this, he allowed himself to eat more freely.

Soon, he was satiated.

Now fully recovered in strength, Ian stood up.

He activated his 'Clairvoyant Vision' once again.