Too powerful

His stats were the same. But his skills are more powerful than he guessed. 

[ Status board (S) ] 

[ Integrated into the by the system and updated to include map, mana sense's response and various peripheral functions. ] 

[ Mana Sense (F) ]

[ This is a growth type skill with potential to grow into S-rank skill search. Train your best. ] 

[ Blade Master (S) ] 

[ You have been pranked ! Blade master is a production skill where you can handle blades belonging to any worksman profession with accuracy and perfection.]

[ Don't spoil valuable beast skins or herbs due to your clumsy hands. Use the skill, let it work. ] 

[ Druid ( F ) ] 

[ This is a growth type skill with potential to grow into S-rank skill. ] 

[ StarNet Station (S ) ] 

[ Finally ! Finally ! I have been in a communication dark stage for so long, this is like finding an oasis in a desert. No, it's even better. It's finding a shore after being adrift at sea ! ] 

[ Enchanter ( F ) ] 

[ You can use magic circle arrays to perform a task or effect. ] 

[ Appraisal ( S ) ] 

[ Well, hopefully, with this skill, you won't be stupid enough to collect wrong stuff in the wild, or pick fish eye in place of pearls. ] 

[ Mana Manipulation ( F ) ] 

[ You can shape mana into any form to use. Increases mana growth rate by ten times. This skill grows indefinitely. ] 

[ Tool Man ( F ) ] 

[ You can copy and use any tool in existence, as long as your mana lasts ! ] 

By themselves, each of his tools are not much. However, like his wish, they make him jack of all trades when they are fused together. But first, he needs to find. 

' System ! Is the starlink station here the one that connects to starnet ? Can I connect now ? " Rowan asked eagerly. 

As someone looking only for improving life, not saving the world, he can not forget leveled up internet ! Moreover, this star-net sounded far more capable than the internet for some reason. 

[ With starlink station, the mana needed to make connection is vastly reduce. ] 

[ however, current mana held by host is still too low to make connection. ] 

' Forget it. I will focus on raising my mana value these days. ' Rowan said, before returning home. He still has to cook dinner. 

He received the delivery early, given he returned home.

For tonight, he was going to make a rice bowl. 

He retrieved another piece of the bamboo rat. This time, two young and tender ones. He cut the meat into long strips, the size of a bird's-eye chili, tossed them in flour, and fried them in super hot oil. The sound of sizzling was like music to his ears. 

In another pot, the rice is already cooking. 

Now, it is time to put his newly acquired skills into action. He tried to make two more hands on his back, to help him with removing the red chili stems. Encouraged with the result, he tried to switch one of the mana hands to peeling garlic. 

… 

..

.

The arms do not want to move. After some tossing around, he figured what was happening. He himself did not like peeling garlic. Without his strong intention, the mana constructs do not move. So, he literally must be like a slave driver to get them to do things that he himself did not like. 

All the peppers are julienned. He threw in the garlic, salt, followed by shredded peppers. Then he canceled the multiple arms, and created a single muscly arm with mana from his stomach. On the other side, he retrieved the wooden block made of the densest wood from the slimes, tossed it into the wood fire stove. This created the steady high temperature he needed. 

The muscly arm tossed the iron pot at super high speed, and with another mana hand extending from his side , the already prepared meat shreds were thrown in. he continued frying at the high speed with the mana hand, and slowly tried to extend his senses with mana. 

After trying for two minutes, all that happened is his senses were a little sharper. No more, no less. Given that the dish is done, Rowan stopped. 

On the nicely polished wooden plate, a neat half round rice was placed. Around the rice, shredded meat with peppers is served. This time around, he cooked to his heart's content, not skimping on any of the condiments. 

The rice shone like finely polished pearls. The red and green peppers glistened like jade. If he hadn't received the blade master skill, Rowan was sure he wouldn't have cut with such perfect precision. 

Now that he is done with the basics, it's time for the expert level. Rowan was a newyorker, a third generation immigrant. Four of his grandparents belonged to four different races. His parents introduced two more races into his genes. Under their influence, he cooked every cuisine in the world. 

Right now, he wanted to make a dessert. The best he could make is strawberry shortcake, not the new yorker style, but victorian style. 

He retrieved the pure animal fat cubes from the slime products. He placed them on a cutting board made of mana, then a cleaver formed in his hands. This time, he succeeded in extending his mana sense to the cube. He started slicing the fat into extremely thin slices, leaving half a millimeter on the bottom unsliced. When he's done slicing, flipped the cube side ways, started shredding. Fine hair like pieces of fat started floating in the air, and accumulating away from the mana blade.

The finely chopped fresh fat was mixed into the flour, along with bakers sugar and a pinch of salt. There were no other things to be added, not even vanilla, aniseed or even the ubiquitous rose. Most of the people these days drink herbal or floral tea, for gathering real tea leaves is nigh impossible. Real tea once again had the same royal status it had before the industrial revolution. 

After that, he gathered the roughly mixed flour into a square shape. He cut it in half, folded it like a book. Then flattened it back to original size, repeated the process for thirty two times. The flour looked slightly wet, barely holding it's shape. 

He put the two biscuits in the rough earth oven, closed the door. Strawberry compote is just sugary pink paste with strawberry flavor. It's a bit artificial for his taste, but his sister should love it. Sugar is a luxury. There are real strawberries in the base, but he can't get them just with money. 

' one day ! I will definitely make dessert with all the correct ingredients. ' Rowan vowed to himself. 

Then, he put all the ingredients he received from the grocery store by the side. 

At the moment, their house is still just a rough wooden fence on the front with a wooden door, with a shack inside. Just as he was finishing the plan for the house, Mina walked inside. 

" Brother ! I am home. " She announced happily. 

It's rare that her brother is home when she returns. 

" You are here ! Go take a bath, then you can have dinner. " Rowan told her. The bathroom is two pieces of wooden fence in the corner, in the nook formed by the mountain and fence wall. The weather was cold, so Rowan carried the heated water with a bucket. As long as one is quick, it should be alright, for a day or two. 

Mina rushed to the home in mere five minutes. She is as fast as a goat with her bath. 

" Did you even let water touch your body ? " Rowan asked disgustedly. 

" What's for dinner ? I am starving ! " She rushed to the table. 

Her eyes bulged out as she looked at the stirfry and rice. 

" We have meat ? " She grabbed her chopsticks, picked the pieces eagerly. She managed to get a perfectly balanced mix of one meat, one red and one green combination of stirfry despite her grabbing speed. 

Just as she was about to put the meat in her mouth, she paused. 

" Brother ! Did you blow all your money for the month ? Are we going to starve for the rest of the month ? " She asked trepidly. 

" Why ? If I say I did, are you going to not eat ? " Rowan quipped, looking at her mischievously. 

" No. I am just going to enjoy the meal slowly, so the memory could last for a while. " Mina answered just as flippantly. 

Rowan felt sad looking at her. She is such a little girl, yet, she's worrying about saving expenses by reducing her meals… 

" I didn't. Even so, eat slowly, and enjoy your meal. There's even dessert at the end. " he told her. 

Mina looked at him skeptically, yet, she put the food in her mouth. 

" ummmmm… " she moaned at the taste. 

" The meat is cooked on the outside, just the right amount of chewy and juicy. The juices of meat cooked the peppers to perfection, giving a whiff of freshness and only a hint of spicy-ness, even a bout of sweetness. Brother! When did you get this good at cooking ? " She asked, her hands speeding up. 

" This soup is at once fresh, and the slight umami taste of meat makes it rich.. This is a divine balance that could only be achieved by an five star cook ! Are you really my brother ? " Mina said, looking at him in shock.