After Anna and Alex left the store, their mood turned odd. It was due to a mix of various emotions colliding with each other, making it so that they didn’t know what to do with each other.

  Collectively, they felt a sense of accomplishment at the fact that they had easily done what they had set out to do, buying a sword for Anna to use in the tournament.

  Then, the fact that they had learned about weapon upgrading really served to boost their mood. It was a subject that they had wanted to know about for quite some time, if merely because it was an integral part of the stories they read.

  Anna herself had said it, she and Alex had no use for such a thing. She used a special weapon that may or may not be made entirely out of conceptual energy. While Alex used his bare fists to fight his opponents. And with the slow conversion of monsters to E grade, even using stone to reinforce himself felt like too much.

  The problems came after that, when Anna had to consider what little more she learned about her family from the talkative and casual clerk. And while she did think about everything that the clerk had said, she set her focus on a specific possibility that only became obvious because of what he said.

  If what the clerk said is true, than that means that the family member that caused the death of the restaurant owner has to have some information about our family. I can’t imagine a world in where your response to an unsatisfying meal is to kill someone.

  She paused her train of thought and began to think about what little she remembered from the stories she and her friends had read. In an instant, her opinion changed, but not by much.

  At least, I don’t think a year is enough for someone to change that much. No, they must have grown up to be that way. And to top it off, the way the clerk said it, with no surprise or anything, tells me that similar behavior is expected in the family—he might’ve even said it was. Which further strengthens my belief that this family member grew up this way.

  While they walked and Anna immersed herself in her thoughts, Alex made sure that she didn’t bump into anyone, while guiding her to a restaurant that they could afford with the points they had.

  To his delight, the prices of most restaurants were easily visible from the outside. The most expensive dishes were beyond their current total points, the prices reaching as high as 7 or even 10 points. Still, there were cheaper options, starting as low as 1 point.

  This prices… Unless something changes, I can’t help but feel like something’s wrong about this tournament, Alex thought, quickly dismissing the idea as he continued searching.

  When Alex found a restaurant that he thought would be suitable for both of their tastes, he turned to Anna, only to see that she was still mulling over some things in her mind.

  Alex could infer what some of these things were, and by watching Anna’s expression, he could more or less guess where she was leaning regarding whatever issue she had in her head.

  Not wanting to disturb her, Alex took note of the surroundings and continued walking. Occasionally he would turn to his side, trying not to be so obvious and draw her attention, just to confirm that she was still mulling things over.

  By Alex’s rough count, about 12 to 15 minutes had passed sense they left the store that they had bought Anna’s replacement sword in. He was busy reading the menu of a restaurant that was ahead when Anna finally spoke.

  “Weren’t we supposed to get something to eat before the tournament resumed? she asked, completely oblivious to the fact that she was gone for more than 10 minutes.

  Alex, unbothered by the lost time, answered with a smile. “I was looking for the best restaurant to eat at,” he said, and then pointed toward two different directions. “That one sells Japanese. But a few minutes over there, they’re selling something that I’m almost one hundred percent sure, is monster meat.”

  “Not really in the mood for Japanese right now,” Anna said, her face showing mild unease. “Too close to home. Let’s try this monster meat. Who knows, I might follow in your footsteps,” she added with a smile.

  Alex turned to her, serious. “Don’t,” he said, his eyes fixed on hers. “Raw monster meat is disgusting, and you don’t even get a resistance to vomiting until level 10.”

  Anna laughed at how serious Alex was with his warning, and walked right past him, the unease fading from her face.

  “Wrong way,” Alex said, taking the lead once more.

  They didn’t walk for that long, maybe two or three minutes. When they arrived at the place that Alex had mentioned, Anna was surprised at how comfortable the restaurant looked from the outside.

  “It looks like a house,” Anna commented.

  Walking inside, the feeling of coziness she felt from the exterior only grew. It was like she entered the home of an old couple. Patterned, colorful walls were adorned with standard pictures of fruits, vegetables and even rural houses. The tables were wooden and had plastic mantles.

  “This looks why too familiar to belong to an integrated world. Don’t you think?” Anna asked Alex.

  Alex looked around, his sight setting on the visible portion of the kitchen. “Not at all,” he said, gesturing with his chin toward the kitchen.

  In the kitchen, where everything appeared completely normal, if a bit more futuristic, stood a savage looking humanoid with four arms. Their skin was a dark green, and an extra pair of arms protruded from the middle of its back. These extra limbs were thinner and longer than its other more normal looking set of arms.

  And what really gave them a savage appearance was the mess of teeth that were fighting to escape its mouth. It wasn’t just the incisors, in all honesty, they were probably the most normal looking teeth of them all, it was a ll the others that really looked wild and painful.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  “Are they our first alien or would that be Ratsvalch?” Alex asked, changing the topic.

  Anna considered the question for a bit. “If we consider Ratsvalch, then don’t we have to consider the urstigar? They were intelligent, remember?”

  “Then wouldn’t that mean that the monsters were technically—”

  A human attendant came, cutting Alex off with their mere presence, and dropped off two thin frames with a system like window in the middle.

  “This must be the menu,” Alex remarked.

  Anna didn’t answer, only nodded and looked at the options. After the pair looked at their respective menu for some time, they both looked at the other, surprise evident in their expression.

  They both knew why the other was so surprised, it was the menu and dishes. To be specific, it was because of what the dishes did. Each dish had a name, a brief description of not only what or where it came from, there was even a bit about basic preparation.

  However, Alex and Anna wouldn’t find something like that interesting. No, what really caught their attention was what came alongside all of this information… the effects that the dishes provided.

  Vahlur’s Six Noodles: Prepared with the smashed remains of a Vahlur’s sixth sensory organ, these noodles enhance awareness.

  Effect: Perception +10.

  Duration: 3 to 6 hours (Dependent on stage. Rank D and above will have no effect).

  Cost: 2 points.

  Lumina Caviar: Harvested eggs from the bioluminescent sage fish that inhabit mana waters.

  Effect: Wisdom +2.

  Duration: 1 hour (Dependent on stage. Rank D and above will have no effect).

  Cost: 4 points.

  Voidflamed Roast: Meat found in the far reaches of the void.

  Effect: Will cancel the magical or elemental effects up until a certain point.

  Duration: 3 to 6 hours (Dependent on stage. Rank D and above will have no effect).

  Cost: 2 points.

  The more they looked, the more they found. For a moment, they both forgot about their new reality and questioned how they even stored so many ingredients. The sheer volume of dishes suggested that they would need a warehouse beside the shop just to store a fraction of what they offered.

  Then, almost in unison, realization dawned on them.

  “Oh, right,” Anna said.

  “A storage device,” Alex added, chuckling.

  With the realization that the dishes could have effects and that some of them appeared to have a more substantial effect then others, they began to browse through the entire menu to have a better understanding of what was possible.

  This wasn’t done only to satisfy their own curiosity, no, their actions went beyond that. After months in a leadership position, the two friends, including Marcus and Stella, who weren’t with them, had grown accustomed to seeing things for more than they were.

  These weren’t simple dishes that could provide buffs, these were a clue as to what was possible not only with cooking, but also with monster parts in general.

  At this point, while many people had the idea of cooking monster parts, none had really been successful. Few people, other than Alex, could barely even stomach the food that was currently being prepared with monster parts. Yet, here was proof that it was possible.

  “This is proof that they can be used for more than alchemy,” Alex said, selecting something in the menu, causing an affirmative message to pop up. “I wonder if this means that cooking can also be a skill, and maybe we just haven’t found it because we need a higher-level hub.”

  Anna also chose her own meal and turned to face Alex. “I doubt that’s the case,” she said, flatly. “My guess would be that, up until now, it’s been the System that has been keeping those skills away.” She set the menu down. “I mean, think about it, do you remember seeing skills like it when we first leveled up?”

  “Ok, the first thing you said makes sense,” Alex said, nodding. “But I don’t know what you’re getting at with your question. The skill list upon level up is extensive, I don’t see why it couldn’t fit another skill or two in there.”

  “Did you see any skill like it in that list?” Anna asked again.

  “What do you mean? What are you getting at?”

  “Think back to when you first opened the window, did you see any skill that fits the same category as cooking?” Anna asked. “The skill hub, even now, doesn’t have a quarter of the total skills we saw when we chose skills directly from the System. But that can easily be explained by saying that it’s because of the level of the skill hub. But what about the skills list directly from the System? Why didn’t it have ‘lifestyle’ skills?”

  Alex pondered the question, struggling a bit to do so. Because, oddly enough, of their entire friend group, at least as far as he knew, only Eric, the most careless of them all, was the only one to have chosen a mental skill. It made Alex a bit envious to not have a skill to assist right now.

  “It wasn’t like I was searching for such skills, but to answer your question, no, I don’t think there were any ‘lifestyle’ skills available in the skills list that we got,” Alex finally said. “But what about alchemy? It isn’t that different from cooking, is it?”

  “No, it isn’t that different,” Anna conceded. “But alchemy is a bit more related to combat than cooking is. Also, remember how hard it was to reach actual alchemy? It was basically general crafting until Martin evolved and got actual alchemy skills.”

  “What does alchemy being more suited to combat have to do with—Your talking about that thing we talked about before, aren’t you? About the System focusing on combat,” Alex said, realization dawning upon him. “And now that I think about it, that would be a credible explanation.”

  “See,” Anna said. “It still wouldn’t explain why those skills can’t be developed though,” she said, adding another question in to the mix.

  “I guess,” Alex said, unsure about how he felt.

  “It could also just be that skills are hard to develop, or maybe ‘lifestyle’ skills were deliberately omitted by the System during the early stages of integration,” Anna said, answering her own question.

  She then turned to the kitchen, managing to see that they were putting two plates containing food that resembled what they ordered on a simple tray.

  “And for all we know, we could still be in said early stages of integration,” she added, looking back at Alex.

  “You know what, let’s just drop the topic and eat the alien food we ordered. I don’t think there’s much time left before the tournament begins again,” Alex said, dismissing the topic and focusing on the plate of food that was set in front of him by the same person who had given him the menu.

  Before Alex sat a metallic bowl adorned with futuristic and mystical accents, radiating an unfamiliar energy alongside traces of mana, making it obvious that it wasn’t made on Earth.

  Inside the bowl was a red substance that, depending on how he moved the bowl and even the angle that he chose to see it from, was either viscous or watery. Accompanying the strange soup, there were three pieces of purple meat, that from a glance, didn’t resemble any meat he was familiar with.

  Anna, on the other hand, had a plate with a large piece of oddly shaped bread that had strange, smoking fruits atop it. There was no Earth fruit equivalent that she could use to compare it. The closest answer her mind gave her was “pyramid banana,” or “pyramid pineapple.” Both fit, but neither was enough.

  Exchanging glances, the pair shrugged their shoulders, diving right into their meal.

  ----------

  Walking through the streets of the tournament grounds, a black man covered in visibly costly, white clothes, headed with purpose toward a monster meat restaurant. Suddenly, he paused his advance as his eyes settled on a different sight.

  It wasn’t just that he was no longer looking at what was in front of him, but the image was different, more faint, it was even from a different height.

  Looking down he saw the shaft of a spear in his hands. Then, just as suddenly, his sight came back to him.

  “Hmm,” the Merchant said, considering what just happened. He then looked up to the sky, as if assessing more than could be seen. “This world can’t handle this type of connection—Not yet anyway.”

  Resuming his walk, he began to consider the possibilities, only to come to an abrupt stop as he smelled a familiar scent.

  With a smile, he spoke to himself.

  “It’s clear that more than one is difficult right now,” he began, his smile turning into a grin. “But I see no reason that one can’t go without leaving a parting gift.”

  If you have any suggestions of what you'd like to see, characters or plot points that you're curious about, please let me know in the comments. And if you can, please drop a rating or review, good or bad, I want to know how I'm doing and your feedback is the best indicator.

  Once again, thank you for reading!