ARIFURETA: Cooking to be the Strongest?

Many days had passed since Shin's continuous descent into the Abyss.

Shin, now on Floor 49, was meticulously hunting a particular beast: a monstrous, Komodo dragon-like creature. Its scales were as hard as steel, and it possessed a poisonous breath.

This behemoth was roughly five times Shin's length and twice his height, with two tails and three limbs. Adding to its predatory nature, it had three pairs of eyes: one set in the front, another on its sides, and a third pair on its back, granting it an almost omniscient view.

Slither.

The monster, its forked tongue flickering, eyed Shin as its next meal. Shin, on the other hand, held his harpoon spears ready, his usual blank expression unwavering.

Assessing the intruder as no threat, the monster pounced with incredible speed, covering the ten-meter distance in a blink. Its large, gaping mouth lunged, aiming to swallow Shin in a single gulp.

Snap.

Its jaws echoed throughout the area, but there was no blood. Its prey was gone.

Shin, from another angle, threw one of his spears, but only a resounding clang was heard. The spear failed to penetrate the steel-hard hide of the monster.

The creature slowly turned, preparing to strike again. Shin, however, let go of his harpoon spears, and his eyes turned serious.

"Tch, since entering Floor 45, these monsters keep getting tougher and tougher. The harpoon spears no longer penetrate their skins," Shin mused. Then, in his right hand, the obsidian knife materialized.

Shin's demeanor shifted instantly. The Komodo dragon monster, too, was stunned, sensing something profound. The small prey it had encountered suddenly exuded a dangerous aura, making the monster feel as though it had been placed on a chopping board.

But before the monster could snap back to reality, its head already toppled from its body.

"Fuh~, about 2% huh, same hardness as those black rocks." Shin dematerialized the knife, murmuring about the current stamina consumption of the obsidian knife.

Shin was then seen, as usual, carefully dripping the blood of the freshly hunted monster onto his book.

"The scales will be useful for light armor, but the head and organs seem no good for eating." Shin flipped through the book, looking at the information of the monster that now appeared.

"Looks like I'll be having a lizard tail steak again."

Shin then began dragging the carcass of his hunt back to his base. Due to its immense size, Shin simply butchered it, discarding any parts that couldn't be eaten or fashioned into weapons or tools, then proceeded with his usual routine in the abyss.

**********

"A forest?"

Shin had just descended from Floor 49. What surprised him now was that his current location was a forest-like area, illuminated by bright fungus scattered around instead of the usual glowing rocks or ore.

Shin walked to a nearby vine-like plant, grabbed one of its leaves, and smeared it on his book. The book showed him the details of the plant.

"Oh, it is edible and has a spicy tinge to it." Shin, confirming the safety of the plant, took a bite.

"It tastes like sweet potato leaves with the spiciness of a normal chili."

With the confirmation that the plants on this floor were safe and, more importantly, applicable to Shin's cooking, he hastily created a makeshift base on this new floor. He then moved most of his supplies from the previous floor to his new setup.

After that, Shin began collecting and taste-testing various plants, vines, and herbs he could find on this floor.

Shin also spotted a pool of clear water nearby. Scanning the area with his instincts, he found some small, non-threatening monsters in it. The area also had mud surrounding the pool. Curious, Shin checked the mud and found it had the right viscosity, suitable for cooking.

"This mud, it can be used for making that kind of dish!"

After long hours of collecting various plant-spices and mud, Shin returned to his base with a smile, laden with his collected items: large leaves, thick dried vines, mud, water from the clear pool, and many plants with a spicy taste.

Shin prepared for cooking. He started chopping what remained of the Komodo dragon's tail meat, removing the hard scales and washing it thoroughly.

Then, he spread a lot of shredded leaves and salt generously over the meat. He covered the meat in large leaves, then encased the leaves with the mud.

After the mud hardened, he set up his fire with the usual shredded page from his book and now used the dried vines as extra fuel for better fire control. He placed the hardened mud-covered meat in the pile of dried vines and then ignited the shredded page of the book.

The fire crackled merrily around the mud-encased meat, radiating a comforting warmth. Shin sat patiently, adjusting the dried vines to control the heat, a faint hum of anticipation escaping his lips.

The aroma of burning vine mixed with something richer, a promise of the meal to come. After a good while, the mud casing began to crack, a sign that the cooking was nearly complete.

Shin carefully pulled the mud-baked package from the embers. The hardened mud crumbled away easily, revealing the large leaves beneath.

As he peeled back the leaves, a cloud of fragrant steam billowed out, carrying a complex scent—earthy, spicy, and deeply savory. The Komodo dragon monster tail meat, once covered in tough scales, was now unbelievably tender, its flesh a deep, appetizing brown.

He took a moment to admire his creation, a dish born of ingenuity and the strange bounty of the Abyss. With a bone fork, he delicately cut a piece of the meat.

"Hmm... a rich, gamey flavor, perfectly infused with the salt and the subtle kick from those spicy leaves," Shin mused aloud, his eyes closing in satisfaction as he chewed. The texture was incredibly soft, practically melting in his mouth, a stark contrast to his past, salt-only seasoned meals.

His current dish now had a proper depth of flavors. The spices from the leaves added layers of flavor he hadn't experienced before, transforming the familiar lizard tail into something truly good.

He ate slowly, savoring each bite, a rare moment of pure enjoyment in his relentless journey. Shin also noticed the effects of the food.

The mysterious energy inside him was expanding and accumulating faster, and the monster meat's strengthening and recovery effect had also increased. Then, for some reason, something began to resonate within Shin's soul.

Shin, currently in a good mood from having a much more refined meal, decided to probe his other tools again. This time, he succeeded in summoning one.

"A wooden sword?"

Shin, with a slice of meat still in his mouth, was now holding a slick black wooden sword.

*******

Shin finished his meal, now sitting on the floor with the old book beside him and the newly summoned wooden sword. In his hand was his usual obsidian knife.

"Seems like the wooden sword is the same as the book; it can be summoned and stay materialized even if I'm not making contact," Shin mused as he let go of the obsidian knife, watching it dematerialize. With his hand, he approached the wooden sword and lifted it.

"It's really light," Shin murmured as he raised the wooden sword.

"Let's see if it's like the book and can regenerate. If that's the case, I can have firewood as extra fuel."

Shin then re-summoned the obsidian knife and planned to cut the wooden sword.

"Grrgh!!"

As Shin tried to cut the wooden sword, his stamina suddenly drained, nearly emptying.

"Hahah, what type of wood is this? Harder than those rocks," Shin murmured, exhausted. The knife itself dematerialized after that due to the lack of stamina, and Shin looked at the wooden sword, still perfectly whole, unblemished, not even a single cut or scratch on it.

Due to the tiredness, Shin rested for fifteen minutes, eating some jerky he had made to aid his recovery until he had regained half of his stamina.

"I guess I'll just stick to those dried vines as an alternative," Shin said with disappointment, realizing he couldn't use the wooden sword as a steady supply of fuel, unlike the pages of the book.

Shin again picked up the wooden sword and swung it.

Swish, Swish, Swish

A satisfying sound of the wooden sword tearing through the air.

"Not bad," Shin muttered after swinging the sword.

Shin then tested the wooden sword further, probing for any special or peculiar properties, similar to the obsidian knife and the old book. He hit a large rock nearby, and the rock was crushed.

Though, it was more like Shin's brute strength had done it rather than any inherent power of the sword.

Shin tested the sword again, but with the same result: the wooden sword was incredibly light yet incredibly hard, managing to withstand Shin's current strength.

"Hmm, I this one does not use any stamina at all."

Shin was surprised that this wooden sword, unlike the obsidian knife , does not use any stamina when used similar to the book which only used the unknown energy inside him when regenerating pages that have been cutted by his obsidian knife.

"I guess I'll be using this for now to at least beat the shit out of those monsters with hard skins," 

Shin mused, having found a new tool for hunting monsters that couldn't be pierced by his usual bone harpoon spears.

With the day coming to an end, Shin rested as he planned to explore the current floor he was in, while testing the wooden sword, tomorrow.