Book 5: Chapter 29

“This is peculiar,” Aaron said, hunched over the golem corpse as he felt a piece of its adaptive flesh between his fingers. Despite being very dead, the flesh was still moving, and he could feel it trying to wiggle its way into his fingers. “Mind if I help myself to the corpse? I wouldn’t mind testing a few things out on it back home.”

“By all means, go right ahead,” Ernest said. “You did most of the work.”

A few swift karate chops later, and Aaron pocketed all the best chunks of golem flesh in his spatial storage. “Alright. Looks like we’re done here. That thing was strong… but I dunno. Something feels off, don’t you think? After all the damage we’ve done taking out obelisks and destroying his armies, I’m surprised Darius thought the golem would get past us.”

“I was thinking just the same. I wish I had an answer for you. But I have a feeling we’re going to have to storm that bastard’s home and wring it out of his neck.”

Aaron agreed and took to the sky. His plans hadn’t changed, and he wanted to get back to Dober as soon as possible. But first, he needed to make sure another army, or something else, wasn’t hiding beyond the horizon, waiting for him to leave.

He scouted for several hundred kilometers before returning to the city. There was no sign of anything. There was no way of being entirely sure that no undead were on their way, but if there were another legion, he’d have spotted it.

After that, he decided to make a quick stop at the academy before returning to the goblin airship.

“You wanted to check in? Oh, don’t worry about the debt,” the headmaster waved dismissively. “You’ve more than made up for those costs. We made plenty with the food sales alone. Not only that, but some of our students are going to open a kitchen with the Professions they gained, and all they learned from you. They’re going to be cooking out of the eastern wing of the academy. There is already a buzz around town about your food. The tastes of your dishes were a bit strong and forward at times. But the soul-cleansing aspects are hard to come by, and the people can’t get enough of it. Your food even helped some people reach their racial evolutions. And they can’t wait to get more. And that’s where we’ll step in.”

Aaron raised a brow at the headmaster as he greedily rubbed his hands together. He certainly seemed more driven by profits than by some life mission to teach. But then again, he had been helpful.

“Glad it worked out,” Aaron said. “I’ll be leaving now. But I’ll stop by next time I’m in town.”

Turning half the academy into a restaurant hadn’t been his intention, but removing the debts was certainly a positive. He was sure that Dober could cover it, what with how fast the settlement was growing. But they didn’t need extra expenses, and he was fairly certain Julius was likely still struggling to get outposts set up properly, and every credit counted.

After saying his goodbyes to the students and showing them a few last cooking techniques, he returned to Mork and Gork. Although he was a little disheartened, none had even attempted to use their toes. That was where the best spiritual energy came from, after all.

Reaching the airship, he found that they had finished the preparations despite having to take a break to help repair armor during the defense of the city.

“Finally! We’s can go now?” Mork exclaimed.

“Yes, yes, let’s move!” Gork agreed.

“Sure can,” Aaron grinned. “Let’s move.”

The engines roared to life, and a puff of steam was released as they floated up and over the city. It wasn’t particularly fast, but it wasn’t unpleasant. And as they flew, he had to admit, it was nice being able to lounge on a deck chair while floating through the sky.

That said, flying wasn’t effort, far from it at his level, with all the energy he possessed and his absurd regeneration. But still, it was nice to let his mind go and watch the clouds float by.

But in his usual style, after only a few hours of relaxation, Aaron decided to get back to working on his mana anchors. A real holiday would have to wait until their world was free of enemies.

The confrontation with Darius could come at any moment, and while he figured that perhaps he was already strong enough to take the necromancer, it was best to upgrade his anchors before the fight and not take any risks. He still didn’t know how the Death God would show his presence, after all.

So, as they flew, he practiced various kinds of mana control, including cooking up and imbuing his food with mana for the goblins, which they loved.

But it wasn’t just imbuing that he was up to. Aaron used his understanding of partitioned anchors and pushed it further, switching between empowering with streamlined mana, imbuing, expanding, detaching, combining, and focusing. And the more he did it, the easier it got to switch back and forth between different techniques.

As the days passed, he fed them all kinds of different meals, and the crew manning the vessel seemed to have boundless energy when eating mana-infused food. In fact, thanks to their endless energy, they made such good time that Mork and Gork allowed their underlings to hunt a few flying beasts along the way.

Since they were too weak for Aaron, and he didn’t need to corrupt his path with slaughtering weaklings, he let the goblins do it all. But he didn’t just watch.

Taken from NovelPhoenix, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Aaron happily gave pointers both during and between fights, shoring up their form and taking a page from Yendal’s book as an instructor, though the goblins seemed to like that side of him less.

However, Aaron actually found teaching to be rather helpful. It gave him insights into a side of him he hadn’t known before, and while he wasn’t gaining experience or anything like that, he felt that it would help him down the line, and perhaps he ought to do it more often.

But most of the journey was spent cooking away. He had gained a couple of levels in his Profession back at the academy, and as he worked tirelessly over their journey, to push that further.

Mana anchors had already become a vital part of his combat, but as he trained and his understanding of them grew further, he started to use them in more sophisticated ways when cooking more and more.

Perhaps it was the peace of floating clouds and drifting through the sky, but he felt like he was more at peace there in the sleepy steam-powered airship than he had been anywhere in a long time. And the results for his Profession seemed to prove that.

Focused on pushing mana through his anchors in various ways as he cooked, and preparing food in every way imaginable, he achieved quite respectable gains over a couple of weeks of travel.

You have gained insight into a possible upgrade path for Mana Anchors. Current discovered upgrade paths:

Streamlined Mana Anchors (20%)

Partitioned Mana Anchors (50%)

Reverse Mana Anchors (20%)

Elemental Shift (Void) (15%)

Expanded Mana Anchors (15%)

Imbuing Mana Anchors (40%)

Detached Mana Anchors (10%)

Combined Mana Anchors (15%)

Focused Mana Anchors (20%)

Diffusive Mana Anchors (10%)

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Ding!

[ Deathly Spirit Chef ] has LEVELED UP!

115 → 133

Aaron nodded appreciatively as he eyed all his gains. Sure, he could have made the trip much faster, but with gains like this, it hardly mattered.

He had found peace aboard the ship, and he sensed that the results on his Profession would be far more than just levels, but might have some profound outcomes.

Grinning widely, he was just about to flick over to his System page and take a look at his Skill selection options when he heard a goblin cry out.

“Huh?” Aaron turned, dismissing his System.

“We’s see it! We’s sees it! Gobbos, look!”

Aaron quickly rushed to the bow where the goblin was pointing.

“Look, there! A city on tha horizon!”

Spotting Dober with a thick blanket of clouds over it, he smiled. It was looking even bigger than before, and he saw several new impressive buildings amongst its ever-expanding sprawl. It looked like his Skill purchase could wait until after he got home.

“That’s it, fellas. The crown of the Front. See that farm over there?” Aaron pointed. “That’s my little parcel of paradise. It might not look like much yet, but a man’s home is his castle.”

“And this is where the goblins live, right?” Mork asked.

“Yep, right over there,” Aaron pointed. “Those huts. Looks like they’re building more of them as well. Might have brought in another tribe while I was gone.”

“Oh, more?” Mork’s brows perked.

“This was good idea, brother,” Gork nodded.

When Aaron finally looked over, Mork and Gork were licking their lips suggestively, and he groaned with disappointment as he was reminded of goblin nature.

“What have I gotten myself into?”

Terry

“I said, hurry the fuck up!” Terry roared at his subordinates as he burst out of his inner chamber. “What are you morons doing out here? Get those cocktails made now! You don’t leave an absolute stunner like that just waiting around to cool off!”

“Yes, sir!” A couple of Desert Pythons bowed as they rushed around a disorganized bar, throwing together elaborate drinks. “Getting your drinks now, boss!”

Terry huffed and shook his head. The Desert Pythons were a lot of things, but organized was not one of them.

“Calm down. Deep breaths. You got this, you absolute lady killer.”

He turned to the mirror and picked at his teeth, then wetted his hands and brushed his hair back. “You are one handsome motherfucker, Terry. Now, get in there, and make those panties drop like you were born to do.”

Snorting, he flexed his muscles, kissed his biceps, and pushed back through the curtains separating his room from the bar, where he had left his company waiting.

The moment he stepped inside, his jaw dropped. The green-skinned beauty had been sitting on a chair when he had gone to check where the refreshments he had ordered were, and now she was lounging provocatively across his bed, showing a not-so-modest amount of skin.

“You’s took you’self long enough,” she grinned wickedly as she lazily traced circles on the bedsheets with her finger.

“Ohohoh,” Terry blushed and grinned. “You sure know how to work up a storm. Where have you been my whole life?”

“Oh, just around, surviving. Now are you going to keep talking, or come over here?”

Terry’s eyes practically rolled back into his head as he marched across the room. “You have no idea…” He swallowed. “Um, on that note, you have to tell me how you hide your Inspection window. It gets me so hot and excited. Not knowing who you are makes this so much hotter.

“It’s a little trick I picked up. Maybe, with a little convincing, I could teach you how,” the green vixen said, fluttering her lashes. “But if you want me to share with you… you’s first have to share with me…”

“Ohoh, Terry likes where this is going. Just ask me what you want. I can fill you in any way you want.”

The green vixen smiled. “That’s just… perfect. But first, can you wear this?” She said, throwing a black mask over to Terry.

“Huh, this? A bit strange. But if that’s what works for you, Terry is more than happy to provide!”