Chapter 14: The Legendary Chef Who Never Existed, All In Her Mind?

Lilly picked up her spoon and took another bite, wanting to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.

The result was the same. She could clearly feel the Mana within the food entering her body.

"This really is Mana-Nourished Food..." she muttered in disbelief. "You actually managed to preserve the Mana inside the ingredients."

She pointed her spoon at Nero.

"How the hell did you become a 1-Star Chef without having any Mana?"

"Eh?"

Nero was confused by her sudden question.

He knew next to nothing about Mana Cooking, apart from the cooking videos he occasionally watched on his phone. The System had given him the knowledge, and he had simply followed it.

Lilly found his reaction even harder to believe.

Did he seriously not understand what he had just accomplished?

Mana Cooking was a profession that required a certain level of control over Mana.

Unlike ordinary cooking, where someone only needed to prepare the ingredients properly, Mana Cooking involved preserving and nourishing the energy contained within them.

Normally, an Awakener couldn’t freely control the Mana inside their body. If that were possible, everyone would be shooting energy bullets without needing a Talent.

However, when an Awakener came into physical contact with Mana-infused ingredients, the Mana within their body could react to the energy inside those ingredients.

Through that connection, they could influence the Mana contained within the food and prevent it from dissipating during cooking.

A chef capable of doing this successfully would officially be recognized as a 1-Star Chef.

The problem was that Nero hadn’t used any Mana whatsoever.

As someone aspiring to become a Mana Chef herself, Lilly understood just how ridiculous that was.

"Do you even understand what this means?" she asked. "You’ve technically reached the level of a 1-Star Chef!"

Nero blinked.

"Wait what?"

"..."

Lilly was starting to wonder whether he was deliberately playing dumb.

"But that’s not even the strangest part. It’s your cooking technique!"

"You don’t have Mana, Nero. Without Mana, you shouldn’t be able to preserve the energy inside those ingredients in the first place!"

"..."

Nero finally understood why she was making such a fuss.

He had only followed the instructions provided by the Entry-Level Mana Cooking Knowledge.

Now that he thought about it, the technique had involved several unusually precise movements.

Everything from the way he handled the ingredients to how he controlled the heat had been designed to prevent the Mana from escaping.

In other words, the System had given him a cooking technique that didn’t require him to possess Mana at all and that he was in trouble.

Nero immediately became nervous.

Meanwhile, Lilly was having a difficult time accepting what she had witnessed.

The Morgan family’s personal chef was already a 2-Star Chef, and Lilly had spent years learning from him.

Yet despite her talent and effort, she still hadn’t managed to reach the 1-Star level.

And now Nero, who had only recently experienced a half awakening, had casually prepared Mana-Nourished Food in the middle of the night.

"Where did you learn that technique?" Lilly asked.

Nero stiffened at her question.

He was definitely not prepared for her question.

But if he stayed silent it’ll be more troublesome.

"I... uh received some training."

"What kind of training? Who taught you?"

Nero felt a headache coming on. How was he supposed to answer that?

He couldn’t exactly tell Lilly that a mysterious System had suddenly appeared in his life and started handing out stuff like free candy.

After thinking about it for a moment, he came up with an explanation.

"I met someone mysterious a while ago," Nero replied. "That person passed some cooking knowledge on to me."

It wasn’t entirely a lie.

The System was certainly mysterious, and it had given him the knowledge.

Lilly fell silent as she considered his answer.

"A mysterious person..."

She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Hm.... Could it have been a 5-Star Chef?"

"Huh?"

Nero hadn’t expected that response.

"Think about it. There are only a handful of 5-Star Chefs in the entire world, and they’re capable of things ordinary Mana Chefs could never accomplish."

Lilly became increasingly excited as she spoke.

"They can prepare dishes that directly increase someone’s strength, and some can even use special ingredients to create food that grants extraordinary abilities!"

"You’re only half-awakened, yet you can prepare Mana-Nourished Food without using any Mana. If someone really taught you that technique, they must be an incredible chef!"

She seemed completely convinced by her own explanation.

Nero almost laughed.

’She came up with an excuse for me herself?’

Well, he certainly wasn’t going to complain.

"Now that you mention it, I think that might be the case," Nero said, nodding seriously. "I remember eating something that person prepared, and somehow, the cooking knowledge entered my mind afterward."

Lilly nearly jumped out of her seat.

"He transferred knowledge through food?!"

"...Yeah?"

"That’s something only the highest-level chefs are capable of!"

Nero maintained a normal expression hearing her reply, although he was feeling rather relieved inside.

Thank goodness she likes overthinking things. It made things easy for him.

"Do you remember what he looked like?" Lilly asked eagerly.

Nero shook his head.

"Not really. I couldn’t see his face."

"Oh..."

Lilly sounded disappointed.

She had hoped to learn more about this mysterious chef, but since Nero apparently knew so little about him, there wasn’t much point in continuing to ask.

An awkward silence settled between them as they finished eating.

However, Lilly seemed to have something else on her mind.

She tapped her fingers against the counter a few times before finally turning toward Nero.

"Teach me."

"Hm?"

"I said, teach me that technique!"

Nero blinked at her sudden request.

Lilly’s cheeks turned slightly red. "D-Don’t misunderstand! I’m not asking because I need your help or anything. I just want to study your method and use it as a reference!"

She crossed her arms and turned away.

"That’s all."

"..."

Nero couldn’t help finding her reaction amusing.

She was practically begging him to teach her, yet she was acting as though she was doing him a favor.

A small chuckle escaped his lips.

Lilly immediately turned toward him.

"What’s so funny?!"

"Nothing."

"You were laughing!"

"I wasn’t."

"You definitely were!"

Nero quickly stopped smiling.

Lilly was about to snap at him again, but she suddenly hesitated.

It was rare for Nero to laugh so naturally in front of her.

Usually, he would become nervous whenever she raised her voice, and even making eye contact was difficult for him.

Yet he had just laughed at her without thinking.

For some reason, she didn’t feel like ruining that.

"Hmph! Whatever."

She picked up her spoon again.

"So, are you going to teach me or not?"

Nero thought about it for a moment.

He had already obtained the cooking knowledge, and teaching Lilly wouldn’t cost him anything.

Besides, she had been studying Mana Cooking for years. Perhaps he could learn something from her as well.

"Sure. How about after university tomorrow?"

Lilly nodded.

"Fine. We’ll do that."

With that settled, Nero finished the remaining food and got up from his seat.

"I’m going to sleep now."

He carried his plate to the sink before heading toward the kitchen entrance.

"Good night, Lilly."

"...Good night."

Nero left without saying anything else.

Lilly remained seated, thinking about everything that had happened tonight.

Nero had cooked Mana-Nourished Food, spoken to her without constantly stammering, and even laughed at her.

He really was acting differently.

...

The following morning, Nero woke up as sunlight filtered through his curtains.

This was already the third day since he had obtained the Ultimate Choice System.

He remained in bed for a while, thinking about everything that had happened over the past two days.

Although he was still far from becoming the confident person he wanted to be, he had certainly made some progress.

Unfortunately, there was one thing that hadn’t changed.

He had dreamed about Lyris again.

Even after everything that happened, he couldn’t simply forget someone he had loved for so many years.

The memory of her accepting Richard’s confession still hurt whenever he thought about it.

Nero sighed.

’Well, I can’t expect to get over her in just three days.’

He had already decided to move on, so there was no point spending the entire morning feeling miserable about it.

"Maybe I should use the Perfect Sleep ability I got from completing the choice to prepare a meal for Lily from last night."

According to the description it will help him achieve perfect sleep and improve his overall quality of life. He was too sleepy last night to select the reward from the System Inventory.

He decided to take it out and then get out of bed.

After getting out of bed, Nero took a shower and changed into fresh clothes.

He also checked his appearance in the mirror.

His skin was still clear, and the dark circles that had troubled him for years were practically gone.

The Hormonal Change Injection really had done wonders for him.

Once he was ready, Nero headed downstairs.

However, when he arrived at the dining hall, he discovered that everyone had already left.

Lilly had gone to university early, and Lilia was nowhere to be seen either.

Nero checked the time before remembering the Warm Meal Voucher he still had in his inventory.

’Right, I haven’t used that yet.’

He decided to redeem it. Of course, he could just ask some maid here for food, but he wanted to use his reward.

[Warm Meal Voucher Used.]

A covered tray immediately appeared before him, containing scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and grilled tomatoes.

"Oh, that’s convenient."

Nero sat down and enjoyed his breakfast.

After finishing the meal, he decided to walk to university instead of asking one of the drivers to take him.

Normally, Nero avoided walking around outside whenever possible.

He had always been overly conscious of his appearance and what other people thought about him.

Even now, he occasionally found himself worrying that strangers might be staring at him or talking behind his back.

However, he wasn’t going to let those thoughts control him anymore.

’If I can’t even walk outside without worrying about people judging me, how am I supposed to change?’

With that thought, Nero left the mansion and headed toward Awakener’s Pride University.

Meanwhile, Lilia happened to be driving along the same road when she noticed someone familiar walking along the sidewalk.

It was Nero.

She was somewhat surprised.

That boy had always preferred staying indoors, and whenever he needed to go somewhere, he would usually ask for a ride.

Yet here he was, walking to university all by himself.

Lilia watched him for a moment before adjusting her glasses.

"...Interesting."

She raised the car window and continued driving.

Nero, meanwhile, was enjoying the cool morning air.

The streets were moderately busy, with people heading to work and students making their way toward their respective schools.

He kept walking, occasionally looking around at the buildings and people passing by.

It wasn’t as though he had never walked through the city before, but he rarely went anywhere without worrying about what others might think of him.

Today, he was trying not to bother with those thoughts.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, Nero passed a large public park.

Several people were jogging along the pathways, while others were enjoying the morning beneath the trees.

Just as he approached the entrance, a familiar system window suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Choice Detected: Morning Encounter]