As Alex—Jewel perched on his head as usual—enters the Realm alongside Menchi and Benezia, he finally asks them about the progress.
"So… you guys were busy the last few days, and so was I. Anything to share yet? Even if you don't, I'd like an estimate at least. A month passes fast, and I need to make some plans. I'd rather finish all my tasks now and then relax toward the end. Rushing to get things done before a mission is never a smart idea."
Menchi grins with a smug smile. "Just check my status!"
Alex sighs. "You enjoy this, don't you?"
She does! Princess Jewel will outshine her soon enough!
[Menchi]
Level: 13 (0%)
Rarity: Purple
Free Skill Slots 0/2
Skills: Potioneering (Advanced +), Trading (Intermediate -)
Support Skills: Cooking (Expert -), Dismantling (Advanced +), Synthesizing (Advanced +)
Weapon rank: Purple
Armor rank: Light Purple
As Alex inspects her new status, he smiles and nods approvingly. "I guess you did it! Congratulations! I'm quite surprised you skipped the basic tier with your Trading skill… Benezia's skill seems to have worked perfectly. More importantly, just as you hoped for, you finally broke through the Expert rank in your cooking skill."
He then turns to Benezia. "Thank you for doing this!"
Benezia calmly replies, "I didn't even need to do much. She is quite talented. I guess it won't take long for her to reach the Advanced level. We still have quite a bit of time left. We'll be working hard on that."
Menchi then lifts her chin, looking smug.
She's getting a little too arrogant for my taste… she just wants me to ask.
"I'm tired of this, so I'll ask outright. Did you manage to come up with something decent? If you broke through with your skill, I suppose you must have created something good," Alex asks, glaring at her.
Menchi steps in front of him and wraps her arms around him, staring at him. "Oh, so you want to know?"
"... Yes," Alex replies.
"Okay, I'll stop teasing you; your reactions aren't as innocent now. I'd hoped you'd blush and give me a show like usual. It's a little sad," she says, feigning disappointment.
"Just show it to me!" Alex says, his patience nearing its limit.
[Mythical Dish: Giant Swordtail Boullabaisse]
World: Zemuria (Kiseki/Trails Franchise) / Harry Potter / Wizarding World / Fantasy Realm
Type: Fish
Quality: Deep Purple
Requirements: —
Effect: Permanently increases MNA by 1
Effect: Permanently increases the user's Water Resistance, Water Power, and Water Talent by 2%
Effect: Permanently increases the swimming speed of the user by 5% (This effect can be combined with swimming skills.)
Note: A mythical dish that transforms the user's entire body, allowing them to take on traits of the legendary Giant Swordtail, thus permanently raising their Affinity with all Water-related abilities and swimming speed.
Note: Eating this dish, does prevents the user from profiting from a dish using similar ingredients.
Note: This dish contains countless spices and other ingredients, subtly increasing the effects of the primary ingredient.
"I can see why you're so smug," Alex comments. "This is incredible. Swimming speed might be situational, but it surely can't hurt; it also adds another stat point, which is always awesome. However… Water affinity, huh? It encompasses Resistance, Power, and Talent?"
"Yeah… but I feel bad. In hindsight, I could have probably achieved something like this with the Dragon Heart from the wizarding world. I wasted it. Not anymore. In the future, I'll try to create more dishes like this one. I've progressed and see things differently now, Alex. Keep providing me those ingredients, and I'll make sure you grow more powerful than anyone else!" Menchi says before turning to Benezia.
"Whenever we see a high-quality ingredient, we need to buy it! If it's at least Light Purple, I'm sure I can create an item that increases stats! Hopefully also Resistances and the like."
"Understood," Benezia says, nodding along.
Alex then addresses the glowing orb of light in his body, which conveniently leaves him and begins hovering nearby.
So obvious… 1337 reminds me of Navi screaming 'Hey—Listen!' The big difference? 1337's advice is actually useful and not annoying.
"1337, can I have some information about these new stats? I don't see them in my status," Alex asks.
[This system is not allowed to tell Host about advanced statistics like these; however, there is a condition the Host can fulfill to unlock these statistics. Fulfilling this condition is quite reasonable and occurs naturally.]
Alex thinks for a second, only for Benezia to interrupt his thoughts. "Obviously, you'll learn more once you use the dish."
I guess so…
Princess Jewel agrees… she is a little jealous. She also wants to try Menchi's dish!
Alex sighs. "Sorry, Jewel, the effect might vanish if I share it. I just have to eat this dish now, right? We'll find out more after the fact."
"Why so down?" Menchi asks, looking confused—before realizing the problem. "Ah! I kinda forgot… You don't eat fish, right?"
Alex tries hard not to show his disappointment. "Well… I guess there's no better time to start trying new things than right now? This is probably the tastiest fish dish I can ever expect to eat in my entire life. I'm sorry that it's wasted on someone like me."
As Alex grabs a spoon from his inventory, he tries hard not to make a disgusted face as he tastes the very first bite.
After chewing and swallowing, a tear rolls down his cheek.
My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined….
"Well, this is super tasty—even I, who doesn't like fish, can say that," Alex lies.
"I need to eat more…" he says, gulping.
Speeding up to get through it, he desperately swallows down the bouillabaisse. After a few more bites, his initial disgust turns into curiosity before his opinion finally changes.
Not so bad… it was weird, but I kind of like it.
As he finally finishes the dish, he even finds himself craving more.
"I… that was actually great. I admit I lied at first, but after a few bites, I genuinely enjoyed it. Thank you, Menchi!"
You have gained 1 MNA
ERROR: Current stats not aligned with Statistical OCD lvl MAX
You have lost 1 MNA
You have received 1 Stat Point
You have gained 2% Water Resistance
You have gained 2% Water Power
You have gained 2% Water Talent
"It worked!" Alex says with a smile.
He opens his status screen and tries to access the new information. To his surprise, he has exactly 0% Resistance, 100% Power, and 100% Talent for almost all the elements. He sees Fire, Thunder/Lightning, Earth, Light, Dark, and many others—though many elements are hidden.
He spots a couple where his Power and Resistance are increased.
Specifically, his Fire, Frost, and Poison Resistance are improved. His Poison Resistance sits at a ridiculous 85%, while his Poison Power is exactly 110%.
His Fire Resistance is a respectable 20%, while his Power is 120%.
Surprisingly, Frost is at 21% and 121%, with Talent sitting at 101%.
For Water, he has increased stats across the board: 2% Resistance, 102% Power, and 102% Talent.
"This is useful…" Alex comments. "However, 1337, I don't know if you can tell me now—I'm a little confused. What's the difference between Talent and Power?"
[Now that Host has unlocked the display, he can see all his current Elemental statistics. Power increases the damage and potency of all Host's abilities. Talent is useful for a variety of things. It does increase accuracy, duration, and the general skill of using the element. The more Talent one possesses, the more he can freely use his abilities, beyond the narrow skill abilities. With high Talent, one can even change and tweak spells, creating new ones without the help of the system. Resistance does have a softcap at 100%. Though increasing it beyond 100% is possible, I can't tell Host that this would lead to a different interaction altogether.]
"Well… thanks, 1337. You are the best system I could ever wish for. I guess I can use this to keep track, though most of these increased stats are because of my Poison Resistance subskill that Mustrano ate, my [Sacred Emerald Copper Earring], and my mighty [Cataclysmic Frost-Fire Ring]! One last question—though I think I can guess the answer…. Why are my Frost Resistance, Power, and Talent slightly increased? It should be the same as with my Fire affinity. Is it because Frost is related to Water?"
[Host is correct. Some Elements are intrinsically connected. Fire and Lava, Water and Frost, Earth and Sand. The base elements are Water, Fire, Earth, and Wind. Increasing your mastery over base elements also increases many advanced elements.]
"However… the reverse is obviously not the case… so increasing my Frost Resistance does nothing to my Water Resistance… this is weird," Alex comments.
"Does this new information change your plans, Alex?" Benezia asks, curiously watching him.
Alex responds, "Not really. It's a huge mistake to focus on a specific element. Even with increased Power, if my enemy has a lot of resistance, my whole strategy would fail. Granted, I've got a little spell piercing as well, at least for Fire and Frost, but it's not worth it. I think these Elemental Resistances and Powers are nice to have, but I won't strategize around them. Maybe it's worth keeping a few spare items with Resistance, though."
"I agree. Most importantly, these seem to be especially rare stats that are hard to obtain," Benezia comments. "Take what you can get, gather various items with resistances, but do not go out of your way to get them. Things could change, however, if you obtain powerful abilities of one particular element. You are surprisingly agreeable, Alex. I have to say I enjoy cooperating with you."
"Hehe, don't worry! I'll cook you enough food to make you a superhuman, capable of resisting any kind of element!" Menchi says with a grin.
"So, Benezia… It's your turn! What did you get me?" Alex asks, eagerly waiting for her response.
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