Chapter 39
Drayken felt like teasing this girl the more he looked at her, so he worriedly touched her forehead and spoke with a concerned voice:
“Are you alright?”
“Ye… yes,” Synthia replied with a raise of her head, revealing her completely red face. She looked rather cute.
Drayken smiled inwardly. Teasing this girl, cold at first, now blushing was unexpectedly amusing.
But at the same time, a chill ran down his spine. He could feel a murderous gaze fixed on his back.
With an audible gulp, Drayken swallowed hard and quietly settled back into his seat.
His movements stiff, he turned his head mechanically to meet Kaezer’s expressionless face. Hand trembling, he picked up his fork and began slicing into the meat of some unknown creature, stuffing large chunks into his mouth.
“Hmm?” Synthia tilted her head at Drayken, the corner of her mouth curling into a grin, though a faint feeling of being left out tugged at her.
An awkward silence lingered in the room, broken only by the click-clack of forks and spoons against plates.
Dragons ate like ravenous beasts. Their appetite was an endless well, insatiable and wild.
On average, they could consume around twenty pounds of meat in a single sitting, and meat was all they ever ate, with barely anything else on the side.
“Sigh.” Drayken slumped back into his chair, a lazy expression on his face. Although the meal had been sumptuous, it hadn’t quite satisfied his palate. There was no variety in the sauces, and barely any vegetables or sides to speak of.
Honestly, he felt a little let down.
“Why aren’t you satisfied with the meal, Drayken?” Kaezerat asked curiously.
Every other dragon who dined here always left with a full stomach and a satisfied smile.
This was the first time the Dragon King had seen such a nonchalant reaction.
“Well,” Drayken rolled his shoulders and sat up a bit straighter. “It’s kind of bland. Add more sauces, some fruits, and a few sides, and it’d be the best meal ever.”
“Haha, you have a peculiar taste.”
Kaezerat laughed heartily, his head tilted toward the ceiling.
“You’re interesting, very interesting. Can you cook for me?”
“I am the divine cook, Your Majesty. Of course I can cook.” Drayken stood up with a gentlemanly flourish and bowed his head respectfully.
“Good, good.”
Before long, Drayken found himself in the kitchen, facing an old man with graying hair and a begrudging expression.
“I don’t care whether you’re the one destined to lead us or not,” the old man grumbled, “but you’re full of it if you think you can cook better than me.”
“We’ll see, old man,” Drayken replied, a wide grin spreading across his face.
Drayken began with the sauce. First, he grabbed a few eggs that resembled chicken eggs and set about making mayonnaise. After all, mayonnaise was basically just eggs.
He gathered the other ingredients, something like Dijon mustard, a lemon-like fruit, oil, a pinch of salt, and a bit of sugar.
They weren’t exact matches to what he was used to, but they were close enough. After a while of steady mixing, he produced a thick, creamy white sauce.
The old man turned his face away, but his eyes betrayed him, watching intently from the corners as Drayken worked.
“Taste it, old man,” Drayken said, holding out a spoon with a smug grin.
“Hmph, I better not get poisoned eating this,” the old man muttered with a hint of disdain. He swept the spoon and took a bit of mayonnaise and licked it.
The flavor burst across his tongue.
Without another word, he finished the rest silently.
‘What sort of sorcery did this brat use?’ he thought. It was a perfect sauce for meat—rich, smooth, balanced. But his pride wouldn’t let him admit it.
With a flare of his nostrils, he sniffed and said, “It’s good… but the sugar’s too much.”
“Alright, let’s do another,” Drayken said with a smug grin. He rolled up his sleeves with confidence, ready for the next act.
Time to make the king of sauces: Chili Sauce, the most overpowering sauce in the game.
He cut a cluster of crimson dragon poison peppers and crushed garlic and herbs into a mortar, then poured in a dash of Embervine vinegar.
The result?
A glowing, thick red concoction that shimmered with heat!
The old man stared at the sauce, cold sweat dripping down his face.
“Up for the game now, old man?”
“What is this obnoxious poison?!” he roared, full of outrage.
“It is a poison—but a good one! Besides the dragon’s digestion, you’ll be completely fine!” Drayken gave him a thumbs-up.
“Try some.”
With hesitation, the old man took out a spoon and scooped some chili and ate it.
The spicy flavour burst in his mouth, and for a moment, the old man was in a daze. He took out a chicken leg type of meat and dipped it before biting it. The overwhelming flavour of the sauce with the meat melted on his tongue.
For a moment, he slumped to the ground, utterly dazed and satisfied.
The old man stood up, took a deep breath, and walked up to Drayken and pulled his collar:
“You, you teach me everything you know.”
“Alright, alright, old man.”
Drayken taught him every recipe and went away to train. He got a lot of resources sitting there just for free, well, not exactly, it seemed more like dowry gifts instead.
After returning to his room, Drayken quickly filled his mana core in a day and reached the peak of Third-Circle. Now, he would need to walk the path further on his own.
“Once I get that knowledge, maybe I could even allow Eryke to progress further on the path of a mage?”
Eryke’s mana core was on the verge of collapsing just from the overflowing mana, and what’s worse was that it was increasing bit by bit every day. The title made him a man born with mana, without even absorbing it, one would still gradually be nourished by mana.
This was the power of the title of <
“Also, the other title that I got,<