Eyeing the group, Aaron approached, keeping his focus on Pentival. “So, what’s all this about?” He said as he got within earshot.

  “Oh, it’s you,” Pentival said, turning to him. “This isn’t of any concern to you. If you want my ear, the same offer as before stands. Otherwise, run along.”

  “Is that so?” Aaron said, and caught Talia’s gaze, who returned a knowing look.

  Hmm, Aaron thought. Talia’s look said, “Don’t worry, I got this,” calming him a little. With that in mind, he decided it was best not to antagonize the situation… not more than what was necessary, anyway. After all, he wasn’t sure that rolling over for this guy was the best image for Earth.

  “The way I see it is that they’re from my world, and that is very much my problem,” Aaron crossed his arms defiantly. He didn’t want to make an enemy, but he also didn’t want this guy thinking Earth was full of cowards.

  “I thought you said you couldn’t speak for them?” Pentival raised a thin brow. “Changed your tune, have you?”

  “I said I couldn’t speak for all of Earth. Not that I’d stand by idly as you integrate people from my world. Besides, I thought it kinda looked like I was missing out," Aaron flashed a smile.

  “Ignore him,” Darius interjected. “I’m the one you should worry about. When I’m done turning my world into a land of the living dead, I shall come for yours, Mr. Emperor.”

  “So, that’s your answer?” Pentival turned back to Darius. “You’re a fool. But so be it. I’ve wasted enough time talking to the likes of you. Just know that when I strike you down, you were given a chance at redemption and you cast it aside like the foul creature you are.”

  “I’ll remember,” Darius said, licking his lips.

  “Let’s go,” Pentival waved his people on. “You don’t have to throw your lot in with them,” he gave Talia a wink as he walked off.

  It was definitely too much to expect that this place would be filled with normal people, wasn’t it?

  “Well, at least we got him to leave,” Aaron said, eyeing Talia, who smiled back, but didn’t seem to want to talk in Darius’ presence.

  “Full of himself, isn’t he?” Darius said.

  You’re one to speak.

  “Mate, you’re barking up the wrong tree if you think we’re getting along anytime soon.”

  “What a way with words you have. Oh, I am going to love the sounds of you two pleading for mercy,” Darius strummed his fingers.

  “Let’s get out of here, Talia," Aaron said, staring the necromancer down. “Seriously, that guy is a bit much, isn’t he?” he continued as they walked away.

  “A professional creep is what he is,” Talia replied.

  “Yeah, tell me about it. What on earth did his parents do to him?”

  “I don't care what his parents did. No one deserves to be blamed for that,” Talia said, looking back over her shoulder at the comically evil necromancer.

  “True. A bit harsh. So anyway, how’d you go? Get far with the trials?”

  “Yeah,” Talia nodded. “But I haven’t unlocked the fourth level yet. Only got three down so far.”

  “Oh, that’s fine—only one left. You’re tracking pretty good if you ask me. It hasn’t been that long anyway.”

  “Yeah, I tried to do them as fast as I could. There’s a lot to do, and this place has only confirmed my fears.”

  Aaron couldn’t say that he wasn’t impressed. Then again, she was the second human from Earth to arrive. She was the elite of the elite and was a much higher level than he was. Not only that, but if he hadn’t got distracted trying to learn about his spirit form and improving his aether control, he could have completed his trial much, much faster.

  Also, what was that about her fears being confirmed?

  “Ah, fears?”

  “Yeah,” Talia glanced around. “We can go over it when we talk about the other stuff. Suffice it to say, I think we need a plan for once we leave this place.

  Aaron nodded. She was right, of course.

  “Agreed. Well, you did good. By the way, have you seen Mo’han around?”

  “Err, yeah, momentarily,” she flashed a curious look. "He said not to wait around for him. Something about a meeting with a god.”

  Oh, so the big guy has finally made a decision, huh? I wonder who it is?

  “Thanks for letting me know. So, what’s your plan now?”

  “I suppose I’ll go try and beat this fourth stage trial. Once that’s done and I see what’s awaiting us after the trials, I’ll go spread my wings and test out the rest of the trials. With any luck, I can beat a bunch before this thing ends.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Sounds like a plan. I'd better think up my next trial as well, then.”

  Aaron felt a little distracted. He wanted to go over things with Talia even more after their recent encounter. But privacy seemed even more important now.

  He briefly considered doing another trial. After all, he had only completed a single stage of the Trial of Wit and could likely knock out the second stage rather quickly.

  That said, he also wanted to cook. There felt like there was a growing gulf between him and normal humans. The last thing he wanted was to become some weirdo normal people couldn’t get along with. But for the social implications, as well as the strategic implications. After all, allies would likely be important.

  And so, he decided to head over to the crafting station and work on refining his craft a little before thinking about another trial.

  It wasn’t just that. Aaron had a feeling that he was going to keep getting dragged into things if he jumped from trial to trial. Besides, he already had tools to work with, and if he put his mind to it, he was sure he could make something edible by humans.

  But before breaking out the pots and pans and cooking like a madman, Aaron took time to think about what he was doing. He needed to be a little more purposeful; otherwise, he was likely to make the same mistakes.

  He wanted something that a human could eat, but without wasting everything he had learned. It needed to retain the lessons he had picked up; it needed to be something impressive.

  What were the foods he liked before the integration? He wanted something tasty, yet delicate. Not overly complicated, and not an acquired taste, yet something that was still interesting with a touch of class.

  And he got the perfect idea. It was an old favorite of his, and something he felt ticked all the right boxes.

  Peking duck pancakes.

  The sweet and savory finger foods were perfect. Everyone who tried peking duck pancakes enjoyed them, but they were still relatively novel to most… outside of China, at least.

  Although there were a few problems.

  For starters, he had no duck. What was a suitable substitute, he wondered?

  And for the first time, as he was looking around at the ingredients in the cooking station, Aaron realized something that had escaped his purview. Everything was… kind of disturbing. The kitchen was filled with all the foul, swamp-dwelling ingredients one could imagine.

  Had the trials started to provide ingredients that suited his style? And since he was an ogre chef, was that why he was getting this foul stuff to cook with?

  This wasn’t good. Not good at all.

  But he had to make do with what he had. Hopefully, if he started making food a little more palatable, then the ingredients provided by the trials would start to change. And even if they didn’t, it wasn’t like there was that much time left in the trials anyway.

  If worst came to worst, he could always start cooking more respectable food after the trials were done and dusted.

  With that thought, what was he going to replace duck with, though?

  Aaron went through his ingredients and settled on the giant squid bird. The giant squid bird was exactly what it sounded like. A flying squid. Why on earth did he select this to replace duck with?

  Well, the answer was rather simple: the giant squid bird landed on water to feed, and delved down as it spotted prey, much like a duck. Besides, there really weren’t many comparable options, and so he was forced to go with the beast that most reminded him of a duck.

  Surprisingly, or maybe not, the flesh was remarkably similar. But like a mix between duck and calamari. It had a meaty, red poultriness to it, but also the rubbery texture of calamari. It was honestly a very bizarre meat, but he quite liked the taste as he fried it up.

  “Wait, that’s not good, is it?”

  Aaron had to remind himself that if he enjoyed the meat, then others likely wouldn’t. He was back to the drawing board. Although he would save this dish idea for himself, his perverse ogre taste buds had been wet by it, and he hated to admit that he was dreaming about eating the squirmy dish as he tried to come up with something else more honed to human tastes.

  Maybe it was time to get back to baking. He could cook the cake he made with Yendal, but he kind of wanted to do his own thing. To push his path and his Skills. It was one thing to cook something humans could eat, but it meant little if it didn’t help him along the way. Ideally, whatever he did would redefine what he was and the path that his Profession was taking. To help him evolve in such a way that he could actually cook for other people reliably again sometime in the future.

  What was a cake he wanted to make, though?

  Aaron got to work. He didn’t have a recipe, but that wasn’t going to stop him from measuring out ingredients and coming up with one… despite not knowing what he was doing.

  But then again, he was an E-grade cook now, and that meant a certain degree of knowledge, a difficult concept to understand for those who had never gained levels. But one that existed nonetheless.

  First, he made the cake itself. A dense spongy thing, and then a syrup. A special cream to add on top, and even some decorations to add frills.

  Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

  Sticky Troll Date [ Elite — E-grade]

  “Sticky troll date?” Aaron blanched. “Seriously? That doesn’t sound appetizing at all.”

  He slumped. He had no confidence giving this to a human to try, and he knew he couldn’t trust his own taste. It was back to the drawing board.

  Cycling through recipes, Aaron’s kitchen once more became the den of a madman. But he had purpose; unfortunately, something deep within seemed intent on undermining him. As if his Profession at its core and the knowledge he had gained wouldn’t allow him to cook something normal.

  But Aaron reminded himself that infant paths were malleable. It wasn’t time to give up yet; he just had to work a little harder.

  If there was a means of making normal food to impress other humans, then he would achieve it. And he would do so without losing the benefits that he had gained from his experience so far.

  In other words, he would weave Oozagh’s and Yendal’s techniques together, even if the System itself didn’t want him to.

  A mad grin creased his lips, and an insane look filled his eyes as he got to work. The rules of the multiverse be damned, he was going to make this work one way or another. Because that was the man Aaron was.

  Hurdles and obstacles only drove his determination harder and inspired him to pour more and more effort into the task. If there was a challenge, then he would welcome it with manic determination.

  Soon, the kitchen looked like the aftermath of a bomb, with ingredients sprawled all over the place, and all kinds of ooze and slime covering surfaces they had no place being.

  But it was under these chaotic conditions that Aaron thrived, and he could feel the revelations coming. He just had to push a little harder.

  He wasn’t sure what manner of insights he was closing in on, but he was certain that they were profound and that they were drawing nearer and nearer by the second.

  There, that’s it! What I’ve been searching for! The missing piece!

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