As he walked back to the crafting station, Aaron mentally made a list of what he would need to do to defeat Mo’han. His main problem was that he couldn’t damage the asura, though he might have solved that with his spirit form. He doubted he would ever get to the point where he could survive a blow—at least, not while still in the Trials and unable to gain significant exp—so there was no point in working on durability. What he needed was attack power, evasiveness, and the ability to continue to revive himself.

  With that in mind, there were a few things he could do. First, and most obviously, he needed to work on his spirit punches to verify that it was a viable method of attack. There were a number of ways he could do that, including entering trials and finding sparring partners to help him out. While he usually reserved the Trial of the Challenger for Yendal, it would probably be a good idea to find a different shadow that was more similar to Mo’han to train against.

  He could also work on his cooking. His Profession was as much a part of his combat power as anything else, and if nothing else, he could make a dish to add a lot of stat points to increase his power. It could never close the gap between them, but he could at least get to the point where Mo’han felt his strikes.

  And finally, as he looked at his Status window, he noticed that he still had some unfilled Skill Slots. He also had a few Skills that had since become obsolete, or that had fallen behind the others. For example, [ Thick Skinned ] was basically useless now that he had [ Equal and Opposite ]. The difference between a base Class starter Skill and a god’s legacy Skill was immense. He could easily get rid of that Skill and not miss anything.

  He also frowned as he looked at [ Faux Core ]. It was one of his most consistently reliable Skills, but the “Faux” in its name was a clear indication it wasn’t complete. He assumed that if a faux core existed, there was probably a true core as well, and if the faux core already amplified his resource regeneration by so much, he could only imagine what the real thing would do. He had no idea how Skill upgrades worked, though, so he would need to ask someone about that. Probably Talia, since she seemed both knowledgeable and not likely to talk down to him like Douglas would.

  Skill upgrades aside, though, the empty Skill slot was something he could fix. He was level 29 in his Class and 26 in his Profession, so he wasn’t far from a new Skill in either. The Class would probably get there with another trial or two, while he could probably grind the Profession there with a prolonged crafting session. Unfortunately, he doubted he would be able to get his Class to 35 for the next Skill selection before the Trials ended. The Trials simply didn’t award enough experience, and he had too many other things to do.

  So, overall, he had a long list and only three months to complete it. He needed to either master his spirit punch or figure out something else that would work on Mo’han; he needed to grind out some Class and Profession levels to get some Skill selections, he needed to see if he could upgrade or replace some of his older Skills, and he needed to cook a few dishes to help him out in the fight.

  He was tempted to jump straight into a couple of trials to level up his Class once more, but after his experience in the Trial of Companionship, he had come up with an idea. He was currently applying his new control of aether to combat, using it to aid his Class, but what if he did the same with his Profession? How would manipulating aether alter a dish? He had no idea, but he was interested to find out. Besides, he needed to get his Profession to level 30, too.

  I’ll jump right into another trial or two to push my Class up when I finish, he thought.

  Nodding to himself as he entered the crafting station, he pulled up his sleeves and prepared to cook.

  Back in the kitchen, he had Sooty unload everything he had collected since seeing him last, and marveled over a wide variety of ingredients.

  But this time was different. Aaron held himself back. He wasn’t going to simply make a mad rush to throw something together. He was going to think things through, and come up with a plan… at least to some degree.

  It wasn’t just beating Mo’han, Aaron realized. That was important, of course, but he felt there was something else missing in his Profession that he had touched on in the past.

  He wasn’t abandoning cooking for other humans, but when it came to a dish that was to serve one purpose, and that was to make him stronger, then it shouldn’t matter if it was edible by others.

  He had taken Oozagh’s method of madness by taking all the best, most potent ingredients and combining them. He had also taken Yendal’s delicate touch and eye for perfection, and at first, he had thought that his style was simply combining the two theories into one.

  But perhaps he needed to look deeper within himself and think more critically. What was Aaron’s style in the kitchen? And how did it reflect on who he was?

  Aaron was stubborn and persistent. Not afraid of anything, and willing to undergo great pain to achieve his goals.

  How did that translate to his combat? Well, for starters, he died a lot. But there was clearly more to it than just that. That much was plain to see for anybody who paid him any attention.

  There was his spiritual side as well. What was that an embodiment of? He supposed dying was hardly possible without a means of surviving death, and so it made sense even if spiritual stuff wasn’t his bread and butter.

  So, going by that logic, the cycle of Aaron was one of stubborn determination that often resulted in death, and a cheat that allowed him to survive said death.

  Okay, it kind of made sense, but did that translate to cooking? He couldn’t even suffer side effects from his dishes, thanks to his ogre gut, so the whole death part was kind of redundant. Or pain for that matter.

  That being said, his stubborn persistence sure aided when attempting to copy Yendal’s perfection. He wasn’t sure he would ever quite have her eye for detail, but if he was persistent enough, he could match it in other ways.

  On the other hand, his fearless nature no doubt helped him follow Oozagh’s path. If he held a normal person’s fears, there’s no way he could have ever even dreamed of eating the things ogres ate, and thus, it would have been impossible to follow in the steps of the gluttonous god.

  “Something impossibly difficult that is also terrifying to behold…” Aaron mumbled to himself, but he knew there was something missing.

  Namely, how this all tied into beating Mo’han.

  He couldn’t allow himself to enter a trance and forget the prime objective that he was working toward.

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  So, how did he tackle that problem whilst leaning into who he was and what made him special?

  Death!

  The answer was obvious… or was it? No, it wasn’t death, he realized. What he wanted to imitate was soul power, or rather, aether.

  His aether and the control he held over his spirit were the true ace up his sleeve. Even if he was yet to truly understand their power, after all, surviving and thriving whilst being killed countless times was not what made him special, per se, but rather the building blocks that allowed him to get to where he was.

  And he had just the idea of how to make this work.

  Before entering his cooking trance, he delved into the spirit realm and anchored his spirit to himself. Then, taking a knife, he channeled aether into his hands and got to work.

  Ingredients were diced and separated with insane accuracy. Broths were bubbling with bones and spices infusing their flavors, and sending fumes toxic to most, flooding out.

  Breads were baking and puffing up, and twisting in unusual ways. Meats fried on a grill of open flames, and the entire scene came together in a harmony of scents that were both delectable and extraordinarily concerning for most.

  But to the trained eye, something even more fascinating was occurring under the surface of it all. Aether, straight from the spirit plane, was seeping into the food, turning it into something else. Something that went beyond the mortal ingredients used to create the dishes.

  That said, it was no easy task to mix energies from two planes opposed to one another, and many dishes sizzled out and failed. Creating recipes with far less than desirable boons.

  None of that concerned Aaron, though, for he had a goal in mind, and he was racing toward it with as much determination as he had faced any task since entering the trials.

  If such a dish that Aaron had in mind could be created, then he was the stubborn bastard who would see it done. Below his whitened eyes, a menacing grin of someone who had dipped into insanity creased his face.

  Mad mixtures and failed concoctions mounted up, their oozing fluids overflowing their pots and burning holes through plates. But through all of this madness, progression was being made, and experience funneled into his Profession.

  For such wanton determination never went unrewarded by the System, which, in its magnificence, saw the brilliance in Aaron’s ways.

  Hours passed, and then days, and it was unquestionable that he had entered a trance once more. But that was simply his way. It had become as much a part of his path as anything else, and without a touch of madness, Aaron wouldn’t be who he was.

  Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

  Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

  Ding!

  [ Ogre Gastronomist ] has LEVELED UP!

  27 → 28

  The dishes he created were unsatisfactory, and he discarded them immediately. He had no interest in taking note of recipes he had no intention of cooking again.

  They were the failed experiments of a mad gastronomist, each one taking him one step closer to perfection, like mutated corpses set aside by a mad doctor in pursuit of something better.

  However, despite his shortcomings, Aaron was more determined than ever. Even the failed dishes provided experience and recipe unlocks, even if he had no intention of ever using them due to their weakness. He was growing as a chef, and forging his own path held up by the foundations that he had learned from his patron gods.

  This was what it was all about. Forging a path through the multiverse. After all, pushing oneself to higher goals in the hope of challenging oneself was at the core of what made an individual strong. And the only way this was possible was through trial and error.

  There was undoubtedly something far more profound about walking his own path, and already he could tell that once he figured out his shortcomings, the rewards would well and truly be worthwhile.

  Dicing giant centipedes and monster tentacles, he combined them with a sludgy green sauce and tasted.

  “Almost…”

  Another day passed, and he did not even notice when Talia and Mo’han entered. They waved at him, even calling his name, but Aaron’s focus could not be broken so easily, and they had left him to his madness.

  It had also smelled horrendous, and they hadn’t been able to stomach it for long, so when Aaron didn’t reply to the first few calls, they took their opportunity and fled before their innards turned over.

  Experience continued to roll in as dishes failed to meet expectations and were discarded to the side.

  Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

  Ding!

  [ Ogre Gastronomist ] has LEVELED UP!

  28 → 29

  He was so close. The aether bubbling away in his dishes was growing stronger with every attempt at infusing the spirit energy.

  Some of the things he cooked even looked slightly transparent and took on different attributes compared to most things he had made in the past.

  Just a little bit further. He could feel it.

  Aaron delved so deep into his trance that at times he saw himself through his spirit eyes, watching like a security camera as he cooked.

  Soon, his spirit hands were able to reach out and grab items, adding them to whatever he was cooking. This had essentially turned him into a four-armed person, although it wasn’t necessarily the most effective use of aether.

  Using his spirit to simply grab an item he could take with his hands was still relatively energy costly. But that was hardly his concern whilst cooking. It was both a training mechanism, as well as a means of pouring additional aether into his food.

  Another day of furious cooking passed. He had not slept or rested. Even food was consumed mostly just for additional energy to allow him to continuously cook and infuse his food with power.

  This was as much a testament to what the System had turned Aaron into as it was evidence of his determination and will.

  But his mad dash to create a perfect dish to aid him in his pursuit of power finally came to a close on the following day.

  His eyes lit up as he cast his gaze upon the shimmering dish. The glistening steak perched atop a purée of mandrake gremlins.

  The longer he looked at it, the harder it was to make sense of. It was as if the dish itself was flickering in and out of reality. Partially transparent and difficult to tell exactly where it was.

  “This… this is it…”

  Like the madman he was, Aaron lifted the dish up to the light like a treasure sent down from the heavens.

  A large amount of experience has been rewarded for discovering a Legendary recipe!

  Ding!

  [ Ogre Gastronomist ] has LEVELED UP!

  29 → 36

  Spirit Marbled Ribeye [ Legendary — E-grade ]

  A dish that transcends the realm of the living, taking on spiritual properties to increase marbling and the delicate, juicy meat beyond what should be possible.

  Provides: Special Effect—At one with the Spirits.

  Aftereffects: Death.

  Conditional: Requires active aether soul.

  A wild grin creased his lips as he marveled at the recipe. He didn’t know what “At one with the Spirits” was, but he had a feeling it would help out a lot with his understanding of aether and how to use it.

  Not only that, but nine full levels and two more Skill selections were incredible. He had thought that he would need a couple of cooking sessions to get to 35 in his Class, but evidently, Legendary recipes were worth a lot more. Now, he could fill out both of his empty Skill slots for his Profession at once.

  Excitedly, he opened the System menu, ready to take a look at his new Skill options.

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