After spending an entire week just reading and rereading his new techniques, listening to his theory classes, and observing the practical ones, Alexander was better. He still didn't want to do some more intense activities, so he decided to remain discreet.

  Seeing how much Alexander had recovered during her daily visit that day, Diana sighed in relief and finally relaxed.

  After a few moments, she seemed to remember something and said: "Mark and Stella became adventurers."

  "I'm happy for them," he replied. "More experience will help them."

  "I'm happy for you too. It seems you've gained more than just three new spells—you've made more friends," he said.

  Diana immediately blushed a bit upon hearing this.

  She didn't deny she ended up getting closer to Mark and Stella after the academy event—especially after receiving a spell from each of them as compensation for the {Tree of Good Fortune} leaves she gave them.

  "It seems they've already completed some {Beginner Dungeons} on their own, and now want to enter intermediate ones with us," informed Diana.

  "If it were any other time, I wouldn't mind. But although I'm almost fully recovered, I don't intend to return to full activity for a while," explained Alexander. "You can take Ocean with you and go with them. She should be more than enough to cover my absence."

  Diana felt conflicted by Alexander’s words.

  However, she was understanding and tried to hide her disappointment, though it was visible in her eyes. "Alright… Did something happen?"

  "Nothing to worry about," said Alexander. "I just want to dedicate some time to my new techniques and some things I already have in mind."

  Shortly after Diana left with Ocean to meet Mark and Stella, Alexander went to the Twin City’s market district to pick up some commissioned orders and buy some things.

  After receiving his items, he transformed into his goblin form in a secluded corner. Then he walked through the market, inhaling the scents.

  The moment Alexander breathed the market air, his sharp goblin sense of smell captured various aromas and triggered his olfactory memory.

  Though he felt no nostalgia for the scents, their origins and uses were firmly lodged in his memory.

  Guided by smell, Alexander tasted and bought various fruits, vegetables, grains, spices—fresh, dried and powdered—and other food products.

  Once he returned to human form, Alexander headed back to his residence with his purchases and retrieved both his new set of blades and the body of the {Iron Fangs} from his ring.

  Once the preparations were complete, Alexander began to process the pig into standard cuts—using a chart from his memory that showed traditional pork cuts, along with the skill |Disassemble|.

  After finishing separating all parts of the {Iron Fangs} and cleaning his tools, he took a deep breath and repeated the same process with the {Steel Fangs}. This time, Alexander already had some experience with this type of swine.

  Ding!

  [|Disassemble (Intermediate)| leveled up to |Disassemble (Advanced)|]

  As soon as he finished cutting the {Steel Fangs}, his proficiency in the skill |Disassemble|—stalled for a good while; perhaps due to his lack of familiarity with higher-level creatures, like the {Steel Fangs}—leveled up.

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  As a {Versatile Water Sorcerer}, Alexander was able to clean everything in a satisfactory and convenient way when finished—which let him start other preparations quickly.

  Having 2 similar products, with different qualities, he made several different types of cuts and preparations with the {Iron Fangs} to get to know and become accustomed to this type of meat.

  Through his tests, Alexander discovered that although these swine were game meat, their meat had more fat than Earth's wild boars—especially intramuscular fat—which would help when preparing it.

  The only part Alexander couldn't think what to do with was the creature's energy core.

  Even though it resembled an irregular jewel full of energy, he felt he shouldn't eat it.

  Ignoring that specific part, Alexander placed a generous piece of loin from the {Steel Fangs} to marinate in a rich, fruity red wine with various herbs and spices. He took the opportunity to turn the parts of the {Iron Fangs} he had used into pulled meat filling for bao buns.

  Since most Earth foodstuffs had a very similar counterpart in this world, Alexander used the time while the meat marinated to make, or start preparing, other dishes.

  The first thing Alexander did was try to make his own levain (natural yeast/sourdough starter) and put some potatoes to cook.

  With his levain properly stored, Alexander shocked the potatoes in ice water to peel them easily.

  He then turned the potatoes into an extremely smooth, velvety puree with milk, butter, salt, and a touch of black pepper.

  Ding!

  [You developed the proficiency skill |Cooking|]

  [|Cooking|: Aids in learning cooking skills and intensifying the taste of food.]

  The moment Alexander finished the puree, a notification fired. That puree was, technically and conceptually, perfect.

  He wasn’t too surprised.

  His senses and dexterity were superhuman—in addition to all the memories of when he studied cooking and gastronomy for his research.

  After storing the puree in his ring, to keep it warm, Alexander cooked a paste of starch and water.

  Once the mixture was cooked, he stirred it into warm milk with sugar over low heat until smooth.

  With the base ready and cooled, Alexander picked another item from the order: a metal cylinder with a crank on the lid.

  He filled it with orange juice, the milk base, and some egg yolks strained through a fine cloth.

  With this new mixture gathered inside the cylinder, Alexander sealed it well, placed his hand on the cylinder's side, and used |Invigorate| with the effect of the (Frozen Water Heart) enhancement.

  When he felt the mixture had cooled enough, he began to gently turn the crank on the lid, which in turn mixed the contents inside.

  This allowed him to mix everything very well without risking "cooking" the yolks with the heat generated by mechanical friction.

  The colder the liquid became, the faster Alexander mixed it.

  Since the metal cylinder was made with good magical conduction and with two layers that barely touched, Alexander managed to cool it without a specific point of contact with what was in the inner layer.

  He only began to slow down when he felt the liquid start to acquire a certain consistency.

  After using |Invigorate| with (Frozen Water Heart) for a while, Alexander could feel—by the resistance to turning—the liquid had become consistently creamy.

  Ding!

  [|Cooking (Beginner)| leveled up to |Cooking (Intermediate)|]

  As soon as the hand-churned ice cream—which used cooked starch with water as a neutral binder and egg yolk as an emulsifier—was ready, another notification appeared for Alexander.

  It was almost as if he were already qualified for this level and just fulfilled a "prerequisite" with each dish he prepared—which wasn't far from the truth.

  For the last and main dish, Alexander clarified a generous amount of butter and seared all sides of the marinated loin in a pan.

  With the meat seared, Alexander gave it the final touches with a small mixture of butter with aromatic herbs and put it in the oven in a kind of ceramic roasting dish.

  While waiting for the meat to roast and cook in its own juices, Alexander used the fruity wine to deglaze the pan where he had seared the meat and make a sweet-and-sour sauce with berries, a bit of sugar, and a touch of lemon.

  Shortly after Alexander reduced the sauce, to make it more potent, and filtered part of it through a clean cloth, to make it "smooth," Diana returned with Ocean. It was already beginning to get dark.

  "Have dinner with me?" Alexander asked her. "The food is almost ready."

  His invitation was so sudden Diana was somewhat stunned and reflexively sat at the table. She didn't even imagine Alexander knew how to cook.

  With Diana seated at the table, Alexander sautéed some sprouts—resembling asparagus—in clarified butter for added texture. He then took the roast out of the oven.

  With everything ready, Alexander served three generous portions and finished the dish with a beautiful color contrast—created by thin lines of the filtered berry sauce.

  The thicker, chunkier sauce was served separately so those who liked it could help themselves.

  Ding!

  [|Cooking (Intermediate)| leveled up to |Cooking (Advanced)|]

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