After an nonstop three day baking binge, Benedictus Agnes, finds himself transported to another world. Unlike other heroes, he is suddenly sent to the Backend, a small town overlooking the sea. 
Dropped in the middle of nowhere, our hero only has one plan: get cooking!

With Luna's help, he flipped through page after page and soon finished the book he was holding. He recognized some patterns in the runes but most of them were unknown. The problem was that while the designs were accompanied by an explanation, it was of course written in Easan, which he didn't understand.

In other words, to understand what the unknown runes were used for, he had two options, he could either spend some time to try and translate the text, or he could just simulate the rune and see what happen. It goes without saying he chose the latter, it sounded way more fun.

He ran back to Catherine and entered his soul world. A few moments later, he was in his lab and proceeded to craft the first rune in the book. It appeared behind the Plexiglass and without further ado, Joshua activated it, his eyes shining with anticipation.

The entire lab exploded. Before he could react, his body was pierced by shards of Plexiglass succeed by being heavily burned by the blast. The force of the explosion projected what remained of his body several dozens of meters away. He landed on a 17-inch monitor, his head going right through it. His right arm was gone and the rest of his body looked like it was about to fall apart. With great difficulty, he used his left arm to push out his head out of the screen. His face was cut all over and full of glass shards. He spat one out and merely said one word: 'Whoops.'

Luckily, he was a mere spirit and he quickly reformed his soul projected body. Looking at the ruins of his lab, he scratched his head.
'Well, that didn't go as planned…'
What exactly did go wrong? He had runes not working as intended before when he experienced with the basic models, but he never caused a major explosion. While he didn't know what the effect the rune would have, he was sure exploding on activation wasn't it. He considered to mass produce this rune to use it as a bomb, but that didn't seem like a good idea. There were too many unknown factors here. For example, maybe he had put too much energy in the rune, or had put the energy in it with the wrong way. Maybe the rune couldn't be used on its own and had to be combined with another. Or maybe the text he didn't understand just said: 'This is a perfect example of the kind of rune you must never produce, as the design is so stupid, it will blow up in your face.' In any case, he had to set randomly trying out unknown runes aside from now on.
'Well… At least until I manage to build a lab solid enough to resist an explosion,' he thought, grinning.

He spent a moment cleaning up his lab and rebuilding what had been destroyed. The group was going to wake up soon, so he headed for the kitchen and prepared breakfast for everyone. The refrigerator was actually well furnished, he presumed Delila had been living quite the luxury life here. Grabbing a couple of eggs he started making omelets. Joshua was actually a fairly decent cook, following a recipe was like following a software installation procedure in his mind. This random thought he had would soon prove itself to be of vital importance.

As the party members woke up and made their way to the kitchen, they couldn't help but stare at Joshua who was dressed as a famous chef. He welcomed them with a smile, the table was well furnished by now and tasting what he had prepared, everyone was pleasantly surprised. Catherine was glad to see he was back on his feet and acting 'normally'. Of course, he didn't mention anything about the visit he had during the night so he just told her he woke up early to prepare food.

When they were done eating, Catherine decided to hold a status meeting.
"Everyone, with the discovery of this building, I think we have reached a milestone in our journey," she started, " I propose we remain here until we have inspected every nook and cranny of the area."
Everyone nodded, this place was an obvious boon for them, therefore, it was no surprise they all agreed to halt their journey for a moment.
"His Majesty is looking for ancient weaponry. The rune factory we found alone could qualify as a success for the mission," Eric added.
"Technically, he had no idea what he wanted when he sent us down here," Joshua added in a sarcastic tone, "He basically told us 'Go down there and find ancient stuff that can be useful for the war.' which is about as vague as it can get. We could just grab the weapons in the factory and go back up and he should be happy we actually found something."
Joshua didn't personally care for the mission, Catherine and he had a much bigger problem to deal with, the Crow. It just happened that their goal aligned with that of the king or he would have looked for a loophole to abort this ridiculous escapade.

"In any case, we should explore the entire area," Catherine said, "Cynthia, Lydia, and Boris, I'll charge you with inspecting the floors above. It's mostly in ruins but maybe there will be something useful."
The three nodded.
"Eric, Joshua and I will form the research team. We'll examine all the records and machines down here and learn as much as we can."
"About that, unsurprisingly the documents here are written in Easan. Translating them will take some time," Joshua explained.
"This isn't unexpected, can Luna help us with the translation?" Catherine replied.
"We'll need as much sample data of the language as possible. But even then, it will probably take some time. Auto-translation is incorporated in the system, but Luna can't translate a language that she's never seen before."
"I see," she nodded and turned to the exploration team," if you guys find any documents or books while searching above, bring them to us. Even the apparently most useless details, anything should help."
"Very well, we'll be on our way!" Cynthia replied, pumping her fist in the air before leaving along with her sister and Boris.

As for the research team, Eric was interested in the species in the vats so he would start by making an inventory of what was present. Catherine and Joshua decided to read as many books as possible to boost Luna's database. Catherine left ahead for the library while Joshua put the plates they had used for breakfast away.

He opened a random drawer and was surprised to find a book inside. He opened it, and it looked like a cookbook. As expected, it was written in Easan. He flipped through the pages and saw that several recipes were actually illustrated which gave him an idea.

He picked a recipe for what appeared to be some sort of salad. There were drawings of the various ingredients and the required amount. Based on the drawings, he figured out several vegetable names. Next, he moved on to the instructions and had Luna record the text. The first line stood right next to the image of a man cutting carrots in pieces with a knife. He then added 'Cut carrots with a knife' as suggested translation for the first line in the system. He repeated the process for every picture he saw. Unfortunately, there wasn't a picture for every line, so he ended up with a half-translated recipe. Not giving up, he made a guess at the missing instructions and tried to prepare the salad. This took him about 20 min. The end result didn't look very good which made him believe he had made a mistake somewhere. He bravely grabbed a spoon and put a piece in his mouth. It was disgusting. With great difficulty, he swallowed it. Still, since he ate it, Luna could analyze the food and make suggestions on what had gone wrong. He then revised his recipe and tried again.

It was about this time that Catherine contacted him.
"Where are you? I thought you would jump at the opportunity to examine all those runes."
"I think I found a way to improve our Easan that's more efficient than randomly reading books, come back to the kitchen, I'll show you."
She smiled.
"Well, if you think it's more interesting than runes, it must be quite something. I'll be right back."
A few minutes later, she was back and saw him busy cooking. She looked confused so he proceeded to explain his plan to use the cooking book to learn some words in Easan.
"That's a good idea, I'll give you a hand."
Their progress together was much faster, as some recipes were still known in modern-day Cestor and Catherine was able to fill in the blanks.
By the end of the day, they had managed to successfully prepare most dishes in the book.
While they were still a far way off of understanding a complex book about runecrafting, they had gained quite a bit of basic vocabulary.

The exploration team returned around six in the evening. Boris had made a few trips back and forth to bring the guardians they had fought at the entrance back to the lab. Eric had taken out a sketchbook and made drawings and took notes on the various creatures in the vats, unknown or not. As for the twins, they had spent the day gathering all kinds of ruined documents. Joshua glanced through them briefly to look for something easy to understand like the cookbook and rejoiced upon seeing a pile Lydia had found.

"Comic books!"

After dying, our main character found himself summoned by a young woman. She comes from a long line of summoners and had expected to partner up with a powerful being, like the rest of her family. Instead, she summoned a computer programmer, who from now on will be living inside her head. Powerless, he's unable to help her with the upcoming war. Disappointed that neither of them had been blessed by fate with some divine abilities, he decides to build a computer system inside her head himself.



======================

If you want to discuss the story you can join the following discord : 

https://discord.gg/5Pu595W

======================

Volume 1 is now available on Amazon Kindle! 
If you like the series, check it out! :D 
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The interior was very beautiful. Large paintings of different scenes and people, hung on the walls. The floor was tiled with beautiful grey stones, that looked brand new. A large staircase led to the second floor, with statues of people on both sides. Fox said "This is just the main hall. Our classes will take place on the second floor. The higher one goes, the more advanced students are". 

She then continued "There are four ranks that the Formation Students are separated into. The Beginners, Novices, Intermediate and Advanced. We are Beginners, so we have access to the second floor only… well most of the time. I have access to the third and fourth floor as well". I nodded, as we headed upstairs to the second floor.

Some youngsters were staring at me, but I didn't pay much attention to them. I asked Fox about something, that's been on my mind lately. "Do Formation Masters actually fight?". Fox replied "Some of them do. There is a department in the Academy, that specialises in combat. Although, only Advanced Students can apply, and the selection is very strict". I replied "I wonder how strong they are?". Fox laughed a bit, and said "Even you may have some problems. From what I heard, they are annoying to deal with". 

We then arrived at the classroom, and Fox told me to sit next to her. She said "Because you are a total beginner, I will help you out. I'm not good either, but I at least know a thing or two about Formations". I nodded, and Fox passed me a few books. She said "Read them for the basic theory. For everything else, just watch me, and ask questions. I will try to answer". I nodded my head, and took the books.

I started reading the first book. It was about some kind of strange symbols. The book explained that the basics of Formations, were those symbols. The symbols were quite easy in the beginning, but the further I flipped, the more complex they became. 'It's like learning the Thousand and One Herbs book again. I'm not sure if I want to go through this one more time' I thought. 

As I read the book, I felt someone approaching me. I turned towards that direction, and noticed a guy walking over. He looked at me, and said "Why don't you take a walk, I have some stuff to talk about with Fox". I laughed, and said "Kid, you are to stupid, to even realise what you want to get yourself into". Fox was busy reading a book as well, and didn't even notice that guy.

He got angry, and a few more guys appeared. I wanted to laugh, but I restrained myself. 'A bunch of kids want to threaten me, this is just laughable' I thought. I turned towards Fox, and asked "You know these kids?". She raised her head with a "Huh?", and looked behind me. She said "Oh, they are from our classroom. I don't really know them much". I looked at the guy, and said "See? She doesn't even know you guys. Seriously though, I suggest that you just practice or something, and stop disturbing people".  I turned towards my book, and continued reading.

The guy had a short temper, and ran at me with his fist clenched. I wanted to swat him like a fly, but to my surprise, Fox did that before I could. The guy flew back, and hit the wall. Fox said "Don't you think, you are too full of yourself?". The other kids turned around and grabbed the guy from the floor, then ran away. She looked at me, and asked "Are you alright?". I couldn't contain my laughter anymore, and laughed loudly. After a while, I said "Seriously? I found them amusing. I mean, if they know what they are getting themselves into, they would run even faster". Fox smiled, and returned to reading her book.

I took the second book, and opened it. The book explained how to use those symbols. In truth, these were not called symbols, but Runes or Markings. If you wrote them in a specific way, you could make a Formation. The book explained that Formations could range from beginner to advanced, and finally mastery. The Beginner Formations were quite simple. Only a few Runes were used, but the effects they created were usually rubbish. 

'So even if I learn how to write and connect them together, I can only make rubbish Formations. Although I guess, making a difficult recipe from Nick's books would be hard too, compared with the easy ones' I thought. One had to start somewhere, and that was where the third book came in. It contained a few of the "recipes" to create Formations. I also found that I needed a special brush, ink and paper to write them. Of course the more advanced students didn't need that, and could imbed their Formations into objects.

I decided to give it a try. After all, I wasn't that bad with drawing. This was a sort of glorified drawing too, but instead of drawing figures, beast and landscapes, I would draw Runes. I asked Fox about the materials, and she handed me everything I was required. I then followed the "recipe" for my first Formation. It was a Formation to make the paper wet. I had no clue, what use this would have in the real world, but I wasn't concerned about that. 

I draw the strokes the best I could, but in the end, the paper didn't get wet. 'Hmm… I followed the instructions to the letter. Why wouldn't it work?' I asked myself. Practice was the best solution, and that I did. Time passed, and when I looked up, I noticed it was getting darker outside. Fox was not next to me either. 'I must've been too focused on studying. Formations are quite interesting' I thought. 

I decided to explore the place a bit myself. When I left the room, I saw the stairs leading to the third floor. 'I already made a blunder once. Besides, I still don't have that pass. Can I leave this place?' I thought, and tried going downstairs. Nothing stopped me, which was good. I took a tour around the place, and checked out the paintings, as well as some statues. 'These are probably some famous people, that I know nothing about. Not that I want to know either' I thought. I wasn't interested in some famous people's history. Whether I learned it or not, wouldn't change anything. I classed it as useless knowledge. 

While I walked like this, I noticed it was rather quiet. No people were running around, hurrying for their classes. 'This place is so peaceful during the evening. I kinda like it here' I thought. I then heard someone running behind me. I turned around, and it was Fox. She said "There you are. I was looking for you". I smiled, and said "I thought you went back home, or something". She shook her head, and replied "I went to get some food, you haven't eaten anything for the whole day". 

I laughed, and said "True, I didn't. Remember the time we first met? I was starving back then. If I didn't eat anything, I would die". She replied "You were scary back then. You should thank me, that I fed you". I asked surprised "It wasn't Shelly? I always felt out of sorts, when I thought about Shelly feeding me…". As we walked upstairs, I said "I have meat with me, we can make some fire, and…", but before I could finish, Fox said "Are you some sort of savage? There is plenty of food here you know? You don't have to hunt, and eat tasteless meat". I replied "It's not tasteless...". 

I was dragged back to the classroom, with a table full of food. Fox said "When you focus on something, you forget that the world exists. I brought the food here, because you didn't respond when I called out". I sat down, and ate. I was hungry to be honest. Halfway through table full of food, I asked "You don't want any?". Fox replied "You can eat everything". I nodded and continued.

After the meal, I said "Time to find a place to stay. I will see you tomorrow, get some rest too". She grabbed me, and asked "Where do you think you are going?". I was confused, and replied "To sleep? An inn or pub, if I can leave through the gate. If not, I can always find a place here. By the way, it would really help if I could get that Formation thing, to leave through the gate". Fox just shook her head, and said "You will sleep at our place, in the tower". I had nothing against that, so I followed her.

We arrived at the top of her father's tower, and she showed me my room. It wasn't very big, but I wasn't the one to complain. She said "As for that pass, I will give you one tomorrow". I nodded, and said goodnight to her.

** 
The book is completed. The 1st volume (e-book) is available for my patreons or through amazon! 
https://www.patreon.com/darkrayauthor 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086PY3HYV 
**
Have you ever considered, what is a Limit? Well, I have. I’ve seen people who were as strong, as wild animals. Those that were faster than the wind. Some that shined with intellect. Yet, what are the Limits of mankind’s strength, or intelligence? 

No one seems to know. We develop more and more, seemingly without an end. What if, someone was the smartest in the world? Would that suggest the Limit? What if, someone was the strongest in the world? Would that be the Limit? Would that make that someone, more than a Human? These are just questions, but what if I saw people reach their Limits? What if I know what happens, when you break the Limits? What if I were to tell you about it, would you believe me? 
-------------------------------------------------- 
My other novel, I'm Anna: 
https://www.webnovel.com/book/13714177505936205/I'm-Anna
Discord: https://discord.gg/BaxBX3f

Chapter 68: Heavenly Yin Yang seal (3)

Yin Zi Jue stayed in his room at his Territory for a whole day thinking about the Heavenly Yin Yang seal and what method should he try to lift the third level of the second layer of his seal.

The place where the Evil Emperor stayed together with his subordinates are called Evil Region. No one really knows about that exact location of the place as they only know that the Evil Region is somewhere in Celestial Galaxy.

And it was known throughout ETERNAL that the Evil Emperor doesn't belong to any sect nor clan. but he have a tens of thousands of subordinates and although it was very little compared to other clans or sects who have more half a million disciples or more, their prestige cannot be look down.

The subordinates of Evil Emperor are called Ghost army. And there's only three people who are above the members of Ghost army and they are the three Yin brothers. Which is Yin Sha, Yin Gu and Yin Mei. This three brothers are always the one who received orders from the Evil Emperor. Whenever the Evil Emperor go, The three of them or at least one of them always at his side.

Aside from the Evil emperor, the three Yin brothers are also famous in ETERNAL because of their strengths, good looks and also because their qi are colored black, like their Master, the Evil Emperor.

In Eternal, there's only four people who possessed a Qi with the color of black and they are them. While the members of the Ghost army are also slightly like other cultivators, have a Qi color based on their element. but their Qi have the touch of darkness. And with this, once they used their Qi, they will be easily recognised.

---

Yin Zi Jue left his room and Yin Gu immediately appeared at his side.

"Where's Xiao Xie?" Yin Zi Jue

"Young Master is currently at the Ice pavilion." 

"What is he doing there?" - Yin Zi Jue asked. It was already quarter to one in the evening.

"Young Master Xie gave a dessert recipe to Yin Mei asking him to prepare it while Yin Sha stayed at Young Master Xie's side."

"Let's go." - Yin Zi Jue said and in the blink of an eye, the two of them are already standing in the Ice pavilion. 

The ice pavilion where they are, are located at the back of the palace and it is called ice pavilion as it was very cold and there's a ice everywhere. Weather the outside or the inside of the pavilion, it was surrounded by ice.

When Yin Zi Jue decided to build his base here, he doesn't know why but he decided to build first an ice pavilion other than anything. And the ice pavilion is very cold as even a divine cultivators could not stay here for a minute. 

While he sometimes, stay at the ice pavilion even though he doesn't know what brought him here.

As the both of them walk in the eight steps of the pavilion stairs they are already can clearly see Lin Ye Xie who was sitting in the ice chase as he lean lazily while reading a book. While Yin Sha was standing at the corner.

Yin Zi Jue stop at the entrance as he gaze at Lin Ye Xie who was wearing a pure white cloths as half of his hair had been tied up by a simple white ribbon.

His robe at the waist was fit so it can clearly seen that he have a slender waist and the sleeves of his robe is wide.
all in all, Lin Ye Xie wore a pure white inner clothe, middle clothe and outer clothe. And even his socks and shoes are pure white. and Yin Zi Jue would be an idiot if he could not tell that Lin Ye Xie likes to wear white clothes.

"What are you reading?" Yin Zi Jue asked as he sat directly at Lin Ye Xie's side. The chase is big, enough for a one adult man to lay down but since Lin Ye Xie was only sitting as he Leans, naturally it could still fit both men.

"The void world. I'm bored so i asked Yin Sha to find me a interesting book." Lin Ye Xie said as he flipped the next page.

Yin Sha gave him this book and it has a more than a hundred pages. He said that this book was wrote by Elder Qiao Shen; he is the second one who step in the Demi God stage ever since the last primordial war. and he is the last descendant of a god. and although the blood of a genuine god in his body is thin. he can still be called a descendant of a god.


He is a reclusive cultivator and no one knows where he stay but they know that he only have two disciples and that Elder Qiao Shen wrote the events that he witnesses or happened in ETERNAL into books but there's one unique book that caught the attention of the whole ETERNAL, and that is the book that he wrote called Void.

This book was about the outside of the ETERNAL! The world outside the ETERNAL are called VOID and there's description of how the VOID world looks and what creatures lingers there.

It was not a secret that the universe they live in was created by the Evil God and that all of their ancestors came from the out side world. And the reason why they live in ETERNAL was because they are not suitable to live in Void world so the Evil God created the ETERNAL for their sakes.

And this was all recorded in the books for the futurw generations but since the last primordial war, some of the books and already missing and some of the books that has been found are missing some of the information so all of them gave it to Elder Qiao Shen as he start to write all the books that have been missing.

After all, Elder Qiao Shen was the descendant of the book keeper Clan. The clan was form by a superior god and every members of the Book keeper clan are all direct descendant of that Superior god. and the role of the Book keeper clan was to witness every events and write it to book.

They only need to see it once and they can remember everything clearly. This is their uniqueness. And every member of the clan can pass their memories to the other members of the same clan that's why Elder Qiao Shen is the most knowledgeable cultivators in that currently existing in ETERNAL.

And he knows many important information that he did not write in the book so those who only have the same cultivation strength like him are the only one who have the qualifications to asked him information about something that they don't know and so, the reputation of the Elder Qiao Shen in Eternal is very respectable.

"You seems like your interested in the void world. Your reading it seriously." Yin Zi Jue said as Yin Mei suddenly appeared carrying a wooden tray with two plates.
  
   
   
To be continue...

"Let me ask you one thing. You promised me that you wouldn't seal my memories. but  why did you suddenly sealed them? You broke Your promise Xingan."

"There's no guarantee on how long i exist and i wouldn't want you to wait for me when I'm never sure if i am still alive after entering ETERNAL. So, If i did not sealed it, i knew you would be in pain all the time, longing for me all the time."

"Then you should have told me the truth. I don't care if i would be in pain nor no matter how much it hurts. It's better that way rather than forgetting all of our memories together."

~~~~

"No matter how powerful i am, i can never change the past. So, i or rather, we, can only learn from it, take wisdom from everything that we've been through and learn not to make the same mistakes again." 

A/N: This is a BL Story. And there would be detailed smut. So don't read this if your not comfortable.

Taki.
Eri Kashiwagi.
Following the two names, Xia Yu made good use of the search engine and immediately found the blog and Twitter.
Taki's blog used the CG picture of a game as a wallpaper. And a gourmet blog post was very eye-catching amongst the anime, gaming evaluation and news.
Xia Yu clicked in to check it out, and he was stunned.
Cuisine was not the key. This guy showed a lot of respect to the tea in the shop.
He turned off the page and went to Twitter. He tried to find the user 'Eri Kashiwagi'.
Unlike blogs which were full of words, the Eri Kashiwagi's twitter was almost full of 18-plus pictures that made your heart beat faster.
The previous article of the food tweet was a manuscript of a female fan characters that had not been colored yet.
18-plus female painter?
Take me for a drive!
Xia Yu finally discovered the reason of that familiarity.
The pseudonym Eri Kashiwagi was from 'The Ways to Cultivate Passers-by'. He felt this was probably not a coincidence.
On the basis of speculation, Xia Yu was even more curious about the food tweets of 'Kashiwagi', so he clicked to read carefully.
Tea again!
Tweets from the female painter rarely mentioned the main courses. There was only a brief comment with pictures for main courses. It was as if her words were as expensive as gold.
But for the tea in the shop, the female painter used many words of praise.
High-quality tea that was not available in Togetsu Resort?
Xia Yu looked at it and laughed.
He had drunk this tea since he was young. Because he hadn't tasted the tea outside, it was not easy for Xia Yu to make comments.
However, he agreed with the magic of his own tea.
The quality of tea was quite good. The old man ordered him to buy it back from a specific old shop, and there was not much left.
However, tea and brewing skills were not the key. The key was water quality!
Mu Xiaoyue asked him when brewing tea last night.
Why not use drinking grade water?
In Xia Yu's subconscious mind, the water in the old antique water tank had the quality of a mountain spring, which was the most suitable for making tea!
"Oh, that stone..."
He put the mobile phone into his pocket. Xia Yu rushed downstairs and went into the kitchen. He put his hands into the cold water tank and took out the wet and slippery black egg stone.
In Xia's restaurant, one of the incredible things was this stone!
Xia Yu recently focused on cooking and he almost forgot about this stone. The old man left, but the stone was still there. He could be rest assured to study it.
"System, identify it!"
"Ding. Unknown prop. The analysis sample is under construction. The estimated consumption time is 30 days."
Xia Yu was astonished by the answer of the Chef God System.
30 days for analysis?!
What!
Xia Yu held his breath. "System, you said this egg stone is a kitchen prop?"
"Yes."
"In preliminary analysis, this system speculates that this stone has the effect of purifying water quality, and during the purification process, various trace mineral elements are produced. The final analysis result will take some time to be produced for the host." 
Xia Yu got an answer from the system and he was both excited and uneasy. 
The exciting thing was this item was hard to identify even with the Chef God System! 
The uneasy thing was that such a pebble stone could actually purify water quality, which was not scientific at all. 
Alright. 
Xia Yu thought of his own Chef God System, and he realized that he was the most unscientific existence. Then, he suddenly calmed down. 
"Kitchenware..." Xia Yu pondered. 
The Chinese Little Master Chef also had legendary kitchenware. 
There were all kinds of incredible food hunters for those who were captivated by food. 
This was not an ordinary world. 
He could be sure that this kind of high-quality food hunter did not exist, but for the time being, it was hard to deny the existence of legendary kitchenware. 
He had no clue. Xia Yu put the egg stone back into the water tank and went to the yard. He opened the well lid, took two buckets of well water back to the kitchen, and filled the water tank.
Old-fashioned Japanese houses usually had water wells which were usually covered with lids. If a major earthquake occurred and the water pipe broke, the water well could ensure the sustainability of domestic water. However, in recent years, with the explosion of the population in Tokyo, old-fashioned houses were rare. It was usually either apartments or modern small houses.
Xia Yu nodded secretly whilst looking at the full tank of well water.
Soon, the well water would undergo qualitative changes.
Water was not only the source of life, but also the source of cooking.
If other chefs challenged him in a food war, he already had an advantage at the source.
Xia Yu stood in the kitchen and turned his attention back to a large amount of fame he gained. Xia Yu hesitated. He didn't know how to effectively use the resources.
It would be a waste if they were all used to buy the Chef God Space time.
He remembered that the average price of a blue recipe was 500 points of fame, and the average price of blue permanent kitchenware and blue extended skill books were 1000 points.
"That's right!"
Xia Yu patted his forehead.
Two well-known figures in the ACG circle praised the tea in the store. Did it mean that he could develop this area more?
A good main course was not enough for a good restaurant.
He was not like the old man who didn't want to change. In the new era, he had to keep up with the times. In short, the shop was in his hands, and he could not treat the guests as roughly as he once did.
Service-oriented!
The skills of brewing tea and coffee could be extended. However, the small shop specialized in Chinese cuisine. Even if the coffee was classic, the tea was more classic and considered more suitable for the restaurant atmosphere.
Moreover, Xia Yu also had a certain foundation of tea ceremony when he was punished by the old man. It was reasonable to extend this area.
Summoning the mall, his eyes were flooded with a variety of props. Xia Yu swallowed and said, "System, please screen out the tea skill extension skill books that can be purchased!"
Di.
Only three quaint books remained after the screening of the props of the Chef God Mall.
The first was blue. Intermediate tea ceremony. A thousand points of fame. 
The second was purple. High-end tea ceremony. Ten thousand points. 
The third was a golden book. God-level tea ceremony. One hundred thousand points. 
"It's expensive!" Xia Yu's face twitched and his heart shook. 
The intermediate tea ceremony skill book was a thousand points, and was acceptable, but later, high-level and god-level tea ceremony had scary prices. 
"Host has already accumulated through life to activate the 'primary tea ceremony', and now only needs to directly purchase the intermediate tea ceremony to learn." 
The Chef God System said, "The system recommends the host to expand the tea ceremony. It is estimated that the return rate of guests will increase by more than 50%."
"Good! Buy, buy, buy!" Xia Yu gritted his teeth and made up his mind. 
In the catering industry, who did not want to keep guests?
After all, the advertising only lasted for a while. If you couldn't keep the guests, when the heat was over, although the restaurant would not go back to the previous deserted state, the development would be limited.
Either do your best or don't do it at all. 
Xia Yu's expectation of the restaurant was not only to make it famous in the 11th district, but to also attract foodies from all over the world in the future and gain worldwide praise. 
This was the dream of a store manager and professional chef! 
System: "Successfully purchased!"
System: "1000 fame points deducted." 
A simple blue skill book appeared in the inventory. Xia Yu touched it, clicked to use it, and suddenly felt a large stream of information stuffed into his brain.
Xia Yu closed his eyes.
After ten minutes, Xia Yu opened his eyes again and immediately filled a water kettle with water and placed it on the gas stove. 
Soon, the kitchen was full of a tea aroma. An Ya and Mu Xiaoyue were cleaning outside, and they chased the smell. They stood at the door of the kitchen and looked with surprise at the teenager who was making tea seriously in front of the kitchen counter. 
His silhouette showed the two a strange charm, just like a famous artist who focused on tea art. He was classical and elegant.


Xia Yu made a wish to eat until he vomited. And this particular wish brought him to a completely strange spirit world which was full of cuisines.
What, Chef God System?
"You need to not only satisfy normal people's appetite but also all kinds of devils and ghosts. Use your food to move them!" the old man said to him coolly.
So, Xia Yu would never stop running on the road of becoming a Chef God.
 

The next day, Gun-Ho went to his GH Development office in Gangnam. Manager Kang was dozing off in his chair, and Ms. Ji-Young Jeong was playing with his smartphone chatting with her friends. They used to work hard when Gun-Ho—the president of the company was in the office with them.
 
"Hi. How have you all been?"
"Oh, sir."
The two employees were frightened and stood up quickly from their seats when they saw Gun-Ho entering the office. Ji-Young became fussy and brought green tea for Gun-Ho while Manager Kang took out papers he had to get Gun-Ho's review and approval. Gun-Ho laughed.
"Easy, people. You can sometimes doze off in the office if you are so tired. I understand."
The OneRoomTel business was doing well. It seemed that Manager Kang had been doing a good job managing them. Ji-Young gave a report to Gun-Ho on the current financial status of the company and showed him the ledger.
"Hmm. I see the office get-together expense has reduced. Why don't you go out more often and have dinner together even though I am not here?"
"Thank… thank you, sir."
"I saw the design office next door on the way here. Their office lights are off. Did they move to somewhere else?"
"They closed the office temporarily. Their business was suffering before they closed the office. They are several months behind their rent."
"Why don't they vacate the office then? It seems all their furniture and stuff are still in the office."
"I think they placed the office on the market, but no one has shown any interest yet."
"Manager Kang, what do you think about it? Even though they don't use the office, since they haven't completely vacated the office yet, the landlord will ask them to pay the rent, right?"
"That's right, sir. If they want to move out before the contract expires, they will have to pay the rent. If they don't pay the rent, the owner will deduct the amount from their security deposit."
"That means there would be not much left for them to take when they move out, from their security deposit."
"Right. It only takes a few months to go broke."
"That shouldn't be true, Manager Kang."
Ji-Young seemed to be upset because she was close with the workers in that design office.
 
"That's how it works, Ms. Ji-Young Jeong. The owner will ask them to pay the rent even though they don't really use the office because otherwise, the owner will have to bear the cost for the office. Moreover, if the owner purchased the office with a loan, then he will have to pay the loan interest without making any money from the office."
"So they haven't found any new tenant yet, huh?"
"Right. Even though they put the office on the market, if they can't find any new tenant who would take over their rent, they will have to pay for it. That's sad."
"When we move into our office, I think there were seven workers in their office."
"There are only three of them left. The office manager quit, and the lady worker who helped us to make our company logo is staying home these days because there is no work for her."
"Did you say they do a design work for a publishing company?"
"They do publishing work and also various design works, too. She is really good at what she does."
"Hmm."
Gun-Ho rubbed his chin.
 
Gun-Ho headed to Asan City. He was away from his company in Asan for about four days. He was away for a business trip to Japan and for visiting his office in Seoul.
He called for a meeting in the morning.
"Any news while I was away?"
"Nothing special, sir. The S Group notified us that they will visit our factory next Tuesday to verify our production capacity."
"We will have to present our factory very well to them. Please be prepared for it. This is really important for our company."
"Yes, sir. We already checked the extruding machines and prepared half a ton of the Dyeon's raw materials."
"The raw materials seem to have arrived early. I thought it would take longer since they are coming from the U.S."
"It doesn't take a long time these days. We just make an order through a phone call, and the customs office quickly does their job."
"Really? Haha. Did you get a product recipe from Mr. Sakata Ikuzo?"
"We have received the mould, but he hasn't handed the recipe to us yet. He said he would give it to us once he gets paid for his incentive."
"Of course, he wants his money."
 
Once the managers and directors left Gun-Ho's office, Gun-Ho saw a mail at his desk.
It was the book that Jien Wang sent to him—Economy Trend in China for the 21st Century."
"Well, even though I studied in China, this should still be difficult for me to read. I will need a dictionary and time to translate."
Gun-Ho asked for Jae-Sik Moon.
 
"Me? Did you ask for me?"
"Yes, I did. Why don't you have a seat there? Let's have some tea."
"Someone could see us together, which is not good. They would say that a security guard presumptuously is having tea with the president. People are already talking about me behind my back."
"What do they say?"
"They said the company provides a place to stay to a security guard."
"Oh, hmm. You don't have to worry about it."
"How can I not be concerned? They will eventually talk bad about you behind your back."
"Hmm. You think so?"
Gun-Ho felt a headache. What Jae-Sik was concerned about made sense to him. The president was supposed to be fair to all his employees.
"By the way, how much do you think it would cost to publish this kind of book in Korea?"
"Let me see, oh, this is a Chinese book, a book published by Zhejiang University Publisher. Hmm. The author graduated from Yale University. Oh, he used to be a college professor in the U.S."
"He is a friend of mine."
"Your friend?"
"Yeah. We became friends when I was in China. He is the same age as us."
"Really? He must be a good friend."
 
Jae-Sik scanned through the book.
"Assuming we publish this book, 2,000 of them will cost about 12 million won."
"It does cost a lot. What if we publish 1,000 of them?"
"It doesn't really matter how many you publish. It will make a difference only in the printing cost."
"Then what sort of costs are we talking about?"
"I think I talked to you about this before. The cost before the printing-out will be about 3,000 dollars. It's 3 million won. The translation cost will be another 3 million won. This book is 300 pages. Even though we assume the translation cost is 10,000 won per page, the translation costs about 3 million won. The remaining 6 million won is for design, proofreading, editing, printing, etc."
"Hmm."
"Publishing business is all about money as well. The person with more money would win. The more they publish, the higher chance they will have to get a best-selling book."
Gun-Ho was thinking for a moment, and then he suggested to Jae-Sik,
"Would you like to try to run a publishing company in Seoul? Then you don't have to worry about all those people here who are talking about you behind your back."
"A publishing company? I am not capable of running a business like that. In order to run a publishing company, you have to have some sense in selecting books, and you need to be good at sales. I can handle the publishing work itself though. I know I can do very well in that work."
"Hmm. Really?"
"I read the news yesterday online. The lady president of the famous publishing company—KimBooks—left the company. She is very famous in the field. She is known as the hand of Midas in the publishing industry. If you could find someone like her, that would be great."
"Why would a person like her leave the company then?"
"She seemed to not get along with the owner."
"Hey, can you find out her phone number for me?"
"Are you seriously considering having a publishing company? Running this factory should make you busy enough. A publishing work is very different from running a company. You don't make much money. You can't think it could be very similar to this factory business."
"Find out her phone number. Let's see how things turn out."
Jae-Sik looked at Gun-Ho in a suspicious way before he left Gun-Ho's office.

This is the story of a poor young man whose poverty even shreds apart their family willing to climb his way through society and into the top. A very realistic novel that moves away from fantasy and sci-fi and focuses solely on the issues of society and life.

The dude orc was done with his digging leaving the other behind in the dust, holding the shovel in his hand like a sword. Slamming the shovel down he flung the square of dirt and gravel before slashing around twenty times turning them into smaller cubes.

'Task complete!'

The orc gave a thumbs up at the screen, and turned to look over the ground beneath him as if to examine it. Giving the orc ten more orders he nodded and started walking towards one of the other plots. What had taken 20 hours before was now 15 hours, though I couldn't be sure if that was because of the squares or if it was all due to his evolution. 

'Resources from excavation (One Chest Found): 14 Iron, 25 Upgrades, 50 Repair, 200 Gold, 100 Wood, 1 Spell Scroll, 4 Recipe Scrolls.'

I drank down my glass of tea slowly, staring at these numbers before immediately all my Lame Orcs were now Dude Orcs. The other one already digging was now done excavating, pulverizing the ground with his fists.

'Resources from excavation: 10 Repair, 15 Upgrades, 20 Mana Crystals (Upgradable), 1 Weapon Art.'

Pulling up information on a few of the items I didn't recognize, the weapon art came up first, it was an item that when you rip it in half it teaches you a universal weapon art. If you ripped two, it would become a weapon art of chosen weapon, and ten ripped at the same time would allow you to choose the art learned. Ripping it to find out the strength of these tickets, a 'Feather Shift' handbook appeared in its place.

Reading the first few pages of it I understood what the use was, it made the user temporarily light with mana. It wasn't powerful at all, but the utility of it was amazing, after mastering the technique it specifies you will be as light as a cicada's wing. 

Putting it to the side I grabbed the recipe scrolls, they had the same set up. One for random, two for a specific category, ten to choose your own recipe. "If I rip ten of these tickets can I learn a secret recipe from ancient times?"

'As long as it is in the users capability to create it is available, same with any other ticket. Also the more you rip the more you can specify about the book gained.'

So saving them up until I was stronger is a valid option though one I can not take right now. I ripped all four individually. The four recipes I got were healing balm, torture powder, green house and green grass grower. Healing balm was a basic healing balm that healed over time which was something I had never heard about. Torture powder was a more advanced itching powder that if they scratched it would increase in effectiveness. The one non-alchemical recipe was a building that helped with plant growth. The last was a fertilizer that helped with growing plants.

One of the recipes was something I knew how to make, the green grass grower, according to the system itself I had never registered it so I could receive a duplicate that way. Next was the spell scroll which gave me a spell called, Weapon Manifestation. It simply allowed me to make a weapon that I was familiar with. I tried making a pistol, but sadly I could not create the bullets which made the pistol kind of useless. 

The crystals on the other hand were unique, I could use them to increase the purity of my mana through them making it even easier to create and learn creation magic, but again making it harder to learn death magic. With five of the crystals I could upgrade the crystal to a higher purity one so I upgraded the crystal four times, with three crystals left over.

These crystals weren't something original only to me, but they were fairly expensive, each one costing around fifty gold. They were nicknamed specialization stones since once you had a top grade one it was impossible to learn the opposition school of magic. Your mana just could not be converted into the other type.

The mages came and went already as I was assigning the Orcs to their tasks, a series of notifications coming up as I did so. They were about 20% faster now that they weren't lame. Their interactions gaining a few more words "look bro," "sup bro," and "see bro!" I was curious what they would say once they got a better vocabulary.

Repair, there were three options that I really wanted so I settled for upgrading my mana sensitivity as far as it could go. Mediocre gave way to Superb, which gave way to Excellent, which let me see even more flaws in my circuit. Repairing that I ordered Jade to gather every book on creation magic that she could using my identity token.

Strengthening my body further would take some time, plus I had a teacher that would further guide me from here. Supplying mana to my body I felt rejuvenated so I could do without sleep for a night at least, but what Jade brought back even surprised me. 145 books altogether, and a large golden book that looked to be the size of at least 30 of these books. 

"Did you rob a bookstore Jade?!" I asked as I gawked at the amount of books coming into my room. 

Jade looked just as confused as I did, but shook her head, "I just gave them your token and asked for as many books on creation as I could."

Seeing the token I sighed, I had given her Solomon's token instead of my own it seemed. Since I was already going to get in trouble, I started reading the books one by one starting from beginner magic.

Notifications rang throughout the night:

Minor Tool Creation Learned
Minor Circuit Creation Learned…

In total I learned all the books by the time I came out of the bed, having such a high sensitivity to magic, and having a such a good circuit truly made learning all of this a breeze. Jade was sleeping at the foot of my bed, refusing to go until I went to sleep myself. Sadly the stamina of a 14 year old could not keep her awake for very long.

I had also learned golem creation which was my main goal, these other books were just so the system didn't give me any spells that I had access to. Taking off Jade's bracelet I called a few servants over to return the books to the library, and grab any advanced book on golem creation that they could find.

Since I had a teacher now, I might as well show up as a very valuable pupil so that he'd spend more resources on me. I grinned at the thought though I found that after learning so many spells the creation spells were all utility spells. The most offensive one was golem creation.

I made four golems before getting dressed in training clothes, no longer needing to find clothes I had just conjured them onto my body. One of the atrocious outfits Nikolai loved were turned into my outfit, having been created using mana it was stronger and more elastic than the material I made it from.

"Now for my first lesson." I quickly stretched before heading out the door, little did I know I would come to regret ever leaving my room.

So begins my journey, from death to life and everything in between. I have taken over the body of Nikolai Nightingale, and I will learn the path of a true alchemist with the genetics of monsters and with my by my side. For a true alchemist is never mostly harmless...

Welcome to the castle system!


Tags: Pets, System, Cultivation, Alchemy, Magic, Fantasy, Golems, Castles, Super, Awesome, Monkey, Hands

If there was one thing Lukas knew was how to be resourceful. Since his days back at earth, he understood that instead of wasting his time waiting for a break or a chance to manifest the kind of life he wanted, he first had to learn how to make use of the cards he held before he even dreamt of taking a step further.
So the moment he returned, after clearing up space for some of his new belongings he brought back from the Golden city, Lukas took a deep breath and decided to take stock of everything he possessed.  He had the Annual contest coming up in a few weeks, so he had to be aware of everything he had so he could bring out its maximum potential. This world might be more magical that his previous one but the some of the fundamental laws of living were still the same.
The first thing he took note of was the books in his possession. He still had the 1st 2 books he had borrowed from the Hall of Insight plus the Sigil book Ariandel had brought to him as a present. Apparently the rules were quiet lax for those who borrow within its 1st level, or else Lukas would have been fined by now if he was at his home world. The Sigil book was the one he was most familiar with as he had made a choice back then to focus on learning defensive runes so he could fulfill his kit as a true priest during his misadventures. Suffice to say, it was a wise decision, seeing as he was able to save his hide countless times from his Mastery of such spells. But this time, he had to revamp his kit as whole and search for offensive spells he could use during the contest. He was an Earth Mage now, so perhaps he would have an easier time mastering the famous hard spells from 1st Volume of The Devastating Spells of Solaris The 3rd.
One thing that hadn't escaped his notice was the strange transformation his Grimore also underwent through. It seemed as if whatever had happened to his Staff was also spread to his grimore as they both shone in the same metallic silver. The fact that both of his blood bound artifacts were changed completely was not lost to him but no matter how much he tried he couldn't deduce the reason behind it.
Marking them both for later research, Lukas took his time to peruse through the dead man spells within his grimore once again. He might have no idea how to use some of the spells inside but he hoped to find some incantations he could use now that he had advanced. After all he hadn't expected he would breakthrough so quickly, so apart from mastering everything he could about the Mortal ranked Stage, he had to find some time and search for new tier 2 spells, now that his Cultivation allowed.
Taking into account everything he had, he found himself quite busy. Once in a while, when he had some time to rest and let his thoughts wander, his mind would inevitably fall back on that fateful night and reminiscence.  The next morning, after they realized what had happened not many unnecessary words were exchanged. Lukas only promised that he could be found at The Cathedral, and Geoff vowed to send a missive as soon as he returned.
Shaking his head for what seemed a hundredth times, he forced himself from contemplating what it all meant. Luckily he had a lot of things to do, especially as his sister had left him a note on his arrival informing him of the day her closed cultivation session would end. So Lukas, as a good old brother, decided to prepare a surprise for her, seeing as it was the something he had already decided to do as the way to share his own goods news with her.
Using what he could, he summoned some of his old memories on how to prepare a few of the simpler dishes he absolutely loved back at Earth. In the end he settled on Shish kebabs. This was a very simple dish and the effort to emulate the recipe into this world was minimal at best. Chuckling to himself, he recalled the very first day he tried this dish online. During his streamer days, in an effort to branch out his interests apart from gaming, once in a while he would allow himself to dip a toe into other hobbies that he and community loved to try. He wasn't a famous steamer by any chance as it barely allowed him to pay his bills but it was something he was positively passionate about. And following the recipe of the shish kebabs for the first time online and succeeding at making it edible brought a sense of satisfaction to him in ways he never expected.
Recalling the steps, he already had his ingredients beside him. This time he went with wild pheasant instead of the lamb meat with all of the condiments already bought and collected in his spatial ring. He didn't have to worry about the meat going bad seeing as everything placed within the spatial ring was effectively kept fresh for a long time.
He marinated the wild meat early in the morning, fully prepared for what followed. With the cooker already bought, together with thin metal rods, some cooking oil and various pepper and spices he was ready to start. Following the steps like second nature, he trimmed the pheasant's meat into smaller pieces before placing them into a marinade full of spices and oil. Leaving it for a while, he prepped his cooker, leaving some coal to preheat and then collected the various side dishes that could with his choice of meal. The buffet he was preparing was meant to be light, and that meant even the drink meant to go with the dishes had to be non alcoholic cause god forbid he would accidentally get his underage sister drunk.
He cut the vegetables into smaller pieces. Once the pheasant meat was marinated, he took one of the five metal rods and got to work. He took each piece of meat and interchanged it with the vegetable not forgetting to lather more spices on it. Once he was done for all five, he slowly placed the skewered meat on the makeshift grill he made, and proceeded to cook two of them at once every 10 minutes making sure to readjust them once in a while to avoid burning. Once the meat sizzled and his room was filled with the aroma, he immediately took the skewered meat, placed into a sealed container all waiting to be eaten. He was so taken in by what he was doing that by the time he was finished, the sun had long risen and his room was heavy with the smell that sent his stomach rumbling.
Finishing some last touches, even Lukas had to admit he was impressed with his work. On the mat, there was the main dish, shish kebabs, surrounded with white rice, some soup with small trays containing some sauce one could add in to spice up the dish. In addition there were a few exotic sweets he had bought back from the Golden City, meant to be dessert. Apparently they could only be bought by nobles as they were slightly extravagant, but his Star badge and the fact that he was actually one of them (albeit disgraced) took care of it. The whole theme was meant to be light and enjoyable and as his door finally rang he found his sister wreathed in white robes hidden under a gray cloak waiting to be invited.
It has only been a few weeks since they met last, but she had become even more beautiful and slender, with her long pale hair now cascading into her back. She was fully cloaked, her robe fully covering her from head to toe. The moment their eyes crossed a radiant smile blossomed on her face.  No matter what she was his sister, the only link that anchored him to this world, except for the mother he hadn't met yet.
"Brother," Ariandel breathed as she sauntered in. Grinning, Lukas opened his arms wide revealing his present for her.
"Surprise!" he said. "I prepared something to commemorate your return."
"Haaa!!!!" She breathlessly gasped as she took a step and laid eyes on the feast below.
"I have no idea if it's within your tastes…but…"
Ariandel shook her head. "No… this…this is perfect."
Gratified, Lukas sheepishly smiled before he unconsciously let out his psyche closing the door behind them. Her sister picking up on that abruptly turned.
"Lukas...your psyche…."
Suddenly caught, Lukas could only sigh. The conveniences his psyche brought him ever since he broke though to become an Earth Mage have steadily become the norm for him.  Especially as he made the point to exercise his psyche at every opportunity he got.
Exhaling he took Ariandel's hand and settled her beside the buffet. Knowing that it will take more than a minute to recount everything that has happened, he waved his hand over his present manifesting a translucent shield that covered everything trapping the heat within. Taking a deep breath he began his tale, while Ariandel focused on him, the meal momentarily forgotten.
He started from the very beginning. From when he received the summons, to the time they travelled through the red forest until their eventual run in with the Fire Streaked Raven. Lukas told her everything that went down, including their very narrow survival. But there were also some things he wisely kept to himself especially when he witnessed her worried look getting deeper and deeper. He conveniently kept mum about his misadventures that followed with the mages of Tabernacle of Flames Sect; concluding the story with his sudden breakthrough the moment he had recovered enough to start circulating mana on his own.
When he finally finished, an uncomfortable silence settled in the room. Ariandel's watery eyes glimmered throughout the whole ordeal causing Luka to sigh. It seemed a part of his conjecture might have been right. His younger sister was practically sheltered in the Inner Sect. There might be challenges she faces through but the protective canopy of her master was just too powerful for her to face any true danger.
"Listen," Lukas began. "I know this isn't the kind of life mother would have wanted us to have. But this path was meant to be filled with thorns the day we forced ourselves to trek through those mountains to make it to the Awakening Ceremony."
He took her hands into his. "This is only a small part of what we would have to face in order to achieve our goals. I'm getting stronger sister…" he told her "…and that's all that matters in the end."
Ariandel looked at her brother' pale eyes, his silvery hair now long enough to reach his shoulders. Their eyes crossed again and once again she was forced to face it. Her brother had truly changed. She still got a vague sense that he hadn't told her everything or he might have downplayed the danger he truly faced but she couldn't bring herself to deny the truth of the words he spoke. They have gone through countless hardships to reach where they were. Despite the fact that she was somehow protected in the inner sector due to her master, she knew the day would come for her to actually sharpen her senses and experience the outside world for herself. Something her brother had been doing all this time.
Thus wanting to say she wasn't glad her brother had finally advanced would be a total lie. Because all that mattered to her was that he was here, and safe and that's all she can bargain for at this point of their lives. Reaching such conclusion, she raised her hand and touched his face uttering her next words with utmost conviction. 
"Promise me something." She whispered. "Promise me you will be careful no matter what...that you will treasure your life above all else…" This was the only way she could compromise.
Looking at her eyes, a sharp pang of guilt coursed through Lukas's heart.  He knew it was foolish to think so but this was one of the moments where he couldn't help but to truly feel like an imposter… 
With a firm gaze, he responded." I promise." 
They locked eyes for nearly a full half a minute before she finally breathed in relief, almost like a heavy weight was lifted of her chest. The somber quickly transformed with a touch of her smile.
 "I will hold on to your promise." she told him before she turned her attention to the spread before her, her inner foodie raising its head in delight.
Hiding a sad smile, Lukas finally chuckled when he witnessed the expression on her face. But in that moment of time, neither of them truly realized just much would that promise get tested in the many  of the  fated events to come.

The World of Might and Magic Saga

Book 1: The Ascension of The Celestial Priest

Death by a freak accident, Lukas is torn from his old world and thrust into a new one where he finds himself in something he never thought possible. The Existence of Magic.

Homesick and yet thrusting for the new knowledge Lukas strives for more power and might as Priest of Light so he can protect himself and his new family long enough to find the answers he desperately needs.
On why was he brought to the New World?
And what he should do from there?
and if he will ever find a way back.

Update Schedule: 1 Chapter per Week
4 Chapters per Month.
Uploaded every Saturday Morning, each week unless life happens in between. With more chapters guaranteed when they happen to be ready

PS/
Basically it’s an LGBT story that meshes fantasy with Cultivation elements together to form its own thing. I hope you enjoy. Please vote if you happen to like it and comment on the chapters below on how I can improve my storytelling.  Namaste and have fun :D.

There also might be a bonus chapter every now and then as i take a long time to edit my chapters and make more perfect plot-lines.
In addition the picture above is only meant to be used temporarily. If the owner ever desires for me to take it down, i will gladly do so.

This Story is originally published on Webnovel.
With Wattpad and Royalroads as Secondary.

For those interested to support this work, please visit my Kofi at https://ko-fi.com/thegoldenmonarch.  and buy me a Coffee :D. You can also support the page by just following as it will also act as my personal library where i will post a lot of my blog posts, poetry and even a few details about Worldbuilding that i usually use during my writing process. Come and give a holla.

It was fully nighttime when Marco entered the library with a very pushy royal girl in tow. 

"Now lead me to the books on potions," she said as she shoved him along. 

"Alright, just...wait a moment," he snapped back. He went to a cabinet near the entrance and fished around for a lamp. 

It was pitch black inside the library at this time. After all, old man Sebastian tended to retire to bed once Marco left for the day. With no one working and no one needing books in the middle of the night, there was no need to keep the lamps on. Fortunately, Marco knew the place well enough to make his way to the nearest lamp, even in the dark. 

He grabbed it and turned to the figure of the girl. "Don't suppose you have fire magic?" 

"No, but I have a knife." Marco vaguely saw her flip it around in the moonlight. "So get moving." 

Marco grumbled as he went back outside. "I can't find anything if I can't see." He carefully used one of the torches hanging near the entrance door to catch the lamp's candle on fire. He brought it back inside, where it illuminated his companion. He could now see her expression, one of annoyance, and the way she seemed unable to stand still. 

"Take me to potions books now," she said. 

"Look, milady," he said as he guided her down a hallway. "I'm all for helping you. Even without you threatening me. And even without your earlier promise of a reward. Which you have yet to make good on, by the way." 

"You did nothing worthy of reward," she replied. 

"I saved your life!"

"You took advantage of a magic book. I wouldn't exactly call you a Hero."    

'I am a Hero' is what Marco thought, but he could see that this girl wasn't in the mood to humor him. Better to just get the job done and bring up the reward again afterwards. "Alright, your highness. Just tell me exactly what potion you need." 

"Impossible," she immediately replied. 

Marco wanted to scream. "I can't just show you every book we have on potions. There are hundreds." 

"Just take me to the forbidden archives. I know what I need." 

"The forbidden–!? Do you know why they call it that? Not even a royal like yourself has permission to go taking things from the forbidden archives," said Marco.

"I have a knife."  

"I know you have a knife," he replied, no longer even trying to hide the exasperation in his voice. Reward or not, the girl was asking too much. "But can you cut my throat before I scream for help? The library's master lives here. If he awoke to discover his worker dead on the floor and some girl going through the forbidden archives, he would call the city guard over. And he's very, very big and strong. You couldn't stop him. I imagine whatever it is you're doing is meant to be secret, so can you really risk being caught?"    

For once, she didn't have a reply right away. She met his gaze hard, and there was a pause that seemed to last a lifetime. Then, she put away her knife. 

"Fine, you make a fair point," she finally said. "But I shall tell you only what you need to know. No more questions after that. I am Reina, the Second Princess of Irelios. As you are probably aware of, I am locked in a constant competition for the throne that can sometimes be...fierce." 

That was putting it lightly. Even the commoners heard the many stories of the battle for the Irelian throne. When the time came for a king to pass on, the first-born child did not succeed him automatically. Instead, whichever of his children had done the greatest deeds in service of the kingdom would take the throne. The female children were entirely eligible to become the reigning Queen, even without a husband by their side. However, while the focus of the contest was supposed to be doing deeds of merit, it was not uncommon for the royal siblings to attempt to sabotage one another. As such, tales of the battle for the Irelian throne were just as notable for bloodshed and cruelty as they were for bravery and heroism. 

"I have been put under some sort of spell by one of my siblings," Reina continued. "It is slowly killing me. I spent a great deal of my limited resources to seek out a mage who was not aligned with my brothers or sister to break the spell. He told me that a certain potion, contained in the records of the ancient Master Mace, was the only way to break the spell." 

"And the only copies of Master Mace's writings are in this library," Marco finished. 

"Correct," she replied. "So I apologize for my violent coercion, but time is of the essence. I need that potion recipe, and I cannot let anyone else at the palace know that I'm seeking it. As you saw, someone already hired some unsavory characters to attack me. I will compensate you for that, by the way. And for helping me find the potion recipe. But please, we must hurry." 

"Understood," Marco said with a smile. "You have my word, Princess Reina, we will find Master Mace's potion and save your life!" 

****

Despite the fact that Princess Reina's life was in immediate danger, Marco couldn't help but feel excited. 

He was being a Hero again! 

Alright, so he was just finding a book. But as they briskly walked through the darkened halls of the library, Marco couldn't help but think back to that day five years, where he rushed through Monument Tower. There was someone in peril, and he was on his way to save them. Only this time, he would get recognition for his deeds. 

What would the princess give him as a reward? Gold was a sure bet. But Marco felt he could do better. Land perhaps? A nicer home than the shack he shared with his parents? Or what if…

Reina could be his Patron! 

The thought took over Marco's mind so much that he actually walked right into a pillar. 

"Uh, are you alright?" Reina asked. 

"Yes, it's just...really dark in here." Marco rubbed his forehead and looked around. "Actually, we're here." 

In front of them, behind a big locked door, were the forbidden archives of the Irelios library. Marco quickly produced his key and opened the door. Reina ran in as soon as he opened it. 

"Where do we start?" she asked eagerly. 

"Well," he responded. "The books are all arranged alphabetically so Master Mace should be...right here." He held up his lantern, illuminating a shelf of dusty old books and loosely bound scraps of parchment. "Master Mace dedicated his life to potion making, and we have his detailed findings and random notes scattered all over this shelf. Did your mage tell you which of his studies contains the potion recipe?" 

Reina went to the shelf and started tearing at the books like a hungry dog getting a leg of meat. "I can't remember the name, exactly, but I'll know it when I see it." 

"Just please be careful, these are old, one-of-a-kind books." 

"Yes, yes," she said, barely paying him any mind. "Just hold the lantern here so I can see." 

As she shuffled through the various tomes and scraps, Marco continued his earlier musings. In the competition for the throne, the royals employed warriors and mages to fight by their side. To quest in their name for merit and the love of the people. Eventually these figures came to be called Heroes in the stories, and the royals that took them in were called Patrons. Judging by her dire situation, Marco surmised, Reina had no Hero of her own. If she did, why would she be dying from a spell and left alone in some back alley to be attacked by brigands? For him to come to her aid in her time of need, and with her owing him a reward, perhaps this was his chance to finally become a Hero. 

"Princess Reina," he began carefully. "I couldn't help but notice that you were alone when you were attacked tonight." 

"What of it?" 

"Well, as a royal vying for the throne, do you not have a Hero?" 

Reina closed the book she was looking at. "This is not the one, either. Where is that Shaping Potion?" 

"Shaping Potion?" Marco asked. The name immediately rang a bell. "That's one of Master Mace's lost potions. We were able to salvage the recipe, but no one actually knows what it-"

His question was interrupted by a light appearing in the hall outside. Someone was coming their way! 

"You have to hide," he said quickly. When she opened her mouth to protest, he grabbed her and spun her around to see the approaching light. That was enough to convince her, and she quickly scrambled to duck behind a nearby shelf. 

Marco, meanwhile, went back to the shelf of Master Mace's books. Within seconds, the light from outside was shining right on him.

"Sir!" 

Marco greeted the figure in the doorway. It was Sebastian in green pyjamas and a sleeping cap. 

"Marco? What are you doing here at this time of night? And in the forbidden archives at that?" 

"Well, sir, I delivered the books to that mage as you asked me to. But he said that he also needed one of Master Mace's potion books." He took a book from the shelf and showed it to Sebastian. "I know it's irregular, but he demanded that he needed it immediately. And I gave some thought to what you said. I probably will be working in this library all my life, so I might as well become more familiar with the forbidden archives." 

Sebastian looked at Marco, then the book in his hand for a moment. Then, he nodded. "I see. I'm glad you're finally taking your work seriously. Just don't ever, ever, go into these archives without me again. Take that book, don't touch anything else, and lock the door as you leave." 

The old man turned to leave, and Marco almost sighed with relief. 

"Also!" Sebastian turned back. Marco jumped. "Never come into the library alone or when I am indisposed. Maybe in ten more years you can work alone. For now, I need to look over your shoulder at all times. Understood?" 

"Yes sir." 

"Good. Now get going!" Sebastian said and then sleepily shuffled off. 

"That was your 'big and strong' master?" came a voice from Marco's side. Reina had come out of hiding, shaking her head. "If that's what you consider strong, no wonder you are so weak." 

Marco glared at her as she went back to the books. "Perhaps this is what you were looking for, milady?" 

He held up the book he had plucked from the shelf while talking to Sebastian. It was open, with the page bearing the recipe for Shaping Potion! 

"Yes!" she grabbed for it, but Marco dodged her.

"I shall give it to you, but we must have words first," Marco spoke confidently. "It has become clear to me that you need a Hero at your side. And I would like to be that Hero. Please, be my Patron!"

Reina just looked at him for a moment in silence. Then, she burst out laughing. "You, my Hero?"

"I don't see why that's funny," Marco replied. "I already saved your life once. And now I hold the very potion you need to save it again." 

"If you saw what I saw, you'd know why it's funny," she said through her laughter. "For I see a commoner with dreams of greatness, but nothing to back them up. You cannot fight. You don't know magic. The only thing that seems special about you is that you know a lot about books. Tell me, do you think you can win the battle for the throne with books?"
 
"I can fight! I was trained at the Dyon Academy. I helped save the Everlasting Flame from Galabast the Mad." 

"You did not. Leo Baldew and his companions did, and they were honored by the king and became Heroes on the spot. None of them would be slaving away in a library. Unless…" Reina's face bore a look of realization at that moment. "That old man said your name was Marco. You are…" 

"Marco Flores," he said. 

"The coward?"

"I am not a coward! You don't know the true story of that day. Just, please, give me a chance and I will prove myself worthy."  

She shook her head and grabbed for the book. He dodged again. "Please, your highness, I beg of you." 

"Absolutely not!" She dove at him and got hold of the book. "Why would I want to be Patron to Marco the Coward?"

As they both tugged at it, Marco only had a grasp on a few pages. They ripped out, including the page for the Shaping Potion. As he held it in his hand he looked at Reina. She gave him a wild look and then moved as if come at him once more. 

Quickly, so quickly that he didn't even fully comprehend what he was doing, he put the Shaping Potion recipe in his mouth and swallowed it whole. 

"You're going to be my Patron because you have no other choice."

In a kingdom of monsters and magic, Marco Flores is just the peasant son of a peasant. When he gets his chance to be a great Hero, he screws it up by running away from the fight. But when he encounters a secretive princess, he just might get his second chance at glory. Problem is, he'll have to lie, cheat, and scheme just to hold onto it...

Updates: Starting out with 2-3 new chapters a week, more in the future. I unfortunately work a full time job otherwise I'd be one of those crazies that writes 15 chapters a week. So if you want more chapters than review and give stones and do all those other things to make Qidian-senpai notice me!

He never thought that the Autumn Sword Fish Killer would have such an ability. Indeed, the higher the ability, the bigger the size.
As I have said, it was the Autumn Sword Fish Killer's doing where the argument of a mere pancake can be so heated. It is indeed amusing.
Even though it did not really matter much to him, he still had to post his thoughts on Weibo. He thought for a while and entered a paragraph.
"I always wanted to be famous but did not know it was because of a pancake that made me famous. This feels great. :)"
The comments section went crazy.
"666... I am in awe of nobody but Master Lin."
"The fame-hungry Master Lin has finally become famous because of scallion pancakes."
"Haha, I'm dying of laughter. I knew that Master Lin was not that kind of person. How can such a delicious pancake contain those things?"
"These days, reporters are so unscrupulous. They write such false reports even when they have not tried the pancakes before."
Those that followed Lin Fan on Weibo were mostly his fans, who had eaten his pancakes before and there were some famous people too. They trusted Lin Fan, although there were more netizens that do not.
One of the famous critics on Weibo condemned Lin Fan.
"I do not understand why you can still laugh about this, or even be proud. This is a tragedy, where you became famous as you wished by resorting to unscrupulous means."
"What Mr. Wang said is correct, these kind of person are disgusting."
"People who add drugs to food to harm others should be arrested and shot to death."
…
Lin Fan casually scrolled through Weibo and saw Mr. Wang's criticism. He was extremely unhappy. Who was he to criticize? Then, he replied to Mr. Wang's post.
"A keyboard warrior named Wang, please do not take advantage of my fame and stop being so shameless."
Netizens saw the notification of the post and laughed.
"Haha, Master Lin is angry."
"That's right, people nowadays are so shameless. When they see that Master Lin is famous, they try to take advantage of his fame."
"Let's start a group and tell that fellow to stop taking advantage of Master Lin's fame. If he wants to be famous, he should do it himself."
Critic Wang was proud of what he said and thought it was perfect. However, when he saw Master Lin's reply, he was stunned. Especially the comments of the netizens made him even more furious. He never knew that there would be someone that's as shameless as Lin Fan.
"Master Lin has said it already, please stop taking advantage of his fame."
"If you want to become famous, count on yourself. Our Master Lin became famous because of scallion pancakes, but I'm afraid you cannot become famous for it."
"It's hilarious how a disagreement could lead to someone taking advantage of his fame. How scary."
…
Lin Fan sat there, playing with his phone. He did not bother about the matter.
Gradually, some loyal customers of Lin Fan came. Even though there was a heated debate online, those comments didn't mean anything. No one forced them to eat the pancakes. Also, these customers believed Master Lin that nothing had been put into these pancakes.
"Little Boss, please give us a queue number."
Lin Fan wanted to rest at first as he did not expect so many customers. He was shocked and thought that these customers were very loyal. They did not wait until the results were out and they came to buy the pancakes.
"Aren't you guys afraid?" Lin Fan laughed and asked.
The customers shook their heads, "What should we be afraid of? We believe you."
"Yes, what do they know? They just love to report fake news online."
"Today, there are fewer customers. Seems like there is a high chance I will be chosen."
…
Lin Fan smiled, "Let me distribute the number tags."
These people believe me unconditionally, what else can I say? Of course, I have to give out the number tags.
Some passer-by saw that the queue was still long, and they took a photo to post it online.
"These people must really hate their lives. Even where there are problems with the pancakes, they still dare to eat them."
"Who would have known? I actually queued for the pancakes once. Luckily, I did not manage to get chosen, if not I would have eaten a poisonous food. They are so oblivious to their health. Nobody else is going to be responsible for their health but themselves."
…
At the Food and Drug Administration.
The test result is out, all components have been attained. There are no problems at all.
The Vice-Chairman of the Food and Drug Administration said, "Chief Zhang, the results are out."
Chief Zhang was very curious about the results and immediately asked, "How is it? Are there any problems?"
"There are no problems. It is all within the healthy range."
Chief Zhang asked in disbelief, "How could this be? If it is within the healthy range, how can the pancake have such a taste?"
"Haha, I am not sure what taste you are talking about. If there's nothing else, I will hang up."
"Old pal, please hold on. Can you pass the result slip containing the various ingredients to me?" Chief Zhang did not think that the pancake would have no problems. However, he suddenly thought of a new way. Since this guy did not want to cooperate, he will find out the recipe for the pancakes. There was definitely a special ingredient in the recipe and the golden ratio of all ingredients to make them. Once he returned, he would let the chefs analyze it and perhaps there was indeed some secret behind the pancakes.
If I can get something out of this, I will immediately open a factory and carry out production. Then, I will be extremely wealthy.
His old friend was confused as the pancake had the common ingredients of the rest of the stores. He was not sure what Chief Zhang wanted.
"Sure, I will send someone to pass it to you."
Chief Zhang immediately rejected, "No, I will come and take it myself. I will reach soon."
After hanging up, Chief Zhang finally smiled.
How can such an important thing be sent over by someone else? I will have to collect it myself.
If I could replicate the pancakes, the recipe will definitely be worth a fortune.
Chief Zhang was still worried even when the recipe was with the Food and Drug Administration. He immediately put down all his work and went to collect the recipe.
*Dong Dong*
"Come in," the Vice-Chairman said.
"Sir, since this result slip has no problems, I will send the test results to the owner," Analyst Xiao Lee said.
Vice President lifted his head, "Call the person and ask him to come and collect it himself."
Xiao Lee immediately waved, "Vice President, it would be better if I send it to him personally. We are from a government institution which is to serve the people. This is what we should do."
The Vice President was slightly taken aback but he smiled, "Not bad, you are conscious. You may go."
After leaving the office, Xiao Lee was so happy. After he analyzed the pancake and realized that there were no problems with it and he ate it as he was hungry. Upon eating, he realized how delicious the pancake was.
Delicious, it's so delicious.
He also did some research and realized that the store only sold ten pancakes every day. There was a low chance of buying a pancake but if he were to send the test results to the owner, Lin Fan might be happy enough to make a pancake for him.
Struck gold, I really struck gold this time!
I'm coming for you, delicious pancake!


I am Lin Fan and I've become a jack of all trades just because of a powerful Encyclopedia. 
In the first ever competition organised for trolls, all the other contestants lost. The crowd exclaimed, "Brother, you're so good at trolling." 
Lin Fan replied, "But I've never been trolling..."

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