World Isekai

Mori materialized in a room he had gone through too many times to count. It was still fairly empty, but the other one had slightly changed.

Arriving to the other room, the unkindled was still by its flame, staring at it.

It was slightly bigger, most likely a result of spending more kindle, he thought.

Some things had changed. A comfortable bed was now placed in one corner.

It was a stack of hay piled up, but an actual bed which made the nights more enjoyable.

Spending on trivial things hurt him deeply, but it was clear he would spend a long time down there.

Sleeping right should help make the progress faster in the long run, opposed to sleeping on the hard floor.

A little comfort shouldn't be too bad, and the price for this one wasn't too high either.

"It wasn't hard, in the end."

"See, I told you," said Aleesia.

She was on the armchair by the fire, another addition to Mori's room.

Aleesia had become the unofficial roommate, she barely spent any time in her own room.

It bothered him at first, but he eventually got used to it.

"So, tomorrow you'll be doing the [2-0] boss?" asked Mori.

"Yeah. It's way too easy, there's no point in dragging things longer, especially with this new bow," she said smiling.

Mori had bought a rare bow, which made Aleesia's progress even faster.

"If we assume we need to clear 10-0 to clear this dungeon, rare should be good enough until half-way through it. Around halfway, we should start saving for a legendary one."

"Do you think we'll need a divine or nightmarish weapon to clear the 10th floor?" she asked.

"I've never seen any dungeon requiring something more than legendary. I think levels paired with a legendary bow should be fine. Still, we can hope for a legendary bow with a special effect, maybe one will drop."

"And something scaling with magic for you,"

"Yeah, I'm not too hopeful. You might be the one conquering this dungeon, unless Aura gets to do it first."

Aleesia rolled her eyes.

"Always talking about this Aura," she muttered.

Mori ignored her rambling, heading toward the fire.

He had made some changes. It was originally a fire with a pot hanging over it, but he now had a pan, a wok, a bigger pot, and various cooking utensils.

Cooking was a useless skill. That's what he always thought.

But there was no other profession he could see himself training in there.

Leveling cooking wasn't that hard, and even without any help it was quite straightforward.

"What are we eating, today?" she asked.

"Rice and beef, I think."

"You know, you're turning into a stay-at-home husband," laughed Aleesia.

"I regret teaching you that concept."

"But I'm going out there every day, bringing loot back to 'put bread on the table'. Almost feels like we're that typical married couple you described the other day."

Aleesia was sitting sideways in the armchair, her head and legs dangling on the sides. She was staring at the ceiling, her head slightly moving left and right, as if she was mentally singing a song.

"You're exhausting," said Mori.

"Well, we don't know if we'll ever get out of here, maybe we should."

"Should what?"

"Get married."

Mori sighed as he sat in front of the fire, lining up plates and bowls.

He opened the shop, getting the necessary ingredients.

The ingredients he unlocked in later tiers were pretty good, despite a slightly higher price compared to lower tier things.

The main difference was really variety, not quality. It was all pretty good, if prepared the right way.

Some limitations did exist. He had no teacher, so it was a lot of trial and error with the recipes and technique, but leveling up did somewhat help in those areas.

As he leveled up, it was as if he understood taste better, and working a wok simply felt easier and simpler.

His level was still low, but he truly felt the change, over time, quite a weird feeling.

But in the end, level wasn't everything. He'd need to find a teacher, or maybe books.

Finding new ingredients could also be interesting, he thought.

Hm. Let's use chives today.

Mori made the rice, the easiest part of the meal. The hardest part was making the beef into something that wasn't super dry.

There was no 'soy sauce' option, or any sauce he knew, for that matter.

Not even ketchup. Not that he would use it, anyways.

So this time, he opted for something sweet, using honey as the main ingredient for the sauce.

-

"Alright, it's ready, get yourself some," said Mori.

Aleesia got up quickly, as if she had been waiting for that moment the whole time.

"Hey, leave some for me, at least?" said Mori.

"Yeah yeah," she said, taking 3/4ths of the beef.

Mori rolled his eyes, but truthfully, he had made more, knowing she would take most of it.

The portion remaining was enough for him, and he had even made a small plate with only the beef for the Unkindled.

He didn't need to eat, but it felt right to include him.

"So, how was today? Not too hard?" asked Aleesia, her mouth full.

"I thought you spent most of you time at home learning manners?"

"Yeah, I spend most of my time on it because I'm bad at it, hahaha" she said, laughing.

It somehow even got a smile from Mori.

She was cute at times, especially when she puffed her cheeks when Mori was mean. She quickly ruled his behavior as tough love.

Whatever he did, rolling his eyes, sighing or even calling her a spoiled brat she ruled as tough love.

He had no control anymore; he started wondering if he even had any to start with.

"Already?! You gotta be kidding me."

"I was hungry," simply replied Aleesia, her plate empty.

She got up, massaging her belly as she 'heavily' walked toward the bed, letting herself fall on it.

It's good.

"Yeah. It was. I didn't know you could make meat sweet and it still tasted good," said Aleesia.

"Well, in human culture this is pretty normal now, but it does lead me to wonder what elves eat usually. Never really thought about it."

"Mostly plant-based stuff, and not as tasty as this. Eating is more of a chore for me, usually, than something to look forward to."

"Speaking of chores, I think it'll be good for you to learn how to cook-"

"No way. You're already quite high level, better if you handle it..."

I agree.

The Unkindled was purring, laying next to its personal flame.

"I start wondering how you even survive when I'm not here," he said.

"I just wait for you, really."

"We'll find you something useful to do while waiting. A useful profession, maybe alchemy or something..."

"What?! No, I'd rather rest, honestly. I'm going so fast through the levels, a champion needs her rest," said Aleesia.

Mori sighed, while piling up the empty dishes near the fire.

He walked to one of the numerous water buckets along the wall, bringing one of them close to the fire.

Washing dishes was something he made Aleesia do at first, but it was a battle he didn't feel like fighting today.

"You want me to do it?" she asked from the bed.

"Don't offer to do something you'll obviously not be doing."

"I would totally do it," she answered.

"Yeah, the worst way possible. Real life's hard, without a maid, huh?"

"Haha, but I have one right now..."

Mori tilted his head backward, inhaling deeply.

"I'm kidding! Kidding! Gee, don't be so serious all the time."

"Maybe a day where you remain in your own [0-0] would help you," said Mori.

"I was KIDDING. Tomorrow I'll cook! and clean!"

"It's fine. Instead, try finding a profession you would start."

"How about you teach me cooking?"

"What? I myself need a teacher, how could I help you?"

"Well you seem to know enough to get me started, at least. This beef with honey, I'd like to make it too!"

"Sure, but you could've just paid attention earlier."

"Alright, tomorrow then! Let's do it again!"

"Sure. But if you don't pay attention, I'm sending you back to your own room."

"Yes yes, no need for threats, boss," she replied.

Once done with the dishes, he piled them up next to the fire, but not close enough that it would be heated the whole night.

Mori walked toward the Unkindled, getting several blankets out of his stash, layering them on the floor.

The unkindled got up, stretching its legs wide before stepping off its old and used cloth, and onto Mori's blankets.

It did a few circles like a dog, and let itself fall on them, purring again.

Good.

Mori walked toward the bed, but as he reached him he sighed.

Again?

Aleesia was doing the starfish method, taking all the space on the bed for herself, sound asleep. Again.