"Subtle… Very subtle." ~Phey'lan vin Drokinia

[Flour Fried Krakling Bites (Experimental) - Per 2 servings]

Main ingredients: 250g Krakling tentacle, chopped into bite-sized bits (can be substituted with actual octopus tentacles) Shallots, diced and as needed

Kelp stock: Edible kelp/seaweed Tuna flakes 1 Liter Water

Batter: Kelp stock Salt, to taste 150g All-purpose flour 50g Rice flour 2 Eggs

Sauce: 1 tablespoon Kelp stock 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce 2 tablespoons Oyster Sauce 4 tablespoons Barbecue Sauce Mayonnaise, applied separately

Garnish: Edible Seaweed Flakes Dried Tuna Flakes

Last night, the Godkiller found some edible kelp along the shorelines of the dungeon. She used Scan in order to make sure that they didn't have any harmful effects when consumed. Though it would be better to let these dry completely, she only had the rest of the evening and a bit of the morning to get rid of the moisture before using them.

So it caught her a little by surprise to find the kelp completely dry.

"Oh, yeah… Cooking Mastery speeds this up too. Cool!"

With that, she had almost all the ingredients, except for the dried tuna flakes. She sighed.

"I should've stocked up on some dried tuna flakes…"

[Apple says she can look around if you need them,] Stachie said. [Coraline and the others are setting up their buildings, so we're basically free now over here.]

"As long as it's just around Cinterbrim Town," Shallies permitted. "It's not a big loss if we don't have any for this one."

[Gotcha.]

She started massaging the krakling tentacle bits with some salt from the processed salt slimes she got from Phey'lan to ironically get rid of the slime and tenderize the meat. Once that was done, she rinsed them with water and set them aside.

Then, Shallies soaked the dried kelp in a liter of water, allowing the flavor to infuse. This method would have the most impact if she had been able to let the kelp soak overnight, but an hour would be enough for her current purpose. She wasn't making a menu-ready meal, but an impromptu one to give her students the ability to breathe underwater. At the very least, she needed to make the food edible.

Again, with Cooking Mastery, an hour of wait was cut down to just thirty minutes. And while that was happening, she met her students who had just finished exercising underwater. Valor'el was also there, but he had instantly dried himself and headed straight to camp for a change of clothes.

"Surprised that we didn't meet other kraklings," Ren said, as he removed his helmet. "And I still can't believe I can use this armor underwater."

"It's not the item that's letting you do that," Shallies corrected. "It's your Strength. So long as you can continuously tap into that Attribute, you can carry that weight without sinking. You can also glide around in short bursts."

"We don't have as much Strength," Tayin said. "But we seem fine."

"I literally only have 6," Grace added.

"And that's enough," Shallies said. "That's because you're interacting with normal water. Basically, any Class holder with the Strength of 5 can carry their Class Equipment without any issues. That's both the Attribute and the act of equipping coming into play. Swimming and breathing, of course, is another matter entirely."

"Same as seeing, and my wrinkling skin," the half-orc complained. "I don't suppose we have a Food Buff for that? The skin issue, I mean."

"I have a potion for that," Shallies replied.

"Wait… Do you also have a potion for water-breathing?" Ren asked.

"Yep. I have a potion for everything."

"Then why don't we just use that instead of getting them from our Food Buff?" Tayin added, her voice complaining.

"Because they're mine and I'm not giving them to you for free," Shallies answered with a smile. "Utility potions like those are difficult to acquire. Not to mention that my favorite Alchemist is out of the continent. Far to the east."

"Oh… Right, right."

"I will provide you with ones for the wrinkly skin, though. I don't want you to deal with something irritating like that. Treat it as compensation for making you choose to venture down there."

"Doesn't seem like a good enough compensation," Ren commented. "But I'll take it, I guess."

"You'll still have all my Guiding Star buffs, you know?" Shallies sighed. "I'll go back to cooking. After ten minutes go make a few laps underwater again."

Her students didn't complain. They simply sat on the ground and rested. While their Mana Energy was working in full effect, there was still something good to be gained from actually resting.

Shallies returned her attention to her portable kitchen, turning on the stove to boil the infused kelp stock. Once it was boiling, she turned the heat to medium low and added all the krakling tentacle bits to cook them.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Meanwhile, she worked on the sauce. After taking a tablespoon of the kelp stock, she added the soy sauce, barbecue sauce, and oyster sauce to a single bowl. As a personal touch, she acquired a bunch of her processed sugar slime to add to the mix. That was when Stachie gave her an update.

[Apple got some dried tuna flakes. She left them in our Class Inventory.]

"Gotcha. Thanks, you two."

[No problem!]

With the kraklings boiled, Shallies took them out to rest and added the flakes while turning off the heat. She allowed the stock to infuse for a while, preparing to make the batter this time.

Combining rice flour with the all-purpose flour would add some crisp when it was time to fry. Shallies mixed in a bit of her salt slime as well. Next, she drained the stock to remove the tuna flakes and added the super-infused liquid into the bowl.

The result was a thin batter full of flavor. And with that, Shallies was ready to cook.

"That's a weird looking grill," Valor'el said, emerging from his tent as Shallies brought out the peculiar tool.

The grill was cast-iron shaped in a square. It had circular cavities neatly spaced, allowing for sixteen total in a four-by-four arrangement.

"Koushin gave it to me, as a gift centuries ago," Shallies explained.

"If I remember correctly, she's your favorite Alchemist. An elf from the north."

"She's in the east now," she said fondly.

The elf didn't have a Combat Class. She was both an Alchemist and a Farmer, but due to certain circumstances in the past, both she and Shallies had needed to work together for a few years. It was during those years that the Godkiller had discovered her alchemical talents and genius.

"I should probably start warming up to her again," Shallies said, putting the grill on her mana-crafted stove and turning the heat up. "If we do end up having another Divine War, I'd rather have a group of active suppliers than rely solely on my stocks."

"I'm sure she'll be delighted," Valor'el said.

"Doubt it," she replied, giggling a little. "The last Divine War I had her participate in, she had to supply for Zerax'malathum Kingdom's healing potions. Imagine trying to make healing potions good enough that proud dragons and dragonoids will use them. Now imagine making enough for their entire army."

"Ah…" Valor'el didn't hide his amusement. "You do drive us to the bone when other gods are involved."

"Hey, I made you rest from the previous Divine Wars, you know?"

Shallies didn't even look at Valor'el as she oiled up the grill. She turned the heat down to low, while waiting for the cooking oil to heat up. In the meantime, she chopped up some shallots.

At the same time, she salted the three Krakling eyes and skewered them up to cook by the campfire.

"That's because Apple started helping you out." Valor'el sat and watched. "If I had known a double Divine War happened, I would've helped out."

"I told Apple to recruit you, but she refused. She only took the fairies and the awakened trees during that war." Shallies applied a bit of the batter on the oil, checking if it was ready. It sizzled. "Okay, enough of that. I need to concentrate a bit."

The Godkiller poured the batter over the grill. While a beginner would put a little in each circular cavity, she instead just poured it on the entire base, quickly running through the grill but only filling them halfway.

She took the krakling bits and deposited a piece or two to each cavity, then finally sprinkled the shallots. Then finally, she added more batter to completely fill the rest of the grill.

Valor'el had a confused look the entire time. The entire thing looked either like a mess or a soup, but he didn't say anything because of how focused Shallies was.

From her Class Inventory, the Godkiller pulled out a pair of metal skewers. These were half the size of the usual ones she used to cook.

Shallies pushed down on one side of one of the cavities. The batter had fried, creating a solidified surface and allowing for it to create half a ball with all the ingredients inside it. Satisfied, she ran her skewer through the gaps on the grill, sectioning off equal parts.

Then, almost on automatic, the Godkiller's hands worked and started turning all of them completely. In just a few seconds, they were all up-side down.

Without skipping a bit, she added a bit more oil, waited a bit, then turned them again. She repeated this process until the batter turned golden brown, in the shape of a complete ball.

"Wow…" Valor'el gasped. "I thought it was going to be a waffle, or something."

Shallies smirked and repeated the processes four more times, creating a total of eighty krakling balls. While she made the final batch, Valor'el called for the students to start drying themselves.

To serve the dish, Shallies plated up sixteen pieces per serving. She drizzled some mayonnaise on top. Then the special sauce she made earlier. And then some more dried tuna flakes.

"Flour Fried Krakling Bites matched with Skewer Grilled Krakling Eyes," Shallies declared. "It might not seem a lot, but these will fill you up pretty quick."

"Yeah," Tayin said as she received her plate. "Individually, they don't even seem bite-sized."

"Well, this is probably the smallest they can get. There's only shallots other than the krakling inside. I saw one that was about ten times the size and had more ingredients inside it."

"Well, it certainly looks more enticing than the eye," Grace said. "I'm not sure if I want to eat it."

"You can eat it with the sauce I made. It just tastes like pork fat, really."

"Mmm!" Ren exclaimed, turning all heads to him. He was already eating. "It's so good!"

That encouraged the other two to take a bite out of the Krakling pieces. Immediately, the sounds of amazement and happiness filled the air. Even Valor'el joined in.

Satisfied with the reactions, Shallies started eating.

"Remember, underwater, communicating becomes a bit more challenging. While sound does travel faster in water, the ears of all humanoid species aren't adapted to perceiving them in such an environment. Unless, of course, you're a ferim of an underwater species. The trick is to tap into your Focus, while someone's speaking. But that's easier said than done."

Grace looked in wonder as Shallies spoke while they were deep in the middle of the ocean. The Godkiller was contradicting her own statements as her words were clearly delivered to the half-orc and her teammates.

In addition to this, Grace was still holding her breath. Her sight was a lot better now compared to when she was practicing earlier, a clear sign that one of the Food Buffs was working. Still, she couldn't convince herself to just simply breathe.

By the looks of it, so did the other two.

"You know, if you don't breathe, even if you have the Water-Breathing Food Buff, you'll still suffocate, right?" Shallies asked. "Just take a breath through your nose. The water will filter itself."

They didn't develop gills or anything of the sort, which made Grace wonder where the water would be going. Until she couldn't hold on any longer and began to breathe.

The water did filter itself, by not going into her nose in the first place. It was weird. Being able to breathe, being able to see far, being able to move quickly. These were things she had never thought was possible for her to achieve underwater.

And yet here she was.

When she looked, Ren and Tayin were now swimming with joy. They were like fishes, especially the Shield Knight, who had more Strength than them.

"Good!" Shallie said, looking satisfied. "Now. Let's put you three to the test first, shall we?"

The Godkiller manifested her Manaweave Coat and pulled up the hood, turning herself invisible.

Ren and Tayin swam to Grace's side, and they formed a circle. The Shield Knight said something, but it was completely muffled to the point of being unhearable. He realized this and then began to gesture by holding both his sword and shield.

The two nodded and brought out their weapons as well.

With the help of their underwater eyesight, the three quickly saw a swarm of kraklings swimming towards them. But while this was true, there were about seven of them making a circle and enclosing them with their dark ink.

And the first tentacles lashed out, it took all of Grace's reflexes and speed to deflect the attack.

When she turned, her sudden panic was replaced by relief as the other two managed to defend themselves as well.

Good! We can match them!

As she celebrated, more tentacles attacked from the darkness.

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