Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2022: Smell [Bonus]

[Bonus thanks to Chronotitan <3]

Sylas returned to Earth once again, his expression as unreadable as always. When he stepped back into the City Lord Mansion of Castle Main, he found a wall of food hitting him.

Although it felt like he had just eaten, it had already been a few hours. Even Sylas didn't know how long he had spent at the bottom of the ocean by Nosphaleen's grave, but time had really ticked by quite a distance.

In truth, he had already skipped lunch of no volition of his own. But hunger also wasn't something that drove him.

He was at the point where-though it was less ideal-he could easily live off of Aether alone.

Still, that didn't mean he didn't like food.

A whirlwind passed by Sylas' eye and Cassarae appeared with a smile.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're in an apron."

"And so what about it?" she said with a click of her tongue. "Come here."

She grabbed Sylas' wrist and didn't give him much of a chance to resist, yanking him into the kitchen.

It looked like a whirlwind of chefs had been through here. Sylas was also pretty sure that the size of the dining room table had definitely doubled.

Before, it was already enough for Sylas' and Cassarae's family to sit together. They weren't a huge number, but they were still eight people deep. Now, the table seemed like it could have housed 20 or more.

Yet, it was filled to the brim with food.

One half was literally just meat. Steak cuts from various creatures piled atop one another, perfectly medium rare all the way through and seasoned through various different methods. Some were wet or dry brined, some were seasoned after cooking, and some seemed to have used odd processes that Sylas couldn't even properly describe.

And then the other half of the table was an assortment of veggies of all sorts of exotic kinds. Outside of some species of spinach and broccoli, Sylas couldn't recognize nearly any of the other ones.

In the middle, there was a huge bowl of rice probably a quarter his height tall filled with kernels that almost looked more like small ingots of polished metals than actual food.

Cassarae put her fists on her hips and exhaled.

"Good. Now eat."

Sylas looked over at her. "Since when do you cook?"

"Why are you asking me so many questions? Hurry it up."

Sylas did as he was told and sat down, pulling on the first steak to the side. It was about the size of a tomahawk, but it bent the fork he used just by picking it up.

He plopped it out on the plate and it nearly cracked, but it just barely survived.

The SHILING of an unsheathing sword echoed and Cassarae's blade shrank down.

"Use this instead."

Sylas raised an eyebrow, but still took it. It was so heavy it nearly fell from his hand and he shook his head. Was she really carrying this thing around everywhere? Or was it just a lot lighter for her.

Cutting into the steak, Sylas looked at it for a moment before taking the first bite.

He hadn't even swallowed yet when he felt the explosion in his mouth. It was like tendrils reached out from his taste buds and drilled into his veins, pooling the ambrosia of the gods through him.

To his shock, he actually felt his stats tick up more than a dozen points before he even swallowed. And when he finally did, the rush of energy made his heart beat nearly out of his chest.

Sylas took another bite, and then another. Reaching to the side, he tried out the vegetables as well, and each one was just as good. By the time he was scooping rice into his plate as well, Cassarae was beaming ear to ear.

There was a limit to what Isolde could do because her strength was also limited. The beasts she could get were only so powerful, and the heat she could withstand was limited as well.

But compared to Sylas' mother, Cassarae could withstand a lot more, and as such she could cook much higher quality ingredients. In fact, even butchering them in the appropriate ways seemed to make a huge difference, and there was little her sword couldn't cut.

Before Sylas even realized he was eating so much, he had scooped up the last bit of rice, his eyes glowing for a long moment before it eventually settled down.

This was the sort of food he liked the most. It felt bland and uninteresting, but it was filled to the brim with endless amounts of nutrients that made his body feel like it was floating on clouds.

There was none of the bloating and uneasiness that came with unhealthier food. It was so perfect that even if his body wasn't so good at eliminating waste before it could even accumulate, he was sure that this meal would hardly produce any.

Sylas pushed his seat back to stand, but Cassarae took it as a moment to plop down in his lap instead, putting her arms around his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Sylas." She said softly.

Sylas wasn't entirely sure how to respond to this. But he didn't seem to have to, because Cassarae spoke again.

"But I would do it again to know for sure."

There was a flicker in Sylas' gaze, but he nodded. He already knew that, she didn't need to tell him.

"I love you, I've always loved you, but it's tough to love you. I don't think other people know that."

She raised her head from Sylas' chest and placed a hand on his cheek.

"But now I don't mind it anymore." She said with a smile, looking into his eyes. "I know now. So I don't care how hard it is, how difficult you make it for me, how many mountains I have to climb or oceans I have to swim. I'll make it through for you. I promise."

There was something soft and gentle in her eyes that Sylas hadn't seen in so very long. And in that moment, he felt it... at least a small bit of that weight was gone.

"Now." Cassarae's eyes became a little bit more dangerous. "Do you want to tell me why I smell Demon bitch on you again?"