Devil Spawn

Residing in the innards of the cockatrice was a strange organ.

Like a bulbous mass, it was at the lower center between the lungs and seemed to have been connected to the trachea.

Huh...? What is that?!

I thought as I reached out to it.

Strangely enough, this organ was the only one that was seemingly unaffected by the bile. It was almost like the bile didn't wish to taint it.

Hmm...intriguing...

I thought as I put down the Kriss and examined the organ.

It was somewhat spherical in shape, bumpy on its surface and had three tubes extruding from it. Two on its sides connected it to the lungs and one atop it connected it to the trachea.

I stared at it in confusion for a moment before narrowing my eyes.

"Is this...what I think it is?"

I paused for a moment before bringing the Hunting Knife and piercing it.

The moment the Knife's tip touched it, the organ imploded.

Huh?

Suddenly, a rush of air was expelled from within it and my intuition grew silent.

I stared at the punctured mass of flesh and then realized, "So that's the organ that stores the World Energy..."

My eyes shone with an understanding light as the realization hit me.

"I see..."

Wait...this also explains why the cockatrice's body had healed!

I turned to the carcass and retracted my blood-stained hands.

When the cockatrice and I had descended to the depths of the chasm, it was heavily wounded, barely been able to move a muscle but then suddenly it could stand and use its tail.

That means the World Energy in this organ was healing its body...and sustaining it even after death...

My eyes sparkled with stars, "Fascinating!"

The moment I uttered that, the punctured mass of flesh suddenly began to shrink.

Huh?!

As it begun to shrink, the flesh itself began to dry up before turning into nothing more than a speck.

Just like that, the cockatrice was truly dead.

I stared at the bile-stained flesh for a while before turning away.

What a waste...

I stood up from my position and then walked towards a certain area. At that spot was several scatterings of old paper.

I gathered them and brought them to where the carcass was. I pushed the body aside, and then placed the old papers in its previous position. I then proceeded to place two Stone Gallons at the sides of the paper scatterings.

"Alright..."

I dusted my hand before picking up the Worthless Bowl.

Ugh...

A familiar irritating feeling spread from the point of contact with the Bowl and the contents in the Bowl were suddenly bound by an invisible force.

TINK!

I took out the eyeballs and upper throat of the cockatrice, then tossed them into the paper scattering.

TMP!

As they landed, I uttered a command.

Store.

[Unequipped Item:] Worthless Bowl

The Bowl and its contents vanished into thin air. I waited for a few moments and then resummoned it.

Inventory Open.

[Equipped Item:] Worthless Bowl

Arriving from a weave of sparks, the Bowl rested in my hands once it manifested.

Wasting no time, I bent one of the Stone Gallons, pouring water from it into the Worthless Bowl.

Upon filling it, I took each piece of meat and dipped it in the bowl.

"Good. Good."

After that, I spawned a spike of the cockatrice.

Inventory Open.

[Equipped Item:] Thorn of the Profane Cockatrix (77)

Once it formed, I proceeded to impale a piece of meat through it, forming a crude kebab.

GROWL!

My stomach growled again.

"Just hold on...food is almost ready..."

Dude...that's your stomach, not your child.

Shut up.

With a determined expression, I repeated the process continually until all the meat I had acquired where on a spike.

"Phew...", I wiped a sweat of my forehead as I gazed at the crudely-made kebabs. A smile came to my face as I congratulated myself.

Not bad. Not bad.

Don't slack until you taste the final dish.

I know dammnit!

I retorted angrily at my inner voice before turning back to the meat sticks.

It was time for the last and final hurdle.

Fire...

I sighed.

Frankly, I had no active way to get fire.

I had no rocks I could smite.

No sticks I could rub.

And obviously no match.

But that didn't mean I had no way to get fire.

"Alright."

I raised my hands to my black hair and untangled the strand attached to the Inept Lantern.

Taking it in my left hand, I picked up the Kriss and...

Drove it right through the scratched-up glass of the Lantern.

CRACK!

The old glass gave in immediately and the twisty blade of the Kriss reached the flickering flame without effort.

I winced at the sound of the glass breaking. Although it was Inept, I still liked its aesthetic.

BWHOOSH!

The blade of the Kriss was set aflame in an instant. Seeing this, I pulled it out of the chamber of the Lantern.

CRACKLE!

The flame of the Kriss burned furiously in the expanse of the dark chasm. I gazed at it with an amused expression before using it to set the paper scattering alight.

BWHOOOSH!!

Suddenly, they were all ablaze, burning with an angry yellow flame.

My amused eyes reflected the burning fire in my retina, as an unhinged smile came to my face. I approached the flame, stretching out my finger to touch it.

"Fire..."

My index finger came dangerously close to the flame, minutes away from being consumed by it. My smile grew wider and wider until I heard a voice.

Alex, what are you doing?

I immediately retracted my finger.

Oh nothing.

My inner voice paused for a moment before saying, the meat sticks are over there.

Yeah, I know.

I picked up a stick of meat, one that had a flesh of the cockatrice's tail, and then approached the flame,

"Let's do this."

With that, I thrusted the meat stick into the fire.

My eyes glowed with curiosity as they remained glued on the meat, watching as it cracked and burned under the immense temperature.

The skin of the meat reddened as it got hotter, the remnant liquid in the meat evaporated rapidly, the meat cooked and the fire crackled.

SIZZLE!

Soon after a while, I smelt an alluring smell. My noses perked up; I knew it all too well.

It was the smell of cooked chicken!

The instant I recognized the aroma, the system spoke.

[You have completed the Achievement – Wild Chef.]

[Would you like to collect your rewards?]

Uh...what?

An achievement? But...how?!

Isn't it obvious? You just cooked your first dish in this game.

I guess...Yes.

[Achievement Unlocked – Wild Chef.]

[You have gained 10 EXP.]

[You have gained a new alias – Feral Connoisseur.]

Woah...

I was bamboozled for a minute before I opened my HUD.

Stats.

[Name:] Alex

[Title:]???

[Level:] 5

[EXP:] 103/200

[Skills:] Oversaturation, Mind Palace, Reverb Mapping, Art of Learning, Body Constitution, Battle Arts, Anti-Lip Sync, Invisibility, Manipulation, Vast Knowledge Base, Pickpocket, Panoramic Vision, Resistance, Fear Inducement, Thousand Tongues, Death Darting Eyes

[Aliases:] The Mastermind, The Fool, Skeleton Horror, Feral Connoisseur

[Debuffs:] Partial Hearing, Myopic Vision, Anti-Lip Sync, Rizzless

[HP:] 97/100

[Achievements:] Flash of Power, Combat Novice, Beat the Odds, Wild Chef

Am already more than halfway to Level 6...am sure gaining EXP fast huh...but this...

I turned to my [Aliases] tab.

[Aliases:] The Mastermind, The Fool, Skeleton Horror, Feral Connoisseur

Feral Connoisseur...huh...

[Alias:] Feral Connoisseur: In the wilds, a game rose against its hunter, baring its ruthless fangs but ultimately fell into the maws of its assailant. This alias grants greater insight to cooking practices involving wild game.

So, am a five-star chef now?

I laughed lightly but then my stomach growled furiously, bringing my attention back to the meat stick.

My eyes glistened with eagerness before I retracted the cooked meat stick.

My mouth instantly became wet, and a single strand of saliva escaped my lips, becoming a drool.

HA...! HA...!

"L-let's taste...", I mumbled as I brought the meat to my mouth and then bit on it.

CHOMP!

I tore out a large chunk of it and chewed it.

So... how is it?

My inner voice asked with barely hidden anticipation.

I continued to chew it for a moment before yelling with a bright smile.

"IT'S DELICIOUS!"