Later, Theo patted his belly with satisfaction.
He was now sitting on the couch facing the television with Emily by his side.
"Daddy, when are you going to make something like that again~?" Emily enjoyed it so much that she was already thinking about the next time.
"Mm, we can have more tonight." Theo replied.
"Yay~!" She clapped.
He didn't intend to skimp on the meat. At worst, he'd have to go back to eating canned sardines.
However, he had another goal in mind. Which was to try rolling at least 10 times at once, at least once a month.
Who knows? Maybe he'd get lucky and get something like that again.
'By the way, I still have 2 free slots in the shop.'
With that in mind, he opened the interface, and after going to the shop, he clicked on the pending shop tickets.
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8: 3x [15 Spice Kit]: 1 Essence [x]
9: [Inflatable Double Mattress + Air Pump and Headrest]: 2 Essence [x]
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He clicked to delete the mattress and tried again.
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9: [Roasted Rabbit with Potatoes]: 2 Essence [x]
════════════
His body reacted to this. It wasn't the fact that it was already described as roasted, but rather, because it was rabbit meat.
"Emily, still hungry?" He asked.
"Huh… I can eat~" She replied.
That wasn't quite what he was asking, but okay.
Clicking, he bought the roasted rabbit to try it out.
After 2 of his essence were deducted, a transparent glass tray appeared in his hands.
Inside, there were several chopped potatoes with green seasoning on top, and in the center was the roasted rabbit meat, which looked well-seasoned. By the weight, it should be around 3-4 kilos in total.
He wasn't even hungry, but he started to salivate.
"It looks delicious~!" Emily floated to face the tray.
"Wait a bit, I'll cut a piece for you." Theo said, placing the tray on the table in front of them.
"Yes~"
He took the plate from the table he had used earlier to eat the meat and grabbed another plate from the inventory.
Cutting 1/4 of the rabbit, including the thigh, he placed it on the clean plate with five potatoes.
Theo set a fork and knife in case Emily wanted to use them.
"You can eat." He said.
"Okay~"
At the same time, he took just the thigh piece and placed it on his plate with two potatoes.
He started by trying the roasted rabbit meat first.
"Really good." He murmured.
"Yes, it's really good~" Emily didn't forget to praise Theo in the process: "But the meat Daddy made earlier was even more… Divine~? Yes, divine~"
"Haha, is that so?" Theo laughed, happy.
He thought she was just being nice, because he himself tried the rabbit meat and it was very well-prepared, whether it was the seasoning or the fire control while roasting. Everything was done better than he could have.
'By the way, where do these things come from?' Theo thought: 'The system isn't sneakily stealing from some restaurant in another world and selling to me… Right?'
He even imagined an invisible hand opening a portal and stealing the tray with the roasted rabbit and potatoes ready to be delivered to a customer, and he pictured a Chef yelling: 'Who stole my roasted rabbit with potatoes!'
That silly thought made him laugh a little.
Then, he tried the potato.
'The potato is equally good.' It was the same price as 20 cans of sardines, but it was worth it.
...
Theo stopped eating after consuming a fifth of the roasted rabbit meat. Emily, on the other hand, managed to keep eating and ended up finishing the remaining potatoes and roasted rabbit meat by herself.
Satisfied, he now wanted to check the cores he got from the Mutant Eagle. Taking them from the inventory, the information appeared to him.
[It has been identified that the Host has found a special level 25 core, 79% pure. Exchange for essence [Yes] or [No]?]
[Warning! Core several levels above the Host's level, if attempting to absorb, there is a high chance the Host will explode! Recommended to only exchange for essence or store it!]
'It's not like I didn't expect something like this.' Theo then had the intention to know the skill contained in the core.
[Core of a Level 25 Mutant Eagle with skill: [Wind Manipulation (Level 20)] - Description: Allows transforming Mana into wind.]
[Warning: Only those at least at the threshold of level 19 or 20+ can attempt to learn this skill by consuming the core.]
Following this belief, if someone reaches the threshold of level 9, maybe they only need a level 10+ core to break the limit and, with luck, could learn the core's skill?
He took the other core.
[It has been identified that the Host has found a special level 23 core, 81% pure. Exchange for essence [Yes] or [No]?]
[Warning! ...]
It was the same as the other; he couldn't absorb it either.
'But why two level 20+ cores?' Theo thought: 'Maybe… It's the core of the possible 'creature' that caused so much damage to the Mutant Eagle?'
If the eagle won and ate the core but didn't have time to fully digest it, it would make sense. He tried to see the skill contained in the core.
[Core of a Level 29 Mutant Red Monkey with skill: [Fire Manipulation (Level 21)] - Description: Allows transforming Mana into fire.]
[Warning...]
'I was right, the Mutant Eagle fought this Mutant Red Monkey, probably using the fact that it could fly as an advantage and managed to come out victorious, eating the core and, perhaps, even the Mutant Red Monkey…'
'However, it couldn't fully digest the core. As for why it was attracted to the sound I caused, maybe it wanted to eat something lighter to recover its strength and digest the core faster?'
Another thing he thought: 'Even at level 25… The eagle only had one awakened skill. However, Emily has 3 and is only level 5… Both are mutants, but why such a difference? Maybe Emily is special even among mutant beings?'
That wasn't all.
He himself had awakened as a dual-skill user thanks to the system.
And, from what he understood, someone could try to awaken a second skill as long as they obtained a level 10+ core and were on the verge of advancing to level 10, like Violet. But, if it was the same skill as the user's, perhaps it would increase the chance of successfully advancing?
Following this logic, couldn't he save these two cores to advance when he got stuck at level 19?
Even if there was a chance of failure, he would have 2 chances to try advancing to level 20.
**
**
The arrival of Violet and the others with 4,000 cans of sardines was met with applause…
Okay, it wasn't that exaggerated.
But everyone was happy.
With this, their survival for a few more days was guaranteed.
"Sister Violet!"
Suddenly, amidst the crowd gathered in the building's inner courtyard, near the pool—an area large enough to accommodate everyone there—a little girl came running out, shouting for Violet.
She was holding a plastic bag while running with a childlike smile on her face. The little girl must have been no older than 10 years old.
She had red hair and honey-colored eyes, and her face was full of freckles, especially near her nose and on her cheeks.
She was part of the group of people Violet had saved. Not just her, but her mother too.
"Bianca," Violet asked in a gentler tone: "What happened?"
"Hehe, look, I found something good," the little girl said innocently, opening the bag: "Some older sisters and brothers wanted to take it from me, but I said I was going to give it to Sister Violet."
Inside the plastic bag, there was a very beautiful flower with pink petals. In the center, it was white.
"Look, doesn't it make you want to eat it?" she said: "I picked this little flower and almost ate it, but I resisted! Anyway, I saved it for Sister Violet~!"
"Let your big sister here take a look first, okay?" Mia crouched down with a smile.
Bianca nodded: "Alright, alright."
Taking the flower, Mia felt an almost irresistible urge to eat the flower in her hand.
Swallowing hard, licking her lips with black lipstick, she closed her eyes and used her skill [Purify].
When she did, the flower showed no reaction.
"It's fine," she said, handing it to Violet.
Violet took the flower. She also felt an overwhelming urge to eat it; in fact, for her, it was even worse than for the others.
She was almost losing her reason.
"Is it okay if I eat it?" she asked.
"Yes, I gave it to you, Sister Violet~"
Nodding, Violet began eating the flower.
In fact, she practically devoured it without any elegance.
Some found it strange, others were curious about her reaction.
The next moment, Mia shouted: "Get back!"
She pulled Bianca with her while moving away from Violet.