That afternoon, Bilbo practically ran thumping to the pantry and pulled out a long string of different flavored sausages, declaring that for a friend like Levi who had come from so far away, as a local of the Shire, he absolutely had to provide generous hospitality.
Levi naturally wouldn't refuse.
The two shared a sumptuous "afternoon tea" together.
While enjoying the delicious food he had cooked with his own hands, Levi's mind was heavy with thoughts.
Although he had watched The Lord of the Rings many times and was very familiar with the story, now that he had truly come to this world, apart from those prophetic key story scenes and general plot, he knew nothing about the specific situations in places the story didn't describe in detail.
He needed time to integrate, and he also needed to gather some intelligence.
After the meal, declining Bilbo's offer of Shire-special tobacco, the two sat in chairs in the small courtyard, gazing off into the distance.
For a moment, the air grew quiet.
"Levi, do you have anything urgent to do in the next few days?"
Suddenly, Bilbo asked this question.
Levi glanced at Bilbo and raised an eyebrow.
He saw Bilbo stand up, take a breath and say, "Of course, don't misunderstand... I'm not trying to pry into your privacy. What I mean is, if you don't have anything urgent to do, perhaps you could stay here for a few more days."
"You see, the scenery of the Shire isn't bad, is it? I think you could walk around, just consider it letting yourself rest and relax."
"Uh... you know, we hobbits never like to leave our homeland, and we don't like adventures, but I personally am somewhat interested in the scenery outside. If you're willing, you could tell me about it, and I'd also be willing to fulfill my duties as a host and entertain you and such."
After speaking, Bilbo crossed his arms at his waist, blinking his eyes as he waited for Levi's reply.
At this moment, in his eyes, Levi had become a top chef who had traveled to distant lands, perhaps even a royal chef for some human kingdom.
Food made with such skill... every additional bite was profit.
The air returned to quiet.
Levi saw through this little scheme with just a moment's thought.
Indeed, people with skills never had to worry wherever they went.
Bilbo was somewhat anxious, and just as he was about to open his mouth to say something more, Levi smiled.
"Hahaha, since you've said so, then I'll have to shamelessly impose for a few more days."
"Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Bilbo."
"Oh, good, good!" Bilbo nodded repeatedly.
Only after Levi got up and returned to the house did Bilbo exhale.
This was the first time Bilbo had invited a stranger he'd just met to stay at his home, so he was inevitably a bit nervous.
Leisurely time was always short... the gap between afternoon tea and dinner passed in just a few words.
Under the pretext of learning, Levi learned several more recipes that evening. The result was that Bilbo's cooking all went to Levi, while the system-level delicacies he made all went to Bilbo.
This made the hobbit feel somewhat ashamed... he was eating high-quality food while Levi was making do with his rough cooking skills.
For such a master chef, consuming food with such a crude technique must be a very difficult thing...
Bilbo thought that if he were made to eat burnt fish made by a kitchen novice, he definitely wouldn't be able to stand it.
At the table, both men who had just finished dinner showed satisfied expressions.
It must be said that hobbits' stomachs could indeed hold a lot.
According to Levi's usual appetite, this meal could have lasted him a whole day.
He had also thought he might not be able to eat it all, since in Minecraft, you couldn't eat anymore once your hunger bar was full.
However, he was surprised to discover that after his hunger bar was full, he could actually continue eating.
The excess food transformed into a second, brighter-colored hunger bar that overlaid the original hunger bar.
AppleSkin?
The so-called AppleSkin was a mod that could display "saturation."
In Minecraft, whether it was health recovery or stamina consumption, saturation was depleted first, then hunger.
And saturation and hunger were often not synchronized... most foods added less saturation than hunger value, which meant the second hunger bar was not full most of the time.
But now, after the hunger value was full, Levi could continue eating to fill up the saturation as well.
When the second hunger bar... that is, saturation... was also full, continuing to eat wouldn't produce any new changes, and at that point he would normally feel stuffed.
Very reasonable.
After dinner, greeting Bilbo, Levi quietly left and ran to a forest far away.
This was something he had wanted to do for a long time.
He looked left and right, confirming that this area was uninhabited and no one would disturb him.
Then he raised his hand and struck the large tree in front of him forcefully.
Thud.
A slightly muffled sound came.
A barely perceptible crack appeared on the trunk.
And his hand was completely unharmed.
Thud thud thud thud thud...
Muffled sounds kept coming. After a few punches that left great psychological trauma on the tree, with a "crack" sound, a chunk was missing from the middle of the tree, and the entire tree crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar, startling birds and beasts.
Correspondingly, a miniature piece of wood fell to the ground, slowly floating.
After being absorbed into his inventory, it displayed the name: Oak Log.
Unlike in the game, this piece of wood looked exactly the same as when it was knocked off the tree.
Levi tried knocking off another section of wood, but found that this log took up another inventory slot and couldn't stack at all.
Because the two pieces of wood were different.
And the solution was...
"Unlocked crafting recipe: Standard Oak."
In a moment, the fallen tree disappeared, replaced by several stacked "Standard Oak" blocks in his inventory, along with a pile of sticks and leaves.
[Achievement Unlocked: "Standardization!"]
"I see."
Watching the achievement pop up, Levi understood some things.
Just as there are no two identical snowflakes in the world, things directly knocked down couldn't stack directly in the inventory because of differences in shape, size, and specific structure.
But after crafting processing, they could be turned into identical materials, which could then be stacked and stored in the inventory.
For example, with the tree logs he knocked down, Levi only needed to put them in the inventory's built-in four-slot crafting grid to go through the motions and "standardize" them into the familiar "logs" he knew.
With confidence in his heart, he immediately continued working, knocking wood everywhere and gathering materials.
As materials in his inventory increased, more crafting recipes unlocked.
First the crafting table, then the wooden pickaxe.
Tap tap, Levi struck the ground beneath his feet, directly starting the real man mining method... digging straight down on the spot.
Much later, when he emerged from underground, his inventory had gathered a complete set of stone tools, achieving the "Stone Age" achievement, and he had also made several furnaces and burned some charcoal to make torches.
No choice... reality wasn't like Minecraft, where you could find ore anywhere you dug; he could only burn some charcoal first.
After all this commotion, with a ding sound, Levi reached level one.
There were no obvious changes.
If he found diamonds and obsidian in the future, he could try crafting an enchanting table to see...
At this moment, the sky had grown dark.
Looking up, his eyes were filled with stars, with a crescent moon among them.
"So beautiful."
It was about time to go back... Bilbo was still waiting for him to make a late-night snack.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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