Inside the Food Village Library, the existence of a library in a rural village was, in itself, quite a rare thing. However, as a gathering place for Nen users, many things here were naturally out of the ordinary.
Half of the books in the library, accumulated over three hundred years from the outside world, didn't pique Kevin's interest much. These books mostly detailed various matters from the outside world, covering historical events, news summaries, and some modern concepts and developments. In addition, a considerable proportion consisted of various entertainment works. The presence of these books allowed the villagers, even in their secluded location, to understand the outside world through written words. Entertainment works also helped the villagers keep up with the aesthetic and intellectual trends of the times, preventing them from being left behind.
Kevin merely glanced at the books' appearances and understood that these outside books, which had flowed in over three hundred years, were very popular. Despite being carefully maintained, most of the books still looked worn. Kevin even saw several bookshelves filled with comic books, which were severely damaged and had many missing volumes. Clearly, they had been borrowed. This showed that the villagers' demand for "entertainment" was quite strong.
In contrast, the books preserved from three hundred years ago were in even better condition than those that had entered in the last three hundred years. These books were almost all professional works, covering many fields such as geological exploration, environmental monitoring, travelogues, food preparation, legendary kitchenware, and ingredient processing. This was precisely the content Kevin had been searching for.
Seeing Kevin engrossed in reading these types of books, the old woman sitting at the counter by the door smiled and nodded. For decades, she had witnessed countless Hunters like Kevin come here. People from the outside yearned for the knowledge within the village, while the residents within the village longed for everything outside.
"These contents about chefs—they're exactly what I'm looking for," Kevin muttered softly as he flipped through the pages. The book contained a large amount of information on ingredient acquisition and processing, elaborating in detail on the various changes these ingredients would undergo when incorporated into cooking. Seemingly peculiar, it was actually explaining the unique effects these ingredients possessed. Moreover, many edible parts seemed to be the essence of a creature. Just by seeing the descriptions related to ingredient acquisition, Kevin discovered many usable materials that might be present in various creatures.
Kevin managed to force himself to shift his attention from these books, then focused more on one particular book: "Homeland Food." Evidently, this book was written by a villager from three hundred years ago, documenting the various ingredients cultivated in the surrounding area, centered around this village. Today, this place is called a secret realm precisely because these cultivated ingredient creatures broke free from artificial farming, returned to nature, and formed an independent ecological chain. Most of these creatures were brought back to the village by the Traveling Chefs, so the book contained detailed descriptions and analyses of various ingredients. For Kevin's pharmaceutical work, this was undoubtedly an excellent guide.
After a quick perusal, Kevin found several ingredients that matched his goals. Since Kevin was personally going to hunt for them, the targets he chose were naturally species with extremely high danger ratings.
His first chosen target was the "Red Finch." This is a type of bird about the size of a palm; they attack by rapidly darting in groups. Though they can only fly in a straight line, their speed is extremely fast. The truly crucial point is that during rapid flight, this bird's body becomes scorching hot, and anything it touches will ignite due to its high temperature.
Kevin chose this target because he had always hoped to master an "elemental" skill. In his understanding of Nen ability, such elemental skills mostly belonged to the Transmutation type. The ability of Transmutation is to transform one's Nen into substances of other properties, such as turning into fire, water, earth, or lightning. While the application of this ability seems easy to conceive, in reality, very few people can truly achieve ideal results.
Transmutation has similarities with Materialization, both requiring a deep understanding of the target. For Materialization to successfully materialize what one desires, one must thoroughly understand the object's structure and all its aspects, just as Kevin spent a lot of time researching to materialize a syringe—after all, a syringe itself is not a complex item. However, transforming Nen into elemental substances is inherently extremely difficult. Because a Transmutation user must not only understand the characteristics of the element but also experience it firsthand. Among them, the seemingly easiest "fire" attribute transformation is extremely difficult for a Nen user to achieve. Because the danger of fire to the human body is too high, people find it difficult to truly experience it.
Therefore, most people who try to construct similar Nen abilities can usually only produce effects based on "heat" or "scalding"; pure "fire" is almost impossible to achieve. It is precisely for this reason that Kevin chose the Red Finch.
Since his strength increased, Kevin usually searches for suitable materials based on the potions he plans to make. He intends to first create a potion with "heat" as its characteristic, and the Red Finch is the main ingredient for this potion. Moreover, judging from the characteristics of the Red Finch, if Kevin later wants to further create a potion with "fire" attributes, the Red Finch can also be used as an auxiliary ingredient. In any case, it's worth a try.
As for why there is no need to worry about the Red Finch being difficult to use as a material, the answer can be found in related records. Even as a Nen user, it is difficult to dodge the Red Finch's attacks, so most people choose to flee when encountering them. Only those with extremely keen reflexes can capture them using a specially made metal net when the Red Finch attacks. However, Red Finches are gregarious creatures, and once they attack, it's often more than one.
Besides the Red Finch, Kevin continued to learn about other creatures. He discovered that the content in the books here had not been uploaded to relevant intelligence websites. After all, knowledge is wealth, and the Hunter Association would not act like a nanny, directly spoon-feeding all information to Hunters; rather, it provides a platform for Hunters, giving them more opportunities for exploration and discovery. The book's detailed records of various "ingredients" and their capture and processing methods were sufficient for Kevin.
"You're here." Just as Kevin was immersed in the book, Menchi's voice came from nearby. Kevin then looked up. Menchi looked at him with some helplessness. "It's already night."
Kevin put down the book in his hand, stood up, and walked to the door to look outside; it was already pitch black. The old woman who managed the library was still sitting at the front desk, wrapped in a blanket with a cup of hot water in front of her, dozing off.
"Sorry, Grandma, for disturbing you," Kevin said with a hint of apology. At this moment, the grandma, who had just slightly woken up, just chuckled and said, "You kids are always like this, I'm used to it. Come again next time, haha. It's good to have a thirst for knowledge, but don't get too engrossed." Kevin smiled and nodded, thanked the grandma again, and then followed Menchi out of the library.
"If there are no surprises, the book contains information about the surrounding ingredients, as well as their capture and processing methods. If you're interested, you can come here to look for them later," Kevin said to Menchi. Menchi nodded.
The two returned to the inn. Bian Locke was sitting in the living room, flipping through a comic book, occasionally letting out bursts of laughter. The clanging of metal came from upstairs, which should be Buhara making dinner. Though Buhara is a Gourmet Hunter, he is indeed not as good as Menchi in cooking, and he is not particularly active in cooking. Simply put, he's a bit lazy. But then again, if he weren't lazy, perhaps he wouldn't have his current physique, nor would he have developed a related Nen ability.
Not long after, plates of food were brought to the table, each portion generous. At Buhara's invitation, Bian Locke did not decline and ate with them.
"How does it taste?" Buhara asked after watching Bian Locke finish tasting the food. Bian Locke savored it carefully, then nodded and commented, "It's alright."
Kevin and Gawain exchanged glances; in their opinion, the food was already delicious, yet it only received such a rating from Bian Locke. However, Buhara and Menchi seemed not to mind; instead, they also nodded. This is the Food Village, and the standards for evaluating food are clearly not on the same level as Kevin and their usual perception.
After eating and drinking their fill, the group began to chat about their respective gains for the day.
"It's not quite what I originally thought; I assumed every villager here was a master chef," Menchi was the first to complain.
"How could that be? Though we are descendants of master chefs and have a complete culinary heritage, that doesn't mean everyone wants to be a chef, or is willing to be a chef." As he spoke, Bian Locke even pointed at Menchi and Buhara. "Besides, you two, like those who came before, both call yourselves Gourmet Hunters, and your cooking skills seem pretty good. But essentially, you aren't really chefs, are you? You're just Hunters who treat 'gourmet food' as prey." Perhaps due to his profession, Bian Locke had encountered too many Hunters, especially Gourmet Hunters, so he understood the Hunter profession quite well.
Facing Bian Locke's words, Menchi and Buhara nodded, not refuting, because it was indeed true.
"Not chefs?" Kevin and Gawain found it hard to imagine that the skilled cooks Menchi and Buhara would not be considered chefs in Bian Locke's eyes.
"After all, we are Gourmet Hunters, not Chef Hunters. We pursue deliciousness, those unique tastes we've never experienced before," Menchi said with a shrug, explaining with a smile.
Hearing this, Kevin suddenly understood. The core of a Gourmet Hunter lies in the pursuit of delicious food; they focus more on "ingredients," on novel tastes and unusual things they have never tried. The fundamental reason why most Gourmet Hunters also work as chefs is their persistent pursuit of gourmet food, which has brought their cooking skills to a certain level. So, in the eyes of others in the outside world, a Gourmet Hunter is equivalent to a chef, which seems to be a logical equation.
But in reality, this is putting the cart before the horse. In fact, many Gourmet Hunters collaborate with ordinary chefs; many of these chef partners are famous master chefs, and they are the ones who truly make being a chef their professional goal. Strictly speaking, the role that a Gourmet Hunter truly corresponds to is more like a diner.
"Moreover, this village used to have frequent movement of people, welcoming guests from all directions," Bian Locke muttered to himself, as if recalling something. His words were not difficult to understand. The former Food Village was indeed like that, but later, due to a curse, it was sealed off and could no longer continue its former liveliness and vitality.
The villagers were not foolish; the culinary heritage was not simply passed down through bloodlines, but more through the close connection between master and apprentice. The essence of why this village became a sacred place in the hearts of chefs was that those with dreams and goals would come here to learn, and after mastering their skills, they would leave to explore the world. But people cannot always wander; eventually, they would return here. It was through this generation-after-generation transmission that the Food Village became what it is today.
Once, the village was fluid. Children born in the village, if they had other aspirations, would also choose to leave and eventually settle elsewhere. However, centuries of isolation gradually caused the village's culinary development to fall behind the times, only able to strive to preserve its original techniques. Fortunately, the villagers of this village mastered Nen ability, incorporating a large number of Nen ability techniques into their culinary practices. This, at least, prevented them from being completely forgotten by the world during these hundreds of years of isolation.
The group continued to chat while eating. Menchi and Buhara spent the entire day moving between various families with outstanding culinary skills in the village, observing and contemplating their best cooking techniques, and are currently determining specific learning goals. And these villagers had long grown accustomed to this.
Despite being sealed off for centuries, the Food Village's current reputation is indeed well-deserved. In this village, one can find almost all top-tier culinary techniques, from various cooking methods to pastry making. It could be said that everything was available.
As for Gawain, to be honest, he found almost no valuable clues today. His personality, somewhat rigid due to his own beliefs, made communication with the villagers not smooth. Most of the time, the villagers, out of curiosity, would ask him about the outside world. However, precisely because of his gentle nature, he wouldn't get annoyed by the children's noise, and instead became more popular with the little ones.
"I'll probably set off tomorrow to explore the situation outside," Kevin said.
Menchi nodded: "We don't want to go out yet; it might take some time, so you'll have to act alone during this period. So you'd best not choose overly dangerous targets right from the start."
Buhara pondered for a moment and suggested, "How about we compare our respective targets? If there are overlapping parts, we can act together later, how about that?" Kevin knew Buhara would make such a suggestion and nodded with a smile.
The next morning. Kevin was preparing to leave the village; though Menchi and Buhara were not going with him, Gawain decided to set off with him. Kevin naturally readily agreed to this. Though Gawain's current strength was not particularly powerful, his potential and learning ability were good. Having him along would be a helper, not a burden, so Kevin naturally wouldn't refuse.
The two walked out of the village entrance and saw the person still lying on his side in the small camp, using the sky and earth as his blanket.
"Speaking of which, after we go back, I can ask this guy what exactly is going on," Kevin suddenly said. Gawain nodded by his side.
The two stepped out of the village boundary and immediately felt the slightly biting chill in the air disappear.
"Sure enough, is this the manifestation of the villagers' curse?" Kevin mused to himself.
"Why did you suddenly want to act with me?" Kevin suddenly asked Gawain. After all, Gawain's goals were not the same as his.
Hearing this, Gawain was silent for a moment, then said, "I want to learn combat, combat at the Nen ability level." Kevin understood that the combat Gawain spoke of referred to the fighting techniques between Nen users. Perhaps in Gawain's eyes, Kevin was strong and already had some Nen ability foundation before becoming a formal Nen user, so following Kevin might allow him to learn unique combat techniques at this stage. After all, there are significant differences in combat styles between Nen users and ordinary people. Gawain had been diligently learning to construct Nen ability during this time and didn't have much understanding of practical combat in this area.
Hearing Gawain's idea, Kevin poured cold water on him: "There's a big difference between combat between people and combat between people and beasts."
"What I want to learn are the combat techniques between people and beasts," Gawain said.
"Hmm..." Kevin was puzzled. Did he discover something?