5
Chapter 5
I tore off a piece of the stolen corpse.
It was the perfect bite-sized piece.
I shoved the torn piece into my mouth without hesitation.
Chewing was simple.
Even though I am a Teddy Bear, I have teeth and a tongue.
Wait, did I always have them?
Did they appear during Evolution?
I cannot remember well.
It is not important, so I should just focus on eating.
Munch munch.
Chomp chomp.
It has a strange texture, like chewing on a sponge.
As expected, I cannot taste anything at all.
Since I have the body of a Doll, it is only natural that I cannot taste.
I suddenly felt gloomy.
To think I have to give up the joy of eating in this life.
Being able to survive without eating is definitely a huge advantage, but losing the fun of eating is a hard loss to bear.
I really like eating.
In my past life, my hobby was going on food tours.
Most of my memories from my past life are blurry,
but there are quite a few that remain clear.
Among them, the memory that I loved to eat was distinct.
It is a shame, but what can I do?
I have to give up what I must give up.
Munch munch.
[Absorbing Mana.]
Still, it is a relief that I can gain Mana.
My guess was right; I can gain Mana not just from a Mana Stone, but also by consuming the body of a creature that contains Mana.
As I continued to tear off bite-sized pieces of the corpse and feast.
['Awakened Dormant Appetite Through Free Will' achievement accomplished.]
[Acquired [Feeding lv.1].]
What is this now?
I suddenly accomplished an achievement?
I suppose the achievement was accomplished because a Teddy Bear performing the act of Feeding on its own is a surprising and wondrous thing.
I even got a skill as an achievement reward.
A Feeding skill......
Should I check what kind of skill it is?
[Feeding lv.1]
─Allows for smooth Feeding activities.
─If desired, the sense of taste can be activated.
─Consumed substances slowly undergo Decomposition and disappear inside the body.
Ooh.
Can I taste things now?
Acquired an insanely overpowered skill!
It might be a useless skill to others.
But to me, at least, it was a very useful skill.
Because it means I can regain the joy of eating.
In addition, it seems I also gained a digestive function.
To be exact, it was the ability of Annihilation of substances inside the body.
Wait a minute.
Then how did I digest things before?
Assuming the Mana Stone itself was completely converted into Mana and absorbed, I also ate quite a few ordinary stones while playing house with Jjokkomi, didn't I?
Hmm.
It seems the stones had remained inside my body.
Or perhaps they naturally disappeared through Evolution.
Anyway.
The second function of the Feeding skill seemed to be working properly.
Munch munch, gulp.
The swallowed corpses pile up inside my body.
And I am feeling the leftover corpse remnants slowly disappearing after absorbing the Mana.
My slightly heavy body was becoming light again.
I still cannot feel any taste.
That is because I have not activated my sense of taste yet.
Should I try activating it?
Activate sense of taste!
The moment I shouted that inwardly.
I felt a ticklish sensation on the tip of my tongue, as if a faint electric current was flowing through it.
......Blegh! Spit spit!
I immediately spat out the corpse I was chewing.
This tastes absolutely disgusting!
I did not expect much.
Of course there was no way it would taste good.
I only activated my sense of taste to check if I could feel taste properly.
The check is complete.
Therefore, I deactivated my sense of taste.
It is a substance impossible to eat as long as the sense of taste is active. It seems the Thunder Ants did not have a sense of taste either.
It is a relief that I do not have a sense of smell right now.
If my sense of smell were active, I might have actually vomited instead of just dry heaving.
If possible, I plan to get an olfactory skill later too.
Flavor is also very important when it comes to food, after all.
Being able to smell would also be advantageous for survival.
For reference, it was not like I lacked all senses.
There were naturally no issues with my sight.
Even though I am a Doll, my hearing and sense of touch were active.
Of course, even if I have a sense of touch, I have no sense of pain.
You could say it feels somewhat like having analgesia.
Anyway, since I deactivated my sense of taste, I should finish eating the rest of the corpse.
I frantically chewed and swallowed the corpse.
It was a waste to leave the corpse I spat out, so I picked it up and ate it again.
The more I ate, the more I could clearly feel my Mana being replenished. The notification that Mana was being absorbed kept sounding as well. The notifications also appeared as text before my eyes.
Meanwhile.
I witnessed a blue light leaking out from inside the corpse.
What is that now?
Is Mana condensed to the point that it is visible to the eye?
Holding my doubts, I dug into the corpse with my front paw.
Huh? It was not Mana clumping together to become visible.
A certain substance was embedded inside the corpse.
Wiggle wiggle.
I pulled out the buried object.
It was a single radiant stone.
The Mana felt very dense.
Although it looked slightly different from what Jjokkomi brought, this also seemed to be the same substance as a Mana Stone.
To think a Mana Stone could be obtained from inside a monster's body.
I acquired new knowledge.
But why did the Thunder Ants leave this precious thing behind without eating it?
There is no way they did not know it was there.
Did they save it to eat as a final delicacy?
Whatever the reason.
I will eat this with gratitude!
***
I scarfed down about half of the corpse I stealthily stole.
I even gulped down the Mana Stone that had been hidden inside the corpse.
Because of that, my Mana was fully replenished.
With this much, I should be able to take Action for a few days without any problems.
Ah, and.
By consuming the corpse and the Mana Stone, my level also rose.
[Brown Teddy Bear lv.5]
┗Pw.5 (+1)
┗Rnk.Normal
[Skills]
[Helper lv.1], [Evolution lv.1], [Action lv.2], [Feeding lv.1]
A whopping level 5!
That is some explosive leveling. My level is growing rapidly.
What happens when you Level Up?
Now it was time for Evolution.
First, I need to check my Physical Adaptability.
Helper. Tell me my Physical Adaptability.
Yes! Master!
As I put on a one-man show, the Status Window popped up before my eyes and I heard the Helper's voice.
[Current Physical Adaptability is 31.]
Physical Adaptability 31.
It was a very close number.
For reference, it was lower than 30 earlier.
So I was wondering how to raise my adaptability, but it turns out that Physical Adaptability increases along with the level.
Unfortunately, it seemed I could not endlessly use the method of maintaining a low level, where Level Up is relatively easy, to raise my power and skills. Because of Physical Adaptability.
Anyway, since I met the required adaptability, I decided to undergo Evolution right away.
[Would you like to use [Evolution lv.1]?]
Yep!
================
[Available species for Evolution]
◎ Chef Teddy Bear - Normal
================
As expected, there was only one on the list this time too.
I had no right to choose.
Chef Teddy Bear?
I do not know what it is, but let's go!
[Evolution is complete.]
Flash!
The light radiating from my body engulfed me once again.
And just like that, Evolution was completed in a flash.
There were no changes to my appearance.
There was simply a chef's Moja, or rather, a Toque Blanche resting on top of my head.
I see they even give things like this when you undergo Evolution.
I look like a top-class chef Teddy Bear.
For reference, the Toque Blanche is not a part of my body.
Nor did it have any special functions.
It was purely for looking stylish.
Due to Evolution, my Physical Adaptability dropped to 25.
Using the Evolution skill one more time was impossible.
I also immediately checked if a Limit Breakthrough was possible.
It was impossible.
[Chef Teddy Bear lv.4]
┗Pw.4 (+1)
┗Rnk.Normal
[Skills]
[Helper lv.1], [Evolution lv.1], [Action lv.2], [Feeding lv.1], [Magic Chef lv.1]
I did not gain any additional power.
The levels of my existing skills remained the same.
That did not mean there was no reward for Evolution.
I acquired a new skill, after all.
[Magic Chef lv.1]
─You can create dishes by consuming ingredients and Mana.
─If desired, the sense of smell can be activated.
─You can check the information of the dishes you made yourself.
Sense of smell! Sniff sniff!
I can finally smell things.
Well, for a chef, the sense of smell is just as important as the sense of taste.
I do not know exactly what it means to create dishes.
Does it mean that adding Mana to ingredients will magically produce a dish?
Thinking about it will not give me an answer.
I just need to use the skill and find out.
I looked at the leftover corpse.
[It is an eligible target for the Magic Chef skill.]
Fortunately, the corpse was treated as a cooking ingredient.
Does this mean that adding Mana to it will create a dish?
I do not know how to channel Mana.
Still, it did not really matter.
Since using the skill will automatically transfer my Mana into the corpse.
[Would you like to use [Magic Chef lv.1]?]
I wonder how much Mana will be consumed.
I have absorbed quite a lot of Mana.
Surely my replenished Mana will not run out from using the skill just once.
Helper!
What is the Mana consumption for the skill?
[Using [Magic Chef lv.1] consumes 1/250 of your current Mana.]
Gasp. It actually answered.
I was just wondering about it.
Helper.
Can you also tell me my current Mana reserves?
[Quantifying the amount of Mana held is possible from [Helper lv.2].]
I guess it cannot do that yet.
How do I raise the Helper skill level?
Will it naturally go up if I just use it a lot?
Or should I hope it goes up as an Evolution reward?
I do not know.
It will probably go up somehow later.
Anyway, since I confirmed the skill consumption is not large, I showed my intent to use the skill without hesitation.
[Using [Magic Chef lv.1].]
[The type of dish is random.]
A small amount of Mana left my body.
The Mana spread thinly and covered the corpse.
It became a Mana-coated corpse.
[Cooking Flame Bear Seasoned Meat......]
It is not made instantly.
There is no need to cook it myself, but it seems to take some time to make. I figured I just need to wait patiently.
...Wait a minute.
What did you just say?
Flame Bear Seasoned Meat?
An invisible Hammer struck my head.
Does that not mean this is the corpse of a Flame Bear!
I was deeply shocked by the fact that I committed cannibalism.
No, wait a minute.
My mother and siblings are indeed Flame Bears, but I am clearly a different species, right?
Phew. Thank goodness.
It was not cannibalism.
The invisible Hammer crushing my head vanished, and the shock I felt also quickly faded.
It probably is not feeding on kin either.
That corpse was highly likely a low-level Flame Bear I had never met. There is no way my family was defeated by the ant friends. It might be possible if Urami and Jjokkomi went hunting alone, but they always travel with our powerful Mother Bear.
Wait, Jjokkomi secretly came to meet me without mother knowing.
That means she takes solo Action.
.....It was a needless worry.
Thinking about it slowly and logically, there was absolutely no way this could be Jjokkomi.
Shortly after Jjokkomi left me.
The Mother Bear's pitiful cry searching for Jjokkomi quickly stopped.
If the two of them had not safely reunited, her roars would have echoed endlessly.
Therefore, the possibility of it being Jjokkomi converges to zero!
Absolutely! It is something that cannot happen even if the world collapses!
While I was feeling relieved.
A notification popped up saying the dish was complete.
[Flame Bear Seasoned Meat]
┗Consuming it all without leaving anything temporarily increases power by 3.
┗The effects of the same dish do not stack.
┗The taste cannot be guaranteed.