Chef Clay

Clay walked out of his room only for his nose to get assaulted by the mouth-watering smell of the best home-cooked food his mother could ever make.

Curious as to what meal his mother was cooking this time, Clay went to the dinner table. Seeing that Belle was there as if she had also smelled the delicious fragrance wafting in the air.

"You're here too huh? Normally you would still be in your room even if Mom finished cooking" Clay smirked at his sister.

"W-well, the food smells much better than before" Belle looked down as she fidgeted with her fingers.

"Did you know that the smell that you are smelling was made from the ingredients that Mom bought with my money?" Clay said as his nose was pointing towards the sky in a proud manner, almost extending like a certain wooden puppet in a certain fairy tale.

"Hmph" Belle turned to look away from her brother's shameless display of wealth.

"Don't worry, I'm going to give you an allowance soon enough, hehe" Clay ignored that his sister was clearly trying to act like she wasn't listening.

Her ears twitched upon hearing this which didn't go unnoticed by Clay who had keener senses than most average people as he had raised his stats.

Grinning ear to ear, Clay went to the table and took a seat on his favorite chair, the one he had been using ever since he could remember.

The two didn't have to wait long in silence before the food came in.

"Dinners rea-" Mrs. Mapa almost said in a habit but didn't complete her sentence as she had noticed that both her kids were already at the table.

The family enjoyed a filling dinner that day before Clay finally hit the hay.

..

.

Yawn.

Rubbing his eyes as he slowly sprang into consciousness, Clay wasn't that excited for the day anymore as he had nothing else to do except selling his maps, that is unless he completes his quest and gets a new one that would give him a very big reward.

Knowing that he would get some experience and stats when creating maps, Clay only got more motivated to finish his quest, but that motivation didn't last long as he remembered that in order to do so, he would have to sell more maps which are reaallllllllllllyyyyyyyyy boring.

Dragging his lazy body, Clay washed up and prepared for the tiring work that awaited him after he exited his home.

'I guess I can eat breakfast first, I'll buy some things and cook on my own' Clay wanted to try cooking before but couldn't ask his Mom to prepare ingredients that he might waste. But now that they had higher income, Clay thought that it would be okay to attempt cooking at least once.

Grabbing his map with him, Clay searched for the place that his Mom always went to whenever she bought groceries. Clicking the teleport button once he saw the right shop he then felt his consciousness disappear as the light reached his head.

Jutting awake after checking that his body was completely formed, Clay walked into the grocery store and started looking for the ingredients that he needed to cook his first-ever meal by himself.

Soon he found all the ingredients he needed, paying for them before directly teleporting out of the store with nearby bystanders watching in shock.

Appearing back in his home with a map and groceries in hand, Clay placed the ingredients on the stone kitchen table before he started the fire, adding some wood to make sure the fire kept burning.

The dish he was trying to make for his first time was a simple fried egg cooked in animal fat and some vegetables, Clay got a bottle of animal fat oil and dripped a drop of the oil inside the slightly large pan that he saw his mother always use, then he cracked the egg, Clay poured the contents of the egg inside the pan and then he began proceeding to wash and cut up the other ingredients that he had bought, turning over to the onion and garlic on the table, Clay peeled the skin of both before he grabbed a knife he had prepared beforehand and began cutting the onion into thin but not too thin slices, he also took three clovers of garlic before crushing them with the hilt of the knife and placing them on the pan.

A pleasant aroma wafted around the house as the garlic and onion were slowly cooked in the oil.

Clay wiped the tears in his eyes as he observed the process.

'I should've done the garlic first before doing the onions, now I have to deal with these tears' Clay bitterly thought as his eyes were stinging.

Thinking that the egg was almost done, Clay flipped it with a wooden spoon and stirred the other ingredients so that it wouldn't get too burnt.

One minute passed before the peak of the smell arrived, taking in a mouthful of the delicious smell, Clay grabbed a cloth beside the fireplace and grabbed the pan, placing it onto the table waiting for it to cool.

While Clay was waiting for the food to cool, he grabbed the lettuce that he had also bought and began washing it before peeling it, and placing the lettuce leaves on a prepared plate.

Seeing that his food looked cool enough, Clay took the wooden spoon and picked up the egg, crushed garlic, and onions and placed them on his plate with lettuce, he then got some salt and pepper from the side and sprinkled them generously on his plate, he got some fish sauce that he had prepared and poured a gentle amount over the egg. Finishing it with chopped parsley that he had dreamed of tasting but couldn't because his family couldn't afford it.

He inspected his first-ever dish that he had cooked with his own two hands, it looked very nice, it had lettuce leaves on the side with garlic and onions surrounding the egg in the middle, the egg had various seasonings which made it look very colorful, feeling proud that he had made such an appetizing dish, Clay brought the plate to the living room table.

Rubbing his hands together before picking up the eating utensils, Clay prepared to dig in, swallowing a mouthful of saliva and smacking his lips, he made a cut to the egg, placing the cut part of the egg on a lettuce leaf alongside some onion and garlic. Bringing up the food to his mouth before taking it all in.

Clay's eyes widened.

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