"Why don’t you two take a seat first?" Kisha offered as she placed the spare ribs stew on the table. She then scooped two bowls of rice, ladled some of the rich soup into another bowl, and topped each rice serving with a freshly fried spiritual egg.
"Eat first, we can talk after," she said warmly.
Kisha had already stored the rest of the dishes in her inventory to keep them warm while she checked their status windows. So far, the additional effects were impressive, one dish boosted critical damage and offensive stats, another improved defense and block rate, and one even increased penetration through enemy defenses.
These were just the bonus effects, too. The main benefit of the meals was the substantial increase in spiritual energy, which yielded excellent results overall. Kisha was thoroughly satisfied.
She had also sent Tristan to the workshop, instructing the artisans to build several essential tools: an industrial oil press, a grinder, ceramic jars for fermentation, wooden barrels, and other processing machines.
While she couldn’t use the industrial ones for spiritual crops just yet, she planned to have Marcus use them for regular produce. As for the spiritual crops, byproducts, and animals, Kisha would handle them herself. The ceramic jars, wooden barrels, and other manual tools would be her main instruments for now.
While Kisha was deep in thought, planning how to create more of these heavenly spiritual dishes, Vulture and Sparrow were already devouring the food placed in front of them.
The aroma alone had stirred something primal in them, and the moment the first bite touched their tongues, they nearly moaned in delight and almost swallowing their own tongues, it was that good.
The meat melted in their mouths, rich yet not greasy, while the vegetables provided a subtly sweet balance that kept the flavors from becoming overwhelming.
Vulture, with his famously voracious appetite, quickly cleared his bowl. His eyes then drifted toward Sparrow, who was eating more slowly, savoring every bite. Sparrow balanced each spoonful of stew with the spiritual rice, clearly saving the best pieces of meat for last.
Unable to resist, Vulture sneakily speared a chunk of meat from Sparrow’s bowl when he wasn’t looking and popped it into his mouth with satisfaction.
He was just about to go in for another bite when he froze—Sparrow was staring straight at him, eyes narrowed in a cold glare.
Vulture gave an awkward smile, but still shamelessly popped the stolen piece of meat into his mouth before darting to the side, fully expecting Sparrow’s retaliation. And he wasn’t wrong.
The moment Sparrow saw him chew with such gall despite the warning glare, he immediately lunged forward to teach him a lesson. But Vulture was quicker, he slipped behind Kisha and grinned smugly, using her as a human shield.
Sparrow’s brow twitched in frustration, but he held himself back. Instead of wasting energy chasing Vulture, he focused on finishing his meal quickly, knowing that if he lingered, Vulture might sneak another bite. Given Vulture’s larger frame and bottomless appetite, Sparrow knew he had to stay vigilant.
With his eyes locked on his bowl, Sparrow picked up his pace. Once he was done, he leaned back with a satisfied sigh and let out a quiet burp, ready now to move on to the serious matters they needed to discuss with their Young Madam.
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