Heir Of The Supreme-Chapter 22: Haul Of The Day (3)

Delsie blinked a couple times as she looked at Blaine.

"Blaine... You know we can't afford to bring the carapaces with us, right? We don't have enough space in the van."

Blaine paused for a moment before emotionlessly nodding his head.

"Then what exactly do you need them for?"

However, instead of replying to this question, he simply dropped the contents of his hands onto the ground.

It was a severed leg, previously belonging to one of the dead rock crabs.

He seemed to leave the other body parts behind and only gathered the enlarged leg.

Without wasting another moment, he walked to the back of the van and opened the door.

Fishing through the various contents in the back, he grabbed his backpack and pulled it out.

Opening it, he took out his portable Magitech stove, a cooking pot, and two vials.

One contained a white powder labelled 'salt,' while the other, labelled 'spices,' contained a mix of various powders.

Holding all of these in his left arm, he used his right one to grab a blue cylindrical bottle that was next to one of the crates containing the MRE rations.

That singular bottle was the group's water source for the entire mission.

As such, it wasn't any old water bottle but instead a Magic Artifact.

Using the mana core of a Rank-1 Unknown, this seemingly ordinary water bottle could create water out of thin air using the wielder's mana.

Even though the mana core used to make it was pretty low-ranked, the bottle's value was anything but.

Given that their mission needed them to traverse an underground tunnel for several days before it started in earnest, this artifact was an absolute necessity.

After all, it wasn't like they could fit enough water for seven people without removing space for other crucial supplies.

Though... The artifact wasn't without flaws of its own.

It didn't produce normal drinking water, the one typically found in a pond or a lake.

Instead, it produced perfectly distilled H2O.

While it could alleviate the drinker's thirst, it wasn't recommended to consume it over long periods of time.

Unlike normal drinking water, the magically produced water lacked essential electrolytes that the body needed to survive.

Unless consumed with a source of those electrolytes, it could cause various health problems such as muscle weakness and fatigue.

In later stages, it could also result in serious problems such as seizures, cardiac arrest, or even falling into a coma.

Though, reaching that level wasn't really a concern for the group of humans.

Not only were humans with mana cores much stronger than normal humans, but they were also much more resilient.

Falling into a coma from an electrolyte deficiency was hard enough for the average person, but it was nigh impossible for them.

But just in case, they brought a container of electrolyte capsules in the van.

Blaine lifted the bottle's lid above the pot in his other arm before channelling his mana into the artifact.

A steady stream of water flowed into the pot, filling it to about ¾ of its volume.

Blaine then sealed the bottle and brought it out of the van with him.

As he made his way back to the group, they looked at the items in his hand with apparent disbelief.

"Sir Blaine... Where did you get those? Did you... Did you perhaps bring those with you in your personal bag?" Ginny couldn't help but ask in confusion.

Not having a reason to lie, Blaine nodded his head.

"Thats... Why?"

He beckoned to the large severed crab leg with his head.

"He's going to cook the crabs we just killed..." Lorie couldn't help but mutter.

Delsie raised an eyebrow as Blaine slowly put the stuff in his hands next to the large red limb.

"But why, though? Don't still have enough rations to last us the trip?"

Given the highly tight compacting of the ration crates, there was enough food in their minibus-like van for the entire group for a month.

As such, there was no need for the taciturn youth to waste his energy cooking meals.

However, it seemed that no one had given him the memo as Blaine placed the water-filled pot on the stove.

Taking his container full of salt, he generously poured the white powder into the pot of water.

He proceeded to do the same with the vial of spices as well.

Picking up the red-coloured crab leg, Blaine used the water bottle artifact to thoroughly rinse the dirt-covered appendage before unceremoniously chucking it into the pot.

As it fell in, the pot's water level rose to the brim, a testament to the leg's sheer size.

Placing his hand on the side of the stove, Blaine channelled his mana into it, lighting a fire under the pot.

At this point, the remaining group members couldn't help but watch the youth's actions with undisguised curiosity.

Even the usually aloof Lyn seemed interested in the auburn-haired youth's antics.

Being the only source of entertainment, it was a welcome development.

Given that they were outside the range of cellular service, the group was thoroughly cut off from the modern world.

In place of smartphones, Blaine's current actions were like watching a live cooking show.

...Although all the young man did was sit next to the stove and continuously feed it with mana.

Observing him, Cecelia couldn't help but remember Mavis's words from earlier.

('Since the two of you will be working together for the foreseeable future, you should use that chance to monopolize his cooking.')

Readjusting her comically large fake glasses, Cecelia couldn't help but inwardly scoff.

'As if I would beg for food from anyone... Much less him...'

Even though crabs were supposed to be boiled alive, catching a magical creature without killing it was often not worth the trouble.

Luckily, their durable flesh made them quite resistant to natural degradation.

Even though it had been a few hours since they were killed, they looked just as fresh as they had been when alive.

The onlookers felt their stomachs rumble as an appetizing smell permeated the air.

Although... The hungriest of them all was definitely the chef himself.

After several minutes of agonizingly waiting, Blaine cut off the mana flow to the portable stove.

The food was ready.

A pair of translucent green tongs materialized in his hands as the boiling water came to a standstill.

Plunging them into the water, Blaine fished out one of the steaming red legs.

Blowing on it a couple of times looked quite comedic, as the cooked arm was far too large to be cooled down by simply blowing. Blaine took the pommel of his sword and smashed the shell.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

Since he had sanitized his sword earlier along with the crab legs, Blaine didn't mind using it as a makeshift cracker.

Having the shell cracked by the blow, the soft flesh behind it was revealed in all its glory.

From then, he pulled it to his mouth and took a satisfying bite.

It was perfect!

Although Blaine regretted not having any butter sauce to accompany it, it was countless times better than the MRE rations.

...And it wasn't long before his hungry companions approached him.