Living Life As A Game: Through And Through

However, as the people slowly let the shock of Elizabeth"s Time Affinity fade away and they concentrated on the effects of the Quicken Enchantment, a clear fear overcame the judges as they understood the horrifying potential the small cyan tinted paper carried. Notwithstanding the potential the Enchantment possessed for disrupting special formations and enchantments that focused on defense via attrition, the offensive prowess of fast-forwarding time was not to be overlooked.

Perhaps now that Elizabeth was a mere Warrior Stage combatant, her Quicken Enchantment may not be of much threat to them as their cultivation bases would probably ignore most of the Enchantment"s effects, but to similarly strong opponents, it was exceptionally dangerous to have one"s body experience time a faster rate. Small wounds like cuts or scratches could pose life-threatening consequences as fighting potential would decrease with blood loss and fatigue, not to mention the possibility of self-destruction from not being able to properly control one"s Qi flow…

Somehow, the least a.s.suming Enchantment Elizabeth had created garnered the greatest reaction from both the judges and the crowd as they slowly figured things out; albeit at a slower pace. In any case, with the mystery of the fabled third enchantment resolved, the interviewer excused himself and let the announcer proceed with announcing the rewards.

Taking first place, Elizabeth received the t.i.tle of "Demon Enchantress" bringing her t.i.tle count to three. She also received the right to learn any Enchanting technique within the entirety of the Martial Society; with the usual restrictions of course. As well as a Spirit Grade Inscriptions Pen, a veritable bucket"s worth of talisman papers, and the right to pick six of the highest quality materials suitable for Enchanting. Naturally, she also received all the other Enchantments she had created through the progression of the Event as well.

As if it were all a routine, Elizabeth walked into the resources department of the arena and picked up her rewards before returning to the waiting area as the next Event would take place within the same arena. This time, as she had arrived much earlier than usual, being among the first five to arrive, Elizabeth spent a good twenty or so minutes meditating as she waited for the arena to be prepped by the attendants and for the compet.i.tors of the Enchanting Event to pick up their rewards.

After excavating another 6% of her Warrior Stage"s Hidden Cultivation via Chaos Requiem, Elizabeth heard the sound of the announcer calling for the compet.i.tors of the Cooking Event to make their way to the Tournament Arena. Returning to her block as if it were a second home, Elizabeth tested out the various cooking tools at her table whilst listening to the announcer say, "Welcome to the fifth Event of the day, the Cooking Event. To those attending their first Wushi Tournament, it may come as a surprise, but the Cooking Event is the only Event with less than three Stages. As you can see, very few pract.i.tioners take on the occupation of Spiritual Cooking, with other, much more "fruitful," occupations available..."

Biting his tongue before the less subtle comments of how pract.i.tioners of the Cooking path were inferior to those that practiced other secondary occupations because, "Who would practice something as meaningless as Cooking when Alchemy and Medicine were much more advanced versions of the same occupation?" Any comment of the like would be void at the sight of that demonic ent.i.ty sitting quietly at the south of the arena. Who would practice Cooking when there were other viable occupations? Certainly not the current champion of three other Events; one such event being the more superior Medicine occupation…

Thus, the announcer said, "In any case, the first Stage of the Cooking Event, the Mirroring Stage, will see the compet.i.tors following the instructions of a Head Chef. The judging criteria being everything from the speed and precision of the compet.i.tors to how well they manage energy integration. Now then, I"ll be waiving the connection of the PA system to the Master Chef Kim."

A moment later, another voice sounded across the entire arena as Master Chef Kim said, "Alrighty then~ Let"s begin now! Compet.i.tors are to raise their stoves to 235 degrees centigrade! As you let your pans catch up to the heat, move on to the vegetables! Dice the onions, mince the garlic, julienne the carrots..." Shooting orders like a machine gun, various compet.i.tors were going crossed eyed and confused as Master Chef Kim"s instructions were moving along at a pace too quick to complete. After all, they weren"t simply cooking, they were cooking with Qi! Every step was a delicate process and every ingredient needed a precise amount of Qi — or Magic… — infused. Too much Qi and the ingredient would become mushy trash, while too little would result in food that may as well not even be charged with spiritual energy.

For every five compet.i.tors that were lost, two would just barely stick with the strict cooking routine, and one would not be pressured. Of course, Elizabeth — the legendary Demon of Over-Exaggeration — not only breezed through the instructions to the point where she felt it was light work. She also tweaked the recipe to be a bit more advanced by preparing and adding her own mix of condiments and herbs…

By the time the entire recipe saw completion, the "Master Chef"s" Beef Stew looked and smelled as if a compet.i.tor had made it when compared to Elizabeth"s. Her food was just so powerful it attracted people all the way out into the spectator"s area. Now, because there really were far fewer compet.i.tors competing in the Cooking Event, 165 to be precise, Master Chef Kim only needed to walk through each compet.i.tor"s block and take a quick sample to act as the judge. It truly was a shame on the pract.i.tioners who chose to be Spiritual Cooks, as their event was not only less interesting with there usually being an attendance rate half that of other Events, but there wasn"t so much as an extra Spirit Realm elder willing and able to act as a judge…

The only upset this time around came from Elizabeth"s anomalous presence and the fact that she had earlier disclosed the fact that she would be partic.i.p.ating in this year"s Cooking Event. The result, lead to thousands of people attending which otherwise would have skipped on watching the Event. Now, those that stuck around had mixed feelings. On one hand, their senses were going berserk at the scent and spiritual attraction Elizabeth"s cooking was endowed with, yet at the same time, they knew it was a pipe dream to wish for a taste…

Many wondered, "How could spiritual food be so enticing?! It"s so far away, yet the appeal of such heavenly food instills a desire so strong… It may as well eclipse the satisfaction of pill effects..."

Their thoughts were only confirmed after they watched Master Chef Kim shamelessly "sample" Elizabeth"s food after feeling its tonic-like properties and exquisite taste. Elizabeth, of course, didn"t mind as she was thinking things that would only deepen the depression others felt when comparing themselves to herself. Concerned even, Elizabeth said, "I hope my score won"t take too much of a hit for adding extra ingredients..."

"N-not at all… In fact, your dish supersedes even mine..." Ending with his sinfully greedy and gluttonous actions, Master Chef Kim used a sizeable portion of his willpower to drop his tasting spoon and judge the last remaining compet.i.tors. Hearing it from the man himself, Elizabeth returned to more meditation as she waited for the results to be announced.

To no one"s surprise, she took first place after outcla.s.sing the Master Chef in his own area of expertise. Reporting the miraculous effects consuming her food would grant, a small minority of people started reconsidering if Spiritual Cooking was a worthless a profession as it seemed, but it ended with just that; a mere reconsideration. To truly change the minds of the ma.s.ses, it would take something like the final Stage for Elizabeth to highlight the absurdity of the Cooking Occupation.

Listening to the announcer explains that the Final Stage for the Cooking Stage was another Freestyle Stage where the compet.i.tors would get free reign to create whatever dish they could come up with in thirty minutes, a smile of antic.i.p.ation which brought utter ruin to the other compet.i.tors descended on Elizabeth"s face.

After the announcer finished speaking and gave the compet.i.tors a minute to pick out their ingredients, Elizabeth picked several ingredients to create a savory and sweet Jambalaya. It took another minute for her requested ingredients to be delivered and after a couple seconds pa.s.sed, the announcer shouted, "Begin!"

Ever-graceful and quick to the extreme, Elizabeth prepped her ingredients as if she were painting. She chopped vegetables, peeled and deveined shrimp, cooked rice and roasted a variety of fruits. Working on two to three stations at a time, everyone watching her was bewildered by the level of control she must have over her Qi to not sabotage the cooking.

Eventually, the whole thing started to take shape as she threw a mix of herbs into the main pot which held her various roasting fruits. Slowly incorporating the other prepped ingredients, a smell that could only be described as "divine" perforated across the arena. Through some sort of cooking magic, the scent of the developing Jambalaya didn"t pungently overpower the other compet.i.tor"s dishes, but at the same time, its aromatic prowess remained attractive as it spread to the corners of the tournament arena.

In twenty minutes flat, the otherwise complex dish was finished for the most part. Alas, Elizabeth wouldn"t consider it to be complete without blessing the already heavenly dish with the energy of a monster core. Having cooked her food with a mix of Neutral and Fire Magic to elevate the savory and spicy components of her dish, Elizabeth picked a Fire-type monster core coming from a King Stage beast to consummate her dish.

Imparting the property of heightened regeneration and a superior boost to Strength and Defense, this dish was the greatest piece of Spiritual Cooking Elizabeth had thus far created. She was so into cooking that it didn"t even register how close she was to failing to meet the deadline until she gave a satisfactory smile and left the hyper-focused stated she took on when seriously working on a task.

A mere minute after she finished, the time limit of thirty minutes expired, prompting all the compet.i.tors still cooking to stop, as Master Chef Kim eagerly began to sampled the compet.i.tor"s creations to a.s.sess their final standing in the Cooking Event.