"It's delicious, it's not spicy! It's delicious, it's not spicy! It's delicious, it's not spicy!" ~Grace, Ren, and Tayin

[Ground Beef with Chuchili Tomato Sauce Recipe — Good for 6]

1/2 kg of ground beef 1 large onion, chopped 1 head of garlic 400 ml of tomato sauce 5-6 fresh tomatoes, diced 300-500 grams of kidney beans, depending on preference Chuchili, powdered Salt and Pepper, to taste

Add-ons (optional): Cheese Sour Cream Rice Tortilla Chips

"Rice or chips?" Shallies asked the party as she sautéed the ground beef, onions, and garlic. Rather than use ponions, she opted for the Food Buff to be solely from the chuchili, this time around.

"Rice," said all three of them at the same time.

"Got it," Shallies said, preparing the rice at the same time.

After the beef and onions were browned enough, Shallies added the beans, the tomato sauce, and the fresh diced tomatoes. She followed up with a half-cup of water, just to help the mixture boil and combine together.

With the help of Cooking Mastery, she only needed to let the pot cook for less than ten minutes at this stage. In the meantime, she started grinding up some chuchili. They were already extremely dry, having quickly lost all of their moisture the moment they were picked from the field.

"Shallies," Grace started.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think it's smarter to invest our levels in our second Classes first? Or the original one?"

She spared the party a glance. They were all looking at her.

"It should really depend on what you want," Shallies started. "For you, Ren and Tayin, you have more freedom, but you, Grace, I would like that you ascend your Spell Sword Class first. You should have eight levels to go, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'd say, really go for what you feel is right. Eventually, you'll have both Classes in Hero-tier anyway. Not by the end of this dungeon, but definitely sooner than most people do after gaining them."

"I'll add mine to Chronospark, then," Tayin said first. "I have a Skill from there that I want to get."

"Same," Ren said. "I'll add both of mine into Shield Knight."

"You can actually get Nurture Stellar Mana now!" cheered the halfling. "I'm jelly."

"Fortunately, yeah."

Grace nodded. "I'll invest all of mine into Spell Sword, then. I'll get it to fifty and ascend it, before I start leveling up my Mana Weaver."

"Great," Shallie said. "Allocate your Skill and Attribute Points while you're at it. I should be done here soon."

Since the lowest spice level requested was at sixty percent from Tayin, Shallies made that as the baseline for the chuchili content in the pot. After a few more minutes of simmering, just in time for the rice to cook, the Ground Beef with Chuchili Tomato Sauce was ready to be served.

"You get one extra dash of chuchili powder, Ren," Shallie said as she added the powder on top of the Shield Knight's plate. Then she turned to Grace and gave hers four times that extra spice. "And for you, Grace, a hundred percent.

"Give them a good mix, so you spread the spice evenly. You don't want to eat an entire spoonful of that bad boy in a single bite. Remember, if you don't finish the meal, you don't get the Food Buff.

"Oh, and here's some milk to help you out. I recommend drinking it at the end, not before or while the spice is burning in your mouth."

Shallies enjoyed the nervous stares her students returned to her. And, as if to help ease their nerves, she gave herself the same dish at the same spice level as Grace's. Without waiting for anyone, she took a bite.

The burst of flaming hot spice mixed in with the savory and juicy harmony of beef and tomato, along with the balancing traits of rice and beans, made Shallies feel a little too proud of herself. She took spoonful after spoonful of the meal, letting the hot chuchili satisfy her cravings while it made her lips numb.

She didn't care. It was just as delicious as it was challenging to eat.

While she was getting seconds, Shallies realized she had gotten a bit too immersed in the flavors. Turning to her side, her three students were looking at her dumbfounded, with their own bowls still untouched.

"Go eat," she said simply.

Grace realized she had been swallowing her own spit in huge nervous gulps for more time than she could remember now. Certainly there was a limit to how much spice Shallies could've added on her Ground Beef Chuchili. But the amount of sweat the half-orc saw dripping from the Godkiller's face was enough to tell of the diabolic spice content that had been given to her.

Gulp…

"Go eat," Shallies said with a huge grin on her face. She was enjoying her food just as much as she was enjoying their nervousness.

Grace turned to Ren, who was the first to make a sudden sound by unintentionally clinking his spoon on the bowl. Tayin turned to him, too.

He gulped. They gulped. Shallies and Valor'el ignored them.

With a desperate breath, Ren took a spoonful of the chili and rice, shook his head, hesitated, and then took another breath. "Here goes nothing…"

Grace gulped another time as Ren mouthed the entire bite at once.

His eyes widened. Grace, and she noticed Tayin as well, held their breaths. His consistent and curious chewing indicated nothing actually diabolical was happening.

In his amount of spice level, at least…

"Is it good?" Tayin asked. "Are you okay?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Mhm!" Ren said, nodding lively as he took spoonful after spoonful.

"Don't choke on it," Shallies said. "Choking on something that spicy won't just be uncomfortable. It'll burn you throughout your throat and nose."

Ren stopped abruptly, and Grace and Tayin feared for the worst. But then, he slowly took his food down. His breathing was like waiting for a cowblink to return to reality.

"It's so spicy!" he said, taking a napkin to wipe his lips. "But it's so good!"

Grace observed Tayin gradually relax and turn to her own Ground Beef Chili. She did the same. The halfling noticed and looked at her. Again, she did the same.

"Same time?" Tayin asked.

Grace, once again, took a gulp. "Sure."

With the thought of someone else being about to endure the same type of pain, though at a much lower intensity, the half-orc finally found the courage to move her spoon. Just like Shallies recommended, she mixed the Ground Beef Chili with the rice.

The red made it look so intimidating. Accompanied by its strong, yet desirable fragrance, Grace, at the very least, had no doubt of the reality of its spice. No hidden surprises, or sudden bursts of flames in her mouth. She knew it was coming right from the get-go.

Grace and Tayin nodded at each other, lifting their spoons closer to their faces. And with a unified breath, the two took the entire bite.

Flavorful was an understatement. It was a roaring harmony of savory destruction. It took all of Grace's willpower, brought to new levels of discipline, in order not to cry.

It was like tasting beef while it was still on the fire. It was like eating fire while it was working on the beef. Explanation brought no logic in her current state of mind.

But one thing was for sure, Grace had not even the slightest urge to spit it out.

As punishing as it was to let her mouth be immersed in its fiery flavors, those themselves encouraged her to keep eating. Tears welled up from her eyes, both from the overwhelming flavors and the pain it caused. Still, she moved her spoon and took another bite.

"Mmmphh!!!"

Grace turned to see Tayin crying fully. She saw Ren starting to tear up. Then she saw Shallies taking a third bowl, laughing.

"You can do it, guys!" she cheered. "I believe in you!"

Whether the encouragement was effective or not, the half-orc pushed herself. Each spoonful was a tug-of-war between tearful endurance and blissful flavor. Grace kept telling herself that it was for the Food Buff, that there was a purpose to this challenge.

Her eyes lingered to the side, towards the glasses of cold milk and the jar beside them. Her hands trembled, almost dropping the spoon. Her lapse in judgement, her hesitation, her desperation, they almost made her reach for one of them.

Like she was desperately fighting a possession, Grace used her free hand to calm the other. She chewed desperately, still confused whether she should be enjoying the flavors or crying in pain.

She kept eating.

Her sight blurred. She could only hear the desperate cries from Tayin and the subdued complaints from Ren. Even Shallies' cheers were tuned out.

Grace kept on eating.

She could hear the end of the bowl now, chiming at the impact of her desperate spoon. She could see a bit of porcelain in the sea of red.

Just a little more!

Bite after bite, Grace refused to relent. Her face was sticky with sweat. Her lips were numb. Her jaw was tired. And her throat was on fire.

[Nice fight out there, Grace! You now have a +100% Experience Gain Food Buff! Congratulations!]

After Stachie's audible cue, the next thing Grace heard was the singular applause coming from Shallies herself.

"Good job, Grace."

[Congratulations, Grace! You got some Good Job Experience Points!]

The half-orc, satisfied, didn't even care as she closed her eyes and let herself exhale. The numbing and fiery sensation, the aftermath of satisfaction, Grace took a second and immersed herself in the feeling of having finished such a crazy meal.

Slowly, she took her glass of milk, her deserved reward. The chill running through her fingers promised relief.

Carefully, she drank. The smooth texture caressed her pain, cooling it down with refreshing sweetness. Shallies had infused it with honey to help out with the task of relieving the numbness.

Whimsically, she smiled. The final drop touched her tongue, sending a final line down her throat. She could feel it work, and then just as quickly, she could feel it fade.

"It still hurts," Grace said.

"Well, you can't expect me to bring you some magical milk to solve the spice now, right?" Shallies smiled, offering Grace a refill, which the half-orc gladly took. "Now, you two. Are you going to finish it or what?"

The prompt took Grace's attention. She turned to find Ren's plate bowl still a quarter full. Tayin's was half.

"I'm weak to spice!" the halfling complained as she downed another spoonful of Ground Beef Chili. She squealed in pain, complaining through a full mouth. "'Ow dud ya du ih', Gresh!"

"Don't think about it!" Grace replied, understanding the halfling's desperation. "Just keep eating!"

Ren was first to follow the encouragement, lifting the bowl close to his mouth and shoving spoon after spoon of the dish. In seconds, it was gone from the bowl.

His face lit bright red as he kept chewing. Gulp after gulp, he quickly pushed the food down, until Stachie's prompt appeared in front of him.

[Nice one, Ren! Awesome! You've gained a +70% Experience Gain! Congrats!]

Crying, Tayin pushed herself to the brink, mimicking Ren as much as she could. For a second, it looked like she would choke, but she kept on chewing.

She looks like a squirrel! Grace panicked internally. She knew that laughing abruptly at this moment would destroy every desperate effort that the halfling had committed to this fight.

Yes, fight.

As far as Grace was concerned, this was like dealing with a Dungeon Boss.

Tayin swallowed for the last time, and Stachie gave her confirmation.

[Yes, you did it, Tayin! Congratulations! +60% Experience Gain! You know, for someone who took the weakest spice, it sure took the heck out of you.]

"I can't deal with spice!" Tayin screamed, desperately grabbing for her glass of milk. Her eyes pleaded towards Shallies. "Please find something else that'll give me the same buff, please!"

"Well…" Shallies scratched her head. "I'm sure I have a recipe that can mitigate the spice."

"Why didn't you give us that one!" All her students screamed.

Shallies giggled. "Nothing suffered, nothing gained, right?"

Grace couldn't help herself. A Godkiller she might be, but the half-orc felt so betrayed that she shot up on two feet and shook Shallies by the shoulders. Tayin joined in on the complaint. Ren, bless him, had the tenacity to keep his cool.

"Stoooooop…!" Shallies complained, her voice vibrating from the excessive shaking. "I'll use the other recipe next time, I promise!"

Grace still felt a tingle on her lips by the time they had returned to the route they left last time. Shallies didn't even bring them back with her Sight Step. The half-orc guessed the refusal was to get back at them for shaking her excessively. The Godkiller hadn't said a word about it, but she hadn't hidden her frustrations either.

Petty as it was, it was relatively harmless. Plus, it gave Grace and her party enough time to properly digest their food. She wasn't optimistic about the latter part of that process, however.

That's for the future me to deal with.

Right now, they had monster packs to clear up.

The enemies, with the party's renewed morale and vigor, were a tiny bit more than pushovers. With everyone's well-practiced surprise attacks, and with perfect routes to provide them the easiest vantage points, it only took them a single afternoon to clear the entire half of the island of these monster packs.

[Congratulations, Grace! You've earned seven Levels! Ren and Tayin, you also got two Levels each!]

"I still can't believe it," Tayin said, despite nodding towards Stachie's notification. "I mean, I shouldn't really be surprised, right? But I still can't believe we're leveling this fast."

"Yeah," Ren agreed. "Just going straight into combat right after combat really gets you all those Experience Points."

"We didn't even need to use any of our mana potions," Grace added. "But I bet past the Delve Gate is where it's at."

"Should we head there now, or take a break first?" the halfling asked. "Do you want to ascend first, Grace?"

Unlike earning a second Class, there was nothing special needed towards ascension. Grace simply needed to acquire another level to invest into her Advanced Class in order to start it at Level 1. The problem, however, was her usual problem.

"I'm not sure which Advanced Class I want to take," she admitted. "But I don't want us wasting so much time on my indecision. Why don't we clear the Delve Gate condition first, then I can decide overnight?"

The two nodded.

"Seems fair," Ren said. "We don't want to rush you into picking something you might regret."

"Thanks."

"Alright, we'll head for the Delve Gate."

It didn't take them long to reach the place, which was another testament to Shallies' planning. After passing through an almost hidden crevasse between two massive cliffs, they were suddenly in front of the Delve Gate.

At this point, the party simply smiled, showing how impressed they were.

"Of course," Ren said.

"Yep," Tayin added.

"Because why the heck not," Grace finished.

Now that they were closer, the group immediately found what would be their condition to pass through the Delve Gate. Three massive creatures were lying in wait. One was asleep, while two were seemingly arguing with each other through weird grunts and gestures.

Mini-Bosses.

Three Mini-Bosses.

Three, different, and large Mini-Bosses.

Like a unified chorus, the three that were Grace's party sighed.

"Of course," Ren began, shaking his head.

"Yep," Tayin added, laughing halfheartedly.

"Because why the heck not!" Grace almost screamed.

Chippy, who had been silent this entire time, chirped amused.

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