ARIFURETA: Cooking to be the Strongest?

In the deeper floors of the Orcus Labyrinth, a certain magic beast roamed, oblivious to the hidden danger.

"GRR?"

A four-tailed fox magic beast, its senses keen, stirred uneasily. It picked up something odd from the shadowy depths, a disturbance it couldn't quite pinpoint. Then, without a sound, its head suddenly toppled from its body.

A moment later, Shin emerged from the gloom, clutching his obsidian knife. He was clad in a dark cloak fashioned from the hide of a chameleon magic beast, a creature he'd encountered and hunted on what he'd designated as the 18th floor. After the swift hunt, Shin easily dragged the headless carcass into a temporary hideout he'd carved out using the obsidian knife itself.

Inside his temporary cave, illuminated by the ever-glowing Holy Crystal (still its original size, since it no longer produced ambrosia and now served solely as a light source), Shin effortlessly butchered the headless carcass with his obsidian knife.

Unlike his first attempts, he could now use the knife with relative ease. He'd grown accustomed to its stamina-draining properties, and his body had trained itself to manage his stamina well. His now strengthened physique was also a significant factor in his ability to use it for longer periods.

After this task, Shin unrolled a piece of parchment made from magic beast hide. It was clearly a map of the current floor he'd meticulously charted, with the number "28" carved into its upper corner.

"This should be the last magic beast I haven't yet eaten on this floor," Shin mused.

"Guess it's time to move on to the next one."

********

It had been almost two months since Shin first descended deeper into the Orcus Labyrinth, a relentless journey through the abyss. His goal remained singular: to find a way out, no matter how far down he had to go.

Since his initial plunge into the abyss, Shin had lost track of the true floor numbers. His method was simple: his starting point was "Floor One," and every descent meant counting backward. He knew he was currently far, far below that initial starting point.

For the past months, Shin had relentlessly hunted and consumed various magic beasts from the deeper floors. His body had undergone a profound transformation, growing steadily stonger and more resilient.

It was in the second week of his deep abyss exploration, around what he'd approximate as the 5th floor (counting down from his original entry point), that he first discovered the effects of monster meat in improving his strength. Realizing this, he had briefly returned to the "upper" floors of his charted territory.

From that point on, he began meticulously mapping to locate, hunt, and consume those monsters. It seemed eating meat of the same type reduced the effect, but to maximize his gains, Shin continuously hunted each type of magical beast until the floors became empty of that specific monster type, letting it go if the meat no longer strengthened his body. His descent became smoother afterwards, gaining strength at an accelerated pace.

Comparing his current strength to when he first arrived on Floor One, he could confidently say he was five to six times stronger, easily capable of bringing down the bear-like creature now. This was a significant growth for only a month or two of intense exploration. Though his meals remained monotonous, raw, and bland, he continued to consume the monster meat, knowing it improved his body's constitution.

The residual magic energy within the meat seemed to accumulate somewhere inside him, creating a strange, unidentifiable energy he couldn't yet access. He checked his status plate, but it remained stubbornly unchanged, seemingly unable to register his true, evolving strength. Since this energy didn't burden him or seem harmful, he simply let it be.

*********

"Let's see what we have here," Shin muttered the next day, preparing his gear to descend lower. Having mostly hunted and consumed the creatures on the current floor, he decided to move deeper.

"Tch, so dark," Shin mused as he entered the lower floor. He brought out a stick fashioned with the Holy Crystal as a makeshift light source.

The light revealed a dark, still pool of black liquid. Shin leaned closer, sniffing; it smelled distinctly like tar. Then, he felt something within it. His usual instincts couldn't pinpoint it, yet his gut screamed that something was there, swimming silently beneath the surface.

"A tricky one, and one that can fool my instincts, huh~" Shin mused, intrigued by a monster that could hide its presence even from his sharpened senses, yet still triggered his primal intuition.

Shin decided to establish another temporary base on this new floor, near the path between the levels. As always, he carved an entrance into the wall, creating a makeshift cave. He then moved all his excess supplies from the previous floor into this new hideout.

For the rest of the day, he began crafting something out of the bones and tendons of the monsters he'd hunted. After a few hours, Shin emerged with his new tools: a large fishing rod made of bones and monster tendons, and four bone harpoon spears with ropes fashioned from more tendons.

"Well, it's time to fish this thing out," Shin mused, carrying the tools he'd made towards the black pool.

********

Shin sat at the edge of the tar pool, fishing rod in hand, patiently waiting for a bite. The monster in the black liquid seemed uninterested in the bait he'd initially offered.

Changing his strategy, Shin hunted smaller monsters from an upper floor and fashioned one into live bait. This time, he didn't have to wait long. A powerful tug came, threatening to rip the fishing rod from his grasp.

"Got you!"

A fierce contest of strength ensued as Shin held firm, slowly but surely dragging the monster out of its murky domain.

"One, two!"

With a final heave, Shin pulled the beast from the pool. What emerged was a large, armored shark-like creature. In its element, it was a terror; now, out of the water, it was literally a fish out of water, flopping helplessly on the cavern floor.

"Looks promising, maybe I'll have sashimi tonight," Shin mused, a flicker of genuine expectation in his eyes. He hoped this fish-like monster would provide a welcome change from his raw and monotonous meat consumption, offering something suitable for raw sashimi.

Though the shark-like monster was out of the pool, it still posed a threat. Shin played it safe, maintaining a distance as he began throwing the harpoon spears he'd crafted. He aimed for its eyes and its unarmored belly.

The monster struggled and writhed in pain with each hit. When he ran out of spears to throw, he simply pulled them back using the ropes attached to them. The removal of the spears made the monster bleed profusely from the stab wounds.

The monster tried to struggle and flip back into its domain, but Shin had already tied the ropes of two harpoon spears to two sturdy pillars, preventing its escape.

Then, after a long, continuous process of spearing and bleeding the monster to death, this resilient creature finally yielded.

Sensing its weakened state, Shin decided to finish it with the obsidian knife. With a last check, he safely pulled the remaining spear from its other eye. Seeing no further reaction, Shin finally approached and butchered the now-dead monster.

*****

Shin was now back in his temporary base, and before him lay a platter of sashimi meticulously prepared from the recently hunted shark-like monster. With chopsticks fashioned from its own bones, he began partaking in this long-awaited meal.

"Ooh~ finally something other than bland meat~" Shin mused, a genuine sound of pleasure escaping him. Though the meat was mostly bland, this particular cut contained a hint of sweetness and a slight umami.

Without any hesitation, Shin devoured the meal, and when it wasn't enough, he prepared another. After what felt like an eternity, he finally tasted something other than the raw and monotonous fare he'd grown accustomed to.

With this rediscovery of flavor, Shin's passion for cooking rekindled. However, the lack of fire, coupled with the magic monster materials' unusual resistance to ignition, had always made cooking impossible, causing him to give up on the idea previously. But this time, his newfound passion made him cling to the possibility of making fire once more.

Having eaten and cleaned his temporary base, he settled down to rest, his mind already planning how to tackle the challenge of making fire tomorrow.