MTLNOVEL Chapter 84: Expanding knowledge
The man with the horn and the heavy voice didn't move after Drahon's request.
For a moment, there was only the faint hum of magic in the air. Then, without so much as a gesture, a rectangular slip of light appeared in front of him.
It hovered in the air, its edges sharp and solid, yet it looked as though it had been cut from sunlight. The surface shifted once, and words began forming across it in flowing gold script.
The Menu!
Drahon's eyes scanned the list. The meals themselves seemed normal enough, things he might have seen in any ordinary restaurant, but the details beneath each name told a different story.
Instead of prices in coins or money, there was only one kind of cost:
[Essence Required].
That made Drahon wonder, so the use of essence in this world wasn't only limited to Upgrading weapons or for enhancing skills, it was also used for more things.
Perhaps the complexity of essence wasn't so little as he had first thought. Essence, in this world was very much essential and he had just saw a reason.
The menu listed many foods but the first one he noticed was:
> Flame-Grilled Venison with Ember Spice — [25 Essence]
Beneath it:
> Hearth-Baked Bread Loaf, served with Sunfruit Jam — [8 Essence]
Well, this sounded really tasty and just from the name and then description, he was feeling hungry already.
Another caught his eye immediately:
> Ocean-Scale Salmon, smoked over volcanic stone — [31 Essence]
Ocean scale salmon smoked over volcanic stone?
This was wild!
Perhaps it would be wildly delicious?
Every item was like that. Familiar names paired with descriptions that made them sound both exotic and unreal. Even the drinks—
> Crystaldew Water — [3 Essence]
Skyfire Tea — [5 Essence]
Emberbrew — [7 Essence]
The menu wasn't overly long as he had expected a large info dump of food menu. But each dish radiated a subtle pull, as though the words themselves could spark hunger.
Or maybe it was just an illusion. They were so hungry anything was possible at this point.
A walking hamburger would be possible at this point, considering how wild the Dragon world was. And in their current state, anything was possible.
A faint chime sounded in his head, and the system displayed:
[Draconic Essence: 575]
Of course only him could see it and as he stared at it he couldn't help but wonder, spending his essence for some weird reason didn't feel so good.
But Essence were meant to be used so he couldn't quite get where this feeling was coming from. Or maybe it was just something that came with the human system?, being reluctant to lose something.
It was the first time he had actually seen his essence put to direct use. The number now seemed far smaller than before, as if simply knowing he could spend it made the value shift in his mind.
He began selecting his order.
A full meal, something filling, enough to push back the fatigue still clinging to him after the dungeon. He picked the Ocean-Scale Salmon, the Flame-Grilled Venison, and a Hearth-Baked Bread Loaf.
To be honest, Drahon hadn't eat most of the dishes he was selecting prior entering into the Dragon game, and the anticipation to wanting to eat them was sort of fulfilling, like some achievement.
Some weird achievement he just couldn't pinpoint the reason for. Or perhaps it was because one of his main reasons for coming to this world in the first place was to fulfill his dream.
For drink, he had Skyfire Tea. Something that sounded so sophisticated it was surprising.
The total blinked at him in the top right corner of the golden menu:
[Total: 102 Essence]
The deduction felt immediate.
[Draconic Essence: 473]
The loss wasn't painful, but there was weight in it. Essence wasn't something freely given. It was something to hard to kill lots of monsters for and the one of the worst parts was after killing a lot of monsters and hoping to get essence, you discover you are incompatible to them.
That was exactly what had happened with the Draconic rats and then the Venomous Boss monster.
Every number or the Essence represented something faced, something earned, something that took actual 'effort'
Beside him, Ayvira and Devon were reading the menu as well. Neither spoke at first, each lost in their own decisions. Ayvira's eyes moved quickly, scanning everything as though she was memorizing the names. She tapped her selections: Ash-Seared Fowl with Frostleaf Glaze, Moonpetal Salad, and Crystaldew Water. Devon kept his order simple—Stone-Oven Flatbread and a Veggie
but added a second drink for reasons he didn't explain, one that sort of intrigued.
To be frank, this was actually the first time in his life he was seeing someone who was vegetarian. But maybe that was because the orphanage was filled with lots of jerks.
From what he understood, a vegetarian was someone who simply refused to eat meat— no beef, no chicken, no fish, nothing that had once walked, flown, or swam. But that didn't mean they starved themselves. They still ate rice, beans, fruits, vegetables, and all kinds of plant-based meals.
Eggs and dairy? That, he wasn't too sure about, it probably depended on the kind of vegetarian. But at its core, the idea was simple: no meat, just food that came from the earth.
What intrigued him was why Devon was a vegetarian. Since he came from a home that constantly fought, his parents being Drinkers and smokers, he wasn't so certain they were also vegetarians.
Perhaps the thing was with Devon. Perhaps it was his decision. To be a vegetarian.
Drahon decided he would have to find out himself later one. Perhaps ask, but do so in a way that his real intentions wouldn't be so visibly sold.
Might have to take a bit of being mischievous to achieve, he wasn't so sure though.
As each of them finalized their choices, the menu faded, dissolving into faint sparks that scattered in the air before vanishing. The counter before them remained empty for only a few breaths.
Then tables emerged from the smooth floor without sound.
Something shifted and reshaped, rising upward, forming into solid surfaces edged with the same faint silver veins as the