Green Monster Epic

“After this adventure, I plan to separate from everyone for a while. Without me around, you all need to be careful!!”

In the wilderness under the night sky, a few hidden dangers lurked beneath the tranquility. Around a blazing bonfire, several adventurers of different races were chatting warmly.

A half-orc with a scar on his face, looking very hearty, suddenly spoke up while everyone was relaxing, immediately drawing sidelong glances from his companions.

“What's up? Rysto, are you planning to return to your tribe to find a mate and have a little half-orc to play with??”

A petite kobold female nearby asked teasingly.

“Bullshit!!”

The half-orc named Rysto laughed and cursed before explaining to everyone: “This time, I plan to take a trip to the Gourmet City in the north to see if there's a chance to break through my current bottleneck.”

“Are you saying you want to try the magical dishes that have been rumored about lately?”

Another person chimed in, a tall, thin troll male, asking with interest.

“Yeah, I've been stuck at the level 12 threshold for over two years. If I don't think of a way to break through, I'm afraid I'll really be stuck here for the rest of my life.”

Rysto stretched out his right hand and clenched his fist, causing his muscles to bulge, instantly expanding his tight leather armor.

“Does that magical cuisine really work? Could it be a scam?”

The kobold female said with a skeptical tone.

“Hey!! Don't talk nonsense!!”

A goblin who had been quiet all along suddenly became unhappy upon hearing his kobold companion's doubts, quickly interrupting her: “I have a rogue friend who was stuck at the threshold of advancing to the intermediate level for many years. Later, he heard that Green Lake Town had a 'Nightfall' magical dish that could help with advancement. After hesitating for a long time, he spent a considerable sum to hire a magic chef to cook this dish for him, and he really advanced to Shadow Walker that day.”

“Moreover, you guys have met this friend of mine, Michel from the Uruk tribe, the guy who always hangs out in the Dark Night Tavern.”

“Oh my, I was just making a little joke. Look how anxious you're getting, Detter, as if you're from the Green Field Tribe.”

The kobold female, Mila, smiled charmingly and turned to tease the goblin.

“Other jokes are fine, but you can't joke about the Green Field Tribe. You all know that my biggest idol is Lord Allen of the Green Field Tribe. He created the magic cuisine himself, how could the effects be a scam!!”

The goblin named Detter looked at his kobold companion with a serious expression and said solemnly.

“Alright, alright, I apologize. I shouldn't have joked about your idol.”

The kobold female, Mila, noticed her companion's displeasure and thoughtfully lowered her posture, directly apologizing. Soon, the goblin Detter's annoyed expression gradually dissipated.

“I also heard that the Green Field Tribe is now vigorously recruiting magic chef apprentices. Anyone interested can go to Green Lake Town to study. After graduation, they can directly join the Food God Guild and obtain the recipes for magic cuisine!!”

“Really?? How come I haven't heard of that?”

“That's because you only pay attention to females' lower bodies all day long. How could you have the mind to pay attention to surrounding gossip!!”

“Hehehe!!”

“I've decided!! I'm also going to go north with the captain to see if this so-called magic cuisine is really as magical as the rumors say!!”

“Ah?? Don't!!”

“If you two melee fighters leave, won't our adventure team be unable to take on suitable tasks!!”

“Let's just take a vacation. Anyway, the place we're adventuring in this time is only about ten days away from Moore Fortress, the town closest to the Green Field Tribe. Otherwise, why don't we all go to the Green Field Tribe for a stroll??”

“I think it's a good idea. Didn't they say that the Adventurers' Guild also opened a branch in Moore Fortress? We can just go to the Adventurers' Guild there to take on tasks. It's not bad to change places for a while.”

“I have no problem, as long as I'm acting with everyone.”

“I don't care either!!”

“Then it's decided!!”

Cheerful laughter accompanied by various insect chirps and animal calls echoed in the desolate wilderness. After a while, the laughter faded away, leaving only the orange bonfire, adorning this dark wasteland.

… …

“Distant wilderness;

There is a group of diligent and wise goblins;

They are intelligent;

They are skilled;

They can turn weeds into delicacies;

They can rejuvenate dead wood… … ”

Dunkirk, a prosperous commercial city in the Human Kingdom of Dawn, after nightfall, groups of travelers and adventurers, with nothing to do, gathered in a spacious and brightly lit tavern.

On the high platform, a bard was playing the harp, and the melodious singing floated back and forth in the tavern's space. Although few people in the noisy crowd paid attention to what the poet was reciting, they still felt that it was refreshing.

A lone adventurer huddled in the most remote corner of the tavern, his eyes cast on the traveler playing the harp on the high platform, listening attentively to the content of the poem.

As a darling of shadow energy, Hank became the focus of attention in his family after showing his rogue talent for the first time in his childhood. For a small family with a population of just over a hundred, the appearance of a shadow talent or a spellcasting talent was a great joy for the family.

In order to allow Hank to develop his rogue profession wholeheartedly, his parents spent a huge amount of money to send him to the Stealth Rogue Academy in the Imperial Capital. This reading lasted for six years.

However, after six years, Hank had to drop out of the academy because his rogue profession was stuck at the level 8 threshold. Even if he only slept 4-5 hours a day, and spent the rest of his time meditating or exercising, he still couldn't break through the intermediate level.

The elders in the family who had once favored Hank all put on a different face. The praises of the past turned into various cold and sarcastic remarks. His companions who used to smile at him now looked at him as if he were a joke.

Hank's family was even more in poverty because of the support for him over the past six years, falling directly from a well-off family. His parents became more and more hardworking and aging, and his younger siblings, who were a little younger than him, also disliked him because Hank had enjoyed too much favor.

Unable to bear this guilt and sarcasm, Hank never returned home after dropping out of the academy, wandering around the prosperous cities of the Kingdom of Dawn all day long, using his stealth skills to steal chickens and dogs, passing his days in a daze.

Even so, Hank still fantasized about being able to break through the bottleneck of the low level one day and become an advanced combat profession of the intermediate level. At that time, he would be able to return home triumphantly, regain his confidence and pride, and let his parents be proud of him again.

Moreover, this time cannot be too late, otherwise, with Hank's current age of twenty-four, he probably won't be able to climb the steps of a high-level rogue in the future, and will be stuck in the middle level rogue for the rest of his life.

Just a few days ago, Hank, who had been tracking a gang of underworld bosses for a long time, finally exposed the place where the underworld hid their stolen goods.

This time, taking advantage of the fact that the other party was making a big score and preparing to hide from the limelight before disposing of the stolen goods, Hank, relying on his excellent stealth and trap-disarming skills, pulled off a black-eat-black scheme. Without anyone knowing, he looted a batch of stolen goods that the other party had obtained at great risk, and then came to the famous trading city of Dunkirk to fence them.

Now that he had a considerable sum of money in his hands, Hank originally planned to take it back to his hometown so that his parents and siblings could restore their former comfortable life. However, upon hearing the bards' poems and the adventurers' idle chatter in the tavern, his ambition began to stir again.

"Should I go home? Or should I gamble again?"

Hank kept fiddling with his wooden beer mug, muttering to himself.

Creak!!!

The tavern's dilapidated wooden door made another harsh scraping sound, followed by a powerful and heavy footstep that attracted the attention of many.

"Oh? Isn't that Big-Belly Pix? How dare you show up in the Dark Night Tavern? Aren't you afraid of running into Sull and getting beaten up again?"

A regular customer seemed to recognize the burly human who had just entered, teasing the man clad in heavy armor, whose movements seemed somewhat slow.

"I'm here to find Sull today. Does anyone know where Sull is?"

The human male named Pix spoke in a bold voice, full of provocation.

The noisy tavern suddenly fell silent. The person the human was questioning was none other than the owner of the tavern they were in, and also the boss of the largest gang in Dunkirk's southern district. This gang boss, named Sull, was not only powerful but also ruthless. Anyone who provoked him never had a good ending. This human warrior, Pix, who had suddenly barged in, had almost lost his life at his hands before.

"Boss Sull isn't here, but I, Brend, am! You can tell me anything you need to say!!"

A middle-aged human with bare arms and strange patterns tattooed on them walked out of the tavern, confronting Pix with a sinister look in his eyes.

"You? You're worthy?"

Pix glared, and suddenly a gust of wind rose under his feet. His fleshy fists smashed directly at the human Brend, who was less than three meters away.

Seeing this, Brend's eyes narrowed slightly. He immediately met the attack with his fists, which were equipped with knuckle dusters, his momentum not faltering in the slightest.

Bang! Bang!!

Thud!! Thud!!

The four fists struck each other, but the results were completely different. Brend lost his footing and flew backward several meters, knocking over several drunkards who couldn't dodge in time, as well as one or two wooden tables, while Pix, who had exchanged blows with him, didn't move at all. Only two shallow fist marks were left on his armor.

Although Pix had the advantage of armor, the collision of strength between the two was undeniable. Clearly, Pix's strength had greatly increased, no wonder he had the confidence to come back and cause trouble for his old enemy.

"Hmph, I'm too lazy to bully the weak. Sull let me go once before, and I won't cause trouble for your gang's business. Go back and tell your boss that I, Pix, will be waiting for him at the arena at noon three days from now!!"

Creak!!

Although his behavior was crude, the human Pix, who also revealed a bit of simplicity, disappeared from the tavern as he had come. Brend, who was guarding the tavern, slowly got up from the ground, rubbing the places where he had been hit by the opponent's fists, revealing a look of contemplation and caution.

After Brend walked up the stairs and returned to his private room on the second floor to rest, the drunkards, who had just been watching the show, suddenly had more to talk about, and gathered together to comment on what had just happened.

"I didn't expect that Pix's strength would have improved so much after disappearing for more than half a year. It seems that he has really advanced to the peak of the high-tier."

"What kind of luck did he have? I remember that a year ago, although Brend was no match for Pix, he could still barely fight him for hundreds of rounds. It's nothing like today's decisive defeat!!"

"You guys don't know, do you? I heard that more than half a year ago, Pix was defeated by Sull, and then he sold his family's property and went north to the wilderness. I heard that he went to the City of Delicacies to find magical cuisine to break through the level that he had been stuck at for many years, only one step away from reaching the peak of the high-tier."

"Now it seems that he really ate magical cuisine, which is why he has made such great progress in strength!!"

"Is it really that magical??"

"He has been stuck at level fourteen for many years. Did he really break through just by eating a delicious meal?"

"… …"

Hank, who was still hesitating, heard the idle chatter of the local tavern patrons around him, and his eyes gradually became more firm as he listened to their conversation.

Glug!!

He tilted his head back and drank the remaining beer in his mug in one gulp. After putting down the mug, Hank suddenly stood up, pushed open the tavern's dilapidated wooden door without hesitation, and walked into the vast darkness. Clearly, he had made a decision in his heart.

… … … …

Similar scenes were not only appearing in various places in the Mansa Wilderness, but also among the adventurers of the north and south continents. Almost at the same time, rumors began to spread about a goblin tribe in the distant wilderness that possessed a panacea that could help professionals break through bottlenecks.

The various rumors were told with great detail, and the fact that countless named professionals had really broken through bottlenecks after eating such dishes further verified that these rumors were not false.

Even later, there were rumors that a certain high-tier peak professional, after eating a meal of magical cuisine, suddenly found his own path to legend and was about to break through to the legendary level.

For ordinary adventurers, these kinds of rumors were just something to listen to and enjoy, a way to pass the time. But for those adventurers who were stuck in a certain bottleneck and still had the ambition to climb higher, the so-called magical cuisine was truly a glimmer of hope in their hearts.

The magical cuisine of the Greenwood Tribe itself did have the effect of assisting breakthroughs. For those adventurers who had been shackled by bottlenecks for a long time and whose foundations were already very solid, it could truly be considered the right medicine. Although it couldn't be said to have a 100% breakthrough effect, the fact that three or four out of ten could break through as a result was enough to shock people.

More and more adventurers broke through after eating magical cuisine, and the rumors in the world became more and more real and effective, which in turn drove more adventurers with this need to come and try it.

Even Allen and the high-level members of the Oakleaf Merchant Guild, who secretly initiated the rumor trend, had not expected that magical cooking would ultimately bring such a huge response and wave. As more and more adventurers poured into the Moore Fortress and Greenlake Town of the Greenwood Tribe, Allen, after discussing with the high-level members of the Oakleaf Merchant Guild, temporarily suspended the plan to sell the recipe and instead cooperated to search for materials for various magical cuisines.

Judging from the current development situation, the longer the time is delayed, the more beneficial it will be for Allen and the others. It has only been a little over a year since the rumors began to spread, and there is already such a scene. As far as the vast territory of the Feynman World is concerned, it will take at least another half a year or so for the rumors to fully spread across the two continents and trigger the peak of the human tide.

Only when the reputation of magical cuisine reaches its peak will the benefits brought by the Greenwood Tribe selling the recipe be maximized.