Chapter 22: Party Time!

After assimilating the book compiled on the Heavenly Way of Cooking Rank-1, I learned that cooking uses a lot of science. Perfect actions are needed and the fire or whatever materials you use also have to be perfect so that the full flavor of the dish comes out. Since the fire is too big for me to control, I decided to ask Max for his help. I asked him to control the way the fire spreads and how it would hit the pig. I am then in charge of maintaining a rotational motion of the pig that would complement the fire being spread on the open roast by Max. After four hours of focus on following the recipe and incorporating with it the Heavenly Way of Cooking, the result was delectable even just by sight and smell. The Lechon had perfectly golden-brown skin with no cracks, boils, or blemishes, and because the skin had no cracks there is no oozing of its own juices but it’s all flowing in the meat inside. I believe that what's responsible for this perfection is the fact that the position used on the roasting wasn’t too stretched out and the heat from the fire was distributed evenly to the whole pig. I placed the Lechon in a container prepared beforehand that would maintain its temperature indefinitely until it is taken out. The sauce took me around 30 minutes to make; it was a thick brown mixture with bits of pepper and different spices, that would make your mouth water even just by its smell.

There are only around 30 minutes left before the party starts. I took a quick bath and got new clothes. I told the AI that I just want some regular clothes for a party. I decided to go for a black coat with a black vest over white long sleeves and a thin red necktie partnered with a black pair of shoes and pants. Before going to the party, I decided to meditate first. I sat cross-legged on the ground, closed my eyes, and focused my mana gathering to ease my tiredness that came from concentrating so hard on the Lechon. Max is also a bit tired, so he took a quick nap. When I opened my eyes, it was already dark, and the party had already started. With me being in a suit, I feel like I’m about to attend a prom again.

I opened the door to my backyard and what I first saw was a banner saying, “Welcome back Paul!” The people around me are my friends from high school who were also there the night I died. Everyone is here. Topher had his black hair brushed up, complemented by the white medieval Royalty clothes he is wearing which in my opinion, is very king-like. David is also wearing the same clothes as Topher, only in a different color and no cape, black. Son, Julian, and Roel are also wearing medieval Royalty clothes of colors green, red, and blue, respectively. The girls are wearing different gowns resembling that of the dresses worn by Disney princesses. Joyce's dress is white, Jolly's dress is yellow, and Dianne is wearing a purple one. The food was all something new to me. I tasted a bunch of different dishes and they were all peculiar but actually pretty good. Qilin meat pie, Imugi Stew, and flavored baby-gryphon were my favorites among others.

We sang, danced, and carried out a little "powers and strengths show." Topher, who has the power of a pirate, demonstrated his augmentation aura and observer aura which he both use in fighting. David, who gained power from the Death gods who killed corrupted lost souls displayed his power which focuses on his growth and use of his Katana. Julian, similar to Topher, uses his body to fight. Rather than being additive, his power is multiplicative; when he activates it, his hair turns to gold which signifies that his body is gaining more and more strength. Son can constantly absorb mana through in-body upgrades that enable him to improve his thought processes that makes him a good combat tactician. Though it doesn’t look metallic, it is not very wrong to say that his body is like a weapon. He can do anything an ordinary human can except, he is augmented with the different technologies he incorporated with his body. Roel surprised me the most. His power started out as only to charm beasts but now, he could transform into different beasts that he has enough understanding about. He was also very interested in Max and asked if he could borrow him for a few days. I told him that if Max agrees, I don’t have any problem with it. For the ladies, Jolly has the power of creation. She can create not just mundane objects like what my enchanted backpack did, but also magic-infused objects similar to what they were all wearing. As for Dianne, she awakened as a witch and could cast magic through the manipulation of mana which she focuses on supportive and defensive strategies.

And now comes my turn. I borrowed David’s Katana to use my sword intent but he stopped me and said that it is made from his soul so it could be too powerful for me to handle since I just awakened, technically. I then had Jolly create me a sword for me, an ordinary European single-handed long sword. I immediately activated my sword intent and opened my surprise for the party, the Lechon. I jumped up and cut open the Lechon which looked so juicy. I can see that they could not wait any longer to taste it, so we all went on and started the feast. They all said the same thing, “DELICIOUS!” They said that even though there are a lot of technologies now that has elevated the flavors  of any food, nothing is better than the good old Lechon that I prepared. I thought to myself, "Man, this library is pretty convenient."

After eating, we talked about a bunch of different topics over some drinks. I learned that the power of people these days can be classified from Rank-1 to Rank-9, similar to my power’s cultivation ranks. Franco, in particular, was weak in the beginning but eventually, his growth became drastic. By the time my friends reached Mortal Rank-9, Franco swiftly surpassed them and became Demi-Human Rank-2. Joyce told them about my growth, and they were also shocked upon hearing about it. What takes people a few years to reach, only took me a few moments like what I did back at the hospital. They also told me stories about how this kingdom, the kingdom of awakening, has taken in refugees from different places and how the community continues on growing and growing. I then asked about their lives and how they all are and learned that each one of them has their own kid. Their kids are on their way to the party, they all decided to go together since they were all close friends. When the kids finally came someone was missing among them, we asked where Stephanie was, but we were told that she wasn’t with them. Uh-oh.