Chapter 1
The Kitchen Thrall's Awakening
The smell of stale oil and scorching wood was the fragrance of Arjun's life.
For five years, he had been nothing more than a 'Kitchen Thrall' at the Dragon Roar Academy—the lowest rank possible. While others his age practiced sword arts and channeled mana, Arjun spent sixteen hours a day scrubbing soot off heavy iron pots and peeling mountain-beast potatoes that were as large as his own head.
"Arjun! You worthless insect! Where are the Azure Fish for the Elite Disciple's dinner?"
A sharp kick struck Arjun's ribs, sending him sprawling across the greasy floor. He stifled a groan and scrambled to his feet, his ragged tunic stained with centuries of kitchen grease. The kicker was Gorn, the Head Chef's brutish apprentice, a man whose only talent was bullying those below him.
"I... I was washing them, Master Gorn," Arjun said, lowering his eyes. In this world, weakness was a crime, and Arjun was the biggest criminal in the kitchen.
"Faster! Or you won't eat tonight!" Gorn spat, his breath reeking of cheap ale. He hurled a small, blackened lump onto the cutting board. "And clean this. The Head Chef wants it prepared for his own stew."
Gorn stomped away, leaving Arjun alone in the dimly lit cold-storage room.
Arjun picked up the lump. It looked less like food and more like a petrified rock. It was a 'Void Mushroom,' a rare but incredibly bitter ingredient that was near-impossible to clean properly. Any normal chef would treat it with respect, but Arjun was given only ten minutes.
With trembling, scarred hands, he began to peel away the toxic outer layer. The blade was dull, and the mushroom was hard. Suddenly, his finger slipped.
Slash.
A deep cut opened on Arjun's thumb. Bright red blood splattered onto the Void Mushroom.
"No!" Arjun whispered, panic rising. If he ruined this ingredient, Gorn would likely beat him to death.
He frantically tried to wipe the blood off the mushroom with his tunic, but the unexpected happened. The dark, petrified surface of the Void Mushroom began to crack. A strange, sickly green light pulsed from within, and the mushroom itself began to melt, turning into a glowing fluid that drank his blood greedily.
The light was blinding. The liquid substance seemed to defy gravity, rising into the air and hovering before his face. Terrified, Arjun tried to back away, but his body wouldn't move. The glowing fluid shot forward, piercing into his open wound.
It felt like molten lead was pouring into his veins. Arjun's throat tight, he tried to scream, but no sound came out. He collapsed to the floor, his vision blacking out as the searing heat spread through his entire body.
Is this how I die? Scrambling in the grease and dirt like an insect?
Just as his consciousness began to fade, a clear, mechanical chime rang out in his mind, drowning out the painful thudding of his heart.
[Ding! Divine Integration Criteria Met.]
[Genetic Signature confirmed. Mana Veins detected: Zero (Status: Trash).]
[Soul Signature confirmed. Passion for Culinary Arts: Maximum.]
[Activating... The Infinite Chef System.]
[Host: Arjun]
[Level 1: Novice Cook (0/100 XP)]
[HP: 20/50 (Status: Injured)]
[Mana: 0/0]
[Active Bonus: Consuming 'Void Mushroom Liquid' has unlocked the skill 'Void Palette (LV 1)'.]
Arjun's eyes snapped open. The heat was gone, replaced by a strange, tingling sensation in his tongue. He sat up, his body feeling oddly lighter despite his injuries.
He looked around the empty storage room. Nothing had changed. The grease was still on the floor, the dull knife was in his hand.
"A... System?" Arjun whispered, his voice trembling. He had heard tales of legendary heroes who awakened powerful 'Systems' that gave them god-like powers. But a Chef System?
He looked at his wounded thumb. The deep slash was gone. Not even a scar remained.
At that moment, Gorn's booming voice echoed from the main kitchen.
"ARJUN! Where are those ingredients?!"
Before, that voice would have filled him with terror. Now, Arjun looked down at his unscarred hand and then at the dull kitchen knife. A new fire, far hotter than any stove in the kitchen, began to burn in his chest.
The insect wasn't going to be trampled anymore. It was time to start cooking.The mechanical voice in Arjun's head wasn't a hallucination. As he stood in the dim storage room, a translucent blue screen floated in the air before him.
[Mission Alert!]
[Task: Prepare a dish using the 'Void Palette' skill.]
[Reward: 10 XP, Basic Iron Cleaver, +2 Constitution.]
[Failure: Permanent loss of taste buds.]
Arjun gulped. The penalty was terrifying for a cook, but the reward—especially the 'Constitution' boost—was exactly what he needed. His body felt like it was held together by string and bruises.
"Arjun! If I have to come in there, I'll skin you alive!" Gorn's roar came again, closer this time.
Arjun didn't panic. He looked at the ingredients on the table. Beside the melted remains of the Void Mushroom lay a basket of 'Fire-Sting Onions' and a slab of 'Boar-Wolf' meat. Usually, these were nightmare ingredients—tough, smelly, and bitter.
But as Arjun looked at them, his vision changed.
Lines of glowing text appeared over the food:
[Boar-Wolf Meat: Grade - F. Quality - Poor. Suggestion: Tenderize with high heat.]
[Fire-Sting Onions: Grade - E. Quality - Fresh. Warning: Causes temporary blindness if cut incorrectly.]
"Void Palette, activate," Arjun whispered.
Suddenly, his hands moved with a precision he never possessed. He grabbed the dull knife. To his eyes, the 'Fire-Sting Onions' now had faint dotted lines showing exactly where to cut to avoid the stinging gas. Zip, zip, zip! In seconds, the onions were perfectly diced.
He threw the meat onto the searing hot iron pan. Normally, the smell of Boar-Wolf meat was foul, but as Arjun stirred, he followed the System's prompts.
[Ding! Add 2 grams of Void Mushroom essence to neutralize toxins.]
He poured a drop of the glowing liquid he had absorbed earlier. Sizzle! A heavenly aroma, unlike anything ever smelled in the Dragon Roar Academy, filled the kitchen. It was earthy, spicy, and mouth-watering.
Just then, the door slammed open. Gorn marched in, his face red with rage. "You brat! I told you to—"
Gorn stopped mid-sentence. His nose twitched. The anger on his face was replaced by pure confusion and intense hunger. "What... what is that smell?"
Arjun didn't look up. He plated the dish—a simple stir-fry that looked like shimmering mahogany.
[Dish Completed: Void-Infused Boar-Wolf Stir-fry]
[Quality: Common (Level Up!)]
[Effect: Heals minor internal injuries. Grants +1 Strength for 1 hour.]
"It's the dinner you asked for, Master Gorn," Arjun said calmly, handing him the plate.
Gorn snatched the plate, suspicious. "If this tastes like garbage, you're dead." He took a massive bite.
His eyes nearly popped out of his head. The meat, usually as tough as leather, melted on his tongue. The spice of the onions danced with the deep, mysterious flavor of the Void essence. Gorn began to shovel the food into his mouth like a starving animal, forgetting he was supposed to be a bully.
[Ding! Mission Accomplished!]
[Rewards Granted: 10 XP, Basic Iron Cleaver (Stored in Inventory), +2 Constitution.]
A warm wave of energy flowed through Arjun. The ache in his ribs vanished. His back straightened, and he felt a sudden surge of vitality. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel like a 'Trash' servant. He felt like a predator.
Gorn finished the plate and licked it clean, looking dazed. "This... how did you...?"
He looked at Arjun, but something was different. The boy didn't look like a trembling insect anymore. Arjun was looking at Gorn's heavy meat cleaver hanging on his belt, and for the first time, Arjun wasn't afraid.
"I just followed the recipe, Master," Arjun said with a cold, thin smile. "Would you like me to make more?"The Weight of an Iron Cleaver
The kitchen of Dragon Roar Academy was a place of chaos, but for the first time in five years, Arjun felt a strange sense of calm.
Gorn stood there, blinking, still licking the sauce from his greasy fingers. The "Void-Infused Boar-Wolf Stir-fry" had done something to him. Usually, Gorn was a man of pure aggression, but the dish had momentarily stunned his senses.
"You... you put something in this, didn't you?" Gorn growled, though his voice lacked its usual venom. He looked at the empty plate as if it were a lost treasure. "No kitchen servant can cook like that. Especially not a mana-less trash like you."
Arjun didn't flinch. He felt the +2 Constitution reward from the System working through his marrow. The constant, dull ache in his lower back—a gift from years of carrying heavy water pails—was simply gone. His breathing was deeper, steadier.
"I just used the ingredients you gave me, Master Gorn," Arjun replied, his voice flat. He began to wipe the wooden counter, his movements fluid and efficient. "Perhaps you've just never tasted Boar-Wolf meat prepared at the right temperature."
Gorn's face darkened. He hated being talked back to, but before he could raise his hand to strike, a shimmering blue notification appeared only in Arjun's field of vision.
[System Notification: Hostility Detected.]
[New Sub-Quest: Defend your Culinary Space.]
[Requirement: Do not let Gorn ruin the kitchen morale.]
[Reward: 20 XP, Skill: 'Basic Knife Mastery (Passsive)'.]
Arjun's heart hammered. A passive skill for knife mastery? That was exactly what he needed to survive in this cutthroat environment.
"You're getting arrogant, brat!" Gorn roared, regaining his senses. He reached for his heavy meat cleaver—a dull, rusted tool he used more for intimidation than actual butchery. "Maybe a few broken fingers will remind you who the master is here!"
As Gorn swung the heavy blade toward the counter where Arjun's hand rested, Arjun didn't pull away. Instead, he reached into the 'System Inventory'—a mental space only he could see.
Equip: Basic Iron Cleaver.
In a flash of light so fast that Gorn didn't even notice, a heavy, black-iron cleaver appeared in Arjun's grip. Unlike Gorn's rusted tool, this one was perfectly balanced, its edge so sharp it seemed to hum with a cold energy.
CLANG!
The sound of metal hitting metal echoed through the stone walls of the kitchen. Gorn's eyes widened. His rusted blade had been stopped dead in its tracks by Arjun's new cleaver. The impact sent a vibration up Gorn's arm, making his wrist go numb.
"Where... where did you get that?" Gorn stammered, staring at the pristine iron blade in the servant boy's hand. "That's... that's not academy equipment!"
"It's a family heirloom," Arjun lied smoothly, his eyes cold. "And I suggest you don't chip it with your garbage blade."
With a flick of his wrist, Arjun pushed Gorn's blade back. The strength boost from the System made Gorn stumble two steps back, his boots slipping on the greasy floor.
The other kitchen servants—young boys and girls as ragged as Arjun—stopped their work. They stared in disbelief. Arjun, the boy who usually took every beating in silence, was standing his ground.
[Ding! Sub-Quest Progress: 50% complete. Morale is shifting.]
"You... you thief! I'll report this to the Head Chef!" Gorn screamed, his face turning a shade of purple. "He'll have you whipped for stealing a weapon!"
"Report it then," Arjun said, turning his back on Gorn to face the stove. "But tell me, Gorn... if the Head Chef finds out a lowly servant can cook ten times better than his prized apprentice, who do you think he'll keep? The one who talks, or the one who provides the flavors that keep the Elders happy?"
Gorn froze. The logic was undeniable. The Dragon Roar Academy was a place that valued results above all else. If Arjun could truly produce that level of food consistently, he wasn't just a servant anymore—he was an asset.
Arjun felt a strange sensation in his tongue again. The 'Void Palette' skill was vibrating. He looked at a pot of boiling soup across the room, intended for the Junior Disciples. Even from ten feet away, he could smell the imbalances—too much salt, the herbs were stale, the meat was overcooked.
"The soup is burning, Gorn," Arjun said without looking back.
Gorn turned around, cursing, as the pot began to boil over. As the bully scrambled to fix the mess, Arjun looked down at his Iron Cleaver.
[Ding! Sub-Quest Completed!]
[Reward: 20 XP, Skill: 'Basic Knife Mastery (Passive)' unlocked.]
Suddenly, information flooded Arjun's brain. Thousands of hours of practice—chopping, slicing, dicing, and deboning—seemed to settle into his muscles. He gripped the cleaver, and it felt like an extension of his own arm.
He wasn't just a cook anymore. He was becoming a craftsman.
I need more ingredients, Arjun thought, his eyes narrowing. Higher grade beasts. Magical herbs. If a F-grade Boar-Wolf can give me Strength, what can a Dragon-blooded steak do?
The path to godhood, it seemed, was paved with delicious meals. And Arjun was just getting started with the appetizer.
Chapter 4: The Wild Ingredient Hunt
The night in Dragon Roar Academy was never truly silent. From the high towers, one could hear the rhythmic chanting of disciples practicing their mana cultivation. But in the servant quarters, the only sound was the heavy snoring of exhausted workers.
Arjun, however, was wide awake.
He sat on his thin straw mat, staring at the translucent blue screen that only he could see.
[Status Window]
Host: Arjun
Level: 1 (30/100 XP)
Title: Kitchen Thrall
Health: 50/50
Mana: 0/0 (Locked)
Skills: [Void Palette LV 1], [Basic Knife Mastery (Passive)]
Inventory: Basic Iron Cleaver, 1x Void Mushroom Essence.
"Still zero mana," Arjun muttered, a trace of bitterness in his voice. In this world, mana was everything. Without it, you couldn't use magic, you couldn't fly, and you certainly couldn't become a 'True Cultivator'.
[Ding! Host is mistaken. The Infinite Chef System does not require Mana. The Host consumes 'Spirit Energy' directly from Divine Ingredients.]
Arjun's eyes widened. "You mean... if I eat the right food, I don't need to meditate for forty years like those arrogant disciples?"
[Ding! Correct. To reach Level 2, the Host must consume a 'Rank-E' Spirit Dish.]
Arjun looked toward the window. Beyond the academy walls lay the Cloud-Mist Forest, a dangerous place filled with Spirit Beasts and rare herbs. Normally, a servant like him wouldn't dare step foot there at night. But the hunger for power was now stronger than his fear.
Grabbing his Iron Cleaver, which felt surprisingly light and familiar in his hand thanks to his new passive skill, Arjun slipped out of the kitchen window.
The forest was thick with glowing moss and the distant howls of Night-Stalker Wolves. Arjun moved silently. His 'Void Palette' skill wasn't just for cooking; it made his senses incredibly sharp. He could smell the sweetness of 'Moon-Drip Berries' from a mile away and the metallic scent of predator blood.
Suddenly, a notification flashed red.
[Warning: Spirit Beast Detected nearby!]
[Species: Iron-Hided Rabbit (Rank-F)]
[Description: Its fur is as tough as chainmail, and its kicks can break human ribs. Its meat is lean and rich in Agility-boosting essence.]
Arjun crouched behind a Silver-Leaf bush. Ten feet away, a rabbit the size of a medium dog was chewing on some glowing roots. Its fur shimmered with a metallic grey luster.
If this were yesterday, Arjun would have run for his life. But now? He saw the rabbit not as a monster, but as a High-Protein Ingredient.
He gripped the Iron Cleaver. Basic Knife Mastery, activate.
Arjun didn't just swing blindly. His mind mapped out the rabbit's anatomy. He saw the weak point in its neck, the small gap where the 'Iron Hide' was thinnest.
He lunged.
The rabbit sensed the movement and tried to bolt, but Arjun was faster. His +2 Constitution had made his legs springy and his reflexes sharp. He swung the cleaver in a perfect arc—a move usually reserved for deboning a chicken, but applied with lethal force.
SHLICK!
The blade cut through the iron-like fur as if it were soft butter. The rabbit fell instantly.
[Ding! You have slain an 'Iron-Hided Rabbit'. +20 XP.]
[Loot acquired: 1x Iron-Hide Pelt, 2kg Spirit-Infused Rabbit Meat.]
Arjun didn't stop there. He quickly butchered the carcass with surgical precision, his hands moving in a blur. Thanks to his passive skill, he didn't waste a single gram of meat.
But as he was packing the meat, a low, guttural growl echoed from the shadows behind him.
The smell of rotten meat hit his nose.
[Warning! High-Level Threat Detected!]
[Species: Shadow-Claw Panther (Rank-E)]
[Level: 5]
[Status: Hungry.]
Arjun froze. A Rank-E beast was far beyond a Level 1 cook. His 'Void Palette' sent a sharp spike of adrenaline through his brain. The panther's eyes glowed like two yellow lanterns in the dark.
I can't outrun it, Arjun realized, his grip tightening on the cleaver. I have to cook... no, I have to fight to survive.
[Ding! New Emergency Quest: The Hunter Becomes the Meal?]
[Objective: Survive the Shadow-Claw Panther's assault.]
[Reward: Unlock 'Fire-Manipulation' (Cooking Skill), +50 XP, 1x Random Spice Box.]
The panther leaped, a blur of black fur and razor-sharp claws. Arjun threw himself to the side, the beast's claws missing his chest by inches and shredding the tree behind him.
He was outmatched in strength, but he had something the panther didn't. He was a Chef. And every Chef knows how to handle 'tough meat'.
"Come on, you overgrown cat," Arjun spat, his eyes burning with a new-found defiance. "I've been bullied by Gorn for five years. You think I'm scared of a stray like you?"
The hunt had truly begun.