Isabella turned as Cliff and Leinad walked back into the house. Cliff sat back down at the table as Leinad went around to see what his mother was doing. She turned to back to the table carrying  a tray of herbs and mushrooms. She wiped sweat from her forehead as she looked at Cliff with a smile. 

"So how did it go?" she asked as she took a seat and waved for Leinad to sit next to her.

"He got the skill right away," Cliff said. "Even picked up Herbalism." 

Isabella smiled down at Leinad, "That must mean you have a high affinity for both."

"A high affinity?" he asked to her as he looked over the items she had brought out.

"Yes," she said. "Otherwise it would have taken several tries to learn the skill, if you learned it at all. There's a big difference between learning to farm and learning the farming skill. Anyone can plant a seed, but if you can feel and manipulate the mana to help and learn skills, you can achieve things that someone without the skill wouldn't be able to do."

Leinad remembered that the prompts for his new skills had said that he could grow plants and herbs 5 percent faster.

"So now I can try and learn the cooking skill?" he asked, actually excited to be able to make the meal he had eaten earlier.

She smiled, "Yes we can see if you can learn it too. Just don't be disappointed if you can't. Having a high affinity in certain skills usually means less of a chance to have a high affinity in others. Nobody is good at everything."

Leinad wanted to be good at cooking and hoped that being good at the previous two skills really wouldn't keep him from the a cooking skill.

Isabella went over the herbs and mushrooms, talking about how the mushrooms were particular to the region.

"Manthenill is in the center of the Man-Eater Forest," Isabella said. "The area has a high concentration of Earth and Nature, both of which create a perfect conditions for certain flora to flourish. Particular Fungi grow here too. Red Umbrellas grow here and are the most common in dishes that require them. They also provide a boost to your max health. Blue Wizards Caps actually only grow in this forest, and so Manthenill actually is the only source for those who want them."

"They make a particularly good drink," Cliff said with a laugh.

Isabella gave a disapproving look at Cliff who shrank under her gaze.

"Which mushrooms are these," Leinad said looking at the shapes on the table.

"You can't tell from the name," she asked concerned.

Leinad willed the the description of his skill to his vision before he read off the lines to them.

Isabella and Cliff both listen to him describe the Energy Vision skill.

"So you can't see color?" Cliff asked.

"Not at all," Leinad said. "I think, from what little I can remember, that I've never been able to."

"Would you be okay with us talking to Du'Vel about this," Isabella asked. "I think it might be important, especially since he'll talk to you about energy and mana." 

Leinad had felt a bit of hesitation, but if his mother said it was important, then he had to trust her.

"Okay," he said with a soft nod. "That's fine."

Isabella turned back to the table and picked up one of the mushrooms.

"These are Red Umbrellas," she said. "They can be found in places where there is a high concentration of nature energy. Like I said earlier, they're much more common in the Man-Eater forest than anywhere else."

She went over the other herbs and spices, letting him know which were common in the area and which weren't. She took the tray of ingredients and went over to the stove. Leinad followed her over to it. 

"My cooking master first taught me to cook using a fire and a pot, but we'll go ahead and use the stove," she said with a small laugh.

She put the pot on the stove and pointed to the dial and the small circles under the dial.

"Are you able to see the numbers on here," she asked.

Leinad shook his head.

"That should be fine," she said. "The far left is off and as you move the dial to the right it goes up to five, the highest heat. If the stove doesn't heat up we're probably out of fire mana and you can let one of us know. Go ahead and put the stove on the highest setting to bring the water to a boil."

Leinad did as he instructed. As he moved the dial to the right he saw lines inside the stove brighten up. His mana started to drop slowly, but he wanted to see how the stove worked. The lines of the stove went to down to the floor and then over to the back of the kitchen, where a small closet door was. A small circular part of the stove lit up, there were shapes that the lights took within the circle, but Leinad couldn't tell what their significance was. He felt heat coming from the pot sitting on the stove that lit up. After a while he could tell the water was bubbling.

"Okay, now place the dial a little to the left, right below medium heat," Isabella instructed.

He did and then she started handing him different measurement of the ingredients to add to the pot. Isabella also prepared some vegetables and Leinad added those in as well. The both sat and waited, Leinad stirred the pot whenever Isabella instructed.

"If you get the cooking skill after the meal is finished, you'll be able to learn more about the food you eat and prepare," Isabella said. "Food can affect your status. There are several status effects that are common, but some status effects can be imparted by the specific person making the food as opposed to the ingredients the food is made from. When you do this last stir, I want you to visualize the mana from your body moving up your hand, through the spoon and into the stew."

Leinad went over to the pot and stirred. Unlike the difficulty he had felt with feeling the energy of the ground and seed outside, this time he could see small waves leave his hand, move through the spoon and infuse the stew as he stirred it. After a moment he heard a small ringing inside his head. A new line of information appeared and he read it.

- You have cooked your first Meal.-

-You have acquired a new skill-

Leinad relayed the information to Isabella who seemed surprised, yet delighted.

"Three new skills right away," she said with almost a hop as she clapped. "You must have a special skill that maybe ties these all together." 

"I haven't seen a special skill," Leinad told her.

She waved the comment away, " Oh you're still a child. Once you come of age any hidden passive skill you have will manifest. They're rare, but given the circumstances, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a rare skill that helped you learn about cooking and anything revolving around ingredients for cooking."

The logic made sense to Leinad. Isabella helped him get bowls and spoons and they ate the stew he had made. Isabella beamed with pride and Cliff smiled at him as they ate. Even though she had eaten this particular meal several times, she commented on the flavor and told Leinad it was the best she had ever had. 

A part of Leinad knew she was being kind, but he couldn't help but feel proud of himself. Their praise rolled over him like a warm blanket. He felt happy he had made them both so proud. 

As they cleaned up Isabella turned to Leinad.

"You should get some sleep," Isabella said. "It's nearly the eleventh hour and we'll have to be up to work and sell items at the store at twenty." 

Leinad nodded as he dried his hands.

Isabella took him over to the bathroom and showed him how to work the shower and the water heat, which knobs had a system similar to the the stove. As he turned the knob for water to the right it grew hot.

"Don't be too long," Isabella said. "We haven't refilled the fire mana stone for the house, but we will sell some good tomorrow and get a refill so there will be plenty for longer showers."

Leinad took a quick shower, enjoying the smell of the lavender soap as he cleaned his body. He went back to his room and sat in bed. He noticed the lights on the wall begin to dim before going out. To him, the room still seemed ablaze with energy. At first he wondered if he would be able to sleep without actual darkness in the room, but as he closed his eyes and his ability plunged him into real darkness he drifted almost immediately to sleep. 

His dreams drew from the one memory he had before the ones he had created today. He saw his sister ripped away, felt the pain of a spear inside him and then felt immense terror as creatures wrapped in shadow closed in around him, before he too was torn away from his old life.