The Biting Cabbage's traits were clearly labeled: "bitter" described its taste, "semi-plant" its nature as a magical ingredient, and "high activity" the magic bustling inside it.
One glance told Cedric everything he needed to know. The thing had no special abilities. Eating it would give him nothing but enhancement points.
He weighed the Biting Cabbage in his hand and gave it a squeeze. It felt strange, like a piece of rubber.
"That feels awful." Cedric looked thoroughly disgusted. "So much for a vegetable's crisp crunch."
It kept wriggling in his palm, trying to bite him whenever it got the chance. Cedric wasted no more time. He drove his small knife straight into the Biting Cabbage's mouth, twisted it, and sliced the thing in two.
The other two Biting Cabbages seemed to sense their companion's death and promptly settled down.
He cleaned the split cabbage, removing its teeth and the digestive structures inside its mouth. Then he took one half and tore it by hand into even, thin slices.
He heated a pan, poured in oil, and tossed the slices in for a quick stir-fry.
The aroma of hot oil soon filled the room. The two remaining Biting Cabbages trembled nonstop.
Cedric added seasoning with practiced ease. After frying the slices for a few minutes, he eyed their almost unchanged color, hesitated, then trusted his experience and plated them.
A plate of bright-green Magically Fried Biting Cabbage was fresh out of the pan.
Xuanling, perched on Cedric's shoulder, tilted his head at the dish.
Then information about the dish appeared before Cedric's eyes.
[Magically Fried Biting Cabbage] Effect: Eating it grants [Magic Activation E-]. The host also gains 7 enhancement points upon consumption.
This was something new.
Cedric had cooked countless dishes during his time in the wild, but information like this had never appeared before.
Perhaps that was what made cooking with special ingredients different.
The steaming dish sat before him. It smelled decent enough. Too bad he hadn't found any dried chilies in Diagon Alley; tossing some in for the stir-fry would have made the aroma even more tempting.
Cedric picked up his wand, conjured a pair of chopsticks, and put a slice of cabbage in his mouth.
The stir-fried aroma spread across his tongue. It seemed his cooking skills hadn't gone rusty after all.
Cedric chewed.
"Urgh!"
Bitter juice burst into his mouth. The Biting Cabbage's texture lived up to expectations—it had neither a vegetable's crispness nor meat's satisfying chew.
Eating it was like chewing a lump of bitter mud.
Cedric frowned and forced himself to swallow despite how awful it felt.
Fortunately, that one bite stopped tormenting him once it went down. It soon became a warm current that stirred the magic in his body.
The [Magic Activation] effect did work, but E- was too low a rank for its effect to be obvious.
That bizarre texture, though, was burned into Cedric's memory.
The taste reminded him of making Brussels sprouts in his previous life: cut them in half, sprinkle on salt and pepper, drizzle them with olive oil, and roast them for five minutes. Then throw away the sprouts and eat the pan.
Cedric angrily passed judgment on the ingredient. "This stuff is absolutely not fit for stir-frying. No, with that texture, it doesn't deserve to be food at all!"
In a fit of anger, he picked up the whole plate of Magically Fried Biting Cabbage and moved to dump it in the trash. He didn't care if it was worth seven enhancement points!
Xuanling hopped down from Cedric's shoulder to the edge of the plate. After tilting his head in thought, he lowered it and took a peck.
That single bite made Xuanling's eyes light up. Then he began pecking away furiously, and nothing could stop him.
"Uh..." Cedric scratched the back of his head.
Crows didn't have human taste buds, so it wasn't strange that Xuanling could eat it. But why was he enjoying it so much?
As Cedric puzzled over it, the Eye of Insight showed him that Xuanling's hunting level had jumped from 5 to 6.
This plate of Magically Fried Biting Cabbage could actually boost his strength? Was that the effect of [Magic Activation]?
Cedric immediately started timing it. Five minutes later, Xuanling's hunting level dropped back to 5, just as he had expected.
So Magic Activation really does boost strength. The bonus from this dish was too weak for me to notice, but Xuanling's level was low enough for it to show.
Still, Xuanling's love for the stuff probably had less to do with getting stronger and more to do with his fondness for dishes rich in magic.
Cedric reached out, caught Xuanling—whose belly was round and full and who had been lazily preening his feathers—and examined him closely with the Eye of Insight.
The Eye of Insight made Xuanling uncomfortable. He struggled a few times without breaking free, then cawed twice.
"Quiet. Let me check your status," Cedric said.
[Crow] Hunting Level: 5 Special Abilities: Innate Homenum Revelio C, Grudge A Traits: Sour and astringent, avian, magical ingredient, stealthy
Xuanling was a crow from the magical world. He had an innate grasp of Homenum Revelio, which let him track other people. Messenger birds had the same ability.
It let them pinpoint a target who hadn't deliberately hidden themselves and deliver letters.
Cedric had noticed when he caught the owl delivering his acceptance letter: although the owl had only one innate ability, Homenum Revelio, its rank was much higher than a crow's, reaching B-.
As a crow, Xuanling had a particularly unusual second special ability: Grudge. Its rank was absurdly high—an astonishing A.
The ability had probably evolved from crows' natural tendency to hold grudges. It worked like a more powerful version of Homenum Revelio.
It could lock onto a person or creature and continually track their location. Even concealment magic would have a hard time shaking it off.
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