Chapter 6: Cuisine (1/2)

'Swiftness sounds explicit enough' Alex thought to himself.

To try it out, he decided to run from one side of the room to the other.

*Whoosh* At a superhuman speed, Alex traversed the room. Fortunately, it was long enough or he would have had difficulty stopping himself and he would run into the wall like an idiot.

He was quite surprised by how fast he became and grew curious at the further evolutions this atrocious speed would go through if he took more Essence.

Suddenly, he heard something grumble.

Embarrassingly, it was his own stomach.

He's been playing around with his newfound speed for a tad too long and he felt a bit hungry now. It was also about time to explore the estate, so he decided to look around a bit before going to the kitchen.

He went out of the room and examined the wide corridor with interest. As if to show Hermes' mark on the place, the wallpaper was of a violet color and it made the place look very charming and appraising it also said it was dyed with Tyrian purple, which was supposedly quite valuable.

On the other side of his room was another room, with a decor equally simplistic but lacking the trademarks of human activity, showing it was vacant.

He suddenly remembered what that annoying attendant said yesterday, that she would be sleeping in the room on the other side of the corridor and that he shouldn't bother her.

'She should be awake by now, right?' Alex wanted to ask her to help him with the unfamiliar tools.

He, therefore, walked down the large corridor in the center of which was a pair of luxurious marble staircases, that led down to a big hall and two large gates that seemed to be the entrance. On the other side of the staircase was a balcony, looking out to the mountain peaks beyond.

Alex smiled, satisfied at the prospect of living here, and continued walking down the corridor where two opposing doors could be found. They seemed to be rooms just like Alex's except one of them was closed and the other one partly open. He snuck a glance at the room beyond the door and was surprised by the view.

Crista was sitting on a chair by the windows, combing her long hair with one hand and....writing with the other. It was a beautiful sight with the rays of the sun illuminating her face and long locks of hair and was quite a contrast to her loud and vulgar personality.

'I probably....no....I shouldn't bother her.' Alex stepped back and went on.

He went down the staircase and looked at the 3 corridors behind the staircase.

2 of those seemed to lead to similar living facilities like the ones upstairs so he took the center one. After walking for a short while he found 2 opposite doors.

One which led to a toilet and a big bathhouse that he should check later and the latter one leading to what looked like a kitchen, except the modern equipment had been replaced by ancient tools.

There was a wood-powered furnace, a water transportation system, and a big cabinet that, upon opening, reveals to be an icebox, the precursor to the fridge, with a variety of ingredients ranging from fresh fruits and vegetables to various meats and wine.

'When Hermes said he left some ingredients, he really meant a lot of ingredients, and I think I've never seen produce this fresh back on Earth!' He exclaimed to himself.

Alex has never been a good cook before, as demonstrated by his diet of instant ramen back on Earth and before coming here, he remembered he was craving for pizza, so he decided to make the delicacy of the modern world with what he was provided in here.