Anya sniffed carefully. Sensing the sticky residue that hadn't been completely wiped from the corner of her mouth, she habitually licked it with her tongue.
"!!!"
The pungent, spicy flavor shot straight to Anya's brain, causing tears to well up in her eyes as she gasped for air.
Yet, as she gradually adapted to the flavor, she surprisingly found herself wanting more?
"Whoa! That's so spicy, but it actually tastes pretty good, nya."
"..."
Who in their right mind eats wasabi like that!
As it turned out, Wasabi Octopus was a type of Gourmet Creature that wasn't very aggressive. Zephyr didn't intend to kill it outright.
With a Capture Level of only 1, it was basically impossible for it to pose a threat to Adventurers, and besides, the value of a Gourmet Creature was determined by complex factors.
Thinking of this, he looked at Lili and said, "Lili, get me an empty seasoning bottle. This seasoning... it tastes pretty good."
"Got it."
Lili retrieved a glass bottle from her backpack.
Zephyr took the bottle. He held the Wasabi Octopus's body down with one hand, aimed the mouth of the bottle at the creature's oral cavity with the other, and squeezed.
Instantly, the green, top-grade wasabi flowed into the glass bottle. The moment it came into contact with the air, a spicy aroma permeated the area.
This stuff... if used to pair with sashimi or raw fish-flavored ingredients, it would be absolutely delicious.
Once the green color on the Wasabi Octopus's skin had faded, Zephyr released the drained Gourmet Creature.
He quickly scanned his surroundings. Since a Wasabi Octopus had appeared in this forest, there must certainly be other seasoning octopuses present. Since they had gone to the trouble of coming here, they had to collect some seasoning.
Within the team, neither Lefiya nor Lili was suited for this task, but Anya, an Adventurer skilled in close-quarters combat, was perfect for it.
Zephyr said, "Anya, go find some octopuses of other colors. The more varieties, the better. Once you bring them back, I'll prepare a surprise dish for you."
Go looking for these strange, squishy creatures?
Anya was actually resistant. The memory of having an octopus plastered to her face was still fresh in her mind. Actively searching for more would inevitably leave her traumatized.
However, upon hearing Zephyr's mention of a "surprise dish," her resolve wavered and she nodded in firm agreement.
Her desire for gourmet food completely overshadowed her instinctual fear of octopuses, all thanks to the promise Zephyr had dangled before her.
Before heading off on her own, she didn't forget to say, "If you encounter any danger, just call for Anya, nya."
"No problem." Zephyr nodded.
He wasn't worried about Anya's safety. Although her thought process was unconventional, in terms of combat, she was definitely reliable.
While Anya was off, letting her instincts run wild as she searched the forest for Gourmet Creatures, Zephyr didn't idle either. He observed the surroundings.
Especially the dense forest area ahead—the canopy was exceptionally thick, allowing almost no sunlight to penetrate, the ground was covered in a thick layer of decaying leaves, and the air was filled with a damp, musty odor.
Based on the ecology of the Toriko world, there had to be special ingredients nearby.
Mushrooms!
If Zephyr recalled correctly, many rare mushrooms with incredibly perfect flavors grew in dark, damp environments.
With the strongest Adventurer in their party gone, Lefiya looked at Zephyr, asking, "What should we do next?"
Truth be told, she was a little nervous. With Anya gone, only Zephyr, Lili, and herself remained in the party and this unknown environment could hold dangers.
"Should we wait here for Anya-san?"
"We're already here. We might as well find some ingredients." Zephyr didn't think it was a big deal.
It hadn't been easy to get here, and based on those octopuses, he could basically determine that the danger level was higher than the last Gourmet Paradise. This meant that there were more Gourmet Creatures here to taste.
As the one who made the proposal, Zephyr walked in the lead, holding a short sword in his hand and watching his surroundings vigilantly, the damp rotting leaves crunching underfoot.
However, he did not have to search for very long before he found his desired target in the distance ahead, at the base of that tree—in the extremely damp grass.
[Cream Mushroom]
[Capture Level: 3]
[It is a mushroom of the Tricholomataceae family that carries spores with the taste of dairy cream.]
[It is already very sweet and delicious when eaten alone, but if grilled slightly and drizzled with soy sauce, it will further enhance the aroma and texture.]
"This is it."
Zephyr reached out and pushed aside the rotting leaves at the base of the matsutake.
The milky-yellow mushroom cap, the thick stalk, the traces of soil remaining on the surface—this thing was no different from those in the Toriko world.
The Capture Level was very low, but the increase in stats couldn't be judged solely by Capture Level. The key was whether or not this Gourmet Creature was actually delicious.
Zephyr brushed away the soil from the ground and removed the cream mushroom intact, with fresh dew still clinging to the surface of the mushroom cap.
The aroma instantly permeated the air. The sweet scent of milk cream intertwined with the mushroom aroma, perfectly blending in the air into an extremely enticing compound fragrance.
"Leave the collecting to me, you two help me watch the surroundings to see if any monsters appear."
Noticing Lili and Lefiya looking at a loss, Zephyr suggested with a smile.
Cream mushroom nests are usually distributed in patches in the forest, so there must be more strains nearby. He would first collect a sufficient quantity.
Just as he was continuously gathering ingredients, Anya's cheerful voice called out from behind, "Zephyr, so you were here. I thought you had encountered danger, nya. The octopus you wanted, Anya has found it, nya."
Zephyr looked in the direction of the voice and saw that Anya was dragging something—a mature seasoning octopus that was huge, nearly two meters long, and knocked unconscious.
The head of the huge octopus showed several patches of swelling, with fist-sized indentations remaining.
Anya pulled on the octopus's tentacles, and relying on brute force, dragged the mature seasoning octopus in front of Zephyr.
She rubbed her hands, her tone full of anticipation. "Um... the octopus you wanted, Anya has brought it back for you, so hurry and tell Anya, what exactly is the surprise dish, nya?"
Soy Sauce Octopus.
Cream Mushroom.
With these two ingredients, one only needs to simply grill the cream mushroom and pair it with soy sauce to cook up an extremely delicious meal.
Thinking of this, Zephyr quickly had a concrete plan.
After all, the seasoning octopus Anya brought back was plentiful. As long as all the sauce was extracted, let alone for today's use, it could last at least half a month.
Looking at Anya again, Zephyr replied with a smile, "Since I promised Anya, I certainly won't lie to you. Let's first find a place to rest. I'll make you food then."
"Yay!" Anya cheered with joy.
Having tasted the food Zephyr cooked, this sense of anticipation far exceeded the fear of searching for mollusks deep in the forest just moments ago. Anya was full of energy even when dragging the Gourmet Creature.
As for the temporary resting place, he chose an open patch of grass. At the edge of the grass was a babbling stream, with clear water flowing past the tree roots. Looking around, there were no impurities to be found.
"Right here."
Zephyr squatted by the stream, immersing the freshly picked cream mushroom into the water, using his fingertips to carefully clean the mud remaining in the folds of the mushroom cap.
After cleaning them, Anya, Lefiya, and the others had already found firewood and set up a simple kitchen, building a stage for Zephyr to cook.