Chapter 127: Free to Stay or Leave After a Year

In his eyes, this book was nothing more than a cookbook, a secret recipe, or some sort of culinary manual...

""Is this a family heirloom recipe? Or a secret cooking manual?"" Mek waved his hand impatiently as he spoke. ""I've got plenty of things like that. If that's all you have to offer, it's not enough to interest me.""

In fact, ""plenty"" didn't even begin to describe Mek's collection of cookbooks. After all, as a high-level mage, anything he wanted would be delivered to him by people eager to curry favor.

They would do anything to build a connection, hoping Mek would help them out.

Mek knew exactly what their motives were, so he never accepted anything for free. If someone brought him something he was interested in, he would buy it at a price above market value.

He was willing to collect these things, but he didn't want to owe anyone favors for them—let alone ""sell himself"" to a territory over such things.

""It's not a recipe, and it's not a manual. This is a cooking skill book."" Su You flipped the book over, showing Mek the bold title: ""Advanced Cooking Skill Book.""

Mek was stunned for a moment, then suddenly reached out, trying to snatch the book from Su You's hands.

Su You had expected Mek to get excited, but she hadn't thought he'd get this worked up. Still, she let go, allowing him to take the skill book, while stopping Lyle from intervening.

Mek turned the skill book over and over in his hands, examining it closely. Once he was sure it was genuine and not some disguised book, he clutched it tightly, unwilling to let go.

""Name your price. I'll buy this skill book."" Mek wanted the advanced cooking skill book badly, but he still had his own calculations.

After all, Su You had made it clear that she wanted to use this book to recruit him, but Mek was trying to buy it with money instead.

Although Su You was short on cash, Mek himself was far more valuable to her than money.

Recruiting a mage of his caliber at this point in time—especially knowing his limitless potential—was an opportunity money couldn't buy.

""I'm not selling this book. I'm only using it for recruitment."" Su You shook her head, rejecting Mek's attempt to buy the advanced cooking skill book.

Even though the book was now in his hands, since he'd snatched it from Su You, its ownership still belonged to her. In other words, Mek couldn't learn from it unless Su You agreed to give it to him.

That's why Su You dared to bring out the skill book in the first place. She knew Mek would probably try to grab it, but she also knew he couldn't use it without her consent.

Hearing Su You's firm response, Mek frowned.

""If it's not money you want, name anything else. I can agree to anything."" Mek really didn't want to join a territory. To him, joining a territory meant restrictions, and it would interfere with his pursuit of culinary excellence.

He was a man determined to seek out the world's finest cuisine and apprentice himself to the God of Cooking!

Su You stared at him for a few seconds. She didn't say anything, but her meaning was clear—she wanted him to stay and join the territory.

""If this is too difficult for you, then forget it. Please return the advanced cooking skill book to me, and I'll find someone else who's willing to stay for it."" The tactic was old-fashioned, but it didn't matter if it was new or not—as long as it worked.

At this point, Mek's face was twisted in agony. Not just his face—even his heart felt twisted with indecision.

""Fine! I'll join the territory, but I'll only stay for two years. After that, I'm leaving."" Mek thought long and hard before finally coming up with a compromise.

He could join the territory, but there was no way he'd be trapped in this small place forever.

Two years wasn't too long or too short. For the sake of the advanced cooking skill book, he'd cooperate and follow all her reasonable arrangements.

Mek had even thought, if Su You didn't agree, he could extend it to three years. If she still didn't agree, then he would... he would...

Mek looked at the skill book in his hands, his conflicted heart aching.

If three years wasn't enough, then five years would be his limit. If she still refused, then even if it broke his heart to give up the skill book, he would just walk away.

But things didn't go quite as Mek had imagined.

""If you let it go today, you only need to stay for one year."" Su You pointed at the black snake that Mek had instinctively tossed to the ground when he grabbed the skill book.

Mek was stunned.

He never expected the lord to voluntarily reduce the term by a year just for a snake.

Honestly, Mek didn't really care about killing the snake or not.

The black snake's taunts were annoying, but it wasn't like he had to kill it. Besides, now that he had the advanced cooking skill book (no, you don't), becoming the God of Cooking was only a matter of time. On the path to culinary greatness, there would always be obstacles and doubters—he didn't need to worry about it.

Whether to kill the snake for revenge or stay an extra year wasn't a hard choice for Mek. But he was a little worried Su You might regret it.

""Are you sure?"" Mek looked at Su You suspiciously, worried she might have some other scheme.

Su You nodded. ""Let the black snake go, and you only need to stay in the territory for one year. After that, you're free to stay or leave as you wish.""

At that moment, Mek didn't notice that Su You had said ""free to stay or leave,"" not ""leave after a year."" She said it because she was confident that after a year in the territory, Mek would have no intention of leaving.

And even if he did leave, it wouldn't matter. By then, the territory wouldn't be lacking a high-level mage.

But as for Mek, he never imagined—nor could he believe—that there would come a day when he'd actually want to stay... Yet, that's exactly what happened a year later.

But that's a story for another time...

""Alright, it's a deal. You can handle the black snake yourself."" With that, Mek found a corner, squatted down, and started reading the skill book, not caring at all about maintaining the dignity of a high-level mage.

At the same time, as Mek spoke, a familiar system notification sounded in Su You's ear:

[Advanced Fire Mage Domno Mek has applied to join your territory. Please check and process the application promptly.]

(End of chapter)"

"128. Bandages

[Kind Reminder: Due to territory level restrictions, higher-level NPCs will have their skill levels sealed after joining your territory. This seal can be lifted by upgrading your territory or by using certain materials and items at the Profession Hall.]

Su You quickly reviewed Meck’s information and then agreed to let him join.

As soon as she agreed, Meck seemed to sense something. He stood there in a daze for a few seconds, then quickly reverted to his usual impatient self.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry! I want to learn skills!”

“Alright, alright, go ahead and learn.” Su You handed him the advanced cooking skill book, letting him read and learn as he pleased. Meanwhile, she bent down and picked up the black snake again.

‘Why did you save me? Wouldn’t it be better to let that guy guard your home for another year?’ The black snake felt conflicted.

No one wants to die, and it was no exception. It had already resigned itself to death, only to find itself suddenly saved by a human who looked completely powerless.

And the price for saving it… Although the black snake didn’t like Meck, it knew very well what a high-level mage meant in the human world.

Because it understood, it couldn’t quite figure out why this human would do such a thing.

But Su You had no intention of explaining. She simply brought the snake to her workshop.

She set the black snake aside, took two items from a wooden box, and placed them on her workbench.

[Do you want to use Cloth Scraps*3 and Hundred-Flower Herb*1 to craft Bandages*3?]

[Crafting: Bandages*3. Estimated time: 300 seconds.]

Bandages, much like basic healing potions, are among the most common and frequently used medicines in the early stages and can be used to restore health.

The difference is that the Hundred-Flower Herb used in bandages can only be applied externally, so it can’t replace Red Herb in making basic healing potions. Also, bandages only work if there are external wounds; if there are none, they won’t restore health.

So, while the two are similar, the differences are quite clear.

During the five-minute crafting time, Su You took out some bark-based paper and a feather pen she’d made earlier, then started writing and sketching on the paper… The black snake didn’t know what she was doing, but didn’t bother to ask.

In just a few minutes, Su You had filled the paper with writing.

She couldn’t help it—so much had happened today that she needed to take some time to organize her thoughts… Double disasters, the treasure chest exploded, and she’d only just sealed the monster spawn cage. Today was just one disaster after another.

Nothing but bad luck!

Su You took a deep breath, then began reviewing the notes she’d written, checking if anything needed to be revised or added—

First, she’d sealed the monster spawn cage this morning. The seal would last five days, so on the twelfth day of the datafied world, she’d have to bring people over in advance to prepare.

At a rate of about 25 ghost skeletons spawning per day, five days would mean 125 of them. Fortunately, after sealing, the spawn rate drops by 30%, so in reality, she’d be facing about 90 ghost skeletons after five days.

…That’s about a third less than before, but it’s still a lot. Still, now she’d recruited Meck, Duoya was also a skilled fighter, and Lyle and Lake weren’t bad either.

Currently, her territory had five people including herself, and four of them were combat-capable. With this setup, as long as nothing unexpected happened, dealing with the monster spawn cage shouldn’t be a big problem.

Second, regarding the dark creatures’ attack on the tenth day—it was now day seven, so she had less than three days to prepare.

The dark creatures would attack in two waves: one at dawn on the tenth day, and another late at night on the same day.

If the attack mechanism was the same as before, each wave should have about 10–20 dark creatures, with at least one elite among them.

But as before, since her combat power was sufficient, it shouldn’t be too hard to handle.

Third, the double disasters.

Now, the possible types of disasters had been narrowed down to locust plague, drought, flood, acid rain, and one more: Forest Frenzy.

There were three possible combinations of these disasters: