Into The Portal: Monster Invasion

Chapter 62: Uncle Raynold

Miles left the arena and virtual machine, but what he didn't know was, people, spectating his match after deciding to punish him because of his arrogant name, were flustered after the result.

Unbeatable, was a master ambusher and he was really unbeatable at his tier. He had more than 100 games which were all wins and rarely a few draws.

People at first joined the audience because of 'the Real Marooner', but later they wanted to see how 'Thousand kills in Thousand miles' would get his ass kicked. But to their surprise, the unbeatable ambusher lost to the new guy.

At this time, Miles already left the machine and started to talk with Coin. Because the machine was designed to take the person's mind to the virtual world, wristwatches weren't able to enter. But if the user wanted, they could connect their AI wristwatches to the machine. Miles refrained from doing so because he wanted to avoid Mother AI. So, when he left the virtual machine, he started to speak to Coin about what he had experienced.

"Elemental vision, even though it sounds magical, is reasonable. Electromagnetic vision also sounds useful, but since you weren't able to activate it, we can just wait." Coin said after Miles told him what happened in the virtual world.

"We have to wait and see. They are all supporting abilities, thus they don't have any direct effect on my strength, but since they are allowing me to see enemies and traps easily." Miles thought out loud. The elemental vision allowed him to see the traps, otherwise, he would lose the battle. But the eyes themselves did not affect the battle.

Miles left the machine and yawned. Signing up, and two battles took nearly 2 hours, and he felt hungry. He walked down to the kitchen to eat something. As a mansion of one of the three Generals of the only nation on Earth, it had all the necessities one could hope for. Just the size of the mansion was tens of times bigger than Miles's new apartment. Of course, there were maids, gardeners, and cooks working around the clock.

The head cook of the mansion has never changed ever since Miles was born. Uncle Raynold was homeless when Mercer brought him out from the streets and gave him a job even when he was just a regular veteran. At the time monsters hadn't invaded the Earth, and Mercer wasn't a high-ranking officer. After the monster invasion and Superpower Awakening Serum, Mercer, with his channels, fixed one for Raynold so he could awaken a superpower and build a life for himself. Because at the time, even Mercer didn't know what would happen to him.

But to everyone's surprise, the power Raynold awakened was 'Sensitive Smell', allowing him to smell better. Because it was directly related to taste, with his new superpowers, Raynold became an even better cook than he was before. He could mix ingredients in such a way that brings out the best tastes.

He became the best chef of the world overnight, and almost all of the families wanted to hire him, but he stood with Mercer and refused to leave his side even when he was promised richness and luxury. He was with the Cruel Heart ever since and could be the only living example of Mercer Cross's good side.

As Mercer's old friend and loyal follower, Raynold had a special place in the mansion. He was a nice man and all the three kids grew up in his hands, so everyone loved him. He was also a great cook and loved to cook.

Miles entered the kitchen and saw the man with a big belly. His face was covered with a thick white beard, and he had a cook hat over his head. He had a red apron over his big belly and looked like Santa. He smelled the air and looked at the door.

"Hah! I knew it was you, Miles!" He said excitedly as he made his way to Miles and hugged him. Miles could hardly wrap his hand around the man, but he was happy nonetheless.

"Uncle Raynold, how are you doing?" Miles asked with a smile.

"All good, all good. Look at you, you are as thin as a rake. You were probably skipping lots of meals." Raynold said as he looked at Miles with pity.

"I am fine, Uncle Raynold. But I am indeed hungry. Especially to your cooking." Miles said with a beaming smile.

"Now, that is more like it. Sit, sit. I will cook you something in a jiff." Raynold said as he opened the freezer and got out a giant steak. "This is meat from E-Circle. It will be good for your body. Sadly, your body can't handle anything higher."

"Oh, why is that?" Miles asked curiously. He had just learned from his father that monster meats were good for the body, especially after awakening the energy. Now that he got a clue, he didn't want to miss it. "Also I didn't know we had monster meat in the house."

"Well, monsters are filled with life energy that can stimulate the body. The higher their tier, the more energy in their meat. But like how a small child can't eat a whole sheep, you as a low-tier hunter can't eat a high-tier monster. Otherwise, it would tire your body instead of helping it.

We used to cook only lower tiers, and you were eating them ever since you were small. I think you just didn't know it." Raynold explained.

'I see. Even though Uncle Raynold's cooking is first grade, the ingredients he was using were also first grade. After all, anything in the Portal World is much tastier than their counterparts on Earth.'

"I see. So, what happens to the energy in the meat, after we consume them?" Miles asked.

"It goes into your body and gives you strength. Superpowers are miracles of energy, and as far as I know, even the awakening serums are just highly condensed energies pushing open the clogged stream. Once opened, superpowers are also awakened." Raynold explained in uncertainty.

"There are also other ways of using the energy, but I am not proficient in them. Mercer tried to teach me, but I am not good at those karate thingies."

"So, what about those without any superpowers. What happens to energy then?" Miles asked.

Raynold dropped what he was doing, and looked at Miles pitifully. "That, I do not know. You have to ask the missus about it. I heard she was working on that for a while."

"Now, the meal is ready, sit," Raynold ordered and brought the smoking food. Steak with some spring onions and spices Miles couldn't identify. The steak was medium and bloody liquid was seeping through it. Miles cut a piece and brought it into his mouth. Just the smell was enough to fascinate him, but when he took the first bite, he felt like a bomb of zest exploded in his mouth. The taste was so great, he wanted to savor it for the rest of his life.