“Are you serious…?” Michael wondered with a frown.

“Yes, there is no time so hurry. I have to attack while I still look like this. If it is your sand then you will be able to keep me in his mouth.”

In fact, I didn't want to enter the fiery mouth with no protection. I might be a chef but I was only 50% resistant to flames. It was a different story if his sand helped me.

Michael opened his mouth, “You seem to know my sand well. Then can you kill him?”

“Perhaps.”

“Okay, I'll believe you.” Many words weren't necessary. He waved his hand and sand started to wrap tightly around my body like a ball. Michel controlled the sand with one hand and blocked Minotaur's attacks. “In the next 30 seconds, I'm going to throw you in his mouth. I wish you luck.”

I didn't answer. In fact, it wasn't important. My first thought was that this was what it would feel like to be buried in a coffin. I was taking a deep breath when Mudur's voice was heard.

[Kuhaha! Human, you're a crazy guy! You make me so happy! Chwiiik.]

'The madman is you, not me.'

[Kuhuhu. I'll forgive you for your words just now. But…]

'Hey, how old were you when you died?'

[Chwiik. I think I was 48 years old. Why are you asking?]

'Don't use disrespectful words when you're younger than me, rotten b.a.s.t.a.r.d.'

[Grruk. You crazy…! Chwiik!!!!!!]

'Call me big brother.'

Just then, I felt my body being lifted. Michael's voice was heard over the sand, “Go.”

A tremendous recoil was felt from the sand. I couldn't help gritting my teeth as I bounced back and forth. I felt like the bouncy ball that my grandchildren used to play with.

“Kuaaack!”

I couldn't help screaming as I felt a hot energy. I seemed to have safely entered his mouth. I was a little worn out but fortunately, I didn't have any major injuries. I started digging at the sand with the sharp wolf claws. The sand crumbled with just one kick. The moment I came out, I was met with flames.

“Whoa, it's very hot.” I only took short breaths yet I still felt a great heat. I opened the inventory straight away while sweating. “Let's see. It was here…”

I hadn't expected to use this. In fact, I was leaving it up to level 120 for insurance and hadn't expected I'd really use it here. After a short time, I was holding a staff and a book in my hand. In the steam, I started to read the book. Sweat flowed and after a while, a message emerged.

Ttiring~

[The low-grade dark magic – ‘Dark Arrow' has been learned.]

“Phew, it took a long time.”

I gazed at the staff in my other hand. I was currently holding Ragneos' Crazy Skull Staff. I had struggled with the spell stored in here but now it was my lifeline. I registered a skill as I read the item description.

Ttiring~

[The magic 'Dark Arrow' has been saved in Ragneos' Crazy Skull Staff.]

Let's get started.

“Frenzy of Darkness!”

Once the staff was inserted into the ground, dozens of dark arrows started to fly everywhere and stab at Minotaur's body from within. It was a huge number. Simultaneously, I felt my magic power draining at a high speed. I was a bit surprised because the loss was bigger than I expected.

“Huup!”

I opened my inventory and saw there were no magic power potions remaining.

[Your magic power is at 20%.]

[Your magic power is at 19%.]

[Your magic power is at 18%.]

…….

…….

However, it was still too early to give up.

“d.a.m.n, I wanted to sell this.”

I shattered the blue crystal ball in my hand. It was the Ice Golem Core that was hard to get at the North Pole.

[Cold magic power is dwelling in your body.]

 [50% of your maximum magic power is slowly being restored.]

[Your attacks will temporarily be converted to the ice attribute.]

I had obtained 30 Ice Golem Cores from the North Pole. I thought this was enough. There was just one problem. It was the weak damage of Dark Arrow. I was pus.h.i.+ng them out as fast as I could but they were unable to keep up with Minotaur's recovery rate.

“This d.a.m.n calf… yes, let's see who will win.”

Suddenly, lava flowed into the vicinity. It seemed I couldn't waste too much time. I bit my lip and opened the status window. I looked at the more than 200 acc.u.mulated stat points and couldn't help smiling. “Haaayaahh!”

[Your pure knowledge stat is over 100 points.]

[You are able to handle more magic power.]

[Your pure knowledge stat is over 200 points.]

[You can use more powerful spells.]

[Your pure knowledge is over 300 points.]

…….

In fact, I thought it was a bit of a waste. If I had invested this much stat points into strength or agility then I would be faster and stronger. Still, it wasn't bad when considering the future. Flying Weather Dance was a flying kick technique that used the power of the weather. Increasing the knowledge stat wouldn't be bad since the power of the weather would increase.

Ttiring~

[Do you want to invest these stat points?]

“Yes.”

There was a huge storm and the size and explosive power of the dark arrows increased. At the same time, Minotaur's health was rapidly diminis.h.i.+ng. Minotaur's pained voice rang out, “Kuweeeeeoh! What is this?!”

There was a cavernous roar and I tilted to the side at the same time. It seemed Minotaur had fallen down because of the unbearable pain. A large amount of lava filled the area around me. I started screaming and scratching. “Ohhhhhh!”

Now it is a fight against time. Minotaur had less than 10% health left. The battle was whether the lava would melt my body first or whether the dark arrows emerging from the staff would kill Minotaur first. Still, I had no intention of just taking it.

[Cold poison is permeating Minotaur's body.]

Fortunately, the power of cold poison still remained. I was constantly ripping at Minotaur's flesh and indiscriminately attacked using the dark and ice attributes. The lava touched my body but I just swung my claws around in a trance. It wasn't something that could be avoided using Spider Climbing. Frenzy of Darkness would soon be cancelled.

[Lava has touched your foot.]

[You have 50% fire resistance.]

[This will be changed to sustained damage per second.]

[Your remaining health is 60%.]

[Your remaining health is 59.5%.]

[Your remaining health is 59%.]

…….

…….

[Minotaur of the Scorching Heat has 7% health remaining]

s.h.i.+t, I was losing health. If I had known this, I would've increased my fitness stat. It was like my fire of life was ticking like a clock. There was bad news among the messages.

[Ragneos' Crazy Skull Staff has been destroyed.]

“…Bulls.h.i.+t.”

The staff that had constantly sent out dark arrows dissolved in the lava. At the same time, I felt a decrease in firepower. Minotaur's health was slowly recovering while mine was now less than 40%.

[Grruruk. Hey, I'll help you. How about turning it over to me?]

If I could, I would've done so. However, I had no idea how to do this.

“d.a.m.n b.a.s.t.a.r.d. If you can do it then try.”

[Hahaha, okay. Chwiik!]

What? Was he really planning to take over my body? Mudur cried out like he was working hard. I gulped at the situation but there was only silence. Nothing happened.

[ …… ]

“……”

Mudur said, [Cough, I think I'm a bit tired today so let's do it next time.]

“You can't do it?”

[No!! Chwiiik! I am the emperor of the great orc empire, Leica…]

“Useless.” I clicked my tongue and continued swinging my claws. Nevertheless, Minotaur's health kept recovering.

[Minotaur of the Scorching Heat has his health restored by 1%.]

“s.h.i.+t. If I knew this, I wouldn't have used the spider venom in my cooking.”

If I hadn't used it previously, I could've killed Minotaur much more easily. The moment I entered here, I would've released the poison. However, it was too late to regret. What would 'he' say at this time? What if it was Prometheus, who always helped me and offered advice? No, he would just flick a booger. I missed him. He often dug at his nose and made his nostrils uneven, but I was able to regain my sense of reason when I remembered that ugly man.

“Yes, it is too early to give up.”

Camille would be disappointed if she saw me like this. Prometheus had sacrificed himself to save me.

I opened my skill window to see if there were any skills that could help me attack. Unfortunately, there were no such skills.

“d.a.m.n those developers. Who says a chef can't hunt?”

This time, my face was dark as I opened the items window. I scanned the window with a tense expression. I wondered if there was anything that could help. Once again, there was nothing that could help me…

“Wait. This?”

[Alexus' Fork Spoon]

[Rating: Legend

Durability: 300/300

Wearer Restrictions: Limited to a chef cla.s.s.

Attack Power: 1~1

Workmans.h.i.+p stat +50, sensory stat +50

-Gourmet's Eyes (Active) (Cooldown Time: 30 minutes)

Use a hawk's eyes to identify the target's food ingredients. No target can escape a gourmet's eyes.

A fork spoon made from 'Elbaprium,' one of the legendary giant materials.

Alexus, former king of Atlan, was an innovative thinker who combined a fork with a spoon.

Text was written at the end of the handle.

“A chef has nothing to fear from fire” — Alexus A.]

Yes, there was this…

To anyone else, it would look like an ordinary spoon. However, this wasn't an ordinary spoon. This was Alexus' culinary battle gear. I quickly equipped the spoon and summoned Solar.

“Hehe! Master has called… Oof!”

“I'm sorry. There is no time.”

I pushed the spoon straight into Solar's mouth. Then the spoon started becoming bigger. I read Alexus' words at the end of the handle.

“A chef has nothing to fear from fire.”

This was a very important statement. It was because the essence of this fork spoon started with fire.

Ttiring~

[The item's hidden features are revealed and some of the information has changed!]

[Alexus' Fork Spoon will change to Alexus' Fork Spear!]

[The hidden skill, 'Chef's Wrath,' is created.]

I pulled out a spear of swirling fire.

“This is the second round, you f.u.c.ker.”