PftA Book 2 - Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – Foodie Focus

Having sworn the oath and effectively joined the sect, I didn’t see much need to spend what little free time I had pretending to be part of the sect. However, with my new focus on creating a magical meal replicator, I was motivated enough to use the resources of the virtual sect to obtain materials to work with during the design and virtual testing phases.

To save time, I had Lisa cross-reference the materials available in-game with what I’d seen available through Atlas merchants. It severely restricted what I could work with, but there was no reason to design something impossible to recreate in the physical world.

My slowly increasing proficiency with Time magic allowed me to make better use of my work hours, highlighting the purpose behind Master Kairos’s insistence that my contract change to one based on performance instead of time. The added efficiency allowed me to spend a lot more time focused on my side project, which was great since I was extra motivated to preserve access to all the delicious foods of Earth.

Anytime I felt like my focus or drive was wavering, I took a quick trip somewhere and sampled some of the local cuisine. It worked without fail, and my inner foodie ensured my motivation was promptly restored.

Within a month, I was ready to test my first prototype in the real world.

“Didn’t your school friend make something similar for the tournament?” Artificer Vasilla asked as she examined the completed device. I hadn’t tried to hide my project from her, but I also hadn’t actively shared it, either. I had asked permission to use my workstation for a personal project, which was practically an invitation to the curious woman.

“She did, but it required the exact ingredients. Her’s basically just compiled and cooked everything,” I said, being careful not to sound too critical. Jun’s creation was amazing, especially for someone with limited Enchanting experience. Explaining the differences further, I said, “I’m leaning much heavier on [Transmute] to change the molecular structure of the starting material to match the desired recipe.”

Vasilla picked up the box lined with void-attuned leather. I’d had a hard time sourcing the material, but luckily, a trip to the newly tiered-up Space-dominant rift had provided the material I needed. No longer were the majority of the mobs flyers. With the increase in tier, the bats in the first portion of the rift had shifted to ratoles – a weird amalgamation of rat and mole.

Of course, that wasn’t what they were actually called, but it was what I called them.

The leather from the ratoles was amazingly durable. And luckily, Void variants were fairly common. It only took one delve to obtain enough material for my first prototype.

“You know we have something like this already. It’s pricey, and the number of recipes it can hold is limited, but a meal-creation machine already exists in the Alliance. It’s even patented, so nobody can make anything similar…”

I looked at my crafting mentor and rolled my eyes. “It’s a good thing Earth isn’t part of the Alliance yet, then. Besides, they can hardly claim I stole their design if I haven’t encountered this machine before,” I said. And it was true. Even in the other timeline, I’d never seen a device like the one I had created. It must have been really expensive.

“Even if it was, you’d be able to make the devices, just not sell them. Since you are working from scratch, your design may be sufficiently different and not violate the patient. However, you’d need to submit for a patient right away. Otherwise, you’ll likely find your design incorporated into the existing one,” Vasilla said seriously.

“I understand. Thanks for the warning,” I said as I considered the woman’s description of my potential future competitor’s device. “What I don’t get is why anyone would buy their device if it can only make a few dishes. I’d understand if food was scarce, but for rich people, it doesn’t make sense.”

“Oh, they can change the recipes. It just costs extra every time a new recipe is swapped in. And the old recipes don’t remain stored, so if they want to make something they’ve already removed from the device, they have to pay to obtain the recipe again. It’s still cheaper than a restaurant, though…”

During our discussion, I’d checked over the device for a third time. I was confident it would work – it had in my VPS – but I needed to test it. Having surprisingly few cooked meal options stored in my ring since I’d eaten through most of my stock while holed up in my office, I decided to head to the cafeteria most of the real Atlas employees used.

I’d only gone there a few times since others started awakening. After my awkward conversation with Xavier, I’d mostly avoided the place to keep from running into him or any of the others. However, today, I was making an exception. Besides, my displayed level hadn’t changed, so he’d probably assume I was a nobody crafter even if he saw me.

Being inconspicuous had its advantages.

As I approached the front of the line, I saw the display advertising Space-attuned options among those offered. While eating foods with different attunements was fine, more benefits were available by eating foods that aligned with one’s affinities. I was pretty sure it had to do with how easy it was for the body to absorb the extra mana, but that was mostly a guess.

I selected the Space poultry I suspected came from the last set of opponents in the Space rift. I had several portions of raw meat in my storage from my recent delve but hadn’t gotten around to cooking any of it yet.

The two sides were basic – rice and beans that looked and tasted similar to steamed green beans, though they were a dull red-orange color. I wanted to stick with simple options for my first test since I wasn’t sure how much space the recipe would take in the crystal I used to house most of the enchantment.

I placed the covered dish in my ring and headed toward my office. Xavier was sitting with two other people, a male and a female, at a table next to the exit. Pretending not to see him, I rushed past, ignoring the sound of my name being called from behind. Maybe it was a little rude, but I had things to do. Even if I didn’t, I still wouldn’t want to stop and chat.

I was a social enough person. I spent time with friends and family at least once a week. That didn’t mean I had to interact with everyone. Government spies definitely seemed like the type to avoid, especially given what I knew.

At least they couldn’t really keep me somewhere I don’t want to be. I doubted they had anti-teleportation formations set up yet. Even if they did, it was unlikely a Tier One formation would hold me, given my training. I also couldn’t see Atlas handing over Tier Two materials just yet. I wouldn’t even need the escape bracelet Master Kairos gave me.

Still, there was no reason to tempt fate by interacting with the alphabet agents too much. Was I being paranoid? Probably. But Rhona had warned me for a reason. It would be foolish to ignore that.

Returning to the testing room between my office and Vasilla’s, I removed the covered plate from storage and placed the newly uncovered meal into the device. Within moments, Vasilla entered the shared space to watch the test.

The device was silent as it activated. The only indication it worked was the lightly glowing crystal and the draw on my mana. While there were several embedded mana cores within the arrays layered into the device, it wasn’t enough to fuel the process. Part of the problem was the low-tier materials I was using. At least the meal wasn’t overly complex. I suspected had I picked something with more ingredients, the draw would have been even more significant.

As it was, creating and storing the recipe took a quarter of my mana pool. That was more than teleporting three people across the world! There were undoubtedly some pretty significant inefficiencies involved.

When the light from the crystal faded, Vasilla disconnected it from the device and closed her eyes as she probed the core of the device. The internal box and all the extra materials were largely supplementary to my design. The bulk of the magic was done in the crystal my mentor was now holding.

“Something is in there. I’m unsure about the format you used,” she said after finishing her examination. “Shall we give it a try? I can use my mana since you’re looking a bit drained,” she offered.

My crafting mentor wasn’t wrong. Dropping a quarter of one’s mana pool quickly was a lot like sprinting, except the fatigue wasn’t physical.

After removing the plate of still-steaming food from the device, she placed a bowl containing discarded bits of crafting materials into the device. With swift motions, she returned the crystal to its place in the device and began injecting mana into the rune to begin the transformation process.

“It looks the same,” Vasilla said as she removed the finished product from the device. Gone were the bowl and castoff materials. In their place was a plate of steaming food nearly identical to the one she’d removed.

I used Identify, but it showed no difference between the meals. The transmuted items did not show up as different from the originals in any way.

“Now we compare,” my mentor said, handing me a fork. I quickly tested various bits from both plates. The original was delicious, while the recreation was only…okay. It was certainly edible, but there was nothing really appealing about the flavors.

“I don’t understand,” I said with a frown. “Everything should be the same. Why does it taste so different?”

“Perhaps it has to do with the mana?” Vasilla said, prompting me to examine the dishes more closely with Mana Sight. I immediately noticed a difference between the two plates.

“The new one doesn’t have mana.”

“It does, but not much. And what it does have is nothing like what is in the original,” my mentor clarified.

“I wonder if I use similar base materials like Jun did…” I pulled out an uncooked piece of meat. “I have the protein, but not the sides. I can put something else in their place?” I looked to my former teacher for guidance.

“I’m just here for support and mana. You don’t want me involved any more than that. Trust me.”

I nodded and placed a new batch of ingredients into the device. “I’ll power it this time. It should be fine,” I said when Vasilla moved to inject her mana into the [Transform] rune. It was slightly different from [Transmute], which was also included as an internal component of the enchantment.

Activating the device, I focused on the meal I wanted the device to create. It was easy since there was only one option.

This time, when the crystal stopped glowing, the meal inside had an intangible difference in how it felt compared to the previous iteration. We compared the meals again, finding the newest one was much closer to the original, both in taste and mana content.

It was progress, but it was disappointing nonetheless. I didn’t want to have to use the original materials – or related items – to get a good product. I wanted to be able to fill the machine with dirt and get a gourmet meal.

Perhaps not that extreme, but it really was no different from any other non-food base material.

I tested the device a few more times using different starting materials but was ultimately left with more questions than ideas. The design had worked fine in-game. It really should have worked.

“This is why we test everything in the physical world instead of just assuming things that worked in the simulation will perform the same way in real life. The simulation is imperfect, especially where mana is concerned,” the Artificer reminded me.

Resolute, I used the headset in my office to access my VPS. I had some modifications to make and test.