ʟᴏᴠᴇ ɪɴᴅᴇx

(3.0%) - ᴄʀᴇsᴄᴇɴᴛ

The sizzling noises of the tofu sitting in my larger-than-usual pan filled the kitchen along with an appetizing scent of garlic and soy sauce marinade. A sigh escaped my pinkish lips as I glanced down at the golden-brown food in the pan, ready to be served and eaten. It was a bigger portion than usual, befitting of a meal for two people, rather than just one.

Since my mom was always a very busy person and rarely ever came home by dinner time, I was used to cooking for myself. This time however, I was preparing food for two people - but not because my mom was there with me, but because there was one of the newest additions to my family in her stead.

"Oh, you're making dinner today again?" The familiar voice belonging to my new brother rang through the room.

I nodded, turning off the stove and gesturing towards the dinner table. "It's ready, please have a seat."

He grinned and plopped himself down on a chair that was opposite to the one I usually occupied. I carefully placed the pan onto the table and quickly wiped the area around the stove before returning to my seat.

"Wow, we really don't need the maids with you here", Karma claimed without even looking up from his plate as he shoved a generous amount of food onto my plate before filling up his own plate. I ignored his weird compliment - if one could even call it that - and instead took note of how he served me first before himself. I knew Karma was a good person at heart, even though his record of constantly violating the school rules makes it seem otherwise - but I was still surprised at this kind gesture, which was something I wasn't used to him doing.

"That was very kind of you,Karma.Thank you", I said quietly, feeling too awkward for some reason to look him in the eyes while conveying my thanks. He seemed a bit taken aback at first, not knowing what I was referring to, until I pointed to my plate that was now filled with grilled tofu and vegetables.

"Ahh", he let out a quiet hum in understanding and immediately waved it off, saying that it was nothing to fuss over. Which was true, but I guess Karma's usual behavior set the bar so low that even something like this was worth a lot of praise.

We thanked no one in particular for the food before grabbing our chopsticks and digging in. If I had to say, I once again did very well on my cooking, having fried the tofu just right. Although the reason behind it was sad, I guess having to make dinner and prepare meals for oneself all throughout the past year really did a good job in raising my cooking skills.

On the subject of cooking skills, another thing I discovered about the system was the "Skill Tree". It was basically exactly what it sounded like, a network of different "skills" that are connected to each other by so-called branches that can be passed by fulfilling certain requirements. The most common being reaching a certain level of proficiency in a certain category, such as cooking or writing. This could be done by simply practicing the respective skill and gaining levels and skill points along the way. These points could then be exchanged for new skills, like learning how to steam vegetables or write poems. It was all quite intriguing.

So far, I've only really managed to raise skills related to studying, such as writing, language learning and logical thinking, and cooking skills. While I did have gym class in school, I never really had the motivation to practice any of the sports we were doing outside of classes, therefore not raising my expertise in these categories by a lot.

'Come to think of it, wasn't there such a thing as weapon mastery in the Skill Tree as well...?'

I quickly took a glance at Karma, who was busy scrolling through his phone all the while munching on the food I prepared. I smiled at the sight, seeing as he seemed somewhat happy eating dinner with me, even though he didn't show it. I was sure that if Karma had the system I had, he would most likely have a very high proficiency in martial arts and handling weapons, especially knives.