CHAPTER 757: GWEN’S COOKING

"Good~ Morning~! Did you sleep well? Any dreams? Or were you not used to the bed?" Gwen was loud in the morning, storming into Kaia’s room as she groggily opened her eyes.

She was still half dressed in what she was wearing last night as Gwen let out a sigh.

"Kaia. . . You can’t just sleep like that. It’ll waste the clothes I got for you. Plus, they’re also dirty from all the sparring." Gwen folded her arms.

Kaia sat up, yawning with the blanket draped over her head.

There was no energy in her eyes as she was still trying to wake up properly.

Seeing this, Gwen curved her lips up into a teasing smile.

"Fufu~ Defenceless Kaia. Are you trying to make me do something to you?" Gwen chuckled, leaning towards Kaia.

But to her surprise, Kaia was the first to make a move. She wrapped her arms around Gwen’s waist and nuzzled against the stomach for a moment before going back to sleep.

Gwen froze up. She didn’t expect this kind of reaction.

Seeing as how Kaia went back to sleep immediately, she realised that she must not be a morning person after all.

"Jeez, this stray cat’s such a handful." Gwen smiled, climbing onto the bed and making herself comfortable while Kaia continued to sleep.

###

*Yawn~

Kaia let out a yawn along with a good stretch.

Usually, Ria or someone else would be the ones to wake her up for her dreaded early mornings but this time it wasn’t the case.

In fact, she didn’t even feel Gwen’s Vision on her.

Feeling rather refreshed, she went to climb off the bed.

"Hya~"

"!!!"

Freezing on the spot, Kaia slowly turned around with Gwen on her bed, half dressed and staring at her with tender eyes.

"ARHHHG!!! Why are you in my bed?!?!" Kaia stumbled back, falling on the floor while Gwen burst out in laughter while putting parts of her clothes back on.

"Technically, this is my room and my bed. I simply let you stay the night after all. And second, I tried to wake you up earlier but you clung onto my waist so tightly I couldn’t bear to wake you up." Gwen wiped her tears of laughter away while climbing out of bed.

"Still! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Kaia grumbled in annoyance while Gwen held back her laugh.

The way Kaia jumped up reminded her exactly of a startled cat.

"Hais~ And I thought people would rejoice from waking up to a half dressed cutie pie like myself." Gwen sighed with a shrug.

"Maybe if they’re expecting it!"

"Semantics. I wouldn’t scream like that if you were to climb into my bed at night instead." Gwen winked with Kaia getting goosebumps once more.

"Can you not? It’s so early in the morning." Kaia groaned.

"Morning? It’s afternoon. I would suggest some breakfast but it’s more lunch by this point."

Leaving the room, Gwen tied her hair up into a ponytail and grabbed an apron.

"Do you have any issues with seafood?" Gwen asked as Kaia got dressed properly in some casual clothing instead of the uniform.

A plain white t-shirt with a pair of loose shorts. That was all she decided to wear.

Plopping herself down on the sofa, Kaia crossed her legs.

"Princess, I live by the port. Do you think I’d be against seafood?" Kaia rolled her eyes.

"No harm in asking, you never know what people might be allergic to." Gwen replied without turning around.

Since Kaia didn’t mind seafood, she had just the meal in mind.

It might be a little. . . heavy for the first meal but some adjustments could be made.

Grabbing a small knife, she pulled out an assortment of frozen seafood that had been kept in her fridge.

Kaia watched silently.

Compared to the chefs that she saw in taverns and restaurants, Gwen felt more refined and focused on her work. Rather than a chef, she felt more like an artist, putting her desires into her work.

The way she gripped the knife, how she carefully held the ingredients.

Everything was done meticulously.

She laid out the rows of shrimp, scallops and lobster tails.

Slice, flick, arrange.

Slice, flick, arrange.

Gwen worked at speeds that were a direct result of countless hours of practice.

A rhythm.

And instead of using a recipe book or something that she wrote down, she simply worked off instinct.

Pulling out a large fish, she grabbed a long thin fillet knife and stripped away the bones with ease.

’Too much acid and the scallops lose their tenderness.’ She thought to herself while preparing the lemons.

A handful of sea salt, some pepper, garlic and butter.

In her drawer were a delicate arrangement of different spices.

*Tzzzz!

Heating up a pan with her own fire, she brushed a layer of oil over the surface and added a dash of seasoning, some sauce and a few other ingredients from jars that she had already prepared.

Whatever she took out was placed back carefully.

Kaia found herself mesmerised by the proficiency of her actions. The care in her eyes as she worked with the food.

It was clear that Gwen took great care in making sure everything was as good as it could be.

She arranged the shrimp in a spiral pattern, their tails arching like petals. Scallops placed the outer ring and the lobster tails, the main focus, went into the centre. Its shell split and fanned out, showcasing the tender white flesh within the shell.

Seeing Gwen being so busy with cooking, Kaia didn’t want to interrupt the process and made her way to the windows that overlooked the city.

She decided to use this time to try and figure out how Gwen was able to spread her ’Vision’ to the rest of the city.

Kaia felt as though the key was the ’eye’ in the sky that she felt. Like a chess player gazing down at the chessboard, the feeling of simply being one of many as the player took control.

How did she do it?

There was one hint that she got though.

That the Zone was the foundation to Vision.

Zone was to push your senses to their maximum output, to observe your surroundings based on the range of attack that you can accomplish. The reach of your weapon, the reach of your spells.

’Was it Emission? No, it didn’t quite feel like a spell either.’

Casting style – Emission, was one that has the user project Abyssal Energy outwards to form an ability.

Streaks of fire, ice arrows and so on were all methods of Emission.

Meanwhile, the ’Vision’ wasn’t quite a manifestation of power. It’s perception, observation, the understanding of one’s surroundings but to a higher degree.

How?

Kaia expanded her Zone and Gwen noticed but didn’t do anything about it.

’Was it Channelling?’

The channelling method uses the body as a conduit, reinforcing the mortal shell. To enhance what’s already there.

But that wasn’t quite accurate either since the source would still be her rather than an ’eye’ in the sky looking down.

’It’s not quite projection or channelling nor is it binding. Transmutation is definitely a no. Invocation?’

Was Gwen ’summoning’ something to use as an anchor?

That’s not quite right either.

Even though she felt as though the source came from the sky, nothing was there that could’ve possibly acted as an anchor.

Kaia wasn’t sure how long she was stuck in this moment.

The back and forth of suggesting ideas, finding their flaws then shutting it down.

The boundaries of her Zone fluctuating back and forth, expanding and contracting.

The levels of focus, condensed within certain parts, loose in others.

Yet she was still missing one thing to make this entire thing click.

One thing to make it work.

How did Shiera, how did Gwen, figure out a way to project their observation into a ’Vision’ that encompasses the entire city?

How did they manage to do so without the use of any of Yvael’s casting methods?

Knowing how Shiera was a master of the Zone stance, Kaia could reasonably assume that this was a creation of the Apostle that took countless years to master.

But for her, she just needed one hint. One clue, one key.

A spark of inspiration.

The ignition of her ideas.

She needed one more push-

*Clack

The sound of food being placed on the table broke Kaia’s concentration and the walls of her boundary crumbled apart.

There was a deep light of frustration in her eyes as she let out a deep sigh.

"Are you in that much of a hurry to get away from me? Take your time. Even for me, it took along while before I could even approach this ’Vision’." Gwen smiled, gesturing for Kaia to come over to the table.

"Not really. It’s just. . . I feel like I’m this close to getting it. The lock is already partially open, I just need one moment to give it a good tug and it’ll just- open. Ya know?" Kaia sighed.

"Of course I do. I went through exactly the same thing. Though~ If I were to give you a hint, it wouldn’t benefit you. Vision is. . . something you have to discover yourself otherwise it won’t truly be the same." Gwen rested her chin on her palms with a small smile.

"Just tell me you’re feeling a bit stingy and want to bully me around a bit more." Kaia rolled her eyes.

"Perhaps~ Now come on, give this a try. Tell me what you think." Gwen chuckled, gesturing to the pot of sea food that she cooked up.

Grabbing a piece using a fork, Kaia took a bite and froze up.

This flavor. . . The tenderness of the lobster and the slight hint of. . . alcohol.

Kaia closed her eyes, savoring every last moment.

Seeing this, a wide smiled appeared on Gwen’s face. She couldn’t hold it back, seeing someone eat her cooking and enjoying this much.

She had studied culinary for her dad as he kept eating rations or whatever was given to him.

Not once have they gotten a proper moment to share a meal yet. . .

A tear rolled down Gwen’s cheek as she quickly wiped it away.