Having defeated the earth dragon trio and feeling plenty satisfied, I'm now seeking even further satisfaction — in the form of scale-peeling.
What a pain.
My Status is high, so prying them off is relatively easy, but the repetitive nature of the simple work is surprisingly exhausting.
Mentally and physically.
Was this the kind of tedious work the former general body — the current Demon King — had been doing all along?
The gratitude of someone who's only just now realizing that.
I finally finished peeling the scales off all three.
In terms of perceived time, it took far longer than the actual battle.
But being able to do this with human hands — hands capable of fine, detailed work — after having done it before with the clumsy body of a spider, made a huge difference.
Thanks to these hands, the time should have been significantly reduced.
Now that the annoying scales are out of the way, let's go ahead and do a taste test.
First, I'll try eating with the spider body like I always have.
Hmm, hmmm.
Meh.
It just feels like relentlessly tough meat.
There's no gamey taste or anything, but it's like eating a rock straight up.
Next, I'll try with the humanoid form.
Hm?
Oh, ho ho.
Conclusion: The humanoid form has sharper taste perception.
I have the Greatly Enhanced Five Senses Skill, so my taste should have been reasonably sharp even with the spider body, but eating with the humanoid form lets me understand flavors on a much deeper level.
This is quite the discovery.
From now on, I'll eat things that aren't very tasty with the spider body, and things that are delicious with the human body.
That way, delicious things taste even better, and gross things are at least tolerable.
Also, since I went through the trouble of learning Fire Magic from that old man, let's try cooking with fire for a change.
Dragon steak — just the sound of the words is amazing.
It almost feels like eating it alone could power me up.
It can't, though.
I activate Fire Magic.
Same as with resistance — I'm not good at manipulating fire attributes.
Even though the magical construction is the same, I think the difference comes from the System's attribute compatibility modifiers.
This is one of those places where D's unnecessarily elaborate design causes problems.
Even though I learned Fire Magic, the Skill Level is low, and the Proficiency builds up slowly.
It's practically useless in real combat.
Well, to be fair, the same goes for other attributes — if I have Dark, I'm pretty much covered, so I probably won't use any of them in actual combat outside of grinding Proficiency.
Earth and Wind are getting to a level where I could use them alongside Dark, but Dark is just way too convenient, so I end up prioritizing it.
With Dark, I can handle most things.
So if I'm going to use Fire, it'll only be in situations away from combat, like this.
The construction speed is slow, it requires a lot of mana to activate, and the power of the spell once it goes off gets a downward adjustment.
Using a magic type I'm incompatible with just isn't worth it.
Well, I can produce enough heat to grill meat just fine with my high Status, so it works out.
Controlling it is harder compared to other attributes, but I manage to adjust the heat to a decent level and start grilling the meat.
The smell of grilling meat fills the air.
Not that any Monsters would be attracted by that smell and come wandering over.
No Monster would deliberately venture into the territory of the earth dragons that ruled the Lower Layer, and now I'm here — the one who sent those earth dragons to their graves.
Unless they're incredibly reckless, no fool would come barging in.
My Detection picked up the figures of Monsters several times — drawn close by the smell, then hastily turning back.
And so, without any interruptions, the dragon steak was grilled to completion.
I sprinkle it with the salt I'd collected during my trip to the sea — made by evaporating seawater.
It's a little briny, but it's the only seasoning I have.
I'd stored it in a container I made with Earth Magic and kept in my Spatial Storage.
Now then, first I'll do a taste test with the spider body.
No issues, so I eat with the human body.
Mmm, tough.
Even after grilling, the toughness hasn't changed much.
If anything, it feels like it got slightly tougher.
I can brute-force through it with my Status, but wouldn't a normal person's jaw give out from how tough this is?
The taste — closest to pork, maybe?
Light and mild.
The brininess of the salt, and... it also seems a bit earthy.
Earthy flavor, because it's an earth dragon.
Of course it is.
It's hard to judge, but I think I'd prefer eating it raw with blood dripping off.
I'll allow objections.
Honestly, if I were human, I'd recommend grilling it before eating.
I noticed this when I was receiving offerings in the city, but it seems my taste preferences exist on both sides — as a human and as a Monster.
Things that humans consider delicious are usually tasty to me too.
But there are also things I find delicious as a Monster.
Raw meat, for example. And blood.
Wow, I'm a carnivore.
Most Monsters aren't very tasty, but there are some that are delicious once in a while.
Actually, Monsters outside the Great Ello Dungeon are pretty tasty.
But humans don't eat things like raw meat.
Right, yeah, that makes sense.
So I think my taste preferences come from both — the likes and dislikes based on my memories as a human, and the preferences of my current Monster body.
I try sprinkling salt on some raw meat and eating it.
Yep, this works, this works.
This kind of deliciousness is probably something humans can't understand.
Well, assuming they could even chew it in the first place.