Master of Myths

By the time YuJu had finished his plate the other two swept through half the plates on the table and now supported their unchanging stomach with a satisfied expression

"Are you a chef?"

Asked Ellis

"No miss, I merely cook occasionally for the people who had lived here, it is the meat that was a great ingredient"

She nodded hearing the maid's words, that much she figured since no one with such great cooking would resign themselves to the life of a maid

"Still your handling of it was great, I believe you make a great cook, perhaps you gained it as a class already?"

Ellis remarked offhandedly but a gleam of suspense went through the maid's eyes, did she really? Doesn't that mean she could finally get a class like the ones the master was talking about earlier today

"Choosing a chef as a class is a bad idea"

YuJu suddenly interjected from the side

"Without a decent team that would support you, you would find it very hard to level up, you would need a lot of time to get to level twenty-five to have your second class since no one would want to share their hard-earned kills with others just for tasty food, well hardly anyone at least"

After giving her this tip he stood up and walked away, leaving a conflicted maid and a contemplating Ellis, as for Anput...she was happily asleep after such a good meal

The maid started to clean the table slowly, clearly distracted, seeing her so Ellis frowned, but in the end, she could only sigh and head to bed

On her way she kept thinking of the fate that would await the tactful woman if she stayed in this mansion alone, would she be eaten by the beasts? starve to death without a way to get food, or would her fellow humans be the end of her

A slight breeze touched her face making her turn to the side, spotting the back of her master gazing up from the window, his figure seemed lonely, brooding, but mostly solemn

"Master..."

She couldn't help but call out to him

"Could we...perhaps take the maid with us?"

He stayed silent for a while and didn't answer, just when she thought she should apologise and leave he spoke with a whispering tone

"We could, but that would only make her meet her end faster"

She paused hearing him, she didn't understand why he would say so, after all, he never seemed to face a challenge, she thought taking an extra member with them wouldn't pose much of a problem

"She is slow, extremely weak, has no sense for combat, and cant provide a major boost"

His words were direct and harsh but true nonetheless

"We cant speed level her and if we try we will only delay our own levels, that way many plans will fail, slowing down our progress greatly"

She understood what he meant by their inability to speed level her, as she had asked him why Anput barely made it to level twenty-five after killing many more beasts than she had done to reach her own level, he said it was because one received a boost to their level depending on their contribution, the less they did the less they get, to level up the maid to twenty-five would be a great hassle and they needed the remaining days of the boost for whatever he had planned

"I would also want to take her with us"

He added with a wishful tone

"But I cannot sacrifice so many benefits for her, not when there are others that can replace her"

His voice finally turned firm as he asserted his stance, then he walked away, heading toward one of the bedrooms to sleep

"So, there are some things that even Master cant have"

It was a different view to Ellis who always thought her master to be an invincible character that can get whatever he wants

"Miss? Would you like me to lead you toward the bedroom?"

The maid's voice rang behind her and she turned to look at her in surprise, her face was the same as any time and Ellis didn't know if she had heard them or not, thus she only nodded her head awkwardly, hoping she only just got here

After being led to the room and given a nightgown to wear the maid excused herself and went to serve YuJu

When she arrived at the room she raised her hand to knock at the door but was hesitant, her thoughts of this man were ever-changing, and she didn't exactly know what he was or wanted

She had heard his words earlier, all of their talk in fact, the fact that he thought she was replaceable made her very sad, and very fearful, at the same time disappointed that she couldn't follow a strong person like him

What she didn't know though was that he had intentionally waited for her to arrive so that she would hear them, then depending on her actions he would decide how to deal with her

"Come in"

His voice was heard beyond the door even though she hadn't knocked, with that, she could only swallow her hesitation and go in

Inside she saw him sitting at the side of the bed, looking at, sizing her up

She felt nervous, but had an idea of what was to come, she was also expecting this, it was her chance to convince him not to leaver her behind

She took slow steps toward him, calming her beating heart with every step and taking control over her emotions

When she was finally in front of him she regained her tactful appearance, though she tried to portray a charming smile as well

Then she raised her hands toward his neck as she bent forward

"I will explain to you which class to aim for if you want to live in this lawless world without worry"

His cold tone suddenly froze her midway in her actions, her mind slowed down to try and comprehend his words before finally realizing he didn't want her nightly services and was going to advise her instead

She felt both happy that he was giving her a lifeline and embarrassed by the fact that she made herself look like a clown, there was even a little blame in her heart toward his nonchalant attitude but she buried it deep and stood next to the bed quietly, ready to receive his words

He laid his head on the pillows and closed his eyes, then started to tell her about the class he wanted his chef to have, it was a great deal of information, one that was hard to get, but he was willing to share with her, perhaps if she survived he would then add her to his entourage

"A chef is a very useless class, its only use is making food taste better, making it provide more nutrients and magic energy if it's practised to high levels"

Indeed, what benefits would that bring in times of struggle

"That is true for both early level and mid-level advancements, it would only show its true colours when it reaches a high-level advancement, for that is when one is able to make the cuisine give power to the eater, give them energy to refine, and the taste would be heavenly"

As great as it sounded she still needed to be alive to get there

"Then there is the alchemist class, a class similar yet very dissimilar to the chef class, they both use the main ingredients, both try to extract something from them, but that's where the similarities end"

He paused allowing her to think before continuing

"The alchemist class focuses on extracting the pure magical and medical properties of the ingredients to mix them into potions that gave great effects but they either don't last long or are extreme in their effects, on the other hand, the chef class extracts the flavour and some mild energies, allowing the person to both enjoy the food and slowly build their strength through the mild energy, this takes away the risks from the alchemist's brews but require an extended period of time and a lot of food to accomplish the same effects "

The information was a lot to digest, each point of difference between these two classes made one question which class was the best to choose, one was slow and steady while the other was quick and risky, she wouldn't be using the potions herself but what of others, would they blame her if they couldn't take the effect of her brew? Or if it was slightly wrong and harmed them, what would a little alchemist do then? Throw potions at them?...that sounded like a great idea though

She wanted to ask him which one was the best between the two but it didn't seem like he was done speaking

"But if you come back and inspect these two classes you would find that they both extract something from the ingredients, that begs the question, is there a class that can do the job of both classes, and perhaps more?"

He heart leapt hearing this, was he about to introduce to her a powerful class?

He didn't keep her in suspense for long and replied to his own question

"The answer is yes, and the name of that abhorred class is Essence Extractor"

"Abhorred?"

She couldn't help but ask in bewilderment, how could such a unique class be abhorred? It sounded like the perfect class

"The Essence Extractor is not the hardest class to obtain, and once you obtain it, it allows you to extract the essence of all and anything living or dead, but that would be where it limits itself, it provides you no way to use those essences meaning you must study ways to use each and every essence on your own, not only that but it requires a heavy influence of the insight stat, you better dump the first hundred level AP into insight or you can forget ever making serious use of this class"

Her face paled hearing the requirements, that was one hundred levels! And she was only level two! How much time would she need to get to that level with a none-combat class?

Suddenly she thought of something

"But Master, wouldn't I be able to manage if I choose a combat class first and then take this unique class at level twenty-five?"?"

She knew she wasn't good at combat and would probably have to spend tons of time learning for the Essence Extractor as well but she felt it was feasible if she worked hard enough

"Essence Extractor is a combinable class"

Those words directly shot down any hope remaining

"I shall tell you how to gain this class, what way to use it perfectly, and how to obtain the second class, if you manage up to here then I will take you in when I come back"

Even though he was helping her she didn't know if this was really the best class for her right now, but when he mentioned his return she brightened up immediately

'Then again, when will it be that he will return? I would like to place my hopes on him but I also want to live....whatever will I do'

She still listened attentively to his explanation, it would be better to have this option rather than walking in the dark, as for whether or not she chose it she would wait and see

YuJu continued to explain every step with boring details, even going as far as explaining some types of medicines she could use, where to find them and when they would appear

She only asked tidbits every time she didn't understand something but was otherwise absorbing his words like a sponge, hoping to memorise as much as she could

This continued well into the night but he didn't stop at all and gave as much as he could until finally, the darkness receded as the light of dawn illuminated the room through the window

"I believe that's enough, I will jot down a few important recipes and some important notes when I wake up, after that you shall be on your own"

"Thank you for your grace Master"

She bowed down to him, it was the first time she moved since she stood next to the bed, her legs felt a little sore but she was used to it from her long shifts as a maid

Seeing him silent she guessed he might have slept, so she grabbed the blanket and covered his body then grabbing a chair and sat next to the bed, waiting for him to wake up

'He is much more caring than I thought'

She thought as she looked at his expressionless sleeping face