Chapter 62

Ogre Pastry Chef ( E grade Evolution ) The

Ogre Pastry Chef is a rare Profession that excels at all things baking, mostly because ogres are not known to bake, or be in the possession of ovens, for that matter. Nonetheless, they take the job of crafting delicate but often foul pastries very seriously.

+6 Intelligence +6 Willpower +2 Fortitude +4 Free Points +1 Point to each remaining Stat, for a total of 6 additional points. The class provides 24 points in total for each level.

Starter Skill: Perfect Timing. Baking requires precision, and timing is essential. Passively, this Skill grants the pastry chef perfect timekeeping with the ability of an atomic clock. They are perfectly aware of every passing microsecond and can use that to their advantage.

Gloop Guzzler ( E grade Evolution ) The Gloop Guzzler crafts and consumes powering gloop as if it were an art. This Profession is about maximizing buffs beyond anything else.

+8 Vitality +4 Fortitude +2 Strength +4 Free Points +1 Point to each remaining Stat, for a total of 6 additional points. The class provides 24 points in total for each level.

Starter Skill: Gloop King. When activated, Gloop King enhances gloop held by the Gloop Guzzler, allowing them to infuse energy into their gloop and power its boons beyond what they usually provide. Energy empowered boons have a short shelf life, and gloop must be consumed within seconds to benefit from the Skill.

Swamp Connoisseur ( E grade Evolution ) This connoisseur is an expert with all foods relating to or sourced from swamps. While few contemporary chefs recognize this Profession, Swamp Connoisseurs take their work very seriously and have an amazing eye for picking the best ingredients in the swamp.

+10 Perception +2 Fortitude +2 Agility +4 Free Points +1 Point to each remaining Stat, for a total of 6 additional points. The class provides 24 points in total for each level.

Starter Skill: The Connoisseur’s Gaze. Passively aids the Connoisseur in finding the best ingredients around by highlighting them with colors assorted by rarity. With this Skill, you’ll never miss a valuable ingredient again!

Ogre Gastronomist ( E grade Evolution ) The Ogre Gastronomist is the height of ogre fine dining, taking what some might consider as grotesque and transforming it into culinary art. These creators of some of the most prestigious ogre dishes are not to be underestimated.

+5 Vitality +5 Perception +5 Intelligence +4 Free Points +1 Point to each remaining Stat, for a total of 6 additional points. The class provides 25 points in total for each level.

Starter Skill: Unsightly Degustation. When activated, Unsightly Degustation shrinks the chef’s meals down into tiny versions of themselves without changing the qualities provided by the dishes. Small, but energy-rich meals are sought after by ogres, allowing them to eat condensed meals at drastically increased speeds.

Experimental Mixologist ( E grade Evolution ) This mixologist is famous for combining foul liquids most consider poisonous. But you’ll find none better suited to foul, ogre-infested bars and a favorite amongst drunken masters.

+5 Perception +5 Agility +5 Fortitude +4 Free Points +1 Point to each remaining Stat, for a total of 6 additional points. The class provides 25 points in total for each level.

Starter Skill: Bartender’s Rules. Nothing is more important to this mixologist than the irresponsible service of alcohol. Passively increases the toxicity of alcoholic drinks mixed by the mixologist as they are drunk. Warning: Continued consumption can have unexpected results.

Aaron wasn’t entirely sure what he expected to see at his Profession evolution, but it wasn’t this. Well, some of the options weren’t too unusual, but as a whole, he had gotten more than he expected.

Interestingly, the Profession Stat gains were good across the board, even higher than his Class options had been, making him feel confident he was on the right track now.

So, let’s see. What should I pick?

First, he decided to cross off the ones he didn’t particularly like. That made Experimental Mixologist the first to go. Nothing about the Profession really appealed to him. He guessed he had the option because he had made a few cocktails, but mixing drinks was absolutely not the direction he saw himself going.

Ogre Pastry Chef wasn’t much better. At least it was a cooking-related Profession. However, perfect timing actually sounded pretty interesting. Not so interesting that he wanted to take a Profession that didn’t really suit what he had been doing, but still. A passive skill that gave him perfect timing could probably be used in combat, among other things.

Nah, as cool as it is, I don’t need that.

Swamp Connoisseur was another interesting but not really for him kind of Profession. The massive Perception bonus alone made it an interesting option, and would allow Aaron not to focus on the Stat anymore. But did he really want to commit to such a single Stat-focused Profession for an entire grade?

Besides, spotting ingredients sounded like a useful, but not overly useful, Skill. Maybe if he were in a swamp with many ingredients all around just waiting to be picked, but he was in the trials. At best, it would be useful after the trials, but he wanted something that would help him make the most of the remaining time.

Ogre Gastronomist was pretty interesting and one of the Professions he was seriously interested in. It had a decent Stat distribution, although he didn’t really know what he needed Intelligence for.

It also sounded pretty on-point with what he had been doing, and how he saw his Profession developing in the future. However, it was definitely fancier than how he had imagined.

Not only that, but from the sounds of it, Unsightly Degustation might work with Conductive Gut and Adipose Fusion to become a holy trinity of energy production. That alone made it extremely enticing.

But he couldn’t just scroll past Gloop Guzzler. It was perhaps the most aligned Profession with Oozagh, and the Skill it came with sounded pretty damn powerful.

Sure, the food he used the Skill on had to be eaten near immediately, and he would have to sacrifice energy to use it, but if it provided a significant boon on top of whatever the dishes provided naturally… then it could make a huge difference. He imagined using it on something like the Trolorblin. The dish already had great boons, and if it could be multiplied further, then it could be game-breaking.

In fact, the more he thought about it, Gloop Guzzler sounded like the most powerful Profession available. But he hesitated, thinking back on his experience with Yendal.

If Ogre Gastronomist was the perfect combination of the two styles, perhaps it had the most potential? Like with Yendal’s fighting styles, they were strong, but elevated when paired with Oozagh’s energy. Perhaps something similar would happen with his Profession.

Not only that, but whilst Gloop King sounded like a very powerful Skill, he thought that Unsightly Degustation paired better with his current line-up of Skills. Assuming it worked as he thought it might.

“Ahhh, am I about to make a bad decision?” Aaron hummed to himself as he went back and forth.

“Hey, bossman!” Sooty waved as he entered beside Mo’han. “Whatcha doin’?”

Oh shit, I almost did it again, didn’t I?

“About to choose my Profession Evolution,” replied Aaron. “Wanna help?”

“Yeah!” said Sooty, his eyes almost sparkling.

Aaron had already made his decision, but it wouldn’t hurt to let Sooty say his piece. Sooty was an annoying little shit, but Aaron still did feel a bit bad for him. His only purpose in life was helping Aaron, and Aaron kept accidentally leaving him out of that. Explaining the options, he paid the Soot ball attention as the little guy nodded along and gave his reasoning.

“I see. What about Ogre Gastronomist?” Aaron asked.

“Hmm, decent enough, based on the description. However, ogres are not too known for their fine dining. If I had ta pick, I’d go with Gloop Guzzler.”

“Fair. It’s a pretty good Profession. But I think Ogre Gastronomist suits my style more.”

“Fair enough.” Sooty threw up his hands. “Least ye heard old Sooty out. Ye’ll have yourself to blame if ye regret it.”

”Well, thanks for your input. But I got to go with my gut.”

Despite Aaron choosing an option that wasn’t Sooty’s top recommendation, the little soot ball was bouncing on his heels, and he was failing to conceal a smile. Aaron immediately felt even worse about all the times he had snubbed Sooty. It was really this simple to keep the soot goblin happy, and Aaron hadn’t even done that.

“Believe in yourself, A-ran!” Mo’han roared.

Aaron accepted the prompt and felt the energy rush into his body.

“Can we leave now, please?” Mo’han continued, holding his mouth and nose.

“Yeah, all done,” Aaron nervously scratched at his neck.

“A-amazing! You’ll be a fine chef, I’m sure. Anyway, let us hurry. Like now. Anywhere but this room.”

Aaron grimaced and left the crafting station with them. The big man was suffering.

“I have word from Douglas that a few powerhouses are getting close to finishing their Tutorials,” Mo’han continued once they were in the hallway.

“How much time do we have?” Aaron said as he followed the asura, desperately clutching his mouth.

“Perhaps a week. Hard to say exactly. They haven’t started the fights yet, and they can last a while.”

“Good. Sounds like I’ll have plenty of time. I’ve got to go see a god about something, and then push for my race evolution. But I’ll pencil it in. Viewing room in one week.”

“Sounds good! Now go show that god what you’re made of!” Mo’han said, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Thanks, Mo’han. Catch ya soon.”

He had gone ahead and made his Profession decision alone. It felt right, and his path was his own. But that didn’t mean he no longer required guidance from the ogre. Besides, perhaps he would have advice for his race evolution.

But most importantly, the more he thought about the meeting with Yendal, the more he found it strange. The description of the True Blessing said that a god could only give out one, and Aaron wasn’t sure if he qualified. Sure, he had done some impressive things, but he was still an F-grade mortal that Yendal had known for less than a year. Was that really enough for something of that magnitude?

Plus, she had complained about Oozagh tainting his Class, but then went ahead and taught him about precision baking, which then, in turn, influenced his Profession.

Wait, was that intentional?

He got a sinking feeling in his gut as he thought about that possibility. Did she taint his Profession because she was angry about Oozagh tainting his Class?

Nah, she wouldn’t be that petty… Right?

He still suddenly became a lot more reluctant to select the trial and visit Oozagh. It was less daunting than his most recent visit to Yendal, but he still worried about what Oozagh would say.

Then again, Yendal did say that his path was his decision. Surely Oozagh would respect him in a similar way.

Oh, one thing first.

Before accepting the trial, Aaron brought up his status screen. A lot had changed since he had last checked.

[ Name: Aaron Dober ]

[ Age: 23 ]

[ Race: Human ]

[ Grade: F ]

[ HP: 23900 ]

[ MP: 10400 ]

[ SP: 18300 ]

[ Class: Empty-Handed Energy Monk, lvl 26 ]

[ Profession: Ogre Gastronomist, lvl 26 ]

[ Stats ]

[ Strength: 156 (+58) ]

[ Vitality: 239 (+105) ]

[ Fortitude: 183 (+81) ]

[ Dexterity: 145 (+67) ]

[ Agility: 212 (+91) ]

[ Intelligence: 57 (+23) ]

[ Willpower: 104 (+47) ]

[ Charisma: 32 (+14) ]

[ Perception: 110 (+42) ]

[ Titles: Shadow Trials Trailblazer, Stamina Control Prodigy, Mana Control Prodigy, Vitality Control Prodigy,

Holder of a True Blessing ]

[ Traits: Fate Weaver (Alpha), Moderate Blessing of Oozagh the Rotund, True Blessing of Yendal the Empty-Handed, Herald of a God ]

[ Racial Skills: Inspect, Lingua Multiversa ]

[ Profession Passive Skills (3/3): Questionable Recipes, Conductive Gut, Adipose Fusion ]

[ Profession Active Skills (4/6): Concoct Toxic Gloop, Ogre Breath, Foul Ichor, Unsightly Degustation ]

[ Class Passive Skills (2/3): Faux Core, Equal and Opposite ]

[ Class Active Skills (6/6): Thick Skinned, Relentless Scourge, Gorgon’s Time Dilation, Overclocked Haymaker, Gust Step, Spectral Fist ]

Damn, now that’s some upgrades.

He tried to do some quick math to wrap his head around the increase in power. It was clear that hitting E-grade had provided a decent instant boost in power. But how much?

He’d have to go over the numbers later, but it seemed that the boons were bigger for the primary Stats provided by the Class and Profession.

Interesting. I wonder how my race evolution will affect this?

Now that he had hit both evolutions, he could probably grind out his race relatively quickly by cooking soul-strengthening dishes. But first, he wanted to see Oozagh. Once that was done, his ts and is would be dotted and crossed, and he could return his focus to his race evolution and smashing out a few more trials.

Alright, let’s get this done!

Aaron placed his hand down and entered the trial, but when he entered the Trial of Survival, he came face-to-face with a looming and rather disgruntled ogre.

Standing arms crossed, Oozgah growled, brows crossed, and then, after an awkward moment, let out a belly roar of a laugh.

“Bahahah! Puny human, you should have seen your face!” Oozagh pointed and laughed, rocking back and forth.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Aaron smiled.

“What a puny fool you are, but I can’t blame you. You are not a great intellect like myself. And that damned martial goddess has gone and weaseled her way into your brain and tricked you.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“That abomination of a Profession! Bahaha, you really are stupid, aren’t you? Perhaps a good ogre wife would straighten you out. But we can’t have everything,” Oozagh sighed.

Aaron grimaced at the thought of a female Oozagh.

“Whatever! It would have been nice if you had visited first. I could have corrected you on your stupidity before you went and did that to your Profession.”

“Is it really that bad?”

“Is it really that bad? Bahaha! It’s disgusting. I have an aunt who likes fine dining. I think she made it to godhood, but I can’t remember. And obviously, her path isn’t as good as mine, or I would know her. She was the skinniest ogre I’ve ever known. But who knows, maybe a puny human like you can make it work better.”

“Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence, Oozagh.”

“Bahah! More importantly, I smell a true blessing upon you. That damn witch! Argh!”

Aaron raised a brow. Was that a bad thing? The ogre certainly didn’t seem to be impressed by it. But the boons spoke for themselves.

“This pains me. I cannot provide a true blessing myself. I have a young nephew. A strong, fat ogre with a glorious number of rolls. The youngling is only a couple of thousand years old. He’s a strong lad, might even enter godhood soon. Unfortunately, not even I, the Great Oozagh, can part with another true blessing until he becomes a god himself.”

“I see, so that’s how it works.”

“Indeed, puny human! Each god can only provide a single true blessing. But I will not let that pedantic witch get away with this unscathed. You need to know true abundance and gluttony! To put some meat on those bones of yours! It would be a shame to let her steer you away from the ogre way!”

Aaron forced a smile. What was happening to his life? Were gods really fighting over his attention like divorced parents?

“Now, take my blessing, puny human! The Great Oozagh commands you!”

Major Blessing offered: The god of gluttony and cooking, Oozagh the Rotund, has offered to upgrade your blessing. Caution: Blessings are limited by the power of one’s bloodline. You may or may not be eligible for multiple blessings, and consideration should be taken when deciding whether or not to accept a god’s offer.

Accept the invitation to hear the god’s offer? Y/N?

Time remaining until offer expires: 00:00:59

“Major?” Aaron's eyes lit up. Maybe it wasn’t so bad being fought over by gods.

Oozagh grinned. “Impressed, aren’t you, puny human?”