A little while later, in the midst of frying and sizzling, one by one the chefs that woke up.

Kairos took a look at them and smiled, “Food will be ready soon. Don’t worry, I’ve prepared enough for everyone.”

Somehow when Kairos was preparing the ingredients, everyone else except for Leo had fell unconscious.

The culprit was the Nightmare Shroom, a dangerous plant that could cause permanent sleep to any creature that venture close. Those in slumber will be infected with numerous Nightmare Shroom spores and their bodies will become nutrients.

When Kairos took out this mushroom, only Leo managed to counteract the sedative spores.

By the time the chefs woke up, Kairos is already finishing up his cooking. They felt a deep sense of regret not to be able to see the entire process.

However, when they thought they will be able to taste the dishes of this great chef, excitement bubbled in their hearts again.

Even if Kairos is about to finish, the chefs widened their eyes and looked carefully. If possible, they want to burn every detail into their mind.

A little while later, the table is set. The rooms that Leo and Relestia rented had a huge courtyard with a table large enough for them to have a feast.

The group dug in as though they had not seen food for weeks. Even the dwarves, Sparrow and her father, were eating like they are right at home. Actually, the older dwarf wanted to speak a few humble words and thank them for the dinner, but the moment one dish of delicacy after another was placed on the table he can only gulp nonstop.

In fact, he is quite certain if he don’t eat those food, he will regret for life. No, it’s more accurate to say that if he don’t eat them the next moment, he will die. A death of drowning… from his own saliva!

The same is happening for everyone on this table, and likewise could be said for the chefs in the kitchen.

When they were about to finish, Kairos opened casks of ale for everyone and it truly became like a celebration.

He specifically visited the chefs holding several pots. Those dwarven cooks was about to bombard Kairos with praises and questions when they saw his ale.

True to their dwarven nature, the chefs immediately downed all the drinks and knocked themselves out.

When he came back, he saw that all of them are drunk and lying all over the place. The ale he made had fully bloomed and its strength is considerable.

Of course, Linda did not drink any alcohol because it would be bad for a growing child, and because her idol told her not to so all she had was juice today.

She asked Kairos to tug her in to bed, and quickly fell asleep after Kairos told her some stories of Gaia.

Afterwards, Kairos picked up his unconscious friends and threw them onto different beds.

Soon, the only one still sleeping at the table is the princess. Kairos had left her last because he blushed terribly when he thought to carry her. After some thought, he finally covered the Relestia with a thick fluffy blanket before picking her up in a princess cradle carry. It’s as if he has an irrational fear that she might melt if touched directly.

As Kairos embraced her, he immediately felt her soft and limp the drunk girl was in his arms. Her helplessness and vulnerability caused a powerful wave of protectiveness wash over him.

At this moment, Kairos became hyper aware of Relestia’s tiniest movements and became paralysed. He secretly wondered how did he even sent the others to bed.

Thinking back, he had picked Leo up and dumped the guy onto his bed. For Sparrow who was in her guard uniform, he picked her up like a stray cat by the belt and dropped her off. Likewise, Kairos lifted Sparrow’s father with the other hand the same way. If one watched from far, the two dwarves would probably looked like two kittens being carried off by their mother.

Kairos suddenly felt a little apologetic to his friends when he considered how roughly he treated them compared to his princess.

Kairos shook the strange thoughts out of his head and then felt the princess’ warm moist breath on his neck. She had snuggled against his shoulder while lightly breathing. In the heat of the moment, Kairos lowered his head and kiss the princess preciously on her forehead.

The world seemed to turn silent as time became still.

When Kairos realised what he had done, he already lost track of how long he had been standing there.

Blushing furiously, and rather confused with what just happened, the boy carefully but swiftly carried his princess back to her room.

Softly shutting the door behind him, his hands were still trembling as his heart pounded.

Kairos gulped.

Fearful that his heartbeat might’ve woken her up earlier.

After taking a while to calm down, he finally snapped out of it and cleaned up the room.

Fond memories of everything that happened on Axis Mundi flashed through his mind. In his reminiscence, Kairos bemused how cooking had become his most important life skill recently.

He had went through all sorts of survival simulations but never thought cooking to be a crucial tool.

He knows how to hunt and gather food in the wild, and many of his other abilities can earn him enough to buy what he needs. But of all the scenarios he will never dream that one day he will fall into another world with no Heavenly Energy nor spirit materials.

If there is no spirit ingredients, he cannot make any effective healing pills.

Likewise, since his runes does not work when there is no Heavenly Energy and Spirit Ores, his blacksmithing skills – while exquisite – is still beneath the dwarves.

His knowledge in talismans, art of war, four great formations, and other skills is more or less became unusable in this other world.

Ironically, despite the strange ingredients of Axis Mundi, Kairos’ cooking skills remained unaffected.

When one trained a craft to a certain level, skill can replace experience.

Kairos’ cooking skills can be considered gifted beyond equal.

In fact, he is renowned in every field he had dabbled in.

Kairos is no longer the poor student judged talentless on the first day of school by the professors and teachers of Saint Cadets Academy.

Nearly five years has passed since then, the legends he had created is now known throughout Gaia. And now, even in a foreign world – Axis Mundi – new legends are still unfolding.

If those supposed teachers that had disregarded Kairos and his friends can meet him face to face again, they can only lower their head with embarrassment.

Therefore, if a student that was deemed worthless by all the adults stood in front of Kairos, he will tell the person not to give up.

His peers may ran ahead of him now, but who will can tell which person will reach the furthest?

In life, there isn’t a finishing line that says you have become successful once you crossed it. Kairos knows that it never mattered who laughed at you as you ran the race. Instead, it is how far you run that is important. After all, those who laugh last laugh the loudest.

Even now, Kairos does not consider himself truly talented despite the Origin Cultivation Method refining his ability throughout the years.

He is like a scholar forced to become an athlete. Although he knows the best course of action, he couldn’t execute what is beyond him physically.

This is why, all his teachers asked him to practice. Yet, no one dare refute the brilliance he shown because he dared to think things that others couldn’t imagine.

Today’s shining star will catch your eye, but it is tomorrow’s dreamer that sets the limit.

After all, it is a poor way to tell if someone is excellent by judging them according to how quickly they become proficient.

Have the courage to consider wild ideas and find ways to realise them, then all those who laughed at you will know they were the fools.

That’s why those child geniuses who became proficient in certain fields faster than their peers may amount to little at the end, while someone who was considered slow could turn into a great achiever.

After the place was cleaned up, Kairos quietly stored the untouched desserts in the Time-space ring then returned to his room.

Most of his guests had dozed off before they could try these sweet treats. When they wake up, they will definitely be filled with regret.

The next morning, Kairos left after making them breakfast.

He hurried back to Edgar’s place. By now the other students already know about him and they let him in with a mere glance.

The master smith has around thirty students including Kairos. Besides himself, there are only ten others who are non-dwarf but none of them batted an eyelid when Kairos came into the house. There was no greeting, much less anyone who approached. Of course, some of them were simply busy with their work, but Kairos could tell that the majority were unfriendly.

The dwarves, however, welcomed him. Most of them came over, and those that could not leave their workstation were looking in his direction with wide smiles. Kairos answered each of them with a small gift, the treats he had made yesterday. Those desserts remained fresh because even his low-grade Time-Space ring dilutes time.

The dwarves immediately shoved the food down their throats almost as fast as they received it. Not only did it smelled delicious, the dwarves cannot resist fine workmanship and good food. The decadent delicacies caused them to roar with praises that even the other races who had a bone to pick with Kairos had to swallow down their saliva.

After promising to make more desserts in the future, Kairos went into the study and started learning the different spells that blacksmiths will use in their forge.

He has to brush up his knowledge before the other masters arrive with their legendary scrolls. Once he started working, Kairos forgot all about time.

Little did he know that the first master already arrived, just one day after receiving Edgar’s message.