Chapter 7：Delicious Fish Soup

Lin Ke made preparations to build an Altar, all in hopes of the chance that he could get his hands on another Hero.

No matter what type of Hero it was, another party member never killed anyone.

However, as he was preparing to make an Altar, he realized he would have another slot open to build something, but the main issue was what facility to build.

Actually, Lin Ke was prepared to just level up the Elemental Tower first, preparing to level up the Dormitory in an attempt to improve the living conditions. However, when he tried leveling the Elemental Tower to Level 2, a notification window popped up in front of him.

[Level 2 Elemental Tower cannot be built.]

[Required Facilities: Summoning Hall, Altar.]

Since the Refinery Hall and Smithing Hall were not needed, Lin Ke had no choice but to dump the Summoning Hall into the building queue.

Building the Summoning Hall allowed players to summon Elemental Guards at the cost of Special Resources like Elemental Cores. To be frank, Lin Ke was not as willing to spend such a valuable resource. However, the Elemental Guards might help improve his defensive prowess a little.

However, Lin Ke always had the combat capabilities of these types of summons in a negative light. After playing so many games, he knew full well about the lackluster combat capabilities of units that were so easily summoned. When put up against a Hero like Dra, these Elemental Guards would most likely be wiped out even if there were dozens of them.

In the early-game, to the average player, a Hero like Dra could carry them through 90% of the game.

However, Lin Ke had no choice but to build the Summoning Hall since it was a required facility.

The Summoning Hall's resource cost was much higher than the Dormitory or the Elemental Pond. It needed 1,000 each of both Wood and Stone and an additional 12,000 Silver. As Lin Ke pulled out all of these resources, his wallet cried for mercy.

The resource cost for the Altar was even worse. After building both of these facilities, his Wood and Stone resources were both down to around 7,000, whereas his Silver was less than 20,000.

"I'm broke."

Lin Ke took a deep breath. He felt that he should build a few more Dormitories. Then, not only would there be accommodation for Heroes he summons in the future, but it would also increase his Silver production.

Based on his current situation, his tight financial situation was a prophecy waiting to be fulfilled.

However, that did not mean that he could forgo building the Refinery Hall and the Smithing Hall. These were all essential facilities. In the future… If there existed such a future anyway, these facilities were just as important as the resource-production facilities.

Lin Ke sat silently in the Dormitory as he waited. The build time for the Altar and the Summoning Hall were slightly longer than the Dorm and the Elemental Pond. They took 2 hours to complete.

As time passed, Lin Ke's face started to turn pale.

He could no longer sit still as his stomach was screaming in protest. His stomach was empty, he had not eaten in hours.

Lin Ke got off work at 5, so it was almost 6 when he got home. As soon as he got home, he ordered some food and started playing the game as he waited. At that point, he was already famished, it had been 7 hours since he last had a meal.

However, before the food was even delivered, he had been transported over to this place. Since then, a few more hours had already passed. Lin Ke's hunger was already at his limits.

In a sense, it had been 10 hours since Lin Ke ate any food.

"Dra!" Lin Ke looked over to the Red Dragon Queen seated next to him as he asked timidly, "I'm a little hungry, can you make me some food?"

Lin Ke had scoured the Market for anything that he could eat but had failed miserably. Furthermore, the Elemental Tower was no better. All of these things were made to aid the players in combat, there was no quality of life utility at all.

"I am very sorry, my Lord." Dra bowed down slightly. "I do not have any food with me, but please wait momentarily, I shall go find some food for you outside."

After she finished her sentence, she grabbed her Red Lotus Longsword and walked out of the Dormitory. Then, as Lin Ke looked on with the tower's special surveillance system, she walked outside and surveyed the area before finally heading straight for the river.

The river was not too far from the Elemental Tower. If anything happened back at the Tower, Dra could return immediately.

Lin Ke did not feel relieved yet as he watched Dra go hunt some food for him. He was still worried that he might not be able to take the types of food available here. If he were to die from eating dinner in this world, to be frankly honest, that death would be haunting.

Dra soon returned, based on the time in the Silver Market, she was only out for less than 20 minutes, yet, she somehow managed to bring back three fishes, all heavier than 1 lb.

As for what kind of fish these were, Lin Ke had no idea. Just the fact that these looked like fish was already good news for him.

The fish had already been processed near the river. When Dra appeared in front of Lin Ke, she brought out a stone pot. Placing the fish inside, she used her index finger to lightly tap the edge of the stone pot as a ball of clear water appeared from thin air and dropped into the pot. It was just enough to cover the entire fish.

Then, Dra held the stone pot in her hands and closed her eyes. Suddenly her hands burst into flames as the fire enveloped the entire stone pot. A moment later, a mysterious fragrance started to permeate the room.

Lin Ke stood up as he looked over at the contents of the pot. The soup was milky white as it continued to boil, constantly sizzling as it came into contact with the scorching hot stone pot.

This sizzling further accentuated Lin Ke's hunger, as he could not help but drool at the meal that was to come.

"Done." Dra finally placed the stone pot on the table. She passed a wooden ladle to Lin Ke, suggesting that he should start drinking the soup.

Lin Ke took a spoonful of soup and placed it right in front of his nose. Gently breathing in, the crisp fragrance was unbelievably appetizing, causing his entire body to tremble in ecstasy. After cooling it down with a few mouthfuls of air, he had his first taste of the fish soup. The deliciousness of it all surged through his brain as a sense of warmness moved down through his throat as it circulated throughout his body.

"Amazing!" Lin Ke's eyes gleamed with joy. No additional seasonings were used, but the taste of this fish soup had already outclassed all the gourmet foods he had tried in his life.

"Dra! You can have half of it!" As Lin Ke offered, he grabbed a wooden bowl from the side and filled it with half of the fish soup from the pot. He also split the fish in half.

The fish meat was stewed to perfection. With an effortless tug, Lin Ke managed to grab some meat as he added them to the wooden bowl before giving it to Dra.

As a Red Dragon, Dra's appetite was not something that this small bowl of fish could satisfy.

However, having a huge appetite does come with its benefits. Dra could last half a year without eating anything at all if she had a full meal. The current her was still not at the point where she could feel hunger.

When Lin Ke offered her the fish soup, she did not reject it. She merely smiled and accepted it, eating all of it slowly.

In contrast to the delicious fish soup, the fish meat itself was much more subpar. As Lin Ke gulped down the soup, he could not help but think, did the fish meat become less delicious because it gave all its taste to the soup?

Maybe it was because of the lack of seasoning in this dish that his refined taste buds were not able to adapt to this plain taste.

As the fish soup was finished, Lin Ke could feel the warmth of the fish soup coursing through his entire body. He had also taken a few bites of the fish meat, but he felt that it was not his cup of tea. Since he felt like there was no point to continue eating it, he did not force himself.

When Dra saw that, she immediately skewered the remaining two fish on her Longsword. As the sword burst out in flames, it started to grill the now-skewered fish.

Author seemed to have used a censored verb here to describe the actions of the fire. However, no implication is made so it can't be deciphered.