Reborn in the Survival Adventure Game-Chapter 41: First Pasta

Two weeks passed.

The cornfield was tall and golden in the sunlight. Caelen smiled as he stroked the stalks. They'd finally reached their full height.

He harvested three cobs of corn and took them inside.

[System: Earned 5x Corn]

"Time to test," he said.

He placed the corn in his corn mill, the one he'd fashioned himself, and gave it a spin.

Nothing.

"Come on..." He spun it again.

Still nothing.

The third try? No powder.

He took a deep breath, turned the handle tighter—and at last, after the fourth try, the corn ground into yellow flour.

[System: Created Corn Flour]

"Finally!"

He yelled, "Garin! Come over here for a moment!"

Garin came running over. "What's happening?"

"Have you ever had noodles?"

"Noodles?" Garin blinked. "No. What are they?"

Caelen grinned. "It's made by corn flour."

He scooped a bowl and mixed together the corn flour, an egg, and a little water.

First it was a mess. Then later, it was dough.

"We need to wait about thirty minutes," Caelen informed him.

"For what?" Garin asked.

"So the dough will relax. Quicker to cut."

Garin nodded as if he understood.

Thirty minutes passed, and Caelen flattened the dough with a smooth wooden rod. It was one-sided, but it would do.

Then he put down a sharp knife and began cutting it into noodlelike strips.

Not perfect," he complained, "but good enough."

[System: Made Corn Noodles]

Now, the sauce.

"Google," he said, "how to make cooking oil?"

[Google Responded: Extract oil by pressing nuts or seeds. You can use sunflower, sesame, soybeans, or even corn.]

Caelen didn't have sunflower seeds, but he did have some leftover corn. He crushed and cooked some and finally managed to get a little oil.

"Not much," he said, "but this 'll do.".

He selected a few ripe tomatoes from the garden, chopped them up, and tossed them into a pan with oil and a sprinkle of salt. With Some stirring.

It started to smell tasty.

Garin leaned forward, eyes wide. "What is that?"

"Tomato sauce," Caelen said, flipping the spoon.

"You can make that from tomatoes?"

"Yup."

The sauce simmered. Caelen boiled water, added the noodles, then stirred everything together.

Steam had come up. The noodles were softened. The red sauce coated everything.

[System: Created Basic Pasta]

Caelen took a bite. "Hmm... it's not bad. But needs cheese. Or herbs."

He looked at Garin. The goblin's mouth hung open in surprise.

"This..." Garin said, "is another recipe!"

Caelen grinned. "Glad you like it."

Garin's eyes grew wide. "Can you teach me? I want to cook, too."

"Okay," Caelen replied, placing a small plate before him. "Start by giving this to Zira and the kids."

Garin nodded in a rush and scurried off.

Later, Zira and the kids sat at the table, poking at the strange-looking food.

"What is this?" Zira asked.

"Pasta," said Caelen. "Just eat it."

Zira took a tiny bite. Then she blinked. "Wait... this is good."

Miko slurped a noodle and smiled. "It's fun to eat!"

Rena laughed. "It's like stringy bread!"

Caelen sat back, satisfied.

"I still want to use better ingredients," he stated. "Cheese, garlic, maybe basil."

Zira looked up. "You're always thinking about the next step."

Caelen scratched his cheek. "Just trying to make life better."

"You already do," she whispered.

He blinked, unsure of what to say.

Then Garin cried out a little, "Can we make this again tomorrow?!"

Caelen smiled. "Sure. But next time, you do it."

They all laughed.