Dungeon of Niflheim

Chapter 28: Delicious steak

Seeing the frost wolves eat with such gusto brought a smile to Frost’s face.

‘Meat was definitely the right way to go.’ In fact, the steaks looked so good that he wanted to try one himself, cooked of course and that’s exactly what he did.

After waving goodbye to the wolves- not that they noticed- Frost and Maya returned to the private space where in he bought another two steaks for him and Maya.

‘They’ll be in that cave for at least a couple hours so might as well enjoy myself.’

He joined Maya in the kitchen wherein she taught him how to use the appliances and he helped to season the steak before Maya grilled it slowly over a flame conjured by magic.

Higher grade monster meat was different from regular beast meat and required a stronger approach when preparing. A regular flame would take too long or fail entirely so magic fire was required instead, Maya said it’s to do with the residual mana left within and that regular fire can’t penetrate through mana very well.

Even with magic fire it still took an hour before she was done with cooking. She cooked it slowly on a low heat to make the meat even more tender and absorb the entire set of seasoning as well as amply massaging the steak before cooking, resulting in something magnificent.

.....

“Finished” Maya happily announced as she rubbed sweat off her brow, she put a lot of concentration into preparing the meat.

Frost perked up at her voice, at this point he had been patiently waiting at the table for quite a while, only able to sneak a few peeks over Maya’s shoulder before getting elbowed and yelled at.

Maya slowly removed the two steaks from the grill pan and placed them on two large wooden platters she prepared earlier.

Frost had already placed the necessary cutlery and poured- with Maya’s permission- two large glasses of wine. Maya insisted that a good steak needs to be partnered with a good wine, red in particular. Frost wondered how much alcohol she had stored away in that bracelet of hers.

Once Maya had reached the table Frost could finally get a look at the final product.

If the group of adventurers could see that the person responsible for their injuries was currently enjoying a perfectly cooked steak, prepared by a gorgeous woman while they were bleeding and barely hanging on, they’d probably die from anger.

The mammoth steak was sitting proudly on the wooden platter nearly falling off the side due to its immensity. Maya had cooked them as medium rare so as to retain a lot of its juices of which were glistening under the light, almost like crystal. The steak had barely an ounce of fat on it, only a slight sliver running on the outside that was almost translucent, making the mouth water at the sight of it.

But the most impactful thing of all was the smell, it was heavenly. Frost started drooling the moment it reached his nose, meat! Such a strong aroma of meat, much more impactful than beef but not unpleasant or gamy like bear or fish. Frost repeatedly took deep breathes through his nose almost subconsciously, the smell was addictive.

‘God damn if that’s what it smell like then how’s the taste.’ With his eyes wide open and drool pooling at the side of his mouth he fervently stared at the large steak placed in front of him.

“Hahaha” Maya cutely giggled at his current appearance.

“Dig in young master, no need to hold back on my account.” Maya used her ice chakra to quickly slice up her steak before elegantly picking up a piece with her chopsticks. She ate with class, very ladylike, not taking large bites and covering her mouth as she chewed, very beautiful and graceful.

Frost however was not so tact in his methods. With Maya’s permission he instantly dug into the steak, stabbing a large knife into the centre, lifting the entire steak with a single motion, and biting viciously onto the sides, tearing off large chunks at a time.

Beauty and the beast would a very apt description of their current situation if the beast was incredibly handsome.

As Frost bit off a large chunk of meat he could see the pure pink flesh that made up the steak, a perfect medium rare cooking. The steak was incredibly juicy and tender, he didn’t even need to chew before the meat started to melt in his mouth releasing intense bursts of flavour.

Frost’s eyes opened wide in shock, he felt as though his mouth had exploded with a strong meaty taste, he even had the urge to moan in pleasure.

“Delicious!” He shouted loudly as he swallowed the massive chunk of steak easily, sucking his tongue and gums vigorously for any residual flavour.

Before Maya could thank him for the compliment, Frost started biting off an even larger chunk of steak and stuffing himself silly.

Maya paused as she watched Frost’s animalistic approach to eating. ‘He’s already a third of the way through it with a few bites, he hasn’t even touched his wine yet.’ Although Maya found the steak delicious -well of course it is I cooked it- she was much more restrained, taking a sip of wine after every bite and relishing in the mix of flavours.

By the time she was halfway through, Frost had completely devoured his steak and was licking the wooden platter clean of any lingering juices.

Getting nothing back but the taste of wood Frost appeared depressed. In his gloom his eyes inadvertently turned to Maya, well to be more accurate her half eaten steak. His greed and desire overcoming his restraint he started to salivate and etch closer to her however; his wishes were stopped abruptly.

Bang!

“Back off young master!” Maya without even looking his way smashed her chopsticks against his forehead sending him packing, she was not going to share even a single bite.

Although the strike wasn’t as heavy as her earlier one, he still went flying into the nearby wall and a red welt appeared on his brow as though he received a powerful finger flick.

Frustrated and ambitious he quickly stood up

“You didn’t even know what I wanted, why’d you hit me?” He didn’t even get a chance to ask/steal a piece off her plate so how’d she know.

Maya coldly turned in his direction and looked as though she was staring at an idiot. Pity and contempt could be seen in her eyes making Frost feel as though an invisible dagger was stabbing his heart. However, his desire for the steak outweighed his shame, he continued to stare Maya down ignoring her contempt. The mammoth steak was simply heavenly, he was willing to do almost anything to get another bite.

His shameful attitude didn’t perturb Maya in the slightest, she continued to eat her steak at a leisurely pace all while staring him down.

“So, you weren’t trying take this?” She gestured by waving a piece of mammoth steak and like a baby chick Frost’s gaze followed the floating piece of steak wherever it went, even an idiot could tell his intentions let alone Maya.

Maya smiled evilly before quickly stuffing the piece of steak into her mouth.

“Mmmhmmmhm! Tasty,” she exaggerated her chewing and provocatively licked her lips clean after swallowing. If Frost wasn’t so focused on the steak, he’d see how sexy she looked at the moment but instead he was filled with anger and frustration.

He clenched his fist and jaw as Maya played him with annoying smirk on her face, ‘she’s probably tasted hundreds if not thousands of tasty things why can’t she be a bit more considerate. That mammoth steak was the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted so what if I want some more. Shouldn’t you as my elder and guardian offer up some of yours.’ Frost internally complained yet not daring to say this out loud.

As Maya reached to eat another piece he almost snapped before taking a deep breath and trying to calm down.

“Maya co.... I pl...e.... ha.... a.... piece.” Through clenched teeth Frost attempted to ask Maya for some steak but all that came out was a barely audible whisper with an aggressive tone.

“Sorry, what was that young master I didn’t hear you?” Maya placed another piece of steak in her mouth before placing her hand at her ear so as to hear better-unnecessary of course.

Her actions caused another wave of anger to flow through Frost, but he took another breath and tried to ask again.

“Miss Maya would you please allow me to have some of your steak?” This time it wasn’t a whisper but still in a forceful tone.

Maya’s eyes turned into crescents as she enjoyed this little show.

“Hmmm,” she hummed before looking over Frost and then what remained of her steak.

“Do you mean this steak?” She ate another piece without hesitation.

“Ugh.... Yes, Miss Maya that steak.” A vein was starting to protrude on Frost’s forehead, he was reaching his limit.

“Hmmm perhaps if you ask nicely, I might be willing to part with it.” At this moment Maya had an incredibly joyful look on her face. ‘teasing the young master is so much fun hahaha.’

The vein started to pulsate, and Frost’s face turned a deep shade of red and then green and finally purple before returning to normal with great difficulty.

“Beautiful lady Maya the most generous of all, would please be so kind to allow this lowly Frost to partake in that perfectly cooked mammoth steak of yours please.” Frost took several deep breaths before spouting out this garbage, his eyes were now twitching, and a horrible taste was in the back of his throat but as long as he could eat some more of that steak it’d be worth it.

Not expecting such an.... eloquent request Maya was momentarily stunned, seems she underestimated the impact the mammoth steak had on his tastebuds. But it was only for a second, she regained her poise rather quickly. Her face quickly changed from an evil and playful smirk to a genuine friendly smile, one without any other intentions. Seeing this brought solace to Frost’s heart, his embarrassing request was worth it.

“That was a very honest and convincing request young master, I could easily feel your genuine desire for this steak, very well done.” Maya nodded and smiled happily before grabbing the wooden platter that held about a quarter of the steak left and placing it in front of her.

Frost’s eyes lit up and he quickly ambled over to take the platter from her however the moment he was about to grab it.

“Eh!” The platter had disappeared from his view, and he had a horrible sinking feeling. He turned his eyes over to Maya to see that her benevolent smile and gentle eyes were gone, it was a trick.

At some point Maya placed the platter back on the table and held the remaining steak in her hand. She was now playfully looking at Frost with an incredible smile that almost stretched to her ears, actually it did. Her mouth was clearly larger, and her teeth grew sharp and thick like a wolfs.

In what was only a second but felt like years to Frost, Maya opened up her now massive mouth and dropped the entire quarter steak in, quickly chewing and swallowing in a single go before returning to her usual appearance.

Frost was struck dumb, completely caught off guard and still perplexed to what happened. Maya however was incredibly happy; she licked her ruby lips clear of the last remnants of the mammoth steak.

‘Damn I’m a good cook.’ She smacked her lips as she internally boasted her cooking prowess.

“Ug....am.... uuu...you...MAYA!!!!” At first Frost couldn’t articulate any words just frustrated sounds but once he came to terms with what happened, ignoring how she changed the size of her mouth, the fact was that the steak was gone.

Fire burned in his eyes as he leapt straight for her.

“Kyaahhhhh young master you pervert!” Maya joyfully avoided his lunges and ran around the room as Frost chased.