Acheron was still in the washroom with no sign of emerging anytime soon.
Sylvia took out the system-rewarded Oak Cake Roll.
A corrugated cardboard box about a meter long and half a meter wide and tall appeared beside the bed.
The box looked quite well-made.
Sylvia opened it and pulled out one of the cake rolls.
To compare, she specifically searched for pictures of Oak Cake Rolls on her phone—they looked exactly, no, twelve times exactly like the real thing.
Honestly, it all just looked like chunks of wood sawed straight from an oak tree.
She unwrapped it and took a bite.
"Ugh—"
A strong woody flavor mixed with sweetness hit her; what was even worse was that with that one bite, it felt like she was eating cake mashed together from wood shavings.
One bite, and it was like crushed wood spreading throughout her mouth.
Well, at least it wasn't as tough to chew as real wood.
The taste was downright weird, like wood dipped in honey—especially the texture, it just wasn't meant for human consumption.
If not for the specific note on the packaging that read, 'This product will not scratch the throat or harm the digestive system,' Sylvia would have spat it out right then and there.
But sticking to the principle of not wasting food, Sylvia still forced herself to swallow the thing, taking small bite after small bite.
Right as she was halfway through, Acheron walked back in, drying her hair and wearing a nightgown.
Glancing down, she saw Sylvia taking tiny, pained bites of something that looked like an oak log.
Acheron almost lost her composure.
"Are you… gnawing on wood?"
"…"
Sylvia looked up, her cheeks stuffed as she crunched on the cake, giving Acheron a helpless stare.
Acheron met her gaze, then walked over and sat down beside Sylvia, noticing the suddenly appeared cardboard box by the bed.
She reached into the still-open box, pulled out one, and checked the packaging.
"Oak Cake Roll… perfectly captures the flavor of oak. Only those with the utmost ambition and perseverance can successfully swallow it."
Reading the ad copy quietly, Acheron looked at Sylvia with amusement:
"It says all that right here, and you still bought it?"
Finally managing to swallow another bite, Sylvia grumbled,
"…Pretty much gnawing on wood. Wanna try?"
Acheron looked at the partially eaten cake roll being offered to her, opened her mouth, bit down firmly, and took a piece into her mouth.
"Mmm…"
Her strong teeth easily crushed the rather sturdy cake roll, a herbal aroma mixed with sweetness spreading through her mouth.
After chewing and swallowing it in a few bites, Acheron shook her head slightly:
"As food, it's edible, I suppose. But as cake… not really up to par."
Lately, Acheron had regained some of a normal human's ability to judge food.
Something that tasted like wood, looked like wood, and smelled like wood really should just be called wood, not cake.
"Then I'll give the rest to the Stellaron Hunters."
Seeing Acheron didn't like it either, the only person Sylvia could think of who might enjoy a whole box of these cake rolls was Firefly, who had a taste for this sort of thing.
"…? Why give it to them?"
Acheron didn't doubt that Sylvia knew the other Stellaron Hunters.
After all, she was already so close to Silver Wolf, so knowing the others made sense.
But what did they do to you, that you'd give them a whole box of wood rolls to eat?
Besides, isn't there a robot among the Stellaron Hunters? Does it even eat this stuff?
"Sam likes eating these, I think?"
"Likes eating them? So there's actually a pilot inside that Stellaron Hunter Sam?"
"Yep."
Sylvia nodded, holding the cake in one hand and taking another small bite, while her other hand opened her phone to message Silver Wolf:
[Sylvia: Quack quack quack quack! Can you open a portal for me? I have a gift for Firefly.]
But after sending it, not only was there no reply—several minutes passed and it still showed as unread.
This was truly unprecedented. Usually, Silver Wolf might not reply immediately every time, but she'd always read the message right away.
Weird, what's Silver Wolf up to?
Puzzled, Sylvia switched the chat to Firefly.
[Sylvia: Firefly, do you know what Silver Wolf's doing? I messaged her but it's not even being read.]
This side was much faster—the message was marked as read instantly.
[Firefly: [(´･ω･`)?]]
[Firefly: I'll ask.]
Several more minutes passed after the messages were exchanged. Then, a notification suddenly lit up from Silver Wolf's side:
[Silver Wolf: So bothersome]
[Silver Wolf: [Link]]
[Silver Wolf: Permanent link. For stuff like this in the future, go to Sam. Don't bother me.]
With that, Silver Wolf vanished again, and Firefly also sent a message:
[Firefly: I asked! Seems she was busy with rankings and didn't see the message]
[Firefly: [(づ> v <)づ♡]]
Sylvia thanked Silver Wolf:
[Sylvia: Thanks, ducky~ Next time I'll hit you up for some offline gaming.]
Then she switched back to explain to Firefly:
[Sylvia: Do you like Oak Cake Rolls?]
[Firefly: Oak Cake Rolls? What's that, some kind of cake?]
[Firefly: [(´･ω･`)?]]
[Sylvia: A cake with a unique flavor. I happen to have a whole big box of it. Since Silver Wolf's ignoring me, I thought I'd ask if you wanted to try some.]
Even though Sylvia knew Firefly liked this stuff and asked directly, judging from Firefly's reply, it seemed like she hadn't actually tried it before?
Could it be that her liking for it only started after she went to Penacony and tasted the cake rolls there?
[Firefly: Yes, please! I don't usually snack much, but if you're offering, Sylvia, I'd love to try. Hehe]
[Sylvia: Alright then. Silver Wolf gave me a portal link. I'll send some over for you to try first. If you like it, I'll give you more.]
With that, Sylvia clicked on Silver Wolf's portal link.
Originally, Sylvia had planned to send the whole box over, but now it seemed Firefly might not have even tried these before.
That left Sylvia a bit unsure.
After hesitating for a moment, Sylvia only shoved five cake rolls into the portal.
Beside her, Acheron watched the familiar pixel-style portal and asked curiously,
"So your teleportation ability comes from Silver Wolf's Aether Editing, right?"
"Yeah, you noticed?"
"…"
Acheron really wanted to point out that the two portals looked almost identical—anyone could tell.
But thankfully, Acheron wasn't the teasing type, so she just fell silent and gave Sylvia a strange look.
Even though she didn't say a word.
That look right now basically said everything that needed to be said!
Flustered and embarrassed, Sylvia flipped over, straddling Acheron, and with a soft thud, planted one hand beside Acheron, executing a classic bed pin.
"Were you just laughing at me in your head? Help me with my training, then! I'll drain you dry. One day, my Path of Permanence will completely overwhelm your Path of Nihility!"
Sylvia was fierce and imposing, while Acheron simply smiled faintly, then raised her hands to cradle Sylvia's face.
Her hair swiftly turned white, and the power of Nihility engulfed Sylvia.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.