After the two of them returned to Gourt City, Kael set off for his next destination—lk Mountain.
His reason for going there wasn't to have new kitchen tools forged. Kael had two clear goals in mind. First, he wanted to enter Heavy Hole to adapt to the gravity there. Second, he planned to learn sharpening techniques.
The idea to study sharpening ca from his recent trip to the forr First Biotope.
Because of the Air Fruit, the Blue Demon had already awakened. Even though Kael couldn't obtain the Demon Shell yet—and awakening the White Demon wouldn't help for now—he still needed to prepare in advance.
Kael was confident that with his Food Luck, once he entered the Golden Marsh, he would definitely find the Demon Shell hidden there.
The problem was that the Demon Shell was sealed inside a Golden Can. While it was possible to break it open with brute force—Midora had done it before—Kael didn't have strength on that level.
In the original story, after Toriko and the others obtained the Golden Can, they had no way to open it. In the end, it wasn't until they reached the Sixth Continent that lk the Second used golden materials to craft a special can opener, finally opening it and retrieving the Demon Shell.
Kael had no intention of waiting until lk the Second entered the Gourt World before dealing with the can opener. His plan was simple: learn sharpening techniques himself, and once he reached the Sixth Continent, make a can opener on his own.
Call it planning ahead.
So Kael's next target was lk Mountain. As for whether lk the Second would be willing to teach him sharpening techniques—that wasn't sothing he was worried about at all.
If it were soone else, lk the Second might not even bother responding. But Kael had a trump card. After all, lk the Second was still trapped deep in self-doubt.
All Kael needed to do was tell her the truth about lk the First—and then take her to Heavy Hole.
The reason lk the Second hadn't dared to go to Heavy Hole wasn't because her body couldn't endure the gravity. She could barely handle the gravity itself. The real issue was that Heavy Hole was extrely dangerous, filled with powerful beasts.
Once she endured the gravity, her movents would beco extrely sluggish. Being slow in Heavy Hole was basically a death sentence. That was why lk the Second had never dared to enter the cave to search for lk Stardust.
In fact, she didn't even know that lk the First was inside Heavy Hole.
lk the First had actually told her—but his voice was far too soft. lk the Second simply couldn't hear him.
Kael could only say that lk the First was truly sothing else.
After Gourt Cells reached a certain level, even the quietest voice should still be audible. And yet he sohow managed to speak so softly that Toriko and the others couldn't hear him clearly.
Even many mbers of Biotope 0 couldn't make out what he was saying. Those people were all powerful enough to enter the Gourt World, yet they still couldn't hear him properly.
Of course, that was manga logic—probably for codic effect. In reality, everyone's five senses were enhanced. No matter how quiet your voice was, people should still hear it.
But lk the Second simply wasn't strong enough. Her sensory enhancent was limited, so she couldn't hear lk the First's voice. Her strength was only enough for her to survive on lk Mountain.
Kael estimated her level to be sowhere in the thirties or forties. Any higher than that, and she wouldn't manage.
With a secret like this in hand, Kael didn't believe lk the Second would refuse to teach him sharpening techniques. After all, in the original story, she had willingly taught Komatsu as well.
After saying goodbye to Granny Setsuno, Kael headed for lk Mountain.
Granny Setsuno wasn't surprised at all by his decision. Even though Kael already had excellent kitchen tools and didn't need new ones, she knew Heavy Hole well.
And there was also lk Stardust—the so-called universal seasoning. Granny Setsuno was running low on her supply, so she asked Kael to bring so back for her as well.
After all, lk Stardust wasn't just an outstanding whetstone. Once ground into powder, it beca a universal seasoning.
For any chef, lk Stardust was an extrely important ingredient.
This ti, Kael traveled to lk Mountain on Behemoth.
There were many fierce beasts around lk Mountain, including flying ones. When Toriko and the others went there, airplanes didn't dare approach directly. They could only be dropped off at the mountain's base and climb up on foot.
Kael didn't need to go through that trouble.
With Behemoth around, those beasts weren't a threat at all. After reaching lk Mountain, Kael didn't climb the stairs. He flew straight up instead.
At the mountaintop stood a house. It looked larger than normal—understandably so, since lk the First was nearly three ters tall.
As Behemoth approached the summit, a sudden sound rang out.
Kael looked closely and spotted a Vampire Kong standing atop a tree. This Vampire Kong had been left behind by lk the First to accompany lk the Second.
It usually handled deliveries—going down the mountain to fetch tools or deliver finished ones. It was an extrely important partner to lk the Second.
Sensing the arrival of Behemoth, whose aura was terrifyingly powerful, the Vampire Kong let out a warning call.
Hearing this, lk the Second imdiately rushed out.
Though the Vampire Kong couldn't speak, lk the Second had been with it for so long that she instantly understood its cries.
That call ant a powerful presence had approached. Whether friend or foe was unknown—but she still charged out imdiately.
"Don't be hasty. Let introduce myself. My na is Kael. I'm a chef, and I'm here with no hostile intentions."
Kael spoke calmly.
Hearing that, both the Vampire Kong and lk the Second relaxed slightly. But in the next instant, lk the Second stared straight at Kael.
"I rember now. I saw you in the newspaper. You're Granny Setsuno's disciple!"
She spoke in surprise.
Kael's apprenticeship had caused quite a stir. It wasn't just on television—newspapers were full of stories and photos of him.
lk the Second read newspapers to keep up with the outside world, so she recognized him.
"I didn't expect to be this famous already."
Kael hadn't thought that even soone as isolated as lk the Second would know him.
"Mr. Kael, are you here to have kitchen tools made? I can help you with that, but I have a lot of orders right now. You might need to wait for a while."
lk the Second spoke cautiously.
Back when her father was still around, chefs often ca directly to ask lk the First to forge tools for them.
But after she took over his work, she publicly announced that she wouldn't receive visitors. All orders were shipped in by air, so no one had co looking for her in person over the past few years.
Right now, lk the Second was forcing herself to stay calm, hoping she could send Kael away. If he discovered anything, things would get troubleso.
Kael found her reaction a bit amusing.
"I'm not here to have tools made. I already have kitchen tools. I ca here to learn sharpening techniques."
Kael stated his purpose plainly.
This ti, lk the Second was the one left stunned.
If she rembered correctly, Kael was a chef. According to the newspapers, he was also a Gourt Hunter.
So he was already both a chef and a Gourt Hunter—and now he wanted to learn sharpening too?
What kind of combination was that?
"Um… Mr. Kael, why do you want to learn sharpening techniques? You're already both a chef and a Gourt Hunter. Is it really okay to add sharpening on top of that?"
"And the sharpening techniques of my lineage—"
She stopped abruptly.
The reason was simple: she was still pretending to be lk.
She'd been about to say that without her master's permission, she couldn't casually teach these techniques.
She wanted to use that excuse to send Kael away.
But then she rembered she was supposed to be impersonating lk the First.
So she imdiately shut her mouth, suddenly at a loss for words.
"As an exchange, I can help you retrieve lk Stardust from Heavy Hole. After lk the First left, with your strength, you shouldn't be able to go there yourself, right?"
Kael said deliberately.
He was guiding the conversation toward lk the First. Once he told her that lk the First was in Heavy Hole, everything would fall into place naturally.
"You… what are you talking about?!"
Kael's words hit lk the Second like a thunderclap.
She was still pretending to be lk the First, yet Kael had already seen through it. She froze, completely stunned.
After so conversation, lk the Second finally ca clean, telling Kael everything—how her father had disappeared without explanation, leaving nothing behind.
"I see. It looks like both of you had so misunderstandings," Kael said.
"First, about lk the First. He actually speaks very softly. My master told that unless your senses are strengthened enough, you won't be able to hear him."
"So back then, he probably wasn't leaving without a word. He said sothing to you—you just couldn't hear it."
"As for you, have you ever considered whether lk the First was the type to just drop everything and walk away? He left you behind so you could take over his work. Otherwise, he would've told everyone to suspend operations."
"And you've been forging knives for so long now. Has anyone ever co to complain? Has anyone said your skills declined? No, right? That ans everyone recognizes you. You're the only one who doubted yourself."
Kael laid everything out clearly.
lk the Second fell silent.
At first, his logic sounded reasonable. The more she thought about it, the more convincing it beca.
Her expression grew more and more complicated as she realized she had truly misunderstood everything.
For years, she'd been consuming herself from the inside.
"I learned from my master what lk the First is working on now. He's currently at the deepest level of Heavy Hole. If you want to go, I can take you there."
Kael pressed while the iron was hot.
"Heavy Hole? I can't survive down there. I can barely handle the gravity on the surface, let alone the lower levels—and those beasts would tear apart before I could defend myself."
lk the Second shook her head imdiately.
Even knowing where her father was, she still didn't dare go.
"Leave that to . As long as you can handle the gravity, I can take you in. Those beasts aren't my match."
"Just look at Behemoth over there. His capture level is over 80."
Kael pointed at Behemoth, who was resting nearby.
Only then did lk the Second properly take in the massive beast before her.
"Over level 80? That's more than enough!"
Her eyes lit up instantly.
In Heavy Hole, the beasts were extrely powerful due to adapting to the gravity—but they still couldn't overco a gap of dozens of levels.
The Balbamoths there weren't especially high-level. If Kael really had that kind of strength, then he could definitely take her safely into Heavy Hole to see her father.
"Then... I'll take you up on that. I need to reach Heavy Hole—to adapt to the gravity. Having you there would help."
Kael smiled.
Even though he could neutralize the gravity with Enbu, letting his Gourt Cells adapt and improve their resilience was still beneficial.
Hearing this, lk the Second quickly made so preparations. Then she followed Kael, mounting Behemoth as they set off toward Heavy Hole together.
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