"It... does take a bit of thought. Though, considering what you've done here," he gestured, vaguely, with the provided spoon, before dropping it back into the stew and scooping up a sizeable amount, "I wouldn't say you're far off yourself. Transmutation is just... a shift, really. Rearranging properties and substituting others, which you must've had to do to get all this to grow together. A different means, maybe, but similar results."
He snorted a bit, slanting a cool glance in the raven's direction at the mention of Lanaya's 'knack' for communication with the feathered devil, as he was starting to mentally call her. Magic or not, some natural ability or not, it was certainly something in and of itself, and not one he entirely trusted, considering he was incapable of understanding half the conversation. And birds tended to always be watching, which set him on edge a little more than he'd have cared to admit.
He lifted the spoon to his mouth, and took a careful, curious bite. Satisfied that nothing immediately seemed off, he dove into the rest, barely pausing to let each bite cool before shoveling it into his face. He hadn't realized, in all of this, just how ravenous he had been, and now that food was A Thing, he could barely be bothered with much else.
As for what brought him here, well...
"I just wanted to get away," he muttered, scraping out the last of the stew before finally setting the bowl back down again, "just, see how far I could go. The bonus was that there were no people out here-- ah, less people, I mean."