Life in the kitchen is hot. Hotter than a scorching day underneath the rays of the dungeon sun. It could even be said to be as hot as Barry's recently acquired magma bath. Life in the Kitchen isn't just hot, it's also fast. Hours of work can pass by in the blink of an eye, or this is how proprietor of the establishment feels when she enters the zone.

With an ever growing population, the amount of meals that Ali has to make, and the time it takes to prepare them, has almost outgrown her current capabilities. However, that's not to say she can't handle the position of The Gourmet, it just means that she doesn't have enough hands. If only she had more capable limbs, she could prep, cook, and plate food, all at once

Knowing that her master has been adding to the ranks of certain industries within the dungeon, Ali has decided to ask for some employees of her own.

She only needs two but instead she is going to ask for five. Two to train as chefs, two to take orders and deliver food to and one to greet guests and organise seating and availability.

Being around as long as she has, which isn't too long in the grand scheme of things, Ali knows that her master is unlikely to deny her request.

Even if she is the master, Abi approves whatever is asked of her by her faithful children as she can't seem to help herself. Even with Veris. Somehow, she still managed to grant her request, even whilst saying no.

Ali couldn't ask for a kinder, more gracious, master. Not when the one she has already gives whatever she can so freely.

Still, asking for anything is extremely hard for Ali. She almost went 36 hours without eating after being brought into existence. Granted, her master didn't know if they needed to eat or not at the time and she was also in the middle of her own crisis. As soon as Ali had mustered the courage to ask though, all her worries fell away at the copious amounts of food that was made available for her.

As she remembers her previous request, Ali takes a few deep breaths before signalling her master through her own will.

"Hey, Super Chef," Abi's jade light materialises behind Ali causing the startled woman to jump before she asks, "What's up?"

"Master... I... I..." taking a deep breath to calm her growing anxiety, Ali bursts out into one long sentence, "Master I would really appreciate it if you could summon me four employees to work in my building to cook, serve and greet our family and anyone else that might visit us in the future cause all I want to do is be of service to you."

"Sure thing, Ali. Whatever you need to keep everyone fed, I will happily provide. Whilst I'm here do you need any more ingredients? Baluka and Rocky brought home some Koko Root. Do you want some?" going the extra mile, her master offers even more than is asked of her. With tears building in her eyes, Ali shakes her head and declines politely.

"No, thank you, Master. They also brought me some. It was one of my quests that made them acquire it in the first place."

"OK. I'll leave these ladies in your care then and I'll be off. I'm sure I can hear Noir bellowing somewhere. They must have just got home," that said, Abi disappears leaving Ali alone with her new employees.

"OK ladies, there's a lot to learn so listen up," with that Ali begins to explain the various ways to prepare, store and cook the various dishes that she produces in her restaurant.

Dungeon Stories Volume 1

I don't know who's more shocked?

Me, Me, or the other three.

Granted, I already have the impression that Light's quite surreal in terms of strength but damn!

That was some killer move right, Me?

That does describe it rather accurately.

You're damn right it does. I always wanted to see Light or Dropper bust a move. That was awesome!

Agreed. I'm sure your guests feel the same way also as they have not yet moved a muscle and Light is almost gone.

"Oi, where are you going?" I shout after the brainless idiot who's trying his best to walk away with a nonchalant swagger.

Turning at the sound of my voice, he realises that no one is following him and he flushes red with embarrassment.

"Well? What the hell are you waiting for? The Solstice? Come on!" he shouts over. Recovering from her shock, the female guard helps her exhausted colleague to his feet whilst keeping her gaze firmly on Light.

"There's nowhere else to go and we don't have any other choices," she smiles and reminds the other two of their situation to which they can only nod in agreement. With what they have witnessed in the last thirty seconds, it's doubtful they could escape now even if they wanted to.

Following on behind Light, the three humans nervously enter the multicoloured mountain's entrance. Stunned silence persists as they carefully walk through the Rule Room with different thoughts before reaching the doors of the Black Barracks.

No one says a word until, "Aaron, is this a dungeon? If so, then where are all of the monsters?" the plump, well-dressed man finally gathers enough courage to whisper to the closest guard.

"I don't know? I think so. Large doors like these don't appear in regular mountains. Usually, there would be a Boss Room behind them. Right, Sophie?" Aaron keeps his voice low and leaves clarifying the question to the seasoned dungeon diver beside him.

"It is a dungeon, although so far it's been the strangest one I've ever set foot in. I mean, I've never seen a dungeon post rules before. Especially not ones written on large black stone pillars! And where are all the monsters and what the fuck are those little lightworm things? It's just... "

"Weird as fuck?" Aaron finishes off her sentence and Sophie nods back in agreement before turning to the unarmoured third wheel.

"I want three times as much for this mission when we return, Wheeler! It should be easy enough seeing as how we're twenty two people shy of what we started with, right?" Sophie smiles at the thought of more money coming her way after Wheeler sighs and nods, relenting to her request.

"Ahem," Light reminds the others of his presence as the large doors in front of them begin to open magically on cue. Their gaze is immediately drawn inside as the layout and features vaguely resemble the Capital cities guard houses. As they enter, stairs leading both up and down, are on their left and to their right, a couple of guards are enjoying their break in the designated seating area.

Aww crap. I got caught up imagining Light's supercool shadow spikes. I forgot to remind him that he needed to explain the details before they got to the mind melt zone.

The mind melt zone?

Yeah. That's when any guy comes into contact with anything vaguely female in my dungeon.

Blam. Mind melt.

Oh. Is that what we're calling it now?

Unless you have a better suggestion?

No?

Mind melt it is. Blam.

The restless guards are the only things catching the eyes of the two male guests. Sophie, however, is taken back by the soothing atmosphere. Instead of being dimly lit by a few shabby torches, the windows of the room glow brilliantly and a surreal light gives her a feeling of warmth.

"It feels so... peaceful," she whispers to herself.

"Hehe. It most certainly is but you haven't seen anything yet," raising his empty mug in the air beside her, Light crosses the room toward the exit keeping his smile on Sophie's puzzled face.

"What do you mean?" she asks as Light pushes the doors open, taking her breath away in the process. He shouts at the two brain dead men who, in turn, slowly pull their attention away from the unforetold heaven in front of them towards a different kind of beauty.

"Holy shit!" "What the fuck?" Aaron and Wheeler's reactions are one and the same, "More women!"

"Aren't we inside the mountain?" Sophie is the only one to remember their location as the men are well and truly gone at this point.

I'd be surprised if they can even remember their own names.

Why would they forget their names?

Because of the mind melt.

But why would that make them forget their own name?

Nevermind, it was just a joke, Me.

Oh. Should I laugh?

No, not if you didn't find the joke funny, it's not like I was a comedian in my last life. We'll get you there though buddy.

For now though, this scene is much more entertaining.

"Correct. We are still inside the mountain. The sun is just a feature of this floor, albeit a spectacular one," he explains as they head over to the retreat.

"What about these houses? Is this where you all live?" her eyes shoot all over as they pass more people on their way.

"Yeah. More people stay at the hotel though as there aren't enough houses yet. Plus it's right next to 'Ali's',"

"Ali's?"

"So far, it's the only restaurant in Varona. We'll grab a bite to eat after you've had a drink and I've explained more of the situation to you," at the thought of food, Light's belly lets out a loud roar.

"Varona? Is that the name of this town?" Just as Kat was before, Sophie is overwhelmed by curiosity. Her two male companions have not uttered a word since leaving the barracks. It's obvious that they have questions as well but they're likely to only be about one subject.

As they enter the retreat, the inevitable question inside cannot be quelled and Aaron bursts out, "How the hell are there so many beautiful women here? We're literally in the middle of nowhere!"

"Well it's the middle of the mountain, if you want to be specific," Sophie smiles at her comrade before taking a seat at the bar next to Light, "I'm also curious about that as well and to why 'you're' here in the first place. Are you like... The Dungeon Owner or something?"

This time it's Aaron and Wheeler's turn to laugh. That is until the proprietor appears from nowhere also partaking in the scene amusing her. She refills the empty mug of the red faced customer and captivates the hearts of the two other shell-shocked customers.

Dropping to his knee, Wheeler produces a beautiful box from out of thin air before raising it up to Talia.

"Please. Marry me!" staring into her large blue eyes, melts his heart with every second that passes.

No one else says a word as they are all equally surprised in very different ways.

Ho.. ly... Shit

What does that mean?

It means... He wants to spend the rest of his life with her.

Is that normal?

It would be after a prolonged amount of time. Just proposing straight out of the gate like that is kinda creepy. All it would take now, would be for him to keep lingering around her afterwards and he'd be straight up in stalker land.

Stalker land?

Just another one of those silly things, nevermind.

Let's laugh at Talia.

"Talia's got a boyfriend!" I jokingly float towards her whilst singing until she throws a bone tingling look my way. That's all it takes to make me shut up apparently.

"I'm sorry, but I'm already interested in someone else. It's very flattering though so thank you," letting him down gently, he sighs before rising up from his knee.

"Then I shall challenge him to a duel. Who is he? He not him, is he?" he points to Light who has just ignored the situation entirely and is happily drinking once again.

"Haha, God's no. It's definitely not Light," she laughs. The unintended insult earns her a frown from the otherwise merry drinker.

She takes out three mugs from under the bar and fills them with Strong Ale. She then passes them out whilst explaining about the man in her life, "... No offence to you, Light darling, you're great. You know you are. But when it comes to the heart, a lady wants what she wants, what else can I say?"

"Yeah, yeah... I'm awesome I know, hehe... Anyway, listen carefully you three... I'm going to explain everything you've seen so far... and I'll answer other questions after... OK?" Light slurs between sentences.

"You? Why not her? She seems to be in a much better condition than you?" assessing his alcohol toxicity level, Sophie offers a better suggestion.

"Yeah. Let the sublimely beautiful hostess, whose name I've still to learn, answer a few questions for a change, will ya?" Wheeler adds on.

"I'm Talia," she beams to her three new customers, "And that will be three gold please."