Chapter 5

He now was more focused in his hunt of the kitchen. It paid off. A single jar of something labelled as Pickled Wild Onions lay at the back of the storehouse. He made three new sample dishes and asked his supervisor if he could use a knife.

To the first he strained in some of the juice from the jar, to the second he added long strips of the pickled wild onion and to the third he mixed in diced onion pieces. The adjudicator was pleasantly surprised by the deftness with which he handled the small knife he had given him to use.

With that he tasted the three dishes. Moving from right to left they decreased in spiciness and almost attained the same level of delicacy as the restaurants signature dish.

It was do or die time now. He diced what remained of the pickled wild onion; threw it in the roux pot and began to gently heat it. While it simmered he set about shaping the dough. He tore off a fist size piece and rolled it into a ball. Slowly he pushed his thick dwarven finger into the centre before widening the hole into a deep bowl shape.

To this he ladled a small portion of the sauce mix and sealed it by closing the dough around it. He held it in his hands applying just enough pressure to not let any escape. He set it down in the bread crumbs and began to roll it around. Once it had an even coating Mandeok set about heating the oil in the pan.

It took a few minutes to reach a proper heat, as indicated by a head nod from the observer, before he could fry the ball. He flattened it a little before he placed it in the oil.

It fizzed and spluttered magnificently before becoming a lovely deep brown colour, a step before too burnt. All that remained was to take it out; put it on a plate and present it for evaluation.

The Head Chef looked at the brown mound on the plate.

'No points for style' he thought 'but the proof is in the pudding as they say.'

He pierced it with a fork and lifted the whole thing off the plate. He had yet to confer with the invigilator so he was testing the coating and the dough's consistency. It held together even as he raised it higher above the plate towards his mouth.

A single great gnashing of teeth and the curry sauce bled onto the plate below. A huge bite mark had reduced the dish by a half.

The Head Chef passed it round his mouth a couple of times before swallowing it. He turned to the Roundsman and they began talking in hushed tones. Mandeok would have just waited but he had an uncontrollable desire to know how his dish tasted.

As though reading his mind the old man that had watched over them in the store room pushed the plate towards him with a smile.

'You don't have to tell me twice'

The sauce oozed out of the bite mark as another was inflict on its opposite side. Its creator savoured the flavour. It was delicate but not as delicate as the first dish had been. That by no means meant it was bad and he enjoyed it even more because for the last week he had done nothing but think of curry.

Lost in his flavour heaven he didn't see the Head Chef turn back to level the verdict.

A less then subtle clearing of the throat brought him back from a land where the clouds were yellow and smelled like spices.

"You pass; barely. Your technique is appalling but you did manage to grasp the recipe. If not in the right proportions."

"I leave your training to my father as I have more than enough keeping this lot in line. Now back to work before the evening rush you lazy dogs."

Mandeok stared blankly at the old man as a single word echoed in his head, 'Father'.

Without a word the old man raised a hand in greeting "Yo."

His next shift at the restaurant started out the same but after he had finished several sacks the old man pulled him to one side. There was a chopping board and two knives. The old man picked up one and began preparing the potatoes. He sliced and diced them in every which way imaginable. His frail hands were firm and steady as they moved gracefully

through the motions.

At the end he placed a potato in front of Mandeok and gestured to the second knife.

"Understand, easy. See?"

***************************

Since he had left home to attend university in Seoul Eun Seok had not done much cooking for himself. He had always been thankful for his mothers monthly care packages and now the man who could barely boil water let alone cook an egg was julienne and brunoise cutting vegetables.

After he would be forced to spend hours cutting leaf herbs en chiffonade. Made even easier when he graduated to using the mezzaluna. The jittery old man was beating his houchou sabaki into the patient dwarf one vegetable at a time.

When his handicraft hit level 3 he received notification that he could now learn tailoring and blacksmithing as well as another window

-:New skill: Cooking.

Do you wish to learn Cooking?

-:Accept: Yes / No:-

Once he accepted his formal training in the culinary arts was over. Now began the long road to becoming a Master Chef.

He was escorted from the storehouse, through the kitchen and upstairs to the private living quarters of the owner and his family. There was a small well stocked kitchen just off the sitting area. It was in front of this stove that Mandeok got to grips with actual cooking.

Here his introduction to boiling, frying and temperature control began.

Barbecuing; the most base of all. Slabs of meat sizzling over open flame. It didn't matter if he burned it as the flavour was only enhanced by the char-grill coating.

It was primal. Coming from an age where mans control over fire had just begun.

From these humble beginnings fire was tempered with metal and roasting gave more control over cooking. Chunks of meat or whole beasts rotated slowly on a spit. Before strips were thrown in a pan and fried, more technique gave way to sautéing and stir frying.

After dry heat came wet. Fire and water met and under the Old Masters watchful eye he boiled; blanched; braised; coddled; infused; poached; simmered; smothered; steamed; steeped and stewed his way through over a hundred dishes.

The lessons didn't stop even after the old man doused the flames.

Smoking; with the addition of salt-curing and drying could preserve foods for months even without a preservation spell but that wasn't the only thing they used smoking for. They treated cheese, fruits and vegetables. Making a tea with a particularly strong aroma.

As a token lesson the old man even showed the preparation of a smoked beer. When he sampled it Mandeok could almost taste the smoke in the malted barley. The old man clinked his glass to his latest Apprentice.

"I've taught you all I can. You should go out and find new flavours. Easy see."

The old man shot him a toothy grin before going back to sipping his beer.

That first night as a fully fledged Cook Mandeok spent sampling what remained of the leftovers he had been paid with. Some of the fish had gone off but thanks to his hard gained poison resistance he felt no adverse affects.

He identified and ate scraps of over thirty dishes. His now trained palette could detect the subtle key changes in flavour. The tones of the dishes gave way to the techniques that may have been used in its creation. His knowledge of the dishes was still too shallow to determine the ingredients used and in what proportion.

When he exited the capsule, after spending a couple hours in-game just eating, he was left with a powerful desire to eat something. He also had a desire to test out how far his knowledge could be exchanged between in-game and reality. Many forum posts seemed to indicate that players who took crafting professions that they had a knowledge of from real life found that their skills improved after applying them in-game.

He dipped into his meagre monthly expenses and headed out to his nearest Gogigui.

He stopped on the street in front of the small grill-bar.

'What if I get sick'

It was a thought that had crawled into his mind as he was thinking of what he was going to cook and how.

'My understanding of the culinary arts is still to naive. If its undercooked and makes me sick then I'll have to miss at minimum one day.'

While he mopped around his cupboard apartment he would miss four days worth of in-game experiences. It was valuable time that he doubted he could make up for later on.

The risk was too great in his mind. He had just found purpose and direction in his life if he lost the momentum he would no doubt tumble back into his old routine.

He headed home to eat some leftovers and sleep.

***********************************

Jazmina grumbled as she moved across the blistering sands.

After she had received her reward from that snake of a curator she had followed its message and hidden clues far from Serabourg.

It took her past Baran village and over the Lavias/Ulken mountain ranges. Into the Desert of Tranquillity.

To pleasant a name for the current hell she was in. By day the sun beat down mercilessly draining her of sweat, stamina and rational thought, Tranquil because the punishing heat stripped her of all else.

She had then, using Real World logic, tried to travel only at night.

SUICIDE!

The strong desert creatures of the day became demon beasts of monstrous proportions when the night effect of +30% was added to them. Forced to walk in the daytime she hoped she could survive long enough to reach either her hidden destination or one of the scattered desert dwellings.

Her heavy cloak gone in favour of a more practical one even if it lowered her meagre defence.

The only good thing about the miles and miles of sand and sun was that she gained a small buff. In Royal Road some places were like that. The spells of ice mages got stronger in colder climates but here, thanks to her high affinity with fire magic, she found her own spells more powerful.

The down side being that beasts of the desert also had a moderate to high resistance to fire.

'At least I beat that damn Dwraf.'

It was the only thought that kept her going.

She hadn't formed a party with him on purpose, making sure to land all the killing blows just to steal all the EXP and in the Boss fight she had even barred his way into the room completely. True the pre boss fight had caused the destruction of around a hundred books but she hadn't cared.

'He must have been completely screwed.' she chuckled as she inched her way through the sand supporting herself on her staff.

Thoughts welled up of all the times he had defended and protected her but she forced them aside and focused on his shocked face. He had looked half dead crawling toward the door before she erected her Flame Wall. Another pang of guilt that she suppressed.

She stumbled and half rolled half slide to the bottom of the dune she had been traversing. She was picking herself up when several jet black shapes rose from the sand around her; Heavy Armoured Scorpions. Their claws clacked in expectance and their cruelly curved bard tail flicked in preparation. Beads of poison formed at the tip just waiting for the moment to strike.

Jazmina was already in a foul mood and this didn't help. Without a second thought she threw a fireball. The normal ball of flame now felt like a small sun as she gathered it in her outstretch palm.

When it hit the hard armour of the closest scorpion it merely bounced off leaving only a slight scorch mark on the durable carapace. They advanced menacingly lashing their tails.

She swore very loudly and resigned herself to use one of her most powerful spell. It required a little more preparation then the enemy would allow. They would be in range to leap at her soon.

'Sweeping Flame.'

A gout of flame flowed left to right following her moving staff hand. The wave of flame pushed the oncoming enemy back. It gave her a few more precious seconds, just enough time to channel her mana intensive spell.

'Plasma Lance.'

********************************

Hundreds of miles away a small figure sat in front of the gates of Serabourg castle.

He had been there for several hours hunched over a small fire. Occasionally he grabbed handfuls of wood from the dwindling piles around him and sacrificed them on his pyre. A couple of pots simmered away as he used the frying pan to beat back the flames.

He was using all the techniques of cooking he had learned to see if he couldn't enhance the effects he gained from the herbs he usually gathered.

Sautéed stems; leaf salads; tubers mashed or fried. He brought all the techniques he'd learned to bare against these wild greens. Unfortunately after hours of cooking he could only enhance the taste slightly.

Cooking wild greens only had a limited effect on raising his Cooking skills level. It had crept up painfully slowly till around 75% then stopped. Level 1 (75%) was the extent of cooking just wild greens. To raise it any higher he would have to expand the variety of ingredients he used. With predatorily eyes to gazed at the helpless bunnies frolicking in the field behind him.

'I wonder what rabbit meat would taste like?'

He swallowed his saliva and tightened his grip on Namu Mangchi before rushing the nearest rabbit.

Drooling like a man who hadn't eaten in weeks he brought the thickest end down on the poor creature. The wood reverberated in his hands and shattered into pieces. The rabbit stumbled around in a dazed condition as its attacker looked at the pile of wood chips at his feet.

His crude weapon had served him well while clearing the archive but if he had bothered to check he would have seen that it was down to a single point of durability. That last > had been enough to wipe away that final point.

While he was assessing any useable chunks his prey came round. It was now hopping mad and made a pounce for its would be attacker. A tiny ball of teeth, feet and fury. Both fought like they were possessed. At times the rabbit would have the upper hand before a well placed dwarven fist or kick would tip the balance. Only for a swift rabbit punch to reverse it once more.

Their struggle continued for a good couple of hours before, both bloody and exhausted, Mandeok caught it with a jab as it made a final desperate lunge. As the small cuddly bunny sought to sink its buck teeth into the soft area of the dwarf's throat.

He disappeared in a flash of gray smoke and Mandeok collapsed to the ground breathless.

-: Class Restriction:-

-: You receive no experience from Hunting :-

-: You receive no experience from the completion of Non Class specific quests :-

*************************************

Another video appeared online. It would become the third in the series of the Wildman shorts. This time players wet themselves over the absurd fight between the Wildman of Sereabourg and a bunny rabbit.

Most players upon leaving their chosen cities after the first four weeks had hunted rabbits so they all understood its capabilities. Normally new players partied up and dispatched rabbits in a few hits before moving on to things that would prove a bit more of a challenge like foxes and wolves. Most were surprised by the apparent aggression of this particular rabbit.

Biting and gouging in the mud and blood of the field the dwarf finally conquered his foe.

**************************************

Mandeok sat recovering and looked out across the field. He watched other players hunting and the almost constant flow of people in and out of the castle ground. Enviously he watched as those who had chosen professions from the combat series deftly dealt with rabbits, foxes and wolves. Even if they were only wearing low grade armour.

Compared to Mandeoks rags the difference in protection was overwhelming. He sat there cursing his competitors and his weak class when a single thought occurred o him. Like a ray of light it cut through the black aura that surrounded him.

'To a merchant they aren't competition they are customers.'

With this burst of enlightenment Mandeok gathered himself up and headed back to town to sell what he'd gathered and try to find a weapon that would make his life and death struggles against the local vermin a little easier.

Off the main street was a small shop.

A tiny bell chimed as he opened the weathered door. The shop keeper looked up as the dwarf weaved his way through the shelves of bottles and herbs. There were several Alchemy stores in Serabourg but this was the only Apothecary. Potions and poisons the 'Serpents Gall' had it all and he had been slowly building his relationship with the owner by selling his herbs exclusively to this store.

"Well, well. I was just about to stress out over this order and who should appear but one of my preferred suppliers."

Although the elf behind the counter looked middle aged Mandeok knew that they're natural longevity could be misleading. The increase in his handicraft and herbology had lead to an increase in the quality of the herbs he picked. Maybe it was because of this that the owner seemed to have more faith in him than usual.

"I've been granted a commission to supply an expeditionary force with some healing potions. Of course it isn't just me the other shops have similar orders. It's a big force." he continued.

For a shop owner gaining this kind of commission was a huge opportunity that they couldn't miss. Mandeoks instincts pricked up. This conversation was becoming very interesting.

"Lately your products quality has increased or maybe because your quality's increased I feel I can leave this to you. I need these herbs in these quantities. Can you do it?" with that he handed the dwarf a simple list of ingredients.

Mandeok poured over the list. Most of the items were easy enough to gather from the fields outside the citadel. The difficult part of it would be gathering the quantities that would be required.

"I should be able to."

He accepted the quest window as soon as it popped up. He didn't even need to think about whether or not it would be a waste of a quest slot. The only new information the window gave was a time limit of a week.

"Alright. Pierre deal with the rest of the business while I make a start on our rush orders."

From behind him a figure silently appeared. He was dressed in clothes that didn't go with the rest of the store. The mismatched set marked him as a Player, the clothes and the way he had appeared seemed to indicate proficiency in a rogue profession.

He gave a nod to indicate that their business could begin and Mandeok unloaded his herbs onto the countertop. Pierre sorted them into piles of similar plants and then divided those piles by quality. Mandeok took out his accounts ledger as Pierre tallied up some figures in his head.

"Usual price so total 2 gold 10."

Mandeok double checked the figure he had calculated. The price was a little more than he had thought but that just went to show the power of his class. He nodded, picking up the fee that was offered he turned to leave when a call from the back stopped him.

"Mandeok a moment if you please."

He stepped through the door behind the counter and entered another world. The back of the store had a glass roof and was more like a greenhouse. Great bushels of exotic herbs grew in pots under shafts of golden sunlight.

The elf was bent over a table at the far side trimming some leaves from a particularly large plant. Without moving to acknowledge the dwarf he pointed to a shelf near the door. On it were several tomes and a lot of dust.

"Blue book third from the right. It might help you fill my order."

Mandeok stretched out his hand to reach for it. He had to stand on his tip toes to just reach the books base. As soon as his finger tips brushed its aged spine a message appeared.

-: You have obtained skill book: Medical Botany:-

He was shocked. A skill book was a very rare item and he had just been handed one for free. The last words stuck in his craw. Nothing in Royal Road came for free. If the cost wasn't obvious it would definitely be paid later. It obviously showed on his face as the elf followed up with.

"Consider it any investment. Just take it in good faith and get out of here. My herbs won't pick themselves."

Mandeok didn't need to be told twice. He plucked the volume from the shelf and raced out into the street. He took a deep breath and cracked its spine. As he walked back to the main gate he read it cover to cover. He had to read it twice before the skill prompt appeared.

-:Learn skill: Medical Botany:-

-:Yes / No:-

He accepted and the book disappeared. Unlike his herbology; medical botany was a more specific skill. Herbology gave information about the plant and suggested some of its uses while medical botany only identified medical herbs but gave detailed techniques to extract and process them. Taken with his Cooking he could now utilise 75% of what he harvested. That would grow to 100% with the addition of the Alchemy skill.

Once more he entered the fields to hunt his favoured prey: inanimate objects.

*****************************

When he returned he found the shop locked and the storefront darkened. He banged on the door with his solid dwarven fist until a weary eyed Pierre begrudgingly opened the door a crack.

"Sorry we're not open."

"I've got the order."

The man's eyes seemed to have trouble focusing.

A cry came from inside "If that's Mandeok then damn it Pierre let him in!"

The calm atmosphere of the Apothecary was gone. Plumes of colourful smoke billowed out of the back room. When Pierre led him through they were confronted by the elf angrily driving a nail into a wooden figurine on the wall. The owner was mumbling black words under his breath but stopped long enough to engage his supplier.

"Down to business. Pierre see to it." before he refocused all his energy on the effigy.

The merchant pilled high the items he had been requested to gather. The rogue mechanically began sorting and categorising them. It was a silence only men could make; were nothing needed to be said. Mandeok was the first to break it as another yelp of pain came from the back room.

"What's happened to make the Owner so upset?"

A harmless question but one that made the weary rogue sigh and look even more dejected. As though those words had increased the burden he was carrying.

"One of our other employees finished his four weeks here and demanded to be taught Alchemy."

Mandeok listened intently to the man's every word. It was true that sometimes he saw other players helping in the store when he came but that was very rarely.

"When the Owner refused the guy got abusive and quit. Right then and there."

"With this big order we needed everyone so as to complete it on time. Now we're a man down and to rub salt into the Owners wounds rumours have spread that he is now working for one of the Alchemy shops by the main square."

He could understand, regardless of how long it had been out or how many played it. Some people still had a sense of entitlement when dealing with NPC's. As he scooped up his fee for the delivery he received the notification saying he had completed the quest. It was followed by a second box.

-:Congratulations you have levelled up.

Gained five stat points to distributed :-

It was his first level up since he started the game. As he checked his character information he was overcome by a wave of emotion that he hadn't expected from simply seeing 'Level: 2 (0.0%)'. Still in the euphoria of the momentous achievement he made the mistake of asking Pierre.

"Do you need anything else."

The man opened his mouth to speak when a voice from the back room cried.

"Pierre show Mandeok how to start preparing the herbs he brought."

He was snapped out of his rosy world by the sudden realisation of what was about to happen.

'Slave Labour. This is the price I have to pay for that skill book.'

Immediately he was shown to a table in the back room and taken through the first steps of preparing the herbs. Pierre took him through the stages required to prune, cut and ready the plants for drying. Thanks to Mandeoks handicraft he nimbly plucked stems and petals before laying them on mesh racks.

Pierre was astounded by the speed at which the dwarf handled the herbs. They quickly moved on to the next stages. The dry herbs that were there before were ground down into a fine powder and then added to bubbling vats. Stems and roots were mashed and stewed. Because of the way they were prepared Mandeok saw small increases to his Cooking and Handicraft levels.

These concoctions were distilled and dripped into big jars before being decanted into small bottles. labelled and left to cool. The back table soon filled up with corked bottles.

This continued on for the last two days of the requests time limit. Mandeoks hands were a blur and his skill in gathering herbs had allowed an increase in both production and quality of the potions they created. Almost 2000 potions were crafted and as he put the cork in the final one.

-:New skill: Alchemy.

-: Do you wish to learn Alchemy?:-

-:Yes / No:-

He let out a long sigh as he accepted the fruits of his forced labour. The Owner crated them up and headed out to deliver them to the local garrison. He had decided to close the store for a couple of days so Pierre headed off in one direction and after saying goodbye Mandeok headed in the direction of his selected destinations: Blacksmithing and Tailoring.

Of course like all major cities all main professions were represented by Guild buildings but these were not the places he was heading to. His destinations were shops as he felt he would gain more from learning from them than the Guilds. For tailoring he had chosen the shop 'Old Lace' and 'The Dwarven Striker' for blacksmithing.

The rows of streets in the citadel were, as always, packed with busy Players and NPCs going about their business. Through the crowds a small figure nimbly picked his way before disappearing into one of the stores.

The store was neatly laid out. Tasteful window displays, organised rows of thread spools and carefully stacked shelves of fabric rolls. Behind the small polished maple counter sat an elderly lady in a high backed chair knitting. She raised her eyes briefly from the pattern when her newest customer entered with the gentle tinkling of the bell.

"Good afternoon. How may I help you today Master Dwarf?"

She greeted him with a slight smile. A dignified old seamstress he wouldn't gain anything if he wasn't sincere and honest about his intentions. The years of experience could be clearly seen in each and every wrinkle on her face and by how steadily she purled her current piece.

"Hello. I have come to learn how to sew and was wondering if you would be so kind as to show me the basics."

The needles came together and the wool was placed delicately on the counter top.

"Hands."

He complied with the gentle command and held them out for her inspection. She took them in her own and examined them carefully. Her calloused finger tips moved over every inch of the dwarfs rough hands. She nodded approvingly.

"If you can show me an example of your work I'll decide whether or not to train you further."

"...may I use the Dress Form. Do you have one in my size?"

She smiled warmly at this question and went back to her knitting.

"I'll dig it out for you when you're ready to put your fabrics together."

Mandeok bought a few sewing implements and left contented. It wasn't a quest but more of a test and now the hardest thing would be gathering the materials he may need. He could buy them from vendors but without any skill in tailoring he would waste more material then he needed to make anything. Wasted material would be wasted money.

Lost in thought he once more found himself before the gates of the citadel. He took a few minutes to watch players coming and going through the portcullis. Most who returned to the city immediately sought out buyers for their japtem, people to repair their gear and heal their wounds. They bought rye bread and refilled their canteens at the fountain before heading back to the fields to hunt.

Thousands of players spending upwards of fifty coppers a time, every time they returned to town. The merchants eye he was cultivating within himself sparkled brightly. The cogs in his brain worked feverishly as he continued to observe the flow of this Player driven economy.

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