Kit had decided to make a simple 3 ingredient grilled steak salad. ‘This was really my only option. I don’t have many ingredients. We will have to work on building up a good range of fruits and vegetables so I can make a wide variety of things.’

Looking at the large chunks of Six Limbed Apelop meat. Kit for the first time was a little happy Kat and he had been so poor.

‘Thanks to our tight budget we used to buy meat in bulk. I would have to cut a side of meat into portions before freezing for future use. I watched many you tube videos on the best way to cut meat. Hopefully this meat is like earth’s meat and the skills I need will be the same.’

Kit looked in the cupboard for a towel so he could dry the meat. This was so it would not slip around as he was working. Once he had dried the meat, he turned the meat upside down to trim off the excess fats and tissues. He slid the tip of his knife under the piece needing to be trimmed and gently pulled the meat away while he cut.

Next, he removed the fat cap which covered a whole side of the strip of meat and curled over to the edges. He looked for the natural seam so he could remove the fat easily, once he found it his knife slipped in easily. He made small gentle incisions until the edge of the fat cap was completely free. He then moved the fat to a pile to give to Snowball when he had finished.

He then flipped the meat over and trimmed the excess fat off the top of the meat. Kit then decided how thick he was going to cut the steaks.

‘One and a half inch would be a good size, Mars looks like he would enjoy a bigger steak too.’

Now came the important part. Instead of sawing the steak strips he needed to draw his knife backwards while applying downward pressure. This was to give a smooth cut. Sawing backwards and forwards created an uneven surface. He had learnt this the hard way when he first attempted to cut his own steaks.

Ding!

[Skill learnt: Advanced beginner Slicing]

Player is proficient at slicing with a knife, adding more variety to knife skills.

+ 50 Agility

+ 30 Intelligence

Ding!

[Butcher sub class available]

Visit the culinary guild for acceptance into Butcher profession or find a master Butcher to apprentice under. (Locked until level 10).

‘Holy guacamole! With the new skills I’ve been getting I’ve had a nice jump in my stats. Starting off with a higher skill is great, too bad my fighting skills are not the same. Another sub class, I didn’t realise butchering would be a sub class too. Though I’m not surprised it’s a special skill set all on its own.’

Kit returned his focus back to the meat in front of him. He continued to slice cuts of steaks until all the steaks were done then he moved onto the next piece of meat. A nice pile of steaks was produced from his efforts.

Now he could start dinner. Kit decided to season the meat with salt and pepper lightly sprinkled as a coating on each steak. He then turned on an element and placed the fry pan on top, pouring in some of the monkey brain oil for flavour.

Once the pan was hot, he placed the steaks into the pan. A satisfying sizzling sound emerged on contact with the pan and shortly after a mouth-watering meaty smell filled the air. Kit’s stomach growled in response.

‘Ahh steak how I love thee.’

After two minutes Kit flipped the steaks over. He had done this so many times in real life he could already anticipate the juicy meaty taste filling his mouth. After a further two minutes Kit felt the steak was perfect, he removed them from the pan.

Kit removed two plates ready to make the salad. He chopped up a Pink crunchy loaf, two pears and spread them on the plate. He then sliced the steaks into thin slivers. Blood oozed from the cuts in a tantalizing visual. Kit couldn’t wait to place a piece in his mouth. He’d learnt to abstain, or he would become full before he had dinner.

As Kit placed the last piece of steak onto the plate.

‘I wonder if I should a drizzle some monkey oil over the top to finish it off? Or would it be too much nutty flavour. No, it needs a dressing it is a salad after all.’

Kit drizzled the monkey oil lightly over each plate. A familiar soft blue light started to swirl around the ingredients. Kit quickly pulled out another purple heart and crushed the stalk, he then sprinkled it over the meal. Instead of dissolving this time it stayed as an extra garnish covering the meal with pink speckles.

The soft blue light spread to cover the meal and create a soft blue sheen just like it did with the Monkey brain oil.

Ding!

[Apelop brain salad created]

A simple 3-part creation, with a colourful garnish, succulent juicy meat, and light nutty flavour, perfect for a light meal.

+ 20 Intelligence

+ 20 defence

for 1hour.

Reward: 2000 EXP, 50 silver crowns, 30 culinary points.

Ding!

[Congratulations, you are now Level 6]

‘Flying potatoes! This is the best day ever, so many good things today. My face will be sore from smiling tomorrow. This day, ahhh! How will I sleep tonight? I feel like a kid that just got the present he had always wished for.’

‘This is too much excitement for one person, I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest.’ Kit felt jittery all over he felt like he could not stay still.

He felt he really would have a heart attack at this rate. He couldn’t slow his pulse down. Kit realised the extra stats he received would not only help him with his cooking, it would also be a boost to his fighting skills, pity he didn’t add any to his attack stats though.

Kit decided he wouldn’t tell Mars about his new creation he was going to surprise him instead. He picked up the plates and turned towards the camp.

His hands holding the plates were shaking slightly with his adrenalin from creating the new dish. Kit glanced around to find Mars. Looking at the camp he realised Mars had been hard at work. There was a table and chairs next to the tent. A large stone on the table was giving a faint glow. Kit could tell it would be quite bright once night came.

The fire was going, it had a ring of rocks to contain the flames. Two camping chairs were in front of the fire ready for them to relax. Under a tree off to the side, was a rectangle frame surrounded by a shower curtain.

‘Is it a shower? Now I feel dirty because I’ve seen it. I haven’t had a shower since starting the game. I miss warm showers.’

Kit placed the meals on the table. Mars headed over to the table once he spotted Kit.

‘Oh, I forgot about the fluffy dragon head, I will make it after dinner. I got too distracted by all the excitement.’

Mars looked down at the meal Kit had prepared.

“Looks good.” Mars must have been hungry because he started to tuck in as soon as his bottom hit the chair. After taking his first bite Mars’ eyebrows instantly shot up.

“D-did you do it again?”

“Haha, yes I officially have a meal I can sell when I open my restaurant.”

Kit felt proud of his achievements so far in the game. He was on his way to making his dream real. He would have to help Mars with his dream as well, he wanted Mars to feel this good too.

“Plus, I did notice the first time I created something, I gain experience, money, and culinary points for making a stats dish. I have no clue what the culinary points are used for though”

“You got money? Ahh lucky, maybe I should try creating food too.”

“If you want to try, I’m all for it.” smiled Kit.

“Nah, I will leave creating to you I just want to find some famous treasure. When I was young, I loved pirate stories. I would sit for hours reading them, going on adventures with a bunch of friends, then living happily ever after once the treasure was found, that’s my goal.”

“Mars you do realise you’re currently living your dream, right? We have a treasure Map, and we are adventuring together to find said treasure.”

“Ha, Kit I think you’re right. I really am living my dream. It feels like I thought it would, I’m having fun every day.”

Mars smile was just as big as Kits. They started to eat their dinner, Mars began to make appreciative sounds.

“Mmm, so good. The meat is so juicy, the leaves are crunchy, the pear adds a nice contrasting flavour, and the dressing is perfect.”

Mars was not currently talking to Kit. He was so engrossed in his meal and was talking aloud to himself. Kit gave a little chuckle at Mars’ dialogue.

“Is it good Mars?”

“Yes, can we have this tomorrow?” Mars had a hopeful look on his face.

“Haha, ok, no problem.” As Kit continued to eat his dinner, he noticed one member of their party was missing.

“Mars, have you seen Snowball?”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him since we first arrived. Maybe he’s off exploring. He is a wild creature after all.”

“I hope he doesn’t get lost. He is only a tiny little thing, maybe we should go look for him.” Kit worried something bad would happen to the cute little fluff ball.

“He’ll be fine. He was living in the forest looking after himself long before we found him. He will come back when he is ready.”

“I suppose you’re right.“ Kit felt reassured after Mars pointed that out.

The two finished their meals. Then Kit washed the plates with the water from the barrel and filled a pot to boil some water for the fluffy dragon head tea. While he waited for the water to boil, he examined the flower. It really looked just like a dandelion, it was a yellow fluffy flower on top of a long green stem.

The roots of the plant where his main interest right now. They were what he was going to make the tea with. They were long and spindly brown in colour. He cut them from the stalk and washed them in some water. He removed a tea pot from the cupboard and placed the roots inside and filled it with the boiling water.

Ding!

[Fluffy dragon head tea]

A tea with a similar resemblance to coffee in appearance and taste.

+ 1 Stamina for 10 minutes

Rewards: 200 EXP, 200 bronze crowns, 2 culinary points.

An almost familiar smell rose from the tea pot it was not quite like coffee but very close. Kits heart was pounding once again.

‘The stats are low for these dishes. I will have to work on creating better stats. I think I’ll need to find some rare ingredients for that.’

Kit was still excited about his creations even if they were low stats levels. He had the items for his menu now. Hopeful he would have at least five by the time he opened his restaurant. Kit felt his dream growing bigger the more he played the game. He didn’t think he just wanted to open a restaurant anymore. He wanted it to become the best restaurant in the game.

He was going to strive beyond his current dream and aim for a level five restaurant. ‘Got to have big dreams.’

Kit smiled to himself. He then placed the tea pot on a tray with two cups and joined Mars in the chairs in front of the fire. He sipped at the brown liquid in satisfaction.

“Another one, seriously you are on a roll. You will have a full menu in no time at this rate.” Mars took an appreciative sip of the steaming fluid.

“So, what are our plans for tomorrow,” Mars asked.

“Considering the Six Limbed Apelop and the monkey brain nuts are what I need to make the Apelop brain salad. I want to take some extra time to harvest a supply. I don’t know if they’ll be common everywhere, so I would rather get a good store now.”

“It’s ok to get a good supply of the nuts. The meat will spoil in a bag, they have a limited time to be used before they decompose.”

Kit remembered he had seen in his first pouch that the bread had 10 days before it was spoiled.

‘Since I have obtained Credula’s pouch this has not appeared, was it because it was an epic item? Is it similar to the time freeze storage shelf where food doesn’t spoil because it is frozen in time?’

Kit decided to share his thoughts with Mars.

“Hmm, maybe it might be more special than that. I wonder if you could keep living things in there as well. We should try it out with a fish, that way we can see if it lives. If it does, it would be handy for fresh sea food.”

Kit could tell Mars thoughts had started to wander off thinking about sea food dishes. A little bit of drool was collecting in the corner of his mouth. Kit was right, Mars was a total foodie.

As they were talking Kit remembered he had yet to cover the brown blobs of his bag. He took out the cloth and metal tin he had gotten from Boots. He started to add a patch to his bag.

“What are you doing Kit?” Kit realised he had not filled in Mars about his conversation with Boots. He quickly relayed what had happened.

“Lucky you found out now. Imagine if it had been someone with bad intentions.”

“Yes, I was extremely lucky it was old Boots who told me. Though I’m still nervous he knows about my bag.”

“I think it will be ok. He won’t want you telling others about his bag. Your secret should be safe with him.”

Kit hadn’t thought about it that way. Now he was regretting not asking Boots more about the story of his great grandfather. He sighed, he didn’t want to turn around and go back just in case he was wrong, and Boots did have bad intentions.

Kit finished his stitching then examined his handy work. It really did look like he had repaired a hole in the bag. Kit was starting to feel tired now all his excitement was wearing off. He felt they could decide on tomorrow’s plans in the morning.

He said goodnight to Mars and headed into the tent. Inside were two sleeping bags laid on a fold out stretcher each. A pillow was at the end of the sleeping bag. Kit thought he had never seen such a welcoming sight. After sleeping amongst the straw this looked like a luxurious bed.

Kit climbed into the sleeping bag and was asleep by the time he closed his eyes.