Morrigan gave a chuckle at Kit’s certainty that he was the master chef.

“What how did you know? I thought because you were watching me, you thought it was me. What did I do to make you rule me out?” Asked the short man.

Kit pointed to the chicken he had been cutting.

“Seriously. I’m good at this though.”

“You sawed the meat instead of slicing downward.”

“Damn… It’s because this bit is so fiddly. You did well, most people can’t tell until we get to the end who everyone is. Morrigan is a dead giveaway then, because he is the one to prepare the sauce for the skewers. I’m Toby by the way. The lovely lady is Monique.”

Kit couldn’t stop his mood from soaring. He had officially passed his test. He was going to become a chef. The first step to his dream was almost completed. Kit felt a little lightheaded from his excitement. He was glad he was sitting down.

If his father was alive, he would have been proud of him. Kit smile grew bigger when he thought about what his father would have said to him. He was always cheesy with his compliments.

Kit wanted to rush over to the guild now to accept his sub class. He held himself back and continued watching the staff prepare the breakfast service in a happy blur. The bustle in the kitchen was dying down and there was just a pile of freshly marinated chicken skewers left to grill.

Morrigan motioned Kit to come over to his side.

“Want to grill the chicken skewers. You will get to see some magic.”

“Yes please.”

Kit couldn’t believe he was going to get to learn how to grill from a master chef. He was just as excited about learning this as he was about becoming a chef. He was sure getting this chance was a big deal.

Kit looked at the grill in front of him. It looked like a metal barrel had been cut in half and with a grill rack placed on top. Inside the grill was a pile of white wood that had small flames licking the grill rack. Kit wondered what the wood was called.

“The wood inside is important to the flavour of the meat. Use the wrong wood and the flavour is ruined. Remember this, ok?”

Kit nodded. He wasn’t going to forget a single thing this man told him.

“Next turn the barrel grill to medium heat. If you make it too hot, you will burn the meat. We are aiming for a light golden brown colour not charred. The cooking time is around 10-14 minutes. Only turn them once.”

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking all four sides need to go over the flame. The flame will lick up the sides of the meat occasionally. That alleviates the need to brown the outer sides.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes”

Kit looked at the grill. “Medium heat.”

The flame inside rose in height. It was still below the grill. Occasional flames pierced the grill rack. Kit placed the first skewer on the grill. A beautiful sizzling sound greeted his ears. Kit continued to lay the chicken skewers on the grill. He watched the chicken skewers as they cooked.

“Can you see how the cooked white part of the chicken skewers is traveling up the raw meat. Once the white is just over halfway. Turn the chicken skewers over.”

Kit followed Morrigan’s advice. When they were ready, he turned the chicken skewers over. The smell from the chicken skewers had a spicy quality. Kits mouth was starting to water. The tops of the chicken skewers were a golden brown. Kit thought the sauce enhanced the golden colour. He really wanted to try one.

“Now look at the sides of the chicken skewers. If it is white all the way to the wooden skewer you can take them off the grill. The blue swirl also gives it away when the meat is done.”

Kit waited for the white to cover all the meat to the wooden skewer. As the white almost took over the raw meat, a blue swirl started to cover the skewers. Once the blue covered all the chicken Kit took the skewers of the grill.

“Now we take the cooked chicken skewers to be plated then we add them to the time freeze storage shelf. Arnold splashed out for a nice sized one. It has six bays that can hold three hundred meals in each. The skewers are served with a salad. Monique prepared the salad earlier.”

“This part I will have to do. You won’t have a level for your cooking skill yet to multiply the plates.”

Morrigan placed three chicken skewers on the white plate with the prepared salad. The blue swirl returned and started to cover the plate. Morrigan reached over and grabbed a jar filled with a fine red power. He sprinkled it over the meal. The swirl started to intensify. It pulsed then settled.

526 appeared above the plate. Kit’s jaw dropped open. Morrigan was at such a high level. Morrigan laughed when he saw Kit’s expression.

“What did you expect I’m a master chef. Granted I’m a low class master chef. Wait until you see some of the levels in the city.”

Morrigan took the plate to the time freeze storage shelf. He placed the plate inside one of the bays. 300 appeared on the outside of the bay.

Morrigan pulled the plate back out and placed it in the next bay over. 226 appeared outside of the bay. Kit stood there looking silly. If he could get his skill that high. He would make a fortune. Morrigan returned to the chicken skewers and repeated the process until all the bays were full.

Kit realised another smaller time freeze storage shelf stood next to the larger one. He asked Morrigan what it was for.

“This time freeze storage shelf is just for the chicken skewers. They are the store’s best seller. So… they have their own shelf. The rest of the restaurant’s dishes are in the smaller time freeze storage shelf.”

Kit was amazed at how much the small restaurant could sell. If he could make his restaurant as popular as this one, he wouldn’t have to worry about one day earning enough money to sustain a living in CAL.

Two chicken skewers were left over. Kit couldn’t help eyeing the golden brown sticks. He really wanted to taste the tantalizing chicken. The smell was incredible. Morrigan saw his gaze and picked up a skewer and handed it to him.

Kit didn’t even stop to say thank you. His mouth was already descending towards his goal. He took a bite of the chicken and a spicy peanut flavour hit his mouth. His mouth heated from the level of spice on top of the chicken. He didn’t care if it burnt his mouth, he was going to finish this delicious chicken.

Kit was smacking his lips together both from the heat and the delicious taste. He could tell his lips were slightly swollen from the heat from the spice. He could tell he had a bit of sauce on his face, he could feel a slight tingling sensation at the side of his mouth. He didn’t care. Once he had devoured the skewer, he wiped his mouth. That was the best spicy chicken he had ever had.

Kit decided to check his stats to see what he had gained.

Kit + immune to all venom 24hrs

Level: 10

Health: 320/320 + 2000 24hrs

Attack + 59 (30)

Class: Swordsman

Stamina: 22/22 + 50 24hrs

Speed + 69 (5) + 200 24hrs

Sub class:

Magica: 62/62

Intelligence + 72

Money: 43 silver 904 bronze crowns

Experience: 100/1200

Agility + 131 (5)

Restaurant capital: 45 silver 709 bronze crowns

Clothing: White apron

Defence + 18 (5)

Culinary Points: 42

Weapon: Beginner Sword

Free Points: 20

“Holy fluffy figs! Plus 2000 health, 50 stamina, 200 speed and immune to all venom types for 24 hours. What kind of meal is this!”

“Haha glad you like it. This little beauty is why Arnold hired me.”

“It’s amazing. No wonder you’re a master chef. How long did it take you to create this dish Morrigan?”

“Five years. This dish was what helped me tip over into a master chef. I sat at expert chef for seven years. I was beginning to think I would never make master chef at the time. I only just scraped through with this dish. The bonus to stats is average, it’s the venom immunity that makes it a high level dish.”

Kit couldn’t believe Morrigan thought the stats were average. To him they were incredible. Kit thought about it for a while then realised Morrigan was probably right. He was at a low level right now, so his stats weren’t high. This was probably why it looked amazing to him.

He guessed that if he was at level 100 then the increases to his stats wouldn’t make much of a difference. He wondered what would be classed as a good stats dish. Kit decided not to worry about it now. He was just starting his journey he had a long way to go yet before he could make an amazing dish.

Kit realised he hadn’t thanked Morrigan for teaching him how to grill.

“Morrigan thank you for the lesson on grilling.”

“No problem. It was your reward for guessing who the master chef was before the end of the shift. Now what would you like to learn about as the reward for your task.”

Kit felt a little thrill run through his body. He could ask Morrigan whatever he wanted. Kit went through some questions he wanted answered in his head. ‘What is the best way to increase my level? No, I should ask something else. Can he teach me a stats dish? No, I don’t think he would part with that knowledge.’

Deciding what to ask was harder than he thought. Kit glanced around the kitchen hoping to find some inspiration. His eyes landed on the jar of fine red power. Could he ask what that was? Kit decided to try his luck. He knew it had something to do with the stats dish.

“Morrigan, can you tell me about what is in the jar of fine red powder.”

Morrigan eyed him for a long while. Kit’s hope grew when he was not rejected straight away. Kit crossed his fingers behind his back. He knew it was childish, but he needed all the luck he could get to learn the secret of the jar.

“Ok. I will tell you. But you have to sign a contract first.”

Kit felt his mood soar. He was going to learn about one more ingredient he could use to create a stats dish. Morrigan pulled a piece of paper from thin air and placed it on the counter in front of Kit.

“This is a binding contract. You will not be able to break it, understand. So, think carefully before you sign.”

Kit read over the document. He wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about the spice, unless it was to do with a stats dish he created on his own using the spice. Only then he could part with the knowledge. Kit thought it was a fair deal. He would be wary about teaching a dish he had created to anyone. It was a good way to keep the spice a secret without limiting Kit teaching a future employee how to make his dishes.

Kit signed the document with a quill Morrigan provided and returned the contract. Morrigan used a stamp to place his signature on the document. Kit thought having his own stamp signature would be amazing. He decided that he too, one day, would get one.

Ding!

[CAL]

Binding contract.

Player Kit will be unable to break the contract with master chef Morrigan without his permission.

Knowledge gained: Bloodroot.

Morrigan went over to the food cupboard and returned with a white flower. Kit was a little confused for a moment the jar had red powder inside, why was Morrigan carrying a white flower. Morrigan placed the flower on the chopping board and motioned Kit to come over.

“This flower is called a bloodroot. It gets its name from the deep red inside the roots.”

Morrigan snaped a piece off the end of the root. Inside the brown root coating was a brilliant red.

“This plant has a red sap throughout the plant.”

Morrigan showed Kit the white petals. Tiny red veins could be seen on the white petals surface. Morrigan broke one of the veins with his fingernail and a spot of bright red appeared. The white flower had eight white petals attached to a yellow centre. The stem and leaves were green. Kit could see red veins on the leaves as well.

“This is what gives colour to the root. Even though the sap is all through the plant. The root is the only part that has any stats value. To make the roots into powder is quite easy. Just boil the roots until soft. Slice them into fine slivers. Then dry them out in the oven using an air drying rack.”

“Once they are dried, grind them with a food multi tool. If you don’t have one you can use a mortar and pestle to grind the powder. This bloodroot is what adds the time value to my skewers. Without finding this my skewers only had a 3 hour effect now. Now they have a 24hour effect.”

Ding!

[CAL]

Quest complete: Qualification Chef Quest.

Rewards: Chef sub class profession available. 1000 experience, 100 culinary points, 10 reputation points with master chef Morrigan.

Kit heart was pounding not only from completing his qualification test. Finding an ingredient that extended the duration of a stats meal was a huge gain. Kit couldn’t wait to try it out with the meals he had already created.

“Morrigan where do I get some of these flowers.”

Morrigan shook his head.

“Now Kit, I can’t make things too easy for you. I already gave away an ingredient in my stats dish. I won’t tell you anymore.”

Kit wasn’t disappointed. Morrigan really had given him enough. He had the name of the flower he could always ask around where he could purchase some. Kit felt his feet itching to head back to the culinary guild. He wanted to hand in the quest as soon as possible.

“Morrigan thank you very much for today. Do you need a hand with cleaning before I head back to the guild?”

“No lad I won’t keep you. I know you will be excited to hand in the last task. Take this letter back to the guild. It’s verification you passed the test. Say hello to your instructor for me.”

Kit took the offered letter from Morrigan and gave him a big grin. He then headed out the door. As he walked into the restaurant he was greeted with a bustling scene. Tables were packed and a line could be seen out the window. Kit stared in amazement. When he entered this morning, it was empty. Now there was no place to sit.

Kit glanced around for Arnold to say goodbye. He saw him standing behind the small bar making some drinks. Kit headed over and waited for Arnold to finish.

“Arnold, I have finished my task. Thank you for having me in your restaurant.”

“Anytime Kit. Once you finalize your chef qualification don’t forget to return to sign a contract with Snickers.”

Kit had forgotten all about giving Snickers a job. He nodded his head in understanding. Arnold was called away by another customer. Kit took the chance to leave and return to the culinary guild.

Kit almost skipped all the way to the door of the culinary school. He arrived at the door in a happy haze. Kit placed his hand on the door to enter. The CAL carving on the door turned towards him and blinked. Kit stared back in shock.

The cat narrowed its eyes at Kit.

“Ah it’s the stupid one. Did you make the most of your start in Sweet Meadow?”

Kits eyes widened when the carving of CAL spoke. Kit glanced around to see if anyone else was watching. Surprisingly there was no one about. Kit instantly became nervous. He hadn’t heard of CAL appearing in the game before. Kit pulled himself together and replied. He didn’t want to chance offending CAL.

“Hello CAL, it is nice to see you again.”

The cat ignored his greeting and started to roam its eyes over Kit’s body. CAL’s eyes landed on the pouch at Kits side.

“So, you think you are good enough to handle that?”

Kit felt his heart go into overdrive at CAL’s response. He didn’t think his excitement at the map could reach a higher level. CAL had just proven him wrong. Kit started to giggle. He couldn’t hold the silly laughter back. He was happy and excited at the same time.

The cat glared at him. Kit felt immobilising pressure from the look he received from the cat. Kit tried to stop himself giggling but it was impossible. He knew it was inappropriate but it still slipped out.

“They always disappoint.”

CAL huffed. The spark that had given the carving life left and the carving returned to normal. Kit realised he may have offended the AI. Even though the carving had returned to normal. Kit bowed and apologised.

“I’m very sorry CAL. It is my fault. My emotions got the best of me, and I could not control them. I was too happy to see you again.”

Kit lifted his head but the cat holding the knife remained inactive. Kit gave a little sigh. He hoped this interaction didn’t impact negatively on him. Kit shook his head. He needed to complete the task in front of him before he worried about anything else.

Today Kits mood couldn’t be dampened by anything. He pushed the door open with trembling hands.