Once Kit left the building he remembered Mars had gone to deliver the letter to Iris’ cousin. For a moment he was at a loss at what to do. Kit decided he would go check out the market in the middle of the shopping district once again. He would look at all the food stalls and take note of the prices they charged for a meal.

The noise was the first thing to reach Kit as he arrived at the markets. Shouts from the vendors trying to entice shoppers and people trying to haggle to get a better price entered his ears. From where Kit was standing a mixture of enticing aromas could be smelt. He took a long sniff of the air and followed his nose.

Kit soon arrived in front of three food stalls. The first one was selling freshly baked bread, Kit could see steam rising from the loaves. Kit could just imagine pulling apart a loaf and seeing the fluffy dough inside. Next to the bread stall was the nut stall he had first seen when he arrived. Kit moved his eyes onto the last food stall.

A young woman was behind a wooden table selling drinks. Kit decided to sit down and watch how they conducted business for a while. Not one of the stall owners had to try to entice customers over. They had a steady stream of visitors to each stall. As Kit glanced around the market, he realised they were the only food stalls as far as his eyes could see.

He remembered last time he was here the food stalls were placed far apart. Kit thought this was great planning from the stall owners. As people made their way around the market, they would naturally become hungry. Spacing the stalls would increase the chance of purchases.

The woman selling the drinks started giving Kit wary glances between serving customers. After a while she had a break in her flow

customers and headed over to Kit.

“What you want? Nothin’ is free, so stop staring and, bugger off!”

Kit was taken back at the aggression in her voice. Then he thought about what he must look like just sitting there staring. Kit blushed when he realised he must look like he was up to no good. The young girl noticed his red face and her eyes softened.

“I’m sorry. I was just curious about how you did business. I want to open a restaurant one day, but I have no experience. I was hoping to learn a bit from watching you.”

The young girl squinted her eyes at Kit assessing whether he was telling the truth.

“You made any thing to sell?”

Kit nodded his head. The young girl was still giving him the once over. Once she was finished, she sighed.

“You go to the entrance of the market over that way. You will see a table with a guard sitting behind. Go pay him a fee then come back here.”

The young lady walked off to manage her stall. Kit was not too sure what he was paying a fee for, but he complied with her request. He found the guard sitting behind the table without any problems. Kit approached the guard.

“Big, medium or small?”

Kit just stared at the guard unsure what he was talking about. The guard shook his head.

“The size of the stall lad.”

Kit thought about the young woman’s stall.

“Small.”

“5 bronze crowns.”

Kit handed over the money. He received a small token in return. Kit headed back to the young woman at the stall. He showed her the token.

“Ok you set up between me and Little Beetle.”

The girl pointed to the young man selling nuts. Kit raised his eyebrows. Was she implying he should set up a stall? Kit thought about it and realised the token was permission to sell wares in the market area.

Kit became a little excited. He thought about what he could sell. If he brought some pears he could sell some Apelop salad. He could use his camping kitchen to cook. Kit felt his heart start to race. He couldn’t wait to try to sell his food. He thought about all the things he would need to sell his food.

“Thank you. I’m Kit by the way.” Kit stuck out his hand. The young girl grabbed his hand with a firm grip.

“I’m Crackers.”

“Crackers I just have to get a few things before I can start. Is that ok?”

Crackers laughed. “No problem it’s not my stall.”

Kit rushed off to find pears. On his way to the fruit section of the market he came across a small stall selling paper. Kit stopped at the stall. An idea had come into his head.

“Hello love. Do you want any?”

An old lady sat behind the stall in an old chair knitting a scarf. She had hunched shoulder and wrinkles covering her face. Her hands were quite agile in her task. The stall was empty of customers. It didn’t look like anything had been touched at the table. Kit looked over the paper to see if any of it would be thick enough to use to make a small box.

He was going to need a container to sell his meal in. A stall wasn’t the same as a restaurant he couldn’t hand out meals on a plate. When he saw the paper, it reminded him of this issue. Hopefully the old lady had something he could use.

“Do you have any paper thick enough to fold into a box? Preferably something that could hold a bit of grease without falling apart.”

The old lady stopped her knitting. She slowly got out of the chair. She went over to a box behind the stall and pulled out two different sizes of paper. The paper was almost as thick as cardboard. She showed the paper to Kit.

He felt the paper between his fingers. It had a slight wax texture. The paper had a soft shine to the surface. Kit was happy. The paper looked like it would be perfect to make a takeaway container for food. Kit frowned. He realised he had no clue how to make a box out of paper.

“Do you know how to make a box with paper young man?”

The old lady had a kind expression on her face as she asked the question. Kit ears became red, and he shook his head. The lady started to fold the large piece of paper in a triangle. Kit was a bit confused at the triangle at first until he understood, she was creating folds on the paper.

She continued to fold the paper until it became the shape of a half box. She then picked up the smaller piece of paper and repeated the process. She then flipped the smaller box over and inserted it into the lager piece creating a box when the two joined together. Kit beamed at the sight. He now could make a takeaway container for his food.

“Can you show me a few more times please?”

The old lady nodded her head then made some more boxes with Kit following her lead. Once he was confident that he could make it himself he stopped.

“Thank you very much for teaching me how to make boxes.”

“That’s ok young man. I didn’t have much to do anyway, and you kept this old lady company.”

She smiled at him showing two missing front teeth. Kit returned her smile.

“How much does the paper cost?”

“I’ll give you a box of each size for 20 bronze crown each.”

“Deal. Thank you very much.”

Kit handed over the money to the old lady and collected his boxes. He asked on a whim if she knew anyone that could make wooden cutlery cheap.

“I don’t know about cutlery. But my son has plenty of wooden splinters that could be made into chop sticks. He makes wooden barrels to sell at the market.”

Kit’s eye sparkled with delight at the old woman’s words.

“Where do I find your son?”

She pointed to the stall next to hers. She laughed when she saw his surprised expression.

“Monroe, come here.”

A middle aged man came over to the old lady.

“Monroe this young man would like you to make some chopsticks from your leftover pieces of wood.”

The man nodded his head. He went to a box under his stall. He took out some long thin strips of wood and a carving knife. The man’s hand moved faster than Kit could see. A pile of chopsticks sat on the table in front of the man. Kit blinked slowly. He was trying to process what he had just seen.

“How many do you want?” The middle age man asked Kit.

“How many bits of paper are in a box ma’am?”

“1000.”

“Then a 1000 please. Oh, wait how much would that cost?”

“Not much lad. These are just my scrap wood. I’ll charge 40 bronze crowns. How does that sound?”

“Great, thank you. How long will it take?”

“Not long maybe five minutes.”

“I just need to buy some pears. I will come pick them up when I have finished.”

Kit left the mother and son with a spring in his step. He headed straight for the pears. He brought 40 bags of pears for 2 bronze each. Now he just needed to sell enough Apelop salad to recoup his losses. Kit walked past to collect his chopsticks on his way back to Crackers.

Kit returned to Crackers ready to set up his stall. Kit felt his palms start to sweat. This would be his first time selling a meal. He was nervous. He didn’t know how his meals would be received by people. Kit felt a little weak at the knees.

He had just spent 160 bronze crowns on the hope he could make it back. Kit was feeling a little nervous about his gamble. He felt if he didn’t make the sacrifice now, he would never know if his restaurant was a dream or could become reality.

Kit felt his nerves humming with excitement. He couldn’t wait to start cooking and see if he could make a profit from today’s venture. Kit walked over to Crackers.

“Ok I’m ready. What do I do?”

Crackers motioned to the spot next to her. He realised Crackers and Little Beatle had made room for him between them while he was gone. Kit pulled out his camping kitchen and started to prepare salad in the little boxes. Once he had ten boxes ready, he stared to prepare Apelop steaks. He pulled out his pan and started frying.

He poured some monkey brain oil onto the frypan. He placed a steak on to the heated pan and a sizzling sound filled the air. The meat caused a delicious aroma to spread around the area. People started to surround Kit’s makeshift stall.

“What are you making their young man?” A middle aged woman was watching him cook the meat with hunger in her eyes.

Kit was uncomfortable at all the eyes centred on him. He started to feel panicky. His eyes darted around the faces staring at him cooking. Kit felt sweat collecting on his brow. He knew he had to push through the uncomfortable feeling or else he wouldn’t be able to sell a meal.

He took a breath then answered in a soft voice.

“I’m frying Apelop meat to go in a salad. Would you like to buy some?”

Kit gave her his best professional smile. Once he got the first words out, he was feeling more at ease. The nerves weren’t completely gone he could still see his hand slightly trembling. It was at a manageable level for him.

“How much?” The middle aged woman eyed him with a shrewd gaze.

Kit paused. He had found a way to package the food for sale but had completely forgotten about a price. Kit shook his head at his stupidity. He tried to think of a good price that was fair. He thought about the potion he had seen in the window of a shop on his first day in town.

He could not remember the name the potion, he did remember the price and the stats. The potion granted + 100 HP for 1 hour and cost 20 bronze crowns. Kit’s Apelop salad gave + 20 Intelligence and + 20 defence for 1hour. It did not have the shelf life of the potion so Kit thought he should lower the price.

Kit decided 15 bronze crowns was a fair price. He informed the lady of the price. Laughter was heard around Kit after he named the price. Kit wasn’t sure what he did wrong. He hung his neck and avoided eye contact with the crowd.

“Young man you’re hilarious. I’ll give you 5 bronze crowns for a portion. It’s not like your meal is a stats dish.”

Kit lifted his eyes at the lady’s words.

“It is a stats dish.”

The crowd went silent and stared at Kit. The lady in front him clenched her fists. Her face turned red, and a pulse could be seen beating on her forehead. Kit could tell she was angry. He really had no clue why she was reacting this way.

“You know there is no point lying. Once I taste the meal I will know if it has stats.”

“Yes, I know.” Kit answered in a confident voice.

“Ok I will pay. If you are lying, I will have you arrested.”

The lady’s anger did not die down. A sly smile crossed her face. She looked pleased at the prospect of Kit being dragged off by the guards. The people around her wore similar expressions. They looked like they were waiting for a show to start.

Kit blinked. He felt like he was in a game within a game with no clue as to what the rules were. He was feeling incompetent at his first attempt at selling food. He had already been laughed at and made a customer angry, Kit sighed and finished pan frying the meat.

Ding!

[Skill learnt: Beginner Pan Frying]

Player can use a thin layer of oil on a hot surface to skilfully fry. Player has basic pan frying skills.

+ 20 Agility

+ 30 Speed

+ 30 Intelligence

Ding!

[Congratulations, you are now Level 1 Chef]

Ding!

[Congratulations, you are now Level 2 Chef]

Kit almost dropped the fry pan when the notifications started pinging in his ear. He stood there staring into space looking at the achievements he unlocked. A wave of happiness overcame him, a big smile sprouted on his face.

He let out a happy laugh. The onlookers were stunned by his actions. The angry lady in front of him started to change her expression from angry to wary. Kit couldn’t care about the small crowd in front of him. He noticed it had grown. He happily started to slice the Apelop meat into slivers to place into the boxes.

Kit was very happy he decided to come to the market today. Even if he didn’t recoup his lost money, he would be happy at raising his chef level. He placed the slivers onto the salad then drizzled the oil over. The familiar blue swirl started to cover the inside of the boxes.

The onlookers’ eyes opened wide in awe. Once they saw the blue sheen pulse, they started to push each other to be first to claim a box. Kit was not expecting the people to fight over getting a box.

Ding!

[Quality levels unlocked]

Kit looked at the notification that had just appeared in front of his eyes. ‘What is this all about? What the crunchy corn is this!’

Kit looked at the meal he had just finished making. ‘Is it related to this?’ Kit used identify on his own meal.

[Apelop brain salad]

Quality: Fair

Quality bonus: + 1 hour time extension.

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

+ 20 Intelligence

+ 20 defence

for 1 hour.

[Unlocked: Nil chef level restriction.]

Kit laughed once again in happiness. Unlocking his sub class early was definitely the right idea. Not only could he unlock more skills now he also could add bonus stats to his dishes from the quality level. He debated if he should raise the price a little.

Then he looked at the small crowd shoving each other already and dismissed that idea. He already did not know how to handle a crowd acting like this, let alone adding fuel to the fire by increasing the price. Kit was at a loss on how to get these people to control themselves. Luckily Crackers raised her voice.

“Oi you lot. Get in a single line and no fighting. If I see anyone breaking the rules they will be banned from the stall.” She narrowed her eyes at the crowed in a threatening manner. Surprisingly the people listened to her. The small crowd all started to shuffle themselves into an orderly line.

Kit was amazed at the young lady’s skills. He turned to thank her.

“Thanks Crackers. Would you like to have the first box? It’s free for helping me today.”

Crackers looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She then nodded her head. Kit handed the first box over to her. She sniffed the contents inside.

“It smells amazing.”

Kit beamed. He handed her a pair of chopsticks and watched her take the first bite. Her eyes closed and she made a happy humming noise. Kit could tell from the look on her face she liked the meal. He happily turned to the waiting customers.

Kit sold all nine boxes and still had a line in front of him. He had just made 135 bronze crowns! If he sold another 10 boxes, he would have made some profit. Kit hoped he could continue to make some money.

He placed some more Apelop steaks on the fry pan to start cooking. He made some boxes and filled them with salad while he was cooking the steaks. The line in front of Kit continued to grow. Kit’s smile didn’t leave his face. He was happy his meal was a success.

He continued to sell the Apelop salad until all the steaks he had pre-prepared were all gone. Kit had raised his cooking level to 3. He was amazed at how fast he had gotten his level to jump. Kit wanted to get a food multiplying plate as soon as possible.

When he called it a day there was still a line in front of him. He apologised to the crowed.

“Sorry, everyone I have run out of meat for today.”

Kit bowed his head. He did feel a little sorry to the waiting customers. He was glad he ran out of meat though. He was very tired.

“What time will you be back tomorrow.” A tall middle aged man asked.

“Can it be early?” A gruff voice called.

“Apologies. I’m not sure when I will be back next.” Kit decided it was best to be honest.

The customers that didn’t get a box started to become angry.

“I’ve waited in line for 30 minutes to try your food and now you’re saying you might not be back. What kind of stall is this?” The man raised his fist at Kit and shook it in an angry wave.

The man’s angry outburst effected the others in the crowed. A few more people in line started to raise their fists and shout at Kit.

Kit didn’t know why they were angry to this extent. He looked at the sight of the furrowed brows and clenched fists amongst the small line. Kit thought he would have to make a run for it.

Luckily there were two guards heading his way. They stopped and headed over when they heard the commotion.

“What’s going on?” A largely built guard asked the crowd. His voice was loud and could easily be heard over all the commotion.

The crowed turned towards the guards and slowly started to disperse. None of them wanted to get in trouble with the city guards.

The guards walked over to Kit and squinted his eyes. Kit thought the guard was trying to act intimidating towards him. He looked like a giant three year old trying to imitate his parents angry face. Kit did not even feel any threatening vibes coming from him. ‘Am I supposed to act scared?’

“Lionel stop looking at him like that. You big oaf. He was just selling his little boxes of food. The crowd got angry he ran out of food.”

Crackers stepped over to Kit and placed a small hand on his shoulder. Lionel stopped squinting and smelled the air.

“You ran out?” The large man was pouting. Kit could not believe what he was seeing.

“I followed the smell all the way here though.” The large man continued to pout. Kit didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t offer Lionel any food. His fellow guard gave Lionel a disgusted look. He then slapped the back of Lionel’s head.

“Cut that out you big oaf. Sorry lad he is great at fighting, not so great at anything else. Can I ask what you were cooking?”

Kit informed the smaller guard what was in the boxes. The guard raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard it was a stats meal.

“You’re new to town I take it. Stats meals can’t be sold in the plaza. Crackers you know better than to let this happen.” The smaller guard admonished her.

“Curt. I did not know it was a stats meal before he stated cooking. By then it was too late.”

Curt nodded his head in understanding.

“Kid if you want to sell your stats meals out of a stall it must be done at the entrance of the western gate. That is where most of the adventures leave the town. There is a zoned section for anything stats related.”

“It stops the markets being overrun with adventurers. It also protects the stall owners. The designated area is right next to the guard house. Adventurers can become quite fisty when haggling for a price. In the past we used to have trouble with them outright stealing vendors’ products. This is why the western gate is the designated area.”

Kit thanked Curt for his explanation. He didn’t think he would heed the advice though. He would be leaving tomorrow with Mars. Kit packed everything away. He then started to count the money he earned today. He had sold another 90 boxes after the first batch. Kits eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw how much was in his hand.

Kit had 1 silver and 350 bronze crowns. He couldn’t believe his eyes. This was fantastic, it was much more profitable than collecting ingredients and selling them at a store. Kit couldn’t wait to find Mars to tell him about his day. Kit turned to Crackers.

“Thank you very much for your help today. I wouldn’t have even thought to sell my own food here today without you guiding me to do so.”

Crackers stared at him out the side of her eye once again.

“You a qualified chef?”

Kit nodded in response.

“Are you going to open a restaurant?”

Kit became wary. He had heard this line of questioning before. Kit remembered where he had heard this familiar sentence from and swore in his head. He had completely forgotten about Snickers. Kit sighed he would have to stop into the Large Fuzzy Chicken before he went to the Inn.

“One day when I save up the money.” Kit replied to Crackers question.

Kit made sure he let it be known he was nowhere near opening a restaurant. Heck, he had just opened his first street stall.

“You know what town you are going to open in yet?”

‘Ahh I’m going to cry. Is this a normal response from an NPC. I’m going to end up with more staff than customers if this doesn’t stop.’

“Not yet.”

“Ok I’ll find you once it’s open and you can give me a job.”

Crackers then turned and dismissed him. Kit didn’t know what to do. People were giving themselves jobs in a restaurant he hadn’t even opened yet. Kit shook his head. He would deal with Crackers’ job, if she ever showed up.

Kit turned and left with a bad feeling about his next destination.