7: The Pantry

Slowly heading my way back to the inn, I noticed a few notifications coming through:

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal.

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal.

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal.

Well, I guess lunch service had started at the Inn—I’d completely forgotten that leftover stew could also provide experience. Would I hit Level 5 today, after all?

I rushed back to the inn, eager to be there in case help was needed. Inside, I spotted more than just three people with stew in front of them. Heading into the kitchen, I found Geo smiling.

“How’d it go?” he asked right away, before I could even ask about the food.

“Great, I think. I spoke with Elder Peter about the class. He suggested I invest my points in Intelligence and Charisma. Martin also recommended I help out at the Medical Pavilion—not just for the experience, but because my healing could actually help people.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Your Charisma is pretty abysmal; you’d be hard-pressed to convince anyone to try your food if you were running a street stall—or even at the Pavilion,” Geo laughed. “But honestly, Trev, it’s a great idea. I think you should do it. The issue is, if Larry sees you cooking here and taking food elsewhere, he might murder someone. Do you think they’d let you cook at the temple once or twice a week? Maybe I’ll have to ask the Elder.”

Thinking it over, I doubted the temple would have the space—but then I remembered someone with an overly dusty kitchen I could borrow, and could offer to clean in exchange.

Changing the topic, Geo asked, “Have you gotten experience today? I’ve already served ten or so customers.”

“I got three notifications on the way here,” I said.

“Sounds like the ‘enjoyable’ part of it is more than just explanation text,” Geo said thoughtfully. After a moment, he added, “The stew is never as good the next lunch service—mainly because it’s served with day-old bread and not as hot. That’s why we only charge a copper for lunch instead of two for dinner.”

“Four stews, please!” Micca’s voice called through the door. Jumping into action, I took the bowls out to the table as she pointed out.

Returning to the kitchen, it was back to business as usual. Today’s dish was going to be a boar meat pie—a meal I found much simpler in practice than I expected. It basically ended up being several large dishes filled with diced boar meat and vegetables mixed in gravy, topped with mashed tubers.

Geo explained these pies could be made with a bread-like shortcrust pastry to keep everything contained, but he said that with the number of people we’d be serving, it wouldn’t be worth the extra effort.

Once lunch service was done, we’d served around twenty more people, and I had received nine notifications.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I blurted out, staring at my status.

“What is it?” Geo asked, and Micca poked her head in the door.

“I’m just three experience points short of leveling up!” I said, frustrated by the close call. Of course, I’d be that close to Level 5!

“Lucky I haven’t had lunch yet,” Micca said with a big smile. “I’ve always loved your cooking,” she added.

“You’ve only had my solo cooking once before,” I retorted with a laugh.

Taking her bowl along with a freshly cooked roll, I left the kitchen and heard her say, “Exactly! Still always.”

A short time later, the notification came through.

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal.

You have reached Level 5 in Arcane Chef.

You have +2 unspent stat points.

You have gained a new ability.

You have a new ability selection.

Wow, I thought, I get two abilities for level 5. Pulling up the selections, I read over my options.

Choose from the following options:

Clean Cut

Skill type: Passive

• Infuse your knife with mana, allowing you to make cleaner and more precise cuts.

Infuse Flavor

Skill type: Active

• You actively infuse mana into your food, allowing you to bring out extra unexpected flavor!

Handle the Heat

Skill type: Passive

• Provides a fire resistance buff for all cooking-related heat.

Looking over the options, I was drawn to the Handle the Heat ability. But I hesitated; it sounded very similar to what Geo had described—basically the standard skill cooks used to manage heat in the kitchen.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it’s taken without the author’s consent. Report it.

And Infuse Flavor intrigued me—that was clearly unique to the Arcane Chef class. It required actively putting mana into a dish to enhance its flavors, but what did that actually do?

It felt like a gamble—stick with the skill I understood or venture into the unknown? Well, I was already on this uncertain path. Might as well commit to it. I selected Infuse Flavor.

Congratulations! You have gained the ability Infuse Flavor.

Congratulations! You have gained the ability Chef’s Pantry.

Chef’s Pantry? I wondered, pulling up my abilities to look them over:

Basic Meal Prep

Level: 1

Experience: 50/100

Can craft basic meals at an increased pace.

Butchery

Level: 1

Experience: 25/100

Able to identify usable parts. Increased yield from target.

Knifework

Level: 4

Experience: 804/1056

Efficiency with a kitchen knife.

Infuse Flavor

Level: 1

Experience: 0/100

Never underestimate the power of good flavor.

Chef’s Pantry

Level: 1