After a short while Micca left her room now in a new set of clothes carrying the bucket out, I was still staring at the status screen, puzzled by the revelations of the day, I could finally level up, hopefully.
Sitting down on another chair Micca just sat quietly with her cup of water, just patiently waiting.
"Did you work it out?" She asked after a short time
"Not entirely but I think I may have to make the meal entirely on my own for it to count? Also the Butchery appears to be the same." I went quiet for a bit
"But I got bonus experience for healing you, there is no mention of healing in the skill description so how much does it heal? Or how does it work?" I put my head in my hands "This just poses so many more questions" I finally added defeated
"Sure, it does pose a lot of questions, but importantly you have earnt experience and your class is not impossible to train" Micca added confidently "this is great news"
I smiled weakly at her, today had been an absolute whirlwind of emotions, from enjoying the day off, to worrying about a friend, then gaining experience but also now with a world of questions related to it, I would need to speak to Geo, Martin and probably Elder Peter for advice moving forward.
But that last bit of the thought caught me, I could move forward.
"Thanks" I said to her "that helps" sighing deeply I took the half eat bowl of soup I had started and quickly finished the rest.
"I better get going" I said to Micca, "Will you be alright? I'll leave the soup here if you want anymore there is plenty left" looking over to her as she just sat absorbed in the moment
"I'll be fine, my Hit Points are up to 75 now and the fever seems to have completely gone" with that she got up coming over and giving me a hug.
"I appreciate you coming to help, could you let Larry know I'll be back tomorrow if he has not already replaced me" she said half worried with a nervous laugh
"Of course" I said saying my farewells and leaving her house to head back to the Inn
A short walk later I entered the Inn that was absolutely bustling at this point, the moment Larry saw me, he didn't even let me get a word in "There you are Trevor! Get over here and give me a hand it's a mad house" Larry yelled out over the crowd.
Before I knew it I was put to work, carrying bowls to customers and getting rid of dirty mugs and bowls.
when the night died down enough for me to catch a break I went into the kitchen to catch Geo, but it seemed he had already gone home for the day, heading back out front I did manage to let Larry know that I checked on Micca and she will be back for work tomorrow, I didn't go into details about what happened though.
The next morning I was woken up by Geo for our daily trip to the markets, during our walk I got to explain what happened and how I had earnt experience, Geo winced a little bit when I told him about the butchering experience when I did it all by myself, but like me he had many questions
"Do you get experience for everyone who eats it?" was his first
I of course did not know the answer to any of the questions.
"You said it mentioned they enjoyed the meal, so if they don't enjoy it, you get no experience? What do you mean it healed her? How?" All these questions came rapid fire at me and I could answer none of them, I just awkwardly chuckled and answered simply "I don't know?"
"The one concerning thing you mentioned, was the butchering from start to finish, you said you had to pluck the chicken that had been freshly killed" Geo was lost in thought for a moment
"We could get some rabbits I suppose or maybe some birds, but at the Inn we don't really have a lot of room for butchery from start to finish on anything larger" he finished
"I understand" I said nodding, it was true the Inn kitchen was not setup for butchery at all.
After we did our daily shopping heading back to the Inn Geo said "Lets have you make the stew today, I wont help you with any of it, instead I'll just make the bread rolls it'll be like a day off" Geo said with a laugh.
I agreed with it immediately any chance to train my main class I wouldn't miss this.
For this test we agreed I wouldn't use any wine in it in case that needed to be made by me too and was considered an outside influence, so it was a very basic venison stew with root vegetables, onion, garlic thickened up with root starch.
Micca true to her word had returned to work that day, Larry was a bit short with her, but she clearly did still look a bit under the weather so it was not too bad, when she heard I was making the stew on my own today a giant smile lit up her face and as she left the kitchen she said "I'll make sure everyone buys it"
I was both nervous and excited as it came time to remove it from the heat and ready to serve, if this did not work I'd be back to where I began almost, but I was confident. This would work.
Or at least that's what I kept telling myself, I looked at my status to see if I had used mana again
Name: Trevor
Class: Arcane Chef
Rarity: Rare
Level: 1
Experience: 75/100
Hit points: 140/140
Mana: 45/50
Stamina: 70/140
I had used 5 mana again while making this dish, that was a good sign right?
When the night began Geo had me serving the first few bowls of stew myself in case that mattered, then it happened.
Notifications:
You have earnt 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal
You have reached Level 2 in Arcane Chef
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
You have +2 unspent stat points
You have earnt 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal
You have earnt 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal
You have earnt 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal
That was one question answered, next Geo served the next series of dishes to see if it mattered who served it.
Notifications:
You have earnt 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal
You have earnt 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal
You have earnt 50 bonus experience for healing someone with your meal
"I got bonus experience for healing someone again" I said to Geo as we waited in the kitchen
"Well that's good new you don't need to personally serve the dishes, and I suppose anyone who's missing HP counts as you healing them?" Geo was lost in thought
Checking his status again
Name: Trevor
Class: Arcane Chef
Rarity: Rare
Level: 2
Experience: 175/325
This was it! I thought, I was doing it.
The night passed in a blur, there was a constant flow of Notifications coming in that I ignored mostly because Larry wouldn't let me slack off even if it was for my class.
When it finally died down, Geo had not gone home, I'm guessing curious himself about how it went so he waited in the kitchen, when I entered I was quickly followed by Micca who couldn't hold back
"Well?" she said impatiently with a giant smile
"How did it go?" she said
"Uh hold on let me check I've not been able to keep up" I said pulling up my status once again, In total I had 62 notifications for enjoyable meal, and 4 notifications for healing someone, all up 1750 experience.
I was gobsmacked.
Level: 4
Experience: 753/1056
"I'm.. I'm level 4!" I said in almost a shout, looking further at my status I noticed Basic Meal Prep had only gained an additional 25 experience, so clearly that was once per meal.
"I have 6 unspent stat points too, what should I put them on?" I asked no one in particular, I had not had this problem before and had no idea where I should spend my stats
"Normally, cooks spent their stats on Endurance and Dexterity with a little bit in strength, wisdom, and charisma the last 2 mostly just for menu work and selling their dishes" Geo started
"However, I'm not sure that would be ideal for you, you already have Dexterity and Endurance fairly high compared to your other stats, and you're using mana now, I'd suggest you put some in Intelligence, or probably smarter would be to see that Elder friend of yours at the Temple and seek advice" Geo said clearly still in thought about it all
"Yeah don't waste the points without thinking" Micca said "Go see the Elder I'm sure he'll have some good advice" there was a bright smile on her face
"Right I'm heading home! I'm so glad this worked out have a good night" she said before heading out the kitchen and left myself and Geo behind.
"She probably has the right idea of it, we need to get up early to go to the Market again, after that I think it best you go see the Elder during lunch, I'll make an excuse to Larry" Geo said
"But I wont get experience if I don't make the dish" I blurted out, Geo just laughed
"You can't cook alone every day, besides its important to get yourself sorted early so you don't make mistakes" he added, and of course he was right.
"Ok" I responded a not dejected
"Don't worry Trev we'll get you levelled up in no time at all!" Geo said before leaving himself
That night I barely got any sleep, I kept checking my status, making sure this was not a dream or an illusion, this was real, I really levelled up my class, It had been six weeks since I got the class.
It was the early hours of the morning before exhaustion took him, he didn't pay attention but he was sure he had run out of stamina by the end.
He was awoken the next morning true to his word by a tired looking Geo ready for their trip to the market.
After being reassured by Geo he would cover I was sent on my way back to the temple where I hoped I could see Elder Peter, and maybe even Martin to get some advice on what to do next.
Walking inside it was much the same as before, several people praying to the statue in the middle of the room and several priests wandering through the hall, after a short time I managed to get the attention of one of them asking if Elder Peter was available.
A short time later I was once again inside the small room with table and chairs sitting with tea waiting for Elder Peter to arrive, almost as soon as I had poured my cup he entered the room.
"Ahh young Trevor, it is a pleasure to see you again" Elder Peter said in a warm tone
"How can I be of assistance to you today?" he asked, taking a quick sip of the tea before I started to explain everything that had happened, how I had found out how to gain experience, the bonus for healing, also the experiment at the Inn where I reached Level 4, finally I got to the topic of the unused stat points and that I was seeking advice on how to spend them, where they would be most beneficial since I didn't really have any other class to go off.
Elder Peter was silent for a long moment processing everything I mentioned to him, before starting "Hmm, that's very interesting, so your skill requires you to cook and prepare solo for it to count, and you got a bonus for healing, or more importantly your cooking heals at all as I don't remember that appearing on the skill description" He poured himself a cup of tea and settling into his chair deep in thought.
"I have seen many classes over the years and how they level up, what you have described is almost an adventurer adjacent class since you'd be required to be the solo cook and able to butcher things in the field" he went back to his tea thinking again.
"I'll be an adventurer?" I asked with far to much hope in my voice.
"No, I don't think so, sorry I may have misspoke, No adventurer adjacent I imagine that right now cooking at the Inn will provide you good experience substantial even with the number of people you're feeding, however I imagine your future abilities will not suit a town or team environment and you may find that experience curve drops off rapidly in keeping up" he said in a serious tone.
"That's not to say you couldn't level up in the city its certainly possible by the sounds of it and many people never leave, but I suspect if you wish to get the best out of your class eventually you will need to break out of the same task, alas that's a concern for the future you asked for assistance with your unassigned stat points" seemingly in thought again before he continued "I believe Intellect will be useful for your class as I suspect you'll use far more mana once you hit level 5 and get your new ability, as for a second option Wisdom and Charisma will be useful, Wisdom will help you with flavour combinations as well as recipe retention, Charisma will make your life easier in terms of having people trust you enough to cook their food, that is of course if you do plan on leaving the Inn"
After that the conversation went quiet for a long while as they both sipped their tea's, both deep in thought over this.
"Thank you for all the assistance" I said finally "Is Martin in today, may I go and see him?" I asked
Elder Peter just smiled "Of course you may" he said getting up from his seat "I assume you don't mind that I'll document what we have discussed here today" Elder Peter asked opening the door.
"I don't mind at all, thank you for all your help" I bowed respectfully before leaving and heading towards the kitchen looking forward to discussing this all with Martin, while I was heading towards the kitchen I followed the advice I was given and put 4 points into Intelligence and 2 points into Charisma since it was my lowest skill, quickly looking over my status
Name: Trevor
Class: Arcane Chef
Rarity: Rare
Level: 4
Experience: 753/1056
"Feed the body, Grow the soul"
Hit points: 140/140
Mana: 150/150
Stamina: 130/140
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 14
Endurance: 14
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 7
Charisma: 5
Willpower: 12
Perception: 8
Luck: 6
Walking into the kitchen I was met with a far more organised scene that I was use to at the Inn over the last 4 weeks, Martin quickly spotted me coming over after washing his hands and with a friendly slap on the shoulder he was pulled to the side.
"What brings you here young Trevor, have you come back to work with me?" he asked jovially
I laughed a bit awkwardly "Uh no sorry, I came by to give you the news that I have figured out how I can level my class, I'm level 4 now mostly after one night" I said.
"You what!" he answered shocked before pulling me out the kitchen to the dining hall sitting down "Tell me everything!" he said sitting across from me.
What followed was a pretty much word for word recounting of events like he had told Elder Peter, but he also mentioned he had made a couple new friends, and his encounter with Lukas.
"Bah a lot of new adventurers are like that, they think they are too good for their roots. pay it no mind boy he'll grow up out of it eventually, and if he doesn't I would not worry to much about it, it sounds like your new friends are good people" he said with a large smile on his face, then with a hearty laugh he said "Now watch you don't do the same thing when you turn famous with that class of yours you hear"
I couldn't see this happening, but I promised I wouldn't all the same.
We chatted for some time, I have explained everything that had happened in the last 4 weeks, I explained the kitchen I was working in and the dishes I had made, even if they were not fancy.
After a while Martin said he had to get back to work so we ended the conversation there but before he entered the kitchen again he said "Oh Trevor, if you're getting bonus experience for healing, you could hit two birds with one stone by making food for the Medical Pavilion, they'd appreciate the donation of food, you'd be helping a lot of people and you'll get lots of bonus experience" with that he entered into the kitchen.
Why didn't I think of that?
