Morgan was exhausted coming out of the 25th floor entry test, having to push a boulder across all types of terrains while having her senses taken away one by one was much more taxing than she'd imagined.
She had thought that she was ready by learning the mana sensory skill, however her reliance on her normal senses was much higher than she'd thought. Now she was out, starving and flooded with fatigue. She only had a few gold to her name as she had spent most of it replacing the gear she traded for food in the trial.
Now tired and hungry, she wanders the streets of Somnusurb - the main city of the 25th floor. All the inns and taverns were either out of her budget or were simply too dilapidated or dangerous. She walked into an alley and spotted a dark sign above a door with the word "Oasis", a faint smell of delicious food wafted through the seams. Her stomach gurgled, she couldn't resist the temptations, hopefully they offered some sort of lodging within her budget.
The dark oak door was heavy and solid, if it weren't for the open side Morgan would've thought it was locked. As it slid open, a bell rang. Morgan heard a rustling sound coming from the back in the kitchen, followed by a soft and smooth voice.
"Oh! Sorry, take a seat first I'll get to you in just a sec."
Morgan heard a string of short murmuring followed by a flash of light, then a woman stepped out of the kitchen. She had a short and curvy body, a light brown bob reaching just under her ears, grey eyes small nose and a small mouth. It was a harsh contrast with Morgan's tall and lean body full of tough muscles. Her dark red hair cut into a pixie cut, blue eyes and tall nose.
"Have a look at my menu, all meals come with a side of refillable soup and bread. If you order a meal you get discount on drinks, pardon the wait I'm the only one working here. Tell me if you're allergic to anything or have a specific taste, I'll change recipes to fit your needs"
She smiled and handed Morgan a couple of menus, one for the meals and the other for drinks. Morgan felt incredibly relaxed by the combination of the woman's voice and the atmosphere of the restaurant. The walls were made with the same dark wood as the door, with lines of what seems to be some kind of white stone. Rustic lanterns hung from the long beams across the ceiling, it's light reflects off the varnished wooden floors. Facing away from the front door, a long bar with a dark stone top stretches across the right side of the room. A wooden shelf with glass display doors is stocked full of an array of different spirits and liquors, a basket of fresh fruits and different syrups and bitters are placed on the bend of the bar. A wall separates the restaurant from the kitchen, a metal door leading in and out of the kitchen is connected to the end of the bar space on the right side. A large counter top with a wide window is place in the middle of the separating wall for food to be passed from the kitchen out to the front.
Morgan sat down at a table and looked through the menus, thanks to the system's translation feature, the letters reorganized themselves into a language Morgan understood. The meal options were quite diverse, including vegetarian and vegan options. It also seemed like the portions were quite large too, along with the refillable bread and soup it almost seemed like she was robbing the woman blind. After a short browse through the variety of meals, Morgan settled down with an all day breakfast with a pepper sauce burger patty and a house punch to wash it down.
"What's in the punch?"
Morgan asked,
"Ale, mead, Oleo Saccharum, cinnamon syrup and orange juice. I serve it by a half liter sized keg, you can pour your own glasses and garnish with grated nutmeg"
The woman smiled and picked up the menus before heading away, suddenly Morgan remembered something and asked,
"Oh right, I have no idea how it slipped my mind. My name is Morgan, what's yours?"
The woman turned around and smiled
"It's Elizabeth, nice to meet you Morgan"
Her bright smile lit up the room, small dimples formed at her cheeks. She once again turned around and headed towards the kitchen. Morgan's eyes wandered around, for such a nice establishment it was slightly eerie how empty it was. Suddenly from the back of the bar, a blue hazy light lit up the area and the shelf doors swung open. A few bottles of liquor glided off the shelf as if a few invisible hands grabbed them, a small keg floated up from under the bar onto the counter top. The drink built itself into a pint glass, the different liquors poured into the glass before it was stirred and poured into the funnel on top of the keg. After the alcohol was poured in, a glass of orange juice was poured in and the keg was plugged with a bung.
Morgan watched with amazement, many wizards were able to utilize telekinesis but it required a ton of mana and had no where this level of control and finesse. The keg floated over on a stand with a couple punch glasses and a nutmeg and a grater, they landed on a small platform which folded out from beside the table. Suddenly the blue light flickered out and the mysterious energy vanished. Yet Morgan's awe never faded away, telekinesis would be amazing in combat, essentially all attacks that utilizes any form of physical object would be nullified by the telekinesis, it can be used as a super ductile shield and while also assisting team mates by adding force behind attacks and projectiles. She didn't understand why Elizabeth was a non-combatant but knew she must have her reasons.
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After a short while, Elizabeth backs out of the metal door with a sizzling hot cast iron pan on a wooden board. The smell of delicious food wafts over to Morgan's table, she couldn't help but salivate. Elizabeth walked over to the table and set the wooden board down before taking a seat herself and pulling off her apron, her face was lightly paled and she seemed a little out of breath. She must have felt Morgan's gaze as she said
"Ah don't worry about me, my body's weak I just need a little rest. Be careful, the food is still quite warm."
She smile and silently watched Morgan, usually Morgan would feel off and slightly awkward but the atmosphere around Elizabeth and the restaurant was so cozy she couldn't help but feel calm. The pan was filled to the brim with food, a burger patty drizzled with a thick pepper sauce was placed on the top right corner, a pile of mashed garlic and potatoes below it. To the left were some sautéed mushrooms, a hashed brown and a pile of baked beans. It was a very hearty meal, more than enough to satiate Morgan's hunger.
Waiting a short while for the food to cool down a touch, Morgan dug in. Elizabeth's smile widened as the sense of enjoyment and happiness spread across Morgan's face. The patty was seared to perfection, the juices were all sealed inside. The mashed potato soft and creamy was seasoned amazingly well, all the other sides were up to the same level of quality. The bread was baked amazingly, it didn't taste bland like the bread provided at the guild. The soup was equally incredible, it's texture and taste was top notch. The punch went down amazingly well and she didn't feel that tipsy even after finishing the entire half liter keg. She couldn't understand how such an amazing establishment went unnoticed in the large city. Morgan wiped her mouth and asked
"How come there aren't more people around here, you're too good to have this little attention. And how did you do that, with the telekinesis?"
Elizabeth smiled and replied
"I actually prefer it this way, with less customers. I doubt I could handle that many people on my own and plus, I believe this space is meant to be a secret hiding spot. I chose this space especially because it's hidden away, people who by chance wander into here like you have a good time and are able to relax away from everything happening outside in the tower. There's a reason why I installed a heavier door. And to answer your second question, I have a special class. It's called Poltergeist, a close friend discovered the manuscript for it and gave it to me. It's perfect for me because my intelligence stat is high but my body is weak. "
She stretched and stood up
"You don't have to leave right away, take your time to relax. I'll bring your more bread and soup if you want. That'll be 16 silver, it's ok if you don't have enough I can put it on your tab"
She walked back into the kitchen. Morgan's eyes bulged, 16 silver… that's insanely cheap. A small meal at the hunters guild hall is 50 silver up to one gold, and that was no where as good as the food here. Morgan felt guilty for how little she needed to pay, a gold converts to 100 silvers, so after paying she would still have 3 gold and 70 silver. That's not enough to stay at any kind of inn or tavern in the city.
"Elizabeth? Sorry for the inconvenience but can you point me to a place to stay for around 3 gold?"
Morgan asked hesitantly, she didn't want to be more of a burden. Elizabeth's voice rang clearly from the kitchen.
"I doubt there's anywhere reliable for that price, if you're desperate for a place to hunker down my place is just upstairs I can make room for you if you need."
Morgan felt intensely guilty for having to be further inconvenience but she just couldn't refuse the offer.
"Thanks I'll be out of your hair soon don't worry"
Morgan said, a clear laugh echoed out of the kitchen
"Don't worry, It's a big place. It's a little lonely anyways."
Elizabeth finished cleaning the place up and locked the front door, then she unlocked the side door leading to a stair case. It seemed there was a basement as well as an upper floor, Morgan was a little curious what was in the basement but decided to ignore it. Walking up stairs and entering Elizabeth's house, the same cozy and comfortable atmosphere was apparent. It seemed like Elizabeth had a style for her decorations, the walls were covered in an arrangement of soft linen, a few couches and a table was pushed up against the right side of the living room, to the left was another door which Morgan assumed lead to the bed room, next to it was a few bookshelves full of different books and what seemed to be a vinyl collection. A sliding glass door at the end of the living room lead out to the balcony, an array of different plants and herbs were being grown there. It was like walking into a grandma's house Morgan thought, making sure she didn't accidentally say it out loud and possibly insult the young woman.
"The bath is through the door to the left and another door directly ahead, I can get you some spare clothes if you need it. I'll get cleaned up first it'll only take a bit, you can stay in the bed for tonight I'll take the couch."
She walked into the room and closed the door, leaving Morgan alone in the living room. She walked over to the book cases and browsed a bit, most of them were training manuals for different artisan classes: sculpting, painting, cooking, forging, tailoring, jewelry, appraisal and many others. There were some other books she didn't recognize, but they looked like a combination of fiction, horror and romance novels. From what Morgan could tell, Elizabeth was quite the jack of all trades and a very interesting woman.
A few minutes passed and Elizabeth walked out with a towel wrapped around her hair, her make up was washed up and she looked quite a bit more casual. Morgan made her way into the room and found a pile of clothing Elizabeth prepared for her, most of it was fitted with elastic bands so that it could fit to Morgan's height and size. Morgan got cleaned up, the fact that Elizabeth had hot water was shocking, seeing how even some high rankers didn't have hot water in their homes. She took off her old clothes and put it into her bag and walked back out into the living room.
There she found Elizabeth passed out on the long leather couch with a blanket over her, a wet towel and a few pieces of washed clothes hung outside in the balcony. Now that Morgan had a closer look, Elizabeth's face without make up looked quite pale and sunken, she had a much more frail and fragile look to her. Morgan turned around and headed back into the bed room and climbed into bed, she promised herself that she would head out tomorrow and pay back Elizabeth with the compensation she gets from clearing the 25th floor's trial. It wasn't long before the soft mattress and comfortable sheets ushered her to sleep.