As Mars made his way back to the Inn, Kit was already waiting for him. He wanted to check in with Iris before they left Sweet Meadow. She was currently chatting with a customer at the bar, so Kit took a seat and waited patiently for her to finish.

After wrapping up with her customer, Iris walked over to join Kit. “Do you have everything you need?”

“I believe so. Mars has experience with camping, so I’m following his lead,” replied Kit.

“You boys will be fine. You handled those Spectral Nile Reptiles without a problem. My only concern is that you'll go hungry. That's why I've prepared a food hamper for you. It may not give you any extra stats, but it will keep your hunger at bay.”

Iris handed Kit a cloth bundle. As he unwrapped it, he found a woven basket filled with fresh fruits, cheese, bread, and an assortment of processed meat.

“Thank you, Iris. This is perfect.” Kit smiled.

“This should last both of you for the three-day journey to Flower Field town.” Iris looked at Kit before glancing down at a letter in her hands.

“If you have the time, could you deliver this letter to my cousin? She lives on a farm just outside of Flower Field town.” Iris handed the letter to Kit.

“Of course, we can do that for you, Iris.”

Ding!

[CAL]

Quest accepted.

Deliver Iris’ Letter, uncommon.

Bring the letter to Iris’ cousin.

"Iris, where does your cousin live?"

"Just set it on the map like you did for my place. It'll lead you right to them," Iris replied.

"Thanks, that'll make things a lot easier. With this magical trail, we won't get lost. Can I grab the barrel of beer? Mars should be back soon," Kit said.

"It's in the barn. I left it there so you wouldn't miss it when you got Pint. I'll come with you and say goodbye." Iris turned to talk to a customer briefly before joining Kit outside.

As they walked out, Mars entered through the gate. "Good timing, we were just about to look for you," Kit said.

"Did you get everything?" Mars asked with a questioning look.

"Yes, Boots at the general store was really helpful and Iris gave us a care package to take with us." Kit lifted the bundle he was carrying to show Mars.

"Thank you, Iris. That's very kind of you," Mars smiled at her.

"You're welcome. Well, I'm not great at goodbyes, so I'll leave you two here and get back to work. Have a safe journey and don't forget to invite me to your restaurant opening once it's ready. And if you ever come back through Sweet Meadow, make sure to stop by and see me or I won't forgive you." Iris gave each of them a hug before wiping away a tear from her eye.

"Iris, we could never pass through town without visiting you," Kit said sincerely. Another tear escaped Iris' eye as she quickly shooed them off.

"Goodbye, Iris!" they both called out in unison before Iris walked back into the inn.

Kit didn't want to prolong his goodbye either - he had grown attached to Iris and enjoyed her company. He couldn't help but imagine what it would have been like to have her as his mother. She would have made him breakfast, packed his lunch for school and given warm hugs when he was upset - things his own mother never did.

It saddened him that a stranger could be kinder to him than his own biological mother. He felt tears starting to form and worried he may never see Iris again now that they were leaving.

Mars broke the silence, "I'll miss Iris. She was so good to us."

"Me too. I felt comfortable talking to her," Kit sighed before heading towards the barn.

"Come on, Mars, let's go. We don't want to take another day just to get there. I also want to stop and see Snowball along the way." Inside the barn, Kit put the beer in his bag and turned to see Mars trying to put a saddle on Pint.

"Come on, Pint. It's comfy. I even got an expensive one for you. Look, it's soft," Mars coaxed, but Pint snorted and took a step back. Kit couldn't blame the horse, the saddle was a gaudy green with red swirls all over it.

Mars looked disappointed, "It's okay, we can walk and lead Pint instead. Maybe once he gets to know us better, he'll let us ride him. Didn’t you say you had to build a bond with animals in CAL?” Mars brightened up at Kit's words.

"Yes, I almost forgot. Okay, Pint, just come with us then," Mars said before going to attach a lead rope onto Pint's halter, but the horse snorted and stamped its foot in defiance.

"Oops! I almost forgot, I need to give him some beer first," Mars turned to Kit.

"I forgot to get bottles. It's not practical to keep pulling out the barrel every time. We can stop by the general store on our way," replied Kit.

"No need, bottles were on my shopping list." Mars handed over ten empty glass bottles. Kit quickly filled them from the barrel and handed them back when he was done.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Mars filled a metal bowl with beer and placed it on the ground for Pint to drink from. While Pint was distracted, Mars attached a lead rope. "All set, let's go."

Mars and Kit left the village, heading towards the south forest where Kit had found a cute little fluff ball.

"Thanks for coming with me. I know we're headed in the opposite direction of Flower Field town, but I really want to see if Snowball will come with us before we go," said Kit excitedly.

"It's no problem. We're not in a rush, so it doesn't matter how long it takes us to get there. Plus, we can work on improving our harvesting skills along the way by gathering everything that's available," replied Mars.

"That's a great idea! I also want to improve my skill of identifying items. When I gather things under the ingredients tab, all it shows is the name and nothing else," added Kit.

Mars tapped his temple with his finger. "I know how to improve that one. My father loves finding unique flowers, so he mentioned this one night at dinner. Your identification skill will increase as you identify different items, or we can buy some books to help. I remember two of the book titles: 'What Flower Is This?' and 'Flowers: A Mystery'."

"Haha! Those are clever names. I bet whoever came up with them had a lot of fun. We should look for those books when we get to town," said Kit.

Kit glanced around the meadow they were passing through and headed towards a Yellow Bulbine plant to start harvesting. They continued gathering plants on their way to the edge of the southern forest.

As they approached the forest, Kit heard an excited yip. He looked up to see Snowball, the black fluff ball, running towards him on stubby legs. A warm feeling of happiness spread through Kit's body upon seeing the cute little fluff ball.

"Snowball, did you wait for me?" asked Kit as he knelt down. Snowball jumped onto his chest without slowing down, causing Kit to roll backwards with the force of impact.

-100 damage

"OMG, Snowball! Are you trying to kill me?" groaned Kit, feeling like his ribs were broken. He quickly retrieved spring water from his inventory and drank it to restore his health. Once the pain was gone, Kit couldn't stay mad at the adorable dog and patted him instead.

He was surprised by how much damage such a small creature could inflict.

"You pack quite a punch for a little guy. Are you secretly a high-level monster?" joked Kit as Snowball stared up at him with his tongue hanging out.

"I'll take that as a no," chuckled Kit. "Snowball, do you want to come on an adventure with us?" he asked, holding the fluffy ball in front of his face. Snowball yipped excitedly and licked Kit's nose.

"I'll take that as a yes," smiled Kit.

"That was quicker than I thought. I was expecting us to search for Snowball for hours. He must be smart; he knew you were coming back today," remarked Mars.

"Now that we have Snowball, we can officially begin our journey. Should we go straight to Iris' cousin's house, or stop by the library in town first?" asked Kit.

"Iris' cousin?" Mars asked, looking perplexed.

"Oh, I forgot to mention it earlier, but Iris gave us a task to deliver a letter," Kit replied, pulling the letter out and handing it to Mars.

"Great, I'll set the location on the map. This will make things much easier. Well done, Kit!" Mars praised, causing Kit's ears to turn red with embarrassment. He wasn’t used to receiving praise from others, but he didn’t dislike it.

Turning north, Kit felt excited at the prospect of their next adventure. He hoped that once they reached the library, they would find the information they were searching for. As they travelled along the dirt road towards Flower Field town, they collected plants and admired the fields along the way.

The scenery didn't vary much except for the different types of plants in each field. Snowball bounded around their feet, occasionally causing them to stumble, while Pint carefully avoided stepping on the playful creature.

As noon approached and the sun reached its peak, Kit decided it was time for a lunch break. Spotting a large tree with overhanging branches up ahead, he directed Mars and Pint towards it. After tying Pint to the tree, they sat down under its shade and unpacked the cloth-wrapped basket from Iris.

Using the cloth as a picnic blanket, Kit began preparing a meal with the ingredients inside. However, when he attempted to cut slices from the bread loaf with a rusty knife, it became clear that it wasn't suitable for slicing bread without a serrated edge. As he struggled to cut through the bread without flattening it completely, Kit realised that he needed a proper bread knife instead.

Ding!

[Skill learnt: Crude knife sawing]

The knife glides back and forth, slicing through the food with ease. If you were to smash the food against a rock, it would have the same result as your cutting technique.

Agility + 4

Intelligence + 3

Kit's expression froze as he saw the message pop up. “OMG YES, I did it!” His first skill as a chef. Sure, the description is terrible, but who cares? It's a start. Kit’s heart started pounding with excitement.

This was his goal in the game - to become a top chef. He could already visualise his dream becoming a reality. With his first skill and recipe under his belt, nothing could stop him now.

Day three of playing and he was already on his way to becoming a proper chef. What would he be like in three months? Kit hoped that nothing would derail his dream. He didn't know what he would do if he couldn't achieve his goal.

Seeing Kit's surprised look, Mars mistook it for something else. "What is it? Did you cut yourself? I packed a first aid kit, hold on." Mars quickly pulled out a white box from his bag.

Kit chuckled. "No, I'm fine. I didn't cut myself. I just got my first Chef skill, and I was caught off guard. I worked in Iris' kitchen and didn't get one, so this was unexpected."

"Good thing you didn't hurt yourself. Congratulations on your first Chef skill!" Mars beamed at Kit.

"Thanks, Mars. I feel so happy right now." Kit's smile grew wider.

"You're not going to do that happy dance again, are you?" smirked Mars.

"Shut up, Mars." Kit started shaking his body in excitement. He was too elated to care about Mars' teasing.

Mars laughed along with Kit before he calmed down. "Did you use any skills in Iris' kitchen? Ugh, that sounded bad. I mean, did the equipment do all the work for you?"

"Oh, I get what you mean now. Yes, I only added ingredients to the equipment. I was so fascinated by their functions that I didn't pay attention to the fact that I wasn't using my own skills. That's why I'm only now getting a skill." Kit looked down at the food in their basket, still feeling excited.

“Can I unlock more skills?” Kit cut some cheese and fruits to go with the bread before handing Mars his share. However, he was disappointed when he failed to unlock any more chef skills.

Kit thought it was unfortunate no new skills were unlocked. He decided to try again when they stopped again at night. While eating lunch, Kit thought of ways to practice and learn more skills during their journey. “I'll need materials to work with. We collected some herbs today, but I'll need more than that to make meals and unlock skills.” Kit thought to himself.

"Mars, I want to practice cooking while we're traveling. I know beer won't be enough to open a restaurant, so I want to create meals along the way. But I'll need supplies to practice with."

Kit looked inside his pouch and saw there wasn't much variety in materials. He soon had a dejected look on his face - this would be harder than he thought.

Mars noticed Kit's change in mood from elated to disappointed. "That's an easy fix. We can catch some monsters for meat. We've already gathered some herbs, so just practice your skills until we have a good supply of materials. It's all here for us to take." Mars opened his arms wide, indicating the vast fields surrounding them.

"You're right, Mars. I'm just at the beginning - I can't expect to have everything already. Let's go catch us some MEAT!" Kit pumped his fist with determination.

"Can we finish our lunch first?" laughed Mars.

Kit laughed. "Right, of course, lunch first." He popped a piece of fruit in his mouth and pulled out a chunk of cheese for Snowball while planning what they could catch for ingredients.