Kit paused with a forkful of pasta halfway towards his mouth. Snickers eyes went wide at the sight of Kit. He had sauce dripping from his chin without a care at his appearance. Kit blinked at Snickers then shoved the pasta into his waiting mouth.

Snickers laughed at him. Kit didn’t care he was so happy with the taste of the pasta.

“Kit you just ate lunch, how are you still hungry?”

As Kit was chewing his food, Snickers started to sniff the air around her. Then her eyes zeroed in on the pasta in front of Kit.

“Kit, what is that you’re eating?”

A curious tone was heard from the little green haired girl. She walked closer to Kit to get a closer look at the dish. When she was just in front of his plate, she took a deep breath in.

“That smells amazing. What is it? Hurry up and tell me, don’t leave me in suspense.”

Kit swallowed his mouth full of food then grinned at Snickers.

“Red velvet lake pasta, want to try some?”

Snickers nodded her head furiously. Kit handed her a fork and Snickers started to eat from the same plate as him.

“Hey, go get your own plate this one is mine.”

Kit felt like hugging the plate to his chest. The meal was too good to share. Snickers smacked him on the head then continued to eat from his plate. Kit suddenly thought Snickers was just like his sister, this was something she would often do when she came home from work. Kit smiled at the memory of his sister stealing his food.

“Stop being a hog. Besides you can’t eat all this by yourself and I’m the official taste tester for the meals in the restaurant anyway.”

Kit snorted at Snickers words. “When did you become the taste tester?”

“When I took the job as the restaurant manager.”

Snickers looked at him like this was already decided long ago. Then her eyes narrowed. Kit had a feeling if he disagreed, he would be in a world of pain. Kit felt that Snickers really was the same as his sister after those words, so he just went with it.

He knew from experience that it was useless to argue, he would end up the loser anyway. It was better to keep all his limbs attached.

Kit watched Snickers as she ate. Pure joy radiated from her as she devoured the pasta. Between the two of them the plate was soon picked clean.

“Kit, I wanted to talk to you about the grand opening of the restaurant. I think we should hire some staff for the day.”

Kit thought about the lack of customers up until now. So far, they had only had one customer. Kit was starting to think that the grand opening would be a flop as well. He didn’t have high hopes for the occasion.

“I think we will be ok with just the two of us Snickers. Honestly, I think after the grand opening is over, I will take my camping kitchen and tour the nearby towns.”

“Kit, I think we should be prepared just in case it is a success. That old man is bustling about every afternoon talking about what to do when it’s time for your opening. Kit, he has even talked to the others about where all the tents will go when people arrive.”

Kit’s eyebrows shot up at Snickers words. Even though he had been working hard towards the grand opening somewhere in the back of his head he had thought that it wouldn’t be successful. Snickers had made him realise that this might be a bigger event that he had planned.

Kit felt an immense weight crash on his shoulders. Kit’s eyes dimmed. He was nowhere near prepared for a proper grand opening. He stared at the dish in front of him and regained some of his fighting spirit. ‘I will just have to work extra hard for the rest of today and tomorrow.’

“Ok then Snickers, lets hire some people to help out. I’ll leave that to you. I need to work on expanding the menu. I only have the rest of today and tomorrow to make some progress then I will be gone for six days.”

“What the hell Kit. Why would you leave for six days just before the grand opening? Are you an idiot?”

Snickers was looking at him like he was insane. Kit blinked at Snickers then remembered she had no idea he had to log out.

“Snicker you know I’m one of the CAL blessed right. So, I have to go somewhere because of this for six days.”

“What? Why does it have to be now? Can’t you put off whatever it is until later? This is important Kit.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Snickers had a look of frustration after hearing Kit’s answer.

“I can’t put it off Snickers, I’m sorry.” Kit decided to explain a bit more for Snickers so she would understand his schedule.

“I will be here for fifteen days then I will have to leave for six. This cycle will repeat and cannot be changed. I’m sorry Snickers. I wish I didn’t have to leave as well.”

Snickers blew out a frustrated breath.

“Fine, it’s fine. The timing is just not good. You will only have one day to prepare for the opening when you return.”

Kit felt the pressure on his shoulders grow at those words. He hoped one day would be enough to finish stocking the time freeze storage shelf. It was almost half full already so it shouldn’t be a problem. Kit just hoped that he could create enough meals for each of the five slots in the storage self.

He had two slots filled and planned to fill another with the Red velvet lake pasta. He just hoped he could get his level to chef 25 before the opening event or that filled spot would be useless. He had two free slots in the time freeze storage shelf. If he could get the apple pie finished that would take up one.

So, he only needed to create one more dish. Kit went over all the ingredients he had left to experiment with. He had three main meals and hopefully soon a desert. So, he thought his next creation should be an entrée. Then the five slots in the time freeze storage shelf would be filled with a good selection.

Kit dismissed using the catfish he felt that was more a main meal dish. That left the turtle and frog meat. Kit had never seen a recipe using frogs’ legs, he decided to wait until he logged out to look up recipes on how to cook the delicacy.

The only option left was the turtle meat. He had never used turtle meat before, but he had seen turtle soup sold in a shop that was near his old school. He decided to give making the soup a try. He hoped it would be just like a normal soup. If not, he would be at a loss.

Now that his mind was made up, he finally remembered Snickers was still standing in front of him.

“Oh, look you noticed I was still here.”

Kit could hear the laughter in Snickers voice. He blushed, he had been so lost in his thought he had completely forgotten about her.

“Sorry Snickers. I was thinking about what to create next. I have so little time, so I’m consumed with thoughts about experimenting to create more dishes.”

“I understand. I’ll leave you to it. I’ll go and see if the others need any help. They are so close to promoting Spartan Fire to a small village now and that will benefit us. So, I don’t mind giving them a hand. You don’t need me for anything before I go?”

Kit felt a smile break out on his face. He couldn’t wait to see what would happen when Spartan Fire was promoted from a hamlet to a small village. He wondered if they should have some sort of ceremony. He told Snickers his idea.

“Kit, I think for this promotion it will not be needed. Besides there would only be the seven of us to see it.”

“Your probably right Snickers. Next time we should make it a grand event.”

“I agree. Then we can get some more business out of it.”

Kit laughed at her one track mind. She really was focused on turning the restaurant into something she could brag about.

“Snickers you really were made to be a manager. Ok, I need to concentrate now, you go and help the others. I’ll be fine by myself.”

Snickers nodded then left Kit to his devices. Kit went outside to look in the tank. He wanted to see what the plant at the bottom of the red velvet lake was. He was hoping to add it to the turtle soup.

Kit stuck his hands into the cold water and pulled a clump of the plant out. A wet sopping mess was left in his hand. Kit looked at the dripping red plant. Kit rubbed the plant with his fingers, the texture felt like soft velvet. It had small red roots at the bottom.

The top of the aquatic plant had dense fine simple leaves the overall effect looked similar to velvet. To Kit it looked like he was holding a piece of velvet cloth in his hands. As he looked closer, he saw a small red flower nestled in the velvet display. He plucked the flower and used identify.

[Red velvet bloom]

Only grows on Red velvet underwater magic moss. It is a red petite delicate flower with five petals.

Kit then used identify on the wet red plant.

[Red velvet underwater magic moss]

Found at the lakes at the base of the Spirit devouring ranges. Food to a wide variety of aquatic wildlife.

Neither description was helpful. Kit decided to taste each of the plants to see if they had any flavour. Kit put the delicate flower in his mouth first. A burst of tang was the first thing Kit noticed. Then a savory, sweet salty taste filled his mouth. Kit’s eyes went wide. This flower was delicious.

He immediately made plans to add it to the soup. He then quickly plucked a piece from the moss and plopped it in his mouth. A peppery taste exploded on his tongue. Kit quickly spat out the overpowering flavoured plant. He quickly washed his mouth out with water.

No wonder Grandpa had said it tasted awful. If was like eating straight pepper. Kit eyed the red moss with happy delight. Even though he just received a shock to his taste buds this could be used in small amount in seasoning. It was also something else he could use in the soup!

Kit had never been more happy to have received the tip from Snickers about collecting ingredients from the same area. This was turning out to be a big boon to Kit. He didn’t think he would have had such an easy time creating meals without this tip. He was going to make the most of creating as many low level dishes as he could.

Having a wide variety to choose from a menu would appeal to more people. Hopefully he could get also get diverse range of stats as well.

Kit quickly went and collected some more of the red velvet blooms, then headed back into the kitchen. The small piece of red velvet underwater magic moss he had would be more than enough for his cooking.

Kit placed the underwater items on the bench then took out the turtle meat. He cooked the meat in the large pot filled with water hanging of the fire roaster. When the meat was falling of the bone he took the meat out and cut it into cubes.

He then went over to the magic storage pantry to purchase some more items for the soup. He brought some tomatoes, celery, onions, thyme, butter, flour and garlic. He opened the doors to the pantry and collected his wares. Then took them over to the bench and started to prepare the vegetables.

He placed the vegetables into a new pot and started to boil them. Once they were done, he added the turtle meat then started to make some roux. He melted butter into a fry pan and added flour until the mixture looked like gravy.

He then poured the roux into the pot and added some water. He finished the soup off with adding some red velvet bloom and red velvet underwater magic moss. Kit then placed the pot over the fire pit to cook. Kit stared at the bubbling soup with bated breath. He hoped this would turn out as a stats meal.