“So, a patisserie?” Jenna asked again once the situation with Jocelyn was resolved. “You said you got crafting classes ‘in a manner of speaking’?”
This time it was Dad who answered. “It was something we had talked about doing when we were younger, but the opportunity never arose. And it’s surprisingly hard for a new restaurant or food place to get going without a lot of money up front. Too much competition.”
“But there won’t be much, if any, competition in DVI,” Mom said. “At least, not right away. We’ve done some asking around, and the restaurateur families on the peninsula aren’t planning or don’t seem inclined to try in the game.”
“There will be challenges,” Dad said, “even if there isn’t competition. A purely local economy of mostly just NPCs might mean getting the necessary ingredients is harder than it should be. That’s where alchemy comes in.”
“You’re an alchemist, Dad?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. That’s your Mother’s class. Mine’s patissiere, a specialized version of chef.”
“What sort of abilities do you have, Dad?” Jenna asked. “I can’t imagine that cooking does anything like casting spells or such.”
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong,” he answered. “Yep, three of my skills are passives, making cooking easier, but I also have Imbue Ingredient which allows me to make magical foods and Applied Basic Confectionary. That one will let me use ingredients in my inventory to do things like decorating a cake without having to have different frosting tubes and nozzles. Um, once I have the ingredients, that is.”
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“Sounds fancy,” Jenna said. “And you, Mom?”
“An alchemist does alchemy, of course,” she said. “There’s also synthesis, which is like alchemy, but deals with combining things rather than components.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well,” Mom explained, “alchemy usually involves liquid bases. It’s not about turning lead to gold, but more what you might think of as making potions -- or making tea, for that matter. Synthesis, however, is taking two different things and combining them to make something new. Like, oh,” she looked around the kitchen, “taking that wooden cutting board and synthesizing it with a block of ice might create a plate that kept anything on it cool. Then there’s transmutation, changing one thing into something else. That’s going to be the most useful one for us at first, I think.”
“So, like turning rocks into sugar?” Jocelyn asked.
Mom nodded. “Pretty much.” Then her expression got a bit wry, “If it works. Failures can be … interesting.”
“How so?”
“Like it looks like sugar and acts like sugar, dissolving in water the same way, but still tastes like rock,” Mom explained. “You don’t want to add THAT to your tea.” The way she shuddered made it seem as if she spoke from experience. Recent experience, maybe?
The discussion continued for a few minutes longer, then Dad brought it to a close. “Anyway, you three need to start getting ready for school. But James and Jenna, let your friends know that you won’t be able to play with them right away tonight. You’ll have family obligations for a bit. Your Mom and I want you three to meet up with us in DVI tonight”
“Don’t worry,” Mom said, “there’s no chores yet, but once the patisserie is running, we’ll certainly have some chores or errands you’ll need to do to help us. But tonight, we need to make sure we have your contact information and you have ours. Plus, I’m curious about your classes and plans, but we can talk about that later. Now go on, gather up your school stuff. I’ve got two more papers I need to grade.”