Master Battle Chef by Killua

Damon has led a pretty happy life. He also knew what he wanted to be since he was little, a chef. After he plays Royal Road for a month by renting a capsule, he tries to buy one, but this time he will do everything right. Watch as he tries to combine the fact that he wants to be the best cook out there with being an adventurer that can kill anything...and then maybe taste it.

Category of Fiction: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Royal Road.

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And with a *Flash* in enveloping white light, there he was again.

Royal Road has been out for over a year, however he had only played for a few hours one month, as he didn’t have the capsule, he instead payed for a month subscription and went to one of various places that rent capsules by the hour.

It was enough to get him addicted at the time but he soon noticed he just didn’t have the money or the time to continue playing. He realized he didn’t enjoy being half-hearted about the game and if he couldn’t play properly it wasn’t worth it, so he deleted his avatar.

His name was Damon. His life hasn’t been very easy or very hard, he was mostly happy though.

The worst part of his life was when his mother died, he was only 4 years old and his sister was 2. He didn’t remember her much, which he supposed makes it easier. His father was a very good man that loves both of his kids, however he needed to pay the bills so he worked long hours leaving the kids at home alone sometimes, not that Damon complained as he knew it was his job to take care of his sister.

When Damon was about 8 years old, he started making sandwiches to leave for when his father got home while they slept. His father thanked him and said he loved them, so he continued making them.

When he was 12, he left amazing sandwiches and salads that he learned to make through both the internet and asking his father for some cooking books, both his sister and father started to praise him and always wanted more which made him really happy.

Once he got a bit older, his father allowed him to use the kitchen appliances including the stove, and that was when he fell in love with cooking. Every time he made a new dish and his family smiled and enjoyed it, it felt like he could always be happy as long as he would cook.

It was, by now, pretty obvious what he wanted to be when he grew up.

A couple of years later, Royal Road came out. At first he was just a bit curious about it, however after a year it was in every TV station and once he knew that a profession such as cooking existed in game he just had to try it.

Damon’s family was neither poor or rich, they had enough for everything they needed though, but he couldn’t ask his hard working father to give him 10 thousand dollars for a capsule.

He used the money his grandparents had given him for christmas and bought a month subscription of 300 dollars with money to spare for capsule renting.

Once he got into the game he had a bittersweet feeling. He only had one month to play and only for a couple hours a day, so he just wanted to experiment everything while he still had the chance.

What he found most surprising, was that apparently he really enjoyed hunting animals and cooking them. There were flavors that you could only experience in the game and fresh meat or fish were fantastic, however thanks to him being rushed by time constraints, his avatar was sloppy so he couldn’t hunt much or make money.

When he was level 20, he was a lower than average warrior with cooking skill with 4 days to end his month subscription. He got lucky though, as he was passing through a road near a forest he spotted a Orc that seemed different than the ones he knew.

The Orc was fleeing from the forest with arrows stuck on him but the most surprising part was that he had casted a magic spell and was using a robe and a staff, it seemed like some kind of Orc Mage, which were very rare and usually powerful for removing the limitations of their own race.

Damon thought he had nothing to lose, behind a tree he waited for the injured and fleeing Orc to approach, and when he did, Damon with just a couple of sword strikes killed the Orc which in turn turned grey and dropped some coins and his staff.

The staff was a rare item for level 30 mages that could be easily used until level 100, so he put it on the Auction site for 3 days as he didn’t have much more time to play.

The staff sold for the exhorbitant amount of 4 thousand dollars, which seemed way too much for a low level item, however after Damon thought for a few seconds he realized why it was so expensive.

Mages were one of the top 3 most played classes and they could mostly only use staffs or wands as weapons. What drove the price up even more is that staffs can’t be crafted easily, it needs both someone to craft it and someone to enchant it. Most Mages were very poor thanks to their needed equipment, so a rare staff that didn’t need to be changed for over 70 levels was something amazing.

After he got the money, he had a new found hope, he could ask his father for the rest of the money for a capsule and maybe he would pay the subscription himself selling gear that he could find. So he waited until a few days before his birthday to ask his father, not before deleting his avatar though as he knew he couldn’t be that weak if he needed to make a bit of money.

His birthday was early in the first month of summer vacation, when he asked his father if he could get the rest of the money, instead of only giving him what he missed, his father said to wait for his birthday. When the day came he he had a capsule and still had his money aswell which made him incredibly happy and put a smile on his fathers face.

There was still almost 3 months left until he would start his final year of highschool and he had nothing to do besides cook for his family and play Royal Road, however this time it would be different, this time he already had everything planed out for his first 2 to 3 months of in game time, this time he would properly enjoy the game without rushing.

The family had a birthday lunch, mostly because his father had to work late. After his father left he ran to his room and went into the capsule.

- “The scan on your eye has determined that you are a registered user, however you don’t have an avatar, would you like to create one?” - said a computerized female voice.

- “Yes!” - Damon said really excited.

- “Select the name of your avatar.”

- “Damon” - not very imaginative, but he liked his name.

- “Select your gender...”

- “Male”

- “You may select you race from the...”

- “Human” - He was speeding through it as he thought of everything he need to do.

- “You may alter your appearance”

A floating image of himself only using underwear appeared in front of him. Shiny black hair, clear green eyes and a beautiful white smile. He was a bit skinny which may seem weird since he loved to cook so much but apparently he had a fast metabolism and he wasn’t a glutton. He was a bit taller than average at 1.78m. He was quite handsome, however due to always being at home taking care of his sister and studying he didn’t have many friends and never had a girlfriend.

- “As i am.”

- “Select the city where you want to start.”

- “Calabria City” - Capital city of one of the central kingdoms where the most users were.

- “Welcome to...”

- “Pass!”

And with a *Flash* in enveloping white light, there he was again.

- “Okay, no time to lose, hopefully i’ll be out of this city in 2 months in-game time.”

He was in a square, in front of a fountain, where various people were looking for partys or selling goods but he didn’t even pay attention to anything else as soon as he looked to the right and there was a map of the city on a huge wall of stone.

While he was trying to memorize the city streets and everything in them he was also thinking of his plan. It was a fairly straightforward plan, he wanted to be a cook but also wanted to adventure, kill monsters and enjoy new flavors in different environments.

To be able to do all that he needed a good class that was related to cooking so he could get to Grand Master, so his plan was to fill his 10 free skill slots with only skills that he needed for adventuring and cooking, get his stats high while his level was still low, and then he would visit the Intelligence Guild hoping he would get a fitting class.

The Intelligence Guild gives counsel to users, depending on their stats and skills and on rare occasions, the guild unveils hidden or unique classes, however they usually separate classes into either Combat or Crafters, Damon wanted to have both of them.

As soon as he finished going through the map, he ran off as if he had no time to waste. He knew where he was going, it was one of the best restaurants in the whole continent and the whole reason he started in this city, the “Saint Bard”.

The Saint Bard Restaurant had 2 floors, on the first floor you could seat 750 people and on the second 1.000 people. It was almost always full of both NPC’s and users thanks to the amazing food and atmosphere with bards singing and dancers dancing.

Thanks to the amount of clients they were always hiring people, however not many users would work there, mostly because you had to work hard due to the huge amount of people and the pay was the same as the other places.

The main reason for Damon wanting to work there is because of the main Chef of the place, once you get an apprenticeship under him and get to Cooking Beginner Level 5, he will offer you a set of cooking knives as a “graduation” present.

Damon had made quite a bit of research on everything he needed to be done before he would go to the Intelligence Guild.

After 5 minutes of running he got to the restaurant and went to the back door as it said in the forums.

- “Hello, anybody here?” - Damon said as he knocked on the back door.

- “Yeah! What do you want, boy?” - Said a fat guy with a small black beard as he opened the door.

- “Hello, sir! I was hoping to get a job in the kitchen and an apprenticeship under Chef Fresco!”

- “Hahahaha! So you want to study under me? There are many who come by and say the same thing but as soon as they get the cooking skill, they all leave, frankly i’m tired of your kind, boy!” - Said Chef Fresco while laughing but still with a menacing tone.

- “Sir, i am nothing like the others, i can promise that is my greatest wish to become the best cook in the whole continent, and my name is Damon!” - He said with clear eyes and looking slightly annoyed.

- “Ooooh! So you want to be a Chef then? That’s unexpected. Most just want the skill to eat while adventuring and know nothing of our art. Okay then, i will give you a small test for a few days, if you pass i’ll teach how to cook, boy!” - He said while smiling as he said the last word.

*Ding

Quest: The Chefs Test

Chef Fresco will test you for a few days.

Difficulty: F

Rewards: Chef Fresco will teach you Cooking.

50 copper for every hour of work.

Failure: Banned from Saint Bard Restaurant.

- “I accept!” - Damon said resolved.

- “Hahaha! Good, come on in and start washing those dishes then, boy!” - He said while pointing towards a mountain of dishes.

As Damon entered the kitchen, he noticed there was only 5 other people there, all NPC’s, for a restaurant that served over 1.500 people every meal time, it was severely lacking.

Resolved, he started to wash the mountain of dishes. Over 6 hours of washing dishes later, the mountain didn’t drop in size at all, as he was very tired and wondering if he had to wash them all today, a message appeared.

Vitality has risen by 1 point. (+1 VIT)

- “Show Stats Window”

NameDamonClassN/ALevel1Fame0TitleN/AHealth110Mana100Strength10Agility10Wisdom10Intelligence10Luck10Vitality11Magic ResistanceN/A

That single point in Vitality made all his tiredness go away. It also meant that later he would have to beat the scarecrow a lot less, making his plan go faster aswell, so he plunged himself in washing dishes for the first 3 days, gaining 7 more points in Vitality and gaining 22 silver as he worked almost 15 hours a day.

It would’ve been almost impossible to do, except Chef Fresco, every 6 hours, gave him food that completely restored his stamina, and it was also delicious. The biggest perk of working in a restaurant was the free food.

After the third day a new employe arrived and took over washing the dishes. Damon was to help in cutting potatoes and other vegetables, after 7 hours of it, he got two new messages.

Agility has risen by 1 point. (+1 AGI)

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:HandicraftBeginner10%Enhances craft skills.

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Increases Attack Power with weapons by 1% per level.

Increases Attack Power with fists by 2% per level.

He finally got the skill he was hoping for. If he wanted to be both a cook and an adventurer he needed this skill to deal some damage. It was still very lacking compared to every other class, but still helped a lot, both in his damage and in his cooking.

For the next week, all he did was cut vegetables, which gave him a few points in both agility and strength, but more importantly got his Handicraft level all the way to Beginner 3. As soon as he got it, a message appeared.

*Ding

Quest Completed: The Chefs Test

- “That was fast, boy! And here i was, hoping to see you wash dishes and cutting vegetables for a few more weeks, hehehe!” - Said Chef Fresco as he walked into the kitchen.

- “Don’t forget your promise to teach me, Chef. And my name is Damon!”

- “Yeah, yeah, come with me!” - He said while waving him to come along.

Chef Fresco started to teach him how to make some salads, a few soups and a couple of basic dishes, however Damon already knew them, some from real life others from the month he played before as these were really basic dishes and he had obviously tried them. Thanks to that, even before half an hour passed he had learned Cooking.

*Ding

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:CookingBeginner10%Enhances the taste of meals.

Increases speed of stamina recovery after eating.

- “Good! You can start helping me in the kitchen now, boy.” - He said with a smile.

Another week passed by quite fast or it appeared to be, mostly because Damon couldn’t stop working, he was now at Cooking level 3. He thought it would go faster as he would be cooking for a lot of people, however he was mostly only helping the other chefs so the increase wasn’t much.

That day, after work, while he was eating he heard a yell.

- “Hey, boy! Come here.” - Screamed Chef Fresco.

- “Coming, Chef!... Yes?” - He said almost scared that he did something wrong.

- “Tomorrow is a day off, i need you to take all our knives for repair and sharpening at the blacksmith.”

*Ding

Quest: Knives Maintenance

The restaurants knives need repairs.

You were told to take them to the blacksmith.

Difficulty: F

Rewards: 1 copper per fixed knife.

Failure: You will pay for any missing knives.

- “Yes, Chef!” - “Even on my day off i got to work...it’s okay though, needed a couple of skills from the blacksmith anyway!” - Damon thought.

The next day when he got to the restaurant, there was 3 big boxes full of knives waiting for him. The Blacksmith is on the complete opposite part of town so he didn’t want to take one at a time.

- “Thought they would be heavier...or maybe it’s the stats i gained. Still really heavy though.” - Damon thought while picking the boxes up.

As he was running through the streets towards the blacksmith with those huge heavy boxes, people were staring at him. He was still in his newbie gear which was mostly ruined by now thanks to non stop work, holding 3 old boxes that made a lot of noise, and he was panting and sweating a lot, it was not a pretty sight, however he soon didn’t even care when he got that beautiful new message sound.

New Stat: Endurance

Youre likely to use less stamina from an action.

It reduces physical damage inflicted by an enemy.

You are prohibited from distributing bonus points to this stat.

- “Oh cool! Didn’t even know about this stat! Need to experiment with it later.” - He said while still running.

Half an hour later he was at the Blacksmiths. It was the size of a small house, but it was made of stone and had a chimney on top that kept throwing out smoke. Once he entered there was nobody to attend to him but there was the sound of hammers hitting steel deeper inside so he knew there was people around.

- “Hello! Anyone here?” - He said while looking around.

From the back appeared a girl about his age, she had brown hair tied to a ponytail, beautiful blue eyes, with a small frame and a lot of her face and cloth were dirty with black stuff.

- “Hi! Can i help you with something?” - Said the girl.

- “Hope so, are you the blacksmith?” - Damon asked.

- “Haha! No, my repair is still low, need to get it to intermediate first!”

- “Oh, you’re a player. I’m sorry, i need THE blacksmith, not A blacksmith. It’s for a quest...tell him Chef Fresco sent the restaurants knives to repair and sharpen please.”

- “Ah cool, more stuff to repair. Hehe. I’ll go tell her!” - And she walked towards the back.

- “Oh, it’s a she, my bad. Cute girl though.” - he thought.

A blonde woman taller than Damon with big muscles and also covered in whatever that black stuff was came through the door, he flinched as she started to talk.

- “Hello, i heard you had a lot of knives to repair. That Fresco is always the same, he sends all the knives from that huge restaurant to repair in one day like i don’t have any other work.”

- “I’m sorry, miss?” - He asked carefully.

- “It’s Leona and it’s not your fault. It must’ve been hard carrying all that from the restaurant, do you want some iced tea?”

- “Yes, thank you! I’m really thirsty. My name is Damon by the way.” - “Wow! She seems really nice.” - He thought.

- “Come, drink. I’ll start work on those right away with Jenna.”

- “Can i help? I would like to learn to repair aswell if possible.” - Said Damon trying to not let the chance slip by.

- “Are you sure? I can’t pay you though.”

- “Yes. Just learning to repair is payment enough, thank you.”

So they went towards the back. It was a small room, which was very hot. The other girl was hitting her hammer on some armor over what seemed like a well with lava instead of water.

Getting the Repair Skill was pretty easy, he just needed to try and repair a few broken pieces of armor that were lying around the room, with Leona’s help of course. After they started repairing all the knives, as a cook himself who knows the value of a good knife, he tried hard to do a good job, so he often touched along the blades with his hands and looked closely along the hilt, so after about 300 knives repaired he got the Identify Skill aswell.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:IdentifyBeginner10%Shows item stats and descriptions.

Damon picked up a knife from the restaurant and said. - “Identify.”

KnifeDamage:2-4Durability:9 / 22Quality:CommonA common knife used as cutlery.

They all spent the rest of the day repairing the knifes and talking. The girl’s name was Jenna and apparently she wanted to be the best blacksmith on the continent, which Damon thought was a weird dream for a small and cute girl, but who was he to talk when he wanted to be the best cook. After all those repairs Jenna finally got the Blacksmithing Skill and was pretty happy so they all ate something together before going their different ways.

The next day Damon completed the quest and continued working at the restaurant. Five days later he was at Cooking Beginner 4 and was now allowed to cook freely as long as he had a bit of supervision.

A couple of days later, after work.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:CookingBeginner498%Enhances the taste of meals.

Increases speed of stamina recovery after eating.

Food you cook gives several stat benefits depending on ingredients and skill level.

- “Hmm! I should make something nice for Chef Fresco as a thanks for teaching me.” - He thought.

- “Chef! You haven’t eaten yet, can i make you some late night dinner?”

- “Ohoh! That’s a first. Okay, let’s see what you can do, boy.”

Damon wanted to make more than one dish. Usually when people go hunting they only need one dish as the effects don’t stack with each other, so eating more than one dish is considered throwing money away, however he was cooking for his teacher who appreciated food, it wasn’t about the stat gain or to fill the satiety bar, it was to impress him and graduate.

He made a simple but unusual salad with tomatoes, walnuts and strips of cheese. Then a carrot soup and for the main dish, hamburguer with mushrooms and a delicious sauce. He also made a chocolate cake for desert. It was all very simple but it was beautifully arranged.

As soon as he finished the dishes he got to Cooking Beginner level 5, and took them to Chef, once he put everything on the table he heard a familiar sound.

*Ding

New Stat: Art

A gift in comprehending and practicing in creating. Art renders meals and products elegant in an aesthetic and practical sense.

Improves when you see, hear, smell, taste or touch beautiful things, or create artworks.

- “This is a beautiful meal with the best of your abilitys, Damon!” - Fresco said proud of him.

- “That’s the first time you called me by name, Chef!”

- “You are no longer a boy after you graduate from my apprenticeship. I have a few apprentices out there, but you were the fastest one to get here and also the one who cooked the best meal for me, i hope to hear great things in the future. Wait here, i got something to give you.”

Chef Fresco came back with a box that contained 2 large kitchen knives almost the size of Damons forearms, and 8 smaller kitchen knives.

- “The small kitchen knives are what i give to everyone that pass my apprenticeship, the bigger ones are a gift to thank you for the meal and for all the work you did. Also, at this restaurant, you eat for free.”

- “Thank you, Chef. I don’t know what to say.”

- “Just don’t do the same thing i did. Once i got to Intermediate Cooking, i opened my own restaurant. It was fine until i got to Master, and now it is impossible for me to get any proficiency in my cooking, this is all i’ll ever be. For a cook to keep evolving he needs the freshest of ingredients from the most exotic places, if you just continue making the same thing over and over you won’t get any better. So, go out there, surpass me and come back to cook for me.”

After he left the restaurant, he Identified his new knives.

Large Gourmet Chefs KnifeDamage:30-44Durability:58 / 58Quality:RareA bigger than usual gourmet knife.

Due to its damage and size it can be used for both for cooking and hunting.

+20% Speed while cooking.

Balanced Gourmet KnifeDamage:7-11Durability:49 / 49Quality:UncommonPerfectly balanced knife used by Chefs in their trade.

+10% Speed while cooking.

Damon was amazed at his rewards, he already knew about the smaller ones, but the Large Knives were completely overpowered for his level.

Twenty six days in game had passed fast, but he was actually progressing faster than he thought at first. He already had Cooking, Handicraft, Repair and Identify, only 6 more skills to go. He also gained 3 gold which was more than he ever had on his other Avatar.

Tomorrow he would go to the training hall.