"Aya come and help me with lunch," Aya heard, as she was taking a break from her round of Moon Valley.

“Coming Mars, I just got out of the game!” Aya replied with a yell of her own. She put the Revista away, placing it beside her pillow so she could play some more after lunch.

She rubbed her strained eyes, squeezing them shut to get some moisture in them before she got up from the bed to help Mars who was already laying out the ingredients for some chicken wraps.

The girl had a fresh bag of groceries, filled with the meat and vegetables they couldn’t really find at their convenience store.

Aya walked over to the counter where Mars was prepping the whole thing for easy access. They would need everything within reach for this particular dish. The dark-haired girl laid out the knives and chopping board, perfect for cutting vegetables.

A pot was on the stove bubbling with water and ready for the chicken to be placed in to boil before frying.

"Oh? This looks interesting," Aya said leaning against the counter, "I've never tried a wrap before but I've seen a lot of them on the office TV cooking shows,"

"Well, they're a simple and easy meal to make. I used to make it a lot back in Evangels. You'll get the hang of it in no time," Mars winked.

Aya waited by the side while Mars worked seasoning the chicken and taught Aya how to chop up vegetables for the wrap.

"Where did you even get vegetables this fresh?" Aya asked, tearing up as she sliced some onions into bits so she could add to the wrap stuffing.

Mars stopped her from touching her face as she sliced the onions, knowing the other girl's eyes were burning with tears but hands in her eyes would only make it worse, as Mars herself had learned from experience.

"I had them delivered from the main city," Mars said, "Had to put in the order pretty early this place is nearly a ghost town,"

Aya winced, blinking rapidly as she could no longer withstand the burning sensation of slicing onions.

"Be right back!" Aya said, running off to the bathroom to wash her eyes clear of tears.

The sound of the tap rushing at full blast resounded from the bathroom where Aya had practically thrown herself through the door.

Mars chuckled as she watched her friend scurry off like something was on her heels.

"That's right actually, even the convenience store is getting bare," Aya said returning to Mars’ side and moving on to slicing lettuce.

Her eyes were puffy from the irritation but she stayed slicing the rest of the vegetables as Mars fried the chicken into lunch.

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“Now this is how you roll it up,” Mars said showing Aya how to roll up the flatbread they would be using.

She demonstrated by laying the bread out in the pan to heat up and then filling the bread with enough of the stuffing to finish up a wrap.

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“Nice and easy,” Mars said rolling the bread up for Aya. “Your turn,”

Aya nodded and took one of the prepackaged flatbread to place into the frying pan, she scooped some stuffing up and dumped it into the pan with the bread.

“Your bread’s getting dry,” Mars warned.

“I’m sure it’s fine, I didn’t put the heat high,” Aya said, attempting to wrap the bread up when she heard it crack.

“I told you,” Mars said.

Aya pouted but still managed to roll her wrap up without it falling apart in her hands.

“Not bad for a first try,” Mars said, getting to work making another wrap for lunch. She decided they would get two each.

“I’ll make my next one,” Aya said eagerly, she wanted to try her hand at making something for real.

All the potion making and cooking in the game did not compare to cooking in real life with Mars.

It wasn’t that Moon Valley didn’t simulate it well, but the Revista didn’t translate the sensations well enough.

“Eager are we? I like that,” Mars said with a laugh.

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Aya bit into her chicken wrap with relish, chowing down so quickly Mars had to stop her from biting her tongue.

“I should have made more then,” Mars said with a chuckle, she reclined in her chair and watched Aya attempt to devour one of the wraps whole.

“I love your food!” Aya said squealing at the flavorful meal. This was the kind of thing she imagined they ate at all the nice restaurants in Axen City.

“I’m going to teach you how to cook,” Mars announced. “It’ll probably help your cooking skills in-game,”

“Is that the only reason?” Aya asked, raising her eyebrows. She took another bite of her chicken wrap, savoring the taste and the way Mars had seasoned the meat. The meal had definitely given her an energy boost.

“How often do you feed your player character?” Mars asked, chewing her meal.

“Not a lot, I don’t cook much in the game,” Aya said with her cheeks bulging full of flatbread.

“Aya you’ve got to feed your character often or your stats will take a hit, even Relaxation Potions won’t help much if you don’t buy meals,”

Aya paused her next bit of bread.

“Are you serious?” All this time she had been neglecting her cooking skill as yet another Subclass skill she could focus on when she had time, but now it turned out to be crucial.

“Deadly serious, I wouldn’t want your stats to suffer. You still have to beat me after all,” Mars said.

“Why do you think food sells so well on the auction, did you think it was simply delicious!”

“I had no idea! I thought it was just something I could do whenever,” Aya said, pouting. “I’ll have to roast that pork I have,”

“You better! And get more recipes too, you can’t ignore the temporary stat boosts,” Mars advised.

“Do you have the cooking skill, Mars?”

“Yup, through a Title: Good with your hands,” Mars said. “It’s a long story but it has to do with a corrupted Boar King,” Mars said.

“Ugh I'm so tired of those, I just fought a corrupted Swamp Guardian, I didn’t even fully look at my rewards yet. It ruined my Carrot Sword I’ve been using since forever!”

“Well maybe that’s a good thing, you aren’t meant to be stuck with one set of equipment for long,” Mars said.

“This is an RPG after all. The enemies will get tougher and you don’t want to still be using the same weapon you used at level one,” Mars pointed at Aya and raised her eyebrow as well.

“Wait, aren’t you a summoner? You don’t even need a weapon!”

“I like the thrill of fighting alongside my summons okay!” Aya retorted.

“The most unique summoner I’ve ever met, also thank you for telling me your skill set and giving me an edge in our upcoming battle,” Mars winked.

“Hey! You tricked me!” Aya whined, planting her palms on the table in surprise.

“All’s fair in love and war Aya,” Mars teased.