I'd spent what felt like weeks leveling up and getting my cafe as ready as possible for customers, but I had no way to know for sure without being able to keep track of time in the dungeon. I'd worked myself to exhaustion more than once though, so I was counting each of those as a day. It had paid off though, I was finally level 9 and I'd upgraded three of my skills!

Buff Baking could now infuse one buff of my choice to the food I was cooking instead of it being random, Lasting Bite would keep food fresh for three times longer instead of two times, and my Green Thumb skill now gave a passive boost to my gardening skills, giving me a feel for what I should do before I did it. All in all, not a bad way to spend my time.

I stood outside my cafe with Matcha on my shoulder, staring out at the jungle floor ahead of us and the glowing path of mushrooms we'd planted so people didn't get lost. We were ready for customers. We'd been ready for a while actually, but our Grand Opening had been a little less grand than I'd been expecting. Adventurers had to find us to visit and that was proving difficult on a random dungeon floor where nobody expected a cafe to be.

"If only they knew what they were missing out on," I said with a sigh. "We've got the best food and the best slimes in the whole dungeon. People should be swarming us to eat here."

Matcha nuzzled against me, cooing. I patted his head, my hand running over the smooth slime.

"It's okay, they'll show up soon."

They had to. Otherwise this entire leveling up plan would go out the window. Sure, I'd been making good progress, but each level took more XP than the last and making simple food for myself and the slimes wasn't cutting it. I needed that Heartfelt Hospitality bonus and any other cafe bonuses I could get. Completing quests was fine, but it just didn't feel like enough. Not even when the rewards were cool things like an unlimited pantry or magical sprinklers for the garden.

I opened my menu, checking on the status of those new quests. The unlimited pantry quest still needed a lot of wood and the initial basic ingredients to fill it up with, but the sprinkler quest was almost done. If I could find whatever a magical water stone was. I'd unlocked the ability to work on two quests at once, which was incredibly handy, but also made me wonder what other options there were. I scrolled through all the cafe upgrades, most of which were grayed out.

"Hey, Sweet Potato?" I called out with a smile. Saying the system's nickname was always so much fun. "Being able to choose my own quests would be great, you know. Any chance that's an option?"

[You don't like the quests I'm giving you?]

"No, that's not what I meant." I glanced up at the glowing embers in the ceiling, feeling like they were somehow linked to this magical system the dungeon used. "It's more like I want to be the one to decide what I'm working on. Like sprinklers are amazing, but I've got an unlimited watering can so those are only really needed after I expand the garden too much for me to handle. So it would be nice to work on something else before the sprinklers." I worried my lip. "Maybe you could list all the options available, so they'd still be coming from you, but I'd be the one to choose which order I did them in?"

[...]

[...]

[...]

I frowned at the blank message boxes popping up. "Um, are you okay? I didn't break you or something, did I?"

[I am fine. Just thinking.]

Matcha chirped at something in the distance, tumbling off my shoulder unexpectedly. I snapped my arms out, catching him before he hit the ground. All my base stat upgrades were really paying off with increased reflexes, strength, and magic levels. I'd boosted almost everything over the past week or so.

[Culinary Mage: Level 9]

[Agility: 3]

[Charisma: 5]

[Endurance: 4]

[Intelligence: 2]

[Mana: 10]

[Strength: 2]

[Available Stat Points: 1]

[Available Skill Points: 1]

"Now what were you chirping at?" I asked the little slime in my arms as I surveyed the jungle floor ahead of us. Vines hung from the dungeon's ceiling, swaying in the breeze, while trees stood tall and unmoving.

Matcha wiggled, bouncing in my arms with increasing excitement. Slime vision must be way better than human eyesight, because all I saw was a whole lot of nothing. Wait, no, there was something moving between the trees. A monster? No. They were definitely human-shaped.

"We're about to get our first customer!" I felt myself bouncing a bit with Matcha, his excitement flowing over to me as the figure got closer and closer. "I hope it's somebody nice. Who likes slimes."

Matcha tilted his head back, gazing up at me with those big eyes of his.

"Of course they'll like slimes," I said, hugging him closer. "If they don't, then they're not welcome here. We'll have Boss kick them out."

The big blue slime was pretty intimidating, but I didn't really love the idea of using him as a bouncer. Maybe he'd enjoy it though, getting a bit of harmless revenge on silly adventurers. I'd have to ask him later, but right now, our customer was almost here and they had shockingly red hair…

"It's just Fiona." I sighed, shoulders slumping a bit as she walked closer. "Welcome back."

She shook her head, hefting a large bag over her shoulder. "Don't welcome back me, I heard that comment earlier. Just Fiona. Hmph."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." I winced. "I meant it like oh, it's just Fiona!"

"Put whatever cheerful tone you want on it, the words don't change," she said with a laugh. "Were you expecting somebody else?"

"Customers?" My voice sounded far too hopeful. "It's hard running a cafe that nobody knows about."

Fiona headed inside, saying hello to every slime she came across, before slumping into a chair. Metal clanked as she moved, coming from the bag she held. Was that full of more random bits of weapons or maybe the new pans she'd promised to make me? Curiosity gnawed at me.

She stretched her arms out, leaning back until the chair was only on two legs so she could peek inside the kitchen. "Are there fire slimes in your stove?"

"Yes?"

She burst out laughing. "Of course there are. I don't even know why I asked."

"I'll make us some tea and we can catch up." Hearing her laugh like that made this cafe feel so much more alive. As I walked past her, I leaned down to hug her quickly. "I missed you. Thanks for coming back."

"Did you think I'd forgotten about you?" She stood up to hug me properly, gripping me tightly in a bear hug, before she sat back down. "I was busy working on so many cool things. I actually went a little overboard. Hope you need a lot of pots and pans."

A grin spread across my face. "Blacksmithing went well then, huh?"

"So well that Brennic held me hostage for a while!" She smiled so much brighter than I'd ever seen her smile before. "It was great. I wish I could do that all the time."

I put the kettle on the stove, feeding Spark, the fire slime inside, a quick biscuit as he heated the water up for us. Spark and I had gone through a lot lately, cooking up a storm for everyone. He always kept the oven warm and the kitchen vibes silly. It meant a lot having a partner like him.

"You're such a good slime." I fed him another biscuit as his flames crackled and sparked, making me laugh. "And I like your spark."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

His flames sparked even more, almost like tiny fireworks, which is how he'd gotten that nickname. Soon the water was bubbling and ready for tea leaves. Before I could reach out to get them, Matcha nudged me. He tilted his head, brushing his tea leaves against me. They'd been growing bigger and bigger, to the point where it felt like a small tree was growing on his head. The leaves kept falling in front of his eyes too and a few small white flowers had bloomed.

My Green Thumb skill had been nagging at me, not in words, but in a feeling every time I looked at Matcha. I think...his tea was ready to trim? Relief coursed through me as I felt the rightness of that. Yes, Matcha needed a haircut.

"Do you want me to trim those leaves back?" I asked. He bounced up and down, but then went out into the dining area by Fiona. "And you want Fiona to do it?"

He swayed back and forth. No, that wasn't it.

"Ummm, you want Fiona to hold you while I do it?" I asked.

Again, he swayed in a clear no, but then he wiggled so his leaves shook.

Fiona leaned down, fingers brushing against the leaves. "Maybe he heard we were making tea and wants to help?" Matcha's eyes widened as he frantically bounced up and down, almost hitting Fiona who just laughed and leaned back in her chair. "See? I'm basically a slime whisperer at this point."

"Riiight." I laughed along with her until we were both wiping our eyes and taking deep breaths. "Okay, come on into the kitchen, Matcha. We'll steep some tea with your leaves and make it extra special."

The slime cheered, bouncing into the kitchen like he was returning in triumph. Spark hopped out of the oven and joined him in a little slime dance, hopping in circles around the room. They were so adorable. I went out back for my garden shears and a few dirt slimes popped out of the ground, staring at me with excitement in their eyes.

"Sorry, this is for Matcha," I said, guilt sweeping over me as they slunk back into the ground all dejected like. "I'll come out to garden later though. We'll harvest lots of food and maybe plant more seeds, okay?"

Dirt exploded everywhere as they shot out of the ground, doing their own slime dance. Everyone had gotten so cheerful lately, as if the work we'd been doing was helping more than just my level. The slimes were enjoying being useful and having fun with it. We all were. I grabbed the watering can and let them have fun in the rain for a bit, smiling as they rolled around in the mud, before going back in to check on Matcha.

Thankfully, Spark had cooled the oven down so the water wasn't boiling over, and now Boss had squeezed himself inside the kitchen too, as if Matcha needed a friend for this. The little tea slime was perched on big blue's head, bouncing down when I walked in.

"You ready for this?" I asked.

When Matcha nodded, I carefully grasped the tea leaves on his head, pruning them back where the Green Thumb skill led me to. Boss loomed over us, as if any wrong cut would be trouble. He'd become such an overprotective slime and seeing their close friendship made me so glad we'd been able to rescue him. Fiona leaned into the kitchen to join the fun even though she couldn't actually fit. I'd really need to expand the cafe again at some point. Between the slimes and potential customers, this place was just too small.

After a few more snips, Matcha shook himself with a happy sigh, as if a great weight had been lifted. Boss leaned back, settling into a more comfortable position now that the stressful part was over. My hands were full of Matcha's beautiful tea leaves that almost shimmered with magic. These were special, grown by Matcha himself. I'd keep them set aside just for us.

"What will it taste like?" Fiona asked. "Is it green tea? Or matcha like you named him?"

I shrugged. "No idea. Guess we'll have to try it and find out."

Spark had already hopped back into the oven and the water was gently boiling. I added the leaves to the teapot, which now had a built-in strainer, and waited. Every kind of tea took a different amount of time to steep, but I wasn't even sure what this one was. My Perfect Timing skill made me think it only needed a few minutes. Once steeped, tea usually became a shade of light green, golden brown, orange, red, or even more of a white, but this tea was completely different.

It was such a vivid green, as if the essence of the plant itself was in our cups.

[Slime Tea Level 9 Acquired]

[+15 XP]

Slime tea? Well, that was new...

"Do you want some too?" I asked Matcha, not sure if drinking tea he'd grown would be weird or not, but he bobbed his head excitedly. Of course he wanted tea! I filled his pot, waiting for him to hop in and try it first while I got some for Boss and Spark too. Matcha wiggled, settling into the pot with his eyes closed like it was a warm bath. "I'm guessing it's good then?"

Fiona reached over to take her cup. "Only one way to find out."

Steam curled around me as I lifted my own cup to my lips, inhaling the refreshing scent of freshly cut grass. Green tea always smelled so bright and vegetal, but this one was even clearer, as if we were lying outside in the garden on a sunny day. I breathed in it, letting its scent invigorate me before I even drank any. When I took my first sip, the delicate flavor danced across my lips, sweeter than any green tea I'd tasted before. This tea was unlike anything I'd ever tried; it soothed my soul more and more with each sip.

"Thank you for sharing this with us." I bent down to pet Matcha. "It means a lot."

The little slime cooed, spinning in his pot like he was on a lazy river. His body shimmered, as if the tea was filling him with a magical sparkle. I sat on the floor next to him, pushed up against Boss, drinking tea with my adorable slime friends. Fiona sat cross-legged in the doorway, and we just sipped tea, enjoying the vibes. So what if no customers had come today? This was too precious to share with them anyway.

This was the magic of slimes and good tea. I never wanted to forget this moment.

"I missed this," Fiona said. "Blacksmithing was wonderful, but it's nice coming home too."

"So this is home for you now, huh?" I smiled against my tea cup. "I'm glad. Come back whenever you want."

She nodded. "No matter what floor I'm on, I'll find a way."

"No matter what floor..." I frowned, feeling an idea coming on but not sure how it would work. "Imagine if we could connect this cafe to other dungeon floors. Like how my key works, but for other people."

Her eyes widened. "Then you could get customers from anywhere!"

"Exactly. The lower floors could probably use some good food and a break even more than the early ones like this one." I finished my tea, feeling completely invigorated by this idea. "How would that even work though? Magical doors? Portals? Hey Sweet Potato, what do you think?"

[You're amazing]

"I meant about the idea," I stammered, suddenly feeling way too hot in this cramped kitchen. "Do you think we could connect other floors to my cafe?"

[You'd have to keep growing and expanding to do that]

[But anything's possible if you work hard enough]

Anything was possible, huh? Well then, I'd have to work so hard that this cafe took over the entire dungeon. Then, once I'd progressed far enough, I could walk right out onto the final floor and finally go back home. Wherever that was.

"Okay, I'll keep working hard then," I said, grinning at Fiona. "Got any good ideas to get adventurers here?"

"A few." She set her cup down, staring at me hard. "And none of them have to do with a glowing trail of mushrooms that screams trap ahead."

"No way," I scoffed. "That was a great idea. Nobody will think it's a trap."

She raised her eyebrows. "Have you seen anybody here since you did it?"

"Well, no, but that's besides the point." I leaned back against Boss, cradled by his squishy body. "Okay, maybe it's a little bit suspicious..."

She snorted, pouring herself another cup of tea and refilling Matcha's pot too.

"Okay, fine, what would you do then?" I asked, crossing my arms. "What's your grand idea?"

"Post a quest in town." She sighed with contentment as she drank her tea, patting Matcha's head absently. "Ask adventurers to bring you something and they'll rush here in droves if you've got a good enough reward."

My mouth dropped open a bit. Was it really that simple? I just had to post a cool job for people to do and they'd come find me on their own? Wait, that could make so many things easier! I wouldn't need to hunt down ingredients anymore or risk going outside! I could just stay in the cafe and bake, just like I wanted to.

"You're brilliant," I told Fiona. "Absolutely brilliant."

"Oh, I know." She gave me a smug smile, sitting a bit straighter. "So what's the quest going to be?"

"Ingredient gathering. If they bring me ingredients, I'll cook something with them. The best thing they've ever tasted."

Fiona grinned. "That's not hard when all they've tasted is cardboard."

"Exactly." I laughed, suddenly feeling so much better about this cafe plan. "I'll get customers, one way or another."

[Don't you think that’s...cheating?]

"Of course it's not cheating," I said. "It's more like using my newfound intelligence stat increase."

Fiona laughed. "Is the system chastising you or something?"

"Yeah, but it'll be fine. We're on good terms by now. Right, Sweet Potato?"

[...]

I could practically hear the sigh in that message box. "Oh, come on, I promise it'll be fun. This little deal is a great idea. Adventurers will get easy gathering quests, and I'll get all the ingredients I need. We'll both level up too."

[True...]

[As long as everyone's leveling, it's fine]

[Make your cafe into something this dungeon can't live without]

"Is that an order? A new quest for me perhaps?" I raised an eyebrow at the messages. A quest like that better have one damn good reward. "Or maybe you're just hoping I succeed?"

Fiona laughed. "The system doesn't hope, Hazel. It just runs things."

That didn't feel quite right. From all the conversations we'd had, the system seemed to have feelings just like everyone else, even if it didn't know how to talk about them very well. Maybe how it talked to Fiona was different than how it talked to me? Why would that be though?

[Good luck, Hazel]

I smiled, holding my mug tight as Boss snored behind me. The system had wished me luck and the slimes were happy. With those two things, I felt like I could do anything. Even lure adventurers to my cafe carrying armfuls of ingredients for me.