Carrie likes to think that being able to work 3 to 5 part-time jobs in any given year, gives her not only more work experience than most other part-timers. But also give her the chance to learn a lot of different things that might become useful one day.

She's been a cashier, cleaner, stocker, handler and various other roles when she got a job at a store, supermarket, restaurant, pet shops, various food shops that handle raw ingredients or cook meals for their customers, diners, cafes and much more for a decade. Even worked as part of her city's waste disposal for a couple of years when she was unable to find better work. It has given her a lot of different skills that not only should have let her get a more stable and permanent job. But also one that would actually let her do what she went to school for. Cooking.

But none of this seems to be in her hand of cards. No matter how much she tries or how many interviews she goes through, bad luck seems to follow her in becoming a certified chef. It's as if the universe is playing some cosmic joke, keeping her stuck in the cycle of minimum wage and no benefits. Each rejection feels like a knife twisting in her gut, her culinary school diploma gathering dust in a corner of her apartment.

At least when she got the diners and cafes jobs, there was always a 50/50 chance in wether or not she could cook instead of just cleaning or serving the food. But she always took what she could get. Her passion for cooking had never wavered, even when her bank account was as empty as her fridge at the end of the week because the bills had to be paid first.

Another plus side to working at diners and cafes was that she tend to be lucky that there are always a manager or a boss who don't mind she or other employees take leftover food with them home at the end of the day. To them, thats less that needs to get thrown out or go to waste. Not to mention it did not end up feeding the rats and other pests. Sometimes this was the only times she was able to eat anything in the day. Aside from drinking water whenever she had a small enough break she could get away with it.

Being as poor as one can get, without ending up living on the street, was not fun. But Carrie learned well how to get the most out of every dollar and cent she earned. Various salse and seasoning she picked up from her different jobs, sometime even stealing them if necessary, she figured out how to turn even the most bland food into a delightful feast. Her culinary school training had taught her that with enough skill and hard work, even the cheapest ingredients could be transformed into a Michelin-star worthy meal.

The fact that she also quickly learn how to make most of her own bread, jams, various condiments, pickles and much more by just buying the bare necessities was a good skill to have. And being a horder of all sort of containers so she could plan ahead on what she had to eat for the next few weeks always made it a little easier to live and keep her sane.

And when she had a day off, she was even able to give herself small rare treats to cook should she have managed to squirrel away any spare money that did not go to bills, living exspences, or the occasional pack of ramen. She would treat herself to a fresh vegetable here and there, a bit of meat that was not so close to expired it was practically begging to be used. Or even by a single cup of pudding for a well deserved dessert of that week.

She especially liked it when chrismas came around, not only because of the festive atmosphere, but because people were more generous with tips. And if lucky, some of her bosses from her various part-time jobs was willing to pay their workers just a little more that month thanks to all the sales. It was the time where she got the most money and actually allowed her to buy something new or nice for herself.

But that was back on Earth and when she was human. Not someone who wakes up as the weakest type of undead skeleton in what is definitely in another world where demons and monsters exists.

The skeletal woman has no idea if this is another joke the universe has played on her, or a twisted form of cosmic justice for the way she's lived her life. But here she is anyways, now making simple pancakes by using what she have been given to make a dessert. Though this time she is making sure to make two plates. When the imp had previously come and gotten the simple meal she'd made as her first task, it had mentioned taste testers.

She had no idea how many of the taste testers there are. But two plates with six or eight pancakes on them should do the trick in making sure everyone got a taste.

That had actually made her feel bad that she had only made one plate of well cooked and seasoned meat and vegetables, with a her own homemade sauce. The sauce had actually been a bit of a gamble as most of the herbs and spices she had was not the ones she was used to work with. Neither was the meat or vegetables for that matter.

While some of them looked like something she'd would found back home, there was clearly many that did not. She had also not worked out her skills yet either, which when she managed to get the blue box to tell her what skills she had a Cook would have helped her immensly.

Carrie suspects she still hasn't, even as she flips the pancakes with practice hands. Finding out she had a skill called [Ingredient Identify] would have made things easier for her when she cooked that first meal.

But she was not going to cry over spilled milk. With now knowing of it, at least she has learned about what she had to use now.

Blaze Apples, Sour Peaches and Blood Raspberry was just some of the things her identify skill managed to tell her and inform her of what they were usually used for. Or where they came from.

The less said about how Blood Raspberries grew in gardens where the blood from still very much living people or beasts by bloodletting them right over or gathering it in a bowl to water the plant, the less Carrie would have nightmares about it. Then again, as a undead skeleton she did not sleep at all.

Stolen story; please report.

It did not mean it did not send a terrible chill down her spine. Nor explain how she felt sick about the information the skill gave her. It might be because that despite looking and being a undead now, she was still very much human inside.

She had quikcly put the raspberries and any other fruit that made her feel like that away. And that meant most of them. But the last few she'd had left would work just fine. As a skeleton, she might not be able to eat or taste anything anymore but if what her skill said is true, the woman had little to worry about.

Or so she at least hoped.

Getting them cleaned had not been too hard. Sure she had to soak them first in another pot for a good 5 to 10 minutes, but making sure that there was no unpleasent creatures and the like on them was a must. But after that, things was pretty easy to dry and clean them.

At least those 5 to 10 minutes gave her a chance to check out the glass jars with syrup like liquid in them. Along with the flour, milk, sugar, eggs and butter.

The syrups turned out to actually be honey harvest from a bee monster found somewhere down south in a country called Zilantis. Said country though could not be found in the lands Carrie was currently in. The blue box told her she was in a country called the Demonic Country. Where the Demon Lord rules over many monsters, demons and undead.

Said country was also in a war with the humans, elves, dwarfs and many other good or neutral aligned nations. And a huge wall at the border was currently the only thing keeping the Demon Lord from sending their army out.

So how this honey came here remained a mystery to her. And that was not mentioning all the other things she'd learned from tapping on the things that the blue boxes showed her. But it was something she would had to think and look further into once she was back in her cell, as Carrie had no illusion nor want to test the demons patient more than needed.

The flour was at least more normal-ish. It was made of simple barley and both the butter and milk came from some domesticated hell-cow creature. From what the skill told, the milk tasted like any common cow milk, but with a slight spicy taste to it. How spicy the taste was, Carrie had no idea. But she be a monkey's uncle if was spicier then spiced eggnog.

As for the eggs and sugar? Well the eggs was from another domesticated creature that belonged either in hell or a made up book of monsters. From what the blue box said, the only difference between the 'chicken' and its earth version equivalent its the third eye and ability to spit acid at will.

The sugar was simplely another ingredient that like the honey somehow ended up here. And the only shocking part was that she found out is was the type of sugar that went for gold coins in wight. Which explained why the imp had hesitated with taking it out of the small bag it had with it when it came to give her the next task and new supplies. The honey was pretty exspensive too, but not as much as the sugar.

Either way, Carrie quickly planned to avoid using up too much of the sugar and honey. The pancakes was going to be sweet enough with what she had planned anyways.

Making pancake batter was easy enough. Despite what some people might think, making pancake batter with only five ingredients aren't that bad. Sure she is unable to make it the fluffy big ones with what she got, but everyday pancakes aren't that bad either.

"I mean." Carrie mutters low enough the Spy Bat don't pick up what she has to say, as she set the second plate with steaming hot pancakes on it and continue to talk to herself as she beings to add the cleaned and chopped fruits to on them. "People eat it for breakfast, lunch and for dinner back at home. So me serving it as a dessert ain't hypocritical at all. Theres plenty of other pancake recipes found all over earth that used for that alone." She goes on as she drizzle a nice splash of honey as the finishing touch. With a light dizzle of sugar on top.

"Beside, when you have a skill that can add yeast magically to what your making when you don't have any on hand, helps more than one would think." Carrie finish of her muttering as she takes a few seconds to look at the finsihed dishes before nodding to herself.

Then Carrie quickly rings the bell three times, like she had been told to, and within seconds three imps appeared before her. The two new imps share very similare features as the imp Carrie recognized, but was clearly a little bigger than it and their horns was more ram like. All three looked at the two plates with hunger in their eyes.

"Right then," the smaller one began after a little while, looking at its compaions with a stern look on its face. "Bonesy, start the clean up, and Hark? You start gathering the supplise, the head chef wants them back as soon as possible."

Then looking at the other sligthly bigger imp it said. "Tax, you and I will take these to the taste testers, and by the mercy of the Hells don't try to sneak a bite! The Warden Lord will have your hide and head if you do!" It said with a glare Carrie was sure could melt stone. Not that she'd care much, as she was already cleaning up just to avoid getting its attention.

Imp it might be, but they were still stronger than her. Maybe not by much but Carrie had no idea how well her chances were to deal with three of them. And she had no idea how to even fight for that matter.

The one named Hark looked quite disappointed that it was not allowed to take a bite of the pancakes, neither did the one named Tax for that matter as it and the other imp quickly disappear to deliver the plates to the test testers. Hark quickly began gathering up the ingredients that was left, pulling bags out of a black hole. And started to mutter about unfairness and all that as it did as orded.

Carrie once again did not care much, focuses on with getting the cleaning done as fast as possible instead. She just wants the day to be over now. Though she did let herself idly wonder if there was anything else these imps wanted her to cook today.

Meanwhile, Thalmor and Ironwing was having one of the best desserts they have ever tasted. Pancakes was clearly not something neither the demonic Warden Lord nor the metal made gargoyle have ever had, and they were enjoing every piece of it. Small shouts of delight could be heard from them as they devoured the food. If one cared and dared to take an ear to the door that is.

A little while later, another imp appeared before Carrie in the test room. And in its hands were a new leash and dog collar that seems to have bronze plates stitched on it. The imp was quick to change the one Carrie had been wearing up until now before she was even able to react, then pulled back to her cell with little input or word.

It was only a few hours later that she overheard one of the guards that she learned why she was back in the cell. Her new tests and tasks was going to be at the training grounds and the Warden Lord himself was going to be incharge of them. That bit of news made dread rise up within Carrie's soul, though it lessend a little when she heard that it won't happened until the day after tomorrow. Giving the lesser skeleton time to figure out more on what her skills can do.

As well as learn as much as she could from the blue boxes while she was at it.