Pete guessed the attribute bonuses were more generous when they related to his proficiency gains. To be specific, his slapping proficiency and tackling were both skills related to strength. It seemed the four increase to his strength had a subsequent relationship to those skills.

In much the same manner, his light armor, slashing defense, and slapping defense related to vitality. Vitality went up by three points, more than the other attributes aside from strength.

His agility increased by two; he guessed this was due to the increase in running proficiency.

Since no one had used magic against him, his spirit gained one point. It seemed insignificant, but any increase was to his benefit.

What he couldn’t figure out was why his intelligence jumped by two. He hadn’t used any magic, nor had he performed any feats of cognitive greatness. He had learned no new spells, gained no intelligence-based proficiencies.

Where he couldn’t be sure about anything, he made mental notes about the increases and closed the status screen. Then he looked around for Nick the guard. “Nick, are you out there? That was the last of them.”

A finger tapped his shoulder from behind, and he jumped forward, spinning in the air, lifting his hand and preparing to slap.

It was Nick, standing there with his head cocked in confusion. “Are you okay, son? You seem a bit high strung.”

“Sorry,” Pete answered, lowering his hand and taking a deep, calming breath. “I didn’t realize you were there.”

“You should be careful where you open up your status, inventory, and job skills screens,” Nick advised. Pete wondered about the job skills and inventory screens. “If you get too involved looking at your advancements, anyone can sneak up on you. The next time it happens, the person—or thing—that sneaks up on you might not be as handsome and charming as me. Also, that person or thing might want to kill you. It could leave you in a bad place. Son, it could leave you in a dead place. And from that, there is no coming back.”

“Right,” Pete listened to the advice and decided it made sense. In the future, he’d make sure no one was around before he went through his screens. He hoped he’d have a chance to look at the job skills screen and inventory screens soon but knew it wasn’t the time. “Let’s get back to the mayor’s office and let her know we took care of the nightshade plants.”

Back in the mayor’s office, the mayor remained sitting at her desk. Across from her, Pete stood side by side with Nick the guard, Nick explaining. “You should have seen it. At first, he slapped one. Then one scratched him. Then he slapped it and ran like a scared child. Then he stopped running and slapped the others. It was great entertainment.”

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“I’m confused,” the mayor blinked. “Does that mean he defeated them? Moderators, why did he slap them? Why didn’t he use a sword?”

“Sword?” Pete lifted his eyebrow. “I could have had a sword?” He turned to Nick. “Why didn’t I get a sword, Nick?”

Nick muffled a chuckle before answering with a shrug. “You never asked for one.”

“Never asked for one?” Pete glared. He could feel his anger building. Then he stilled his temper, realizing that it could be for the best. Even with a sword, he had no sword proficiency. His slapping attacks might be more potent than his sword attacks. Did Nick the guard realize this?

If that was the case, Nick did Pete a favor by not giving Pete a sword. Though Pete didn’t appreciate Nick’s laughter, he realized it wasn’t the time or place to get back at Nick. Pete would wait for the perfect time and get his revenge in a more appropriate manner. A smile crept across Pete’s face.

“Why is he smiling like that?” The mayor asked with her characteristic fast talk. “It's creepy. I don’t like it. Make him stop.”

Pete hurried to wipe the smile from his face, adopting a more neutral expression, and looking back at the mayor. “Sorry, I thought of something funny.” Nick tilted his head to the right, suspicious of Pete, but he didn’t say anything as Pete continued to talk. “As Nick explained, I did defeat the nightshade monsters. I slapped because I have experience with slapping. You see, a pizzaman has to slap the dough into a disc. It gives us lots of practice with slapping. It made it where a sword might not be the best option for fighting monsters.”

“That makes sense.” The mayor agreed, nodding. “Regardless, the town of Greenlake owes you a great debt. We are glad to have someone who can hold the nightshade monsters at bay. As they respawn, will you continue to accept responsibility for them?”

Pete nodded. “I will.”

“Good,” she smiled. “Then we thank you for your service. Please, accept your reward.”

A prompt chimed:

You have completed the quest Nightshade Slaughter. You have begun your journey toward Pizzamandom.

Pizzamandom? Pete didn’t think that was a real word. Two more prompts appeared:

You received 200 experience points.

Congratulations! You gained a level!

You earned 100 len.

After Nightshade Terrors respawn, return to the mayor’s office to repeat the quest.

You completed a job-related quest. You receive 3 bonus job points.

This reminded Pete that he still needed to look at his job skill page and inventory page.

You have unlocked the quest Gathering Ingredients. It is the second quest in the pizzaman series. Completion reward: 200 len, 250 experience. Do you accept the quest?

Pete wondered about the new quest. It didn’t give any specific details about what it entailed. Though, the name seemed self-explanatory. Aside from tomatoes, what else would he need before he could make some pizzas? Only one way to find out. He used his mind to answer yes to the question, accepting the quest:

You accepted the quest Gathering Ingredients. Unify the following ingredients and create the first pizza in Round: tomatoes x3, cheese x1, pizza dough x1, pizza fork x1, pizza peel x1, pizza cutter x1.

You have acquired 3 tomatoes. 1/6 ingredients needed for quest Gathering Ingredients. Gather the remaining five ingredients to complete the quest.

Pete blinked through the prompts before turning his attention back to the mayor. She sat at her desk, eyes blinking, an inquisitive expression on her face. “I’m sorry. Did you need something else? If you want, you can leave now. I mean. Don’t think I’m kicking you out. Did you need something else?”

“In reality,” Pete smiled, “I do have one question. Where can I get some cheese?”