Qualified Chef

Kit glanced around the room, searching for Cecile. She was nowhere to be seen. His eyes then fell on two individuals sitting in chairs against the wall. A young girl fidgeted with her hands while a boy bounced his legs nervously. Kit wondered if they were also waiting to take their examinations or if, like him, they were finishing up their qualifications.

He took a seat on the opposite side of the room, not far from the pair. It didn't take long before he heard footsteps approaching down the hallway, accompanied by laughter. Cecile emerged with a shorter man who had a jolly appearance. He had a round figure and a twinkle in his eye. He greeted the nervous pair with a warm hello.

Cecile noticed Kit and addressed him, "You're back, Kit."

The short man turned to look at Cecile as she greeted Kit. "Ah, another one," he exclaimed happily. "What a good day! Will you be joining us for your examination as well, young man?"

Kit studied the friendly face of the short man and let out a sigh. If only he had come in today to finish his examination. He didn't think he would have had as much trouble with this man as he did with instructor Phi.

The thoughts of all he had learned from Morrigan flooded Kit's mind, pushing away any doubts or regrets about the harsh treatment he endured under Instructor Phi.

The knowledge gained from enduring yesterday's torment was well worth it for Kit. Despite the pain, he would gladly have another lesson with instructor Phi if he had to do it all over again. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Kit refocused on the short man in front of him. "I've come to turn in my final task."

"Already finished? Well done. Who is your instructor? Cecile can retrieve them for you," the short man motioned towards Cecile.

"Instructor Phi," replied Kit.

The man flinched at Kit's words and gave him an intense look. "Just out of curiosity, where did that old grump send you?"

Kit hesitated, unsure if he was allowed to reveal his last assignment location. He looked to Cecile for guidance. "It's fine, Kit. You can tell him. It will be recorded in our logbooks anyway."

"I went to the Large Fuzzy Chicken to seek out master chef Morrigan," stated Kit simply.

The short man's eyes widened and then narrowed greedily. Any positive thoughts Kit had about this man quickly vanished at the sight of his calculating gaze.

"That sounds like an interesting story. When I'm done with these two, let's chat. I enjoy hearing about students' experiences. We can review what you learned with Morrigan and see if there's anything important you missed." The short man was practically salivating at the thought of listening to Kit's story.

Kit felt a shiver of disgust ripple through him. "No, thanks. I prefer to go over everything with my instructor. I feel more comfortable discussing it with someone I know."

"But lad, that can't be true. We all know Instructor Phi is a grump. Are you scared of him? Don't worry, he won't mind," the man patted his chest for emphasis.

Kit noticed a familiar figure standing in the doorway behind the short man. He wasn't sure how long the instructor had been there listening, but from the look on his face, it was long enough to anger the intimidating man. "Little fat man, if you come near my student again, I'll skin you alive."

The short man went pale at the threat and quickly turned around. He was trembling so much that his chin was wobbling. "Instructor, I meant no harm. Oh, would you look at the time? I have to go. These students need to start their examination." He hurriedly ushered the two students out of the room. He couldn't get away fast enough.

Instructor Phi walked over to Kit and held out his hand. Kit handed him the letter Morrigan had given him. After reading its contents, he grunted and then walked over to Cecile and slapped the letter down on the table. "Gold rank." Then he turned to Kit and held out his hand. "Show me your new kitchen knife."

Kit's face drained of colour. He hadn't been able to purchase a new knife yet, something that was on his list to do once he completed his chef training. He nervously explained this to Instructor Phi, hoping for some words of encouragement. But Phi simply clicked his tongue and walked away.

Kit felt a little embarrassed, but he quickly brushed it off as he turned his attention to Cecile. He was about to be accepted into the culinary guild and officially become a chef, filling him with pure joy and excitement.

As Cecile commented on his happiness radiating from him, Kit couldn't help but grin widely, showing off his pearly white teeth. "I'm extremely happy right now, Cecile," he said eagerly. "What do I need to do to complete the qualification?"

"You don't have to do anything but hand over some money. I will do the rest. Just give me one second Kit and I will tell you how much you will need to pay. It's been a long while since I've had to process a gold rank." She opened a large tome and flipped through the pages until she found the section for gold rank chefs. "Right found it. You will need to pay 500 bronze crowns for a gold rank Novice Chef."

Kit's heart sank as he saw the prices listed for each tier - it would cost him 500 bronze crowns to become a novice chef at the gold rank. He gritted his teeth and reluctantly handed over the coins and watched as the paper absorbed them and transformed into an official document with gold lettering.

"Congratulations on becoming a Novice chef Kit, and welcome to the culinary guild." Cecile sincerely smiled, but Kit couldn't shake off the feeling of parting with his hard-earned money for this achievement. Nevertheless, he was excited to finally begin his journey as a chef and make a name for himself in the culinary world.

Ding!

[CAL]

Congratulations Player Kit on choosing Chef sub class.

Rank: Gold

Tier: Novice chef

Level: 0

Requirements to next level.

Create 3 dishes: 2/3 complete

Create 1 drinks: 1/1 complete

Unlock 5 chef skills: 4/5 complete

Reach level 15: 0/15 complete.

Reward: Gold rank kitchen knife, 10,000 experience, 1000 culinary points.

Kit's heart raced as he read the notification that appeared in front of him. He couldn't believe it - he was officially a chef! This was the first step towards achieving his lifelong dream. Kit felt a rush of happiness and excitement, causing him to feel lightheaded and jittery.

He glanced at Cecile, who started clapping in celebration. Unable to contain his joy any longer, Kit began bouncing on his feet. But as he looked down at the document in his hands, he noticed something that made his thoughts stutter - there was a section about needing to create one more dish to reach the next tier.

Kit hadn't expected the levelling process to be so challenging for a beginner chef. Confused, he turned to Cecile for an explanation.

She smiled and said, "Oh Kit, it's because you're a gold rank. As your rank increases, so do the requirements for levelling up. Instructor Phi must have seen great potential in you to start you off at such a high rank."

Cecile went on to explain, "chefs of all tiers would kill to be you right now. It is very hard to increase your rank once you are already a chef. Though the requirements are higher for each rank. The rewards match the requirements."

"For example, in the bronze rank the rewarded culinary points are only 100 for a Novice chef. The requirements to increase tier are also lower. A bronze rank Novice chef only needs to create one dish instead of three to increase a tier."

"Chefs from all over CAL will do anything to increase the number of culinary points available to them. The points can be exchanges for items from the culinary guild. If you are going to open your own restaurant, then they are even more important. You will need to use the points to buy items for your restaurant."

Despite finding out that levelling up his chef tier would be more challenging, Kit couldn't help but feel grateful about this amazing opportunity that many others would envy. If it was true, he was grateful to be a Gold Rank. The more points he could collect, the better his chances for success with his restaurant.

Kit studied the rewards once again. He would have to put in extra effort and come up with a new dish to earn the 1000 culinary points. But he wasn't worried about the other criteria - they would come naturally to him.

A sense of euphoria surged through Kit as he realised that his dream was coming true, and he was well on his way to achieving success with his restaurant. He had already accumulated a decent number of culinary points from creating new dishes.

When Instructor Phi returned, he found a gleeful Kit bouncing up and down. Raising an eyebrow at Kit's display of joy, Phi couldn't help but notice the slight blush on Kit's cheeks.

Trying to conceal his embarrassment, Kit stopped bouncing immediately. Phi pushed a small box towards Kit, who looked at it with curiosity. "Is this for me?" Excitement bubbled up inside Kit once again as he reached for the box.

"Yes, now please stop all that jittering, it's annoying." Phi's tone was stern, but Kit didn't mind as he eagerly grabbed the box.

CAL identify, Kit said inside his head.

[Chef knife silver rank]

Made from beehoun silver, the blade sharpness will never dull.

(When equipped)

+ 100 Agility

+ 50 Speed

+ 50 Intelligence

Kit was overwhelmed with gratitude as he opened the gift from Instructor Phi. It was a beautiful kitchen knife, something that would greatly improve his skills in the kitchen. He couldn't wait to test it out.

"Thank you so much, Instructor Phi. This means a lot to me," Kit said, his eyes welling up with tears of joy.

"Don't get emotional." Snapped the arrogant man. "I have high expectations for you, so don't let me down," Instructor Phi replied sternly.

Kit nodded, unsure of what else to say. The pressure to succeed was already weighing heavily on him, and now he had someone else counting on him as well. But strangely enough, this didn't feel overwhelming; it felt motivating. It was clear that the prickly instructor believed in his abilities and this newfound support made Kit like him even more.

"I can tell you're a sentimental person, which I hate, so I'm leaving now. When you're ready to rank up, go to any culinary guild and I will receive the notification and provide you with your next set of requirements." With that, Instructor Phi left without saying goodbye. Kit was confused by his words and turned to Cecile for clarification.

"Oh, he must have applied to be your personal instructor during your training. That's why he gave you the gift," Cecile explained.

This information only added to Kit's confusion. Cecile could see the look of bewilderment on his face and decided to give more context. "It's actually a great thing for new chefs to have an instructor like that. They'll give you tasks periodically and completing them will earn you culinary points."

"But how will I know when I have a task?" Kit asked.

"All of the culinary guilds are connected, so all you have to do is visit a branch and hand over your token to the receptionist. She'll check if there are any communications for you. Oh, I almost forgot about your token," Cecile said, reaching into her drawer and pulling out a gold coin with the symbol of a cat holding a knife wearing a chef hat.

As Kit took the coin in his hand, he felt it heat up and a golden swirl wrap around his middle finger. Suddenly, he felt a sharp sting and saw a drop of blood emerge from his finger.

The golden swirl drew the blood into its current, and Kit watched as it flowed along the golden thread back to the token.

As soon as the drop of blood touched the token, the gold absorbed it, and the swirl vanished. "All done," Cecile said with a bright smile. "The token is now attuned to you. Your training for today is complete, Kit. Enjoy your new qualification."

Thanking Cecile, Kit asked her to pass on his gratitude to Instructor Phi and looked forward to his future guidance. With a cheerful wave, he left the guild and couldn't wait to share his success with Mars. His steps had a bounce in them as he walked away.