I need to gather some new ingredients

Kit made plans with Lindor to join him when he visited Astro Bronze. He felt that if he took someone that had knowledge about farming, he would have a better chance of securing the environmental farmer.

A buoyant feeling filled his heart at the thought of his farm being run by a specialist. If what Lindor said was true, then an environmental farmer could create the terrain conditions that would be needed for all the ingredients he found. They might even be able to create unique habitats for him to find new ingredients without having to traps across the country side!

Excitement coursed through his veins, then it slowed down when he thought about Snickers. He had gotten her contract by a fluke of circumstances. He would need to be more prepared going to find this farmer.

He put off going straight away, he would interrogate Lindor some more first to see if the man could remember anything else that could help him. "Lindor, can you have a discussion with your friends about this and see if you guys can come up with any ideas to entice the man to our farm?"

Lindor readily agreed. Kit then gave Lindor directions to his farm and invited him and his friends to make themselves at home. They then discussed the contract for working on Kit's farm, Lindor wanted to view the farm first so he could get a better understanding of the situation.

They agreed to sort out the final details of the contract when they met next. Kit happily watched Lindor head off to go find his friends. Kit swung his gaze in the direction of his restaurant, right now he needed to get over to his restaurant to help with the breakfast rush.

Kit arrived at the restaurant to see that breakfast was in full swing, he quickly headed to the kitchen to help prepare meals.

The day flew by with how busy the restaurant was, Kit didn't even have time to chat properly with his staff in between making meals. When the last dish left the kitchen for the day Kit let out a relieved sigh. It seemed like the restaurant had gotten busier than its previous sales.

As he walked into the dining area to eat with his employees Mars waved him over to take a seat next to him. "Hey Kit, I feel like we haven't really caught up since you returned."

Kit looked at the glum expression on his friend's face. Kit wanted to laugh at Mars' pout but kept it inside. He really hadn't spent any time with Mars since the monster run. Kit decided to set some time aside tomorrow to catch up with his friend. He needed to work on raising his swordsman level anyway.

"How about tomorrow we resume training? I need to gather some new ingredients as well. We had to take the Apelop salad of the menu, so it seems as though I need to replace it with something else." Kit watched as Mars' face morphed into a happy one.

"Ok, I'll set it up with Grandpa and Twix!" Mars happily tucked into his food then joined in the conversation around the table.

When Kit had finished eating, Snickers made her way over to him. "Lord Kitty." Snickers smirked then gave Kit a bow with a flourish of grandeur. "Congratulations on becoming someone of importance, don't let it go to that pea brained head of yours. You still have to work hard creating more items for the menu." Snickers flicked his head with her fingers to emphasize her point.

"Speaking of new menu, Leonard will be too busy to take you to gather the ingredients for the purple wine so I will have to take you now. We can go on our very own adventure, won't that be great!" Snickers threw a megawatt smile his way, Kit felt a shudder run down his spine.

Then he thought about the change in companions for the trip and instantly became happy. He would much rather Snickers accompany him than Leonard! "I look forwards to it Snickers. Why can't Leonard go though?"

Snickers flipped her green hair. "I sent him off to gather information remember. That is more important than the wine." Kit nodded his head in agreement.

A serious look settled on Snickers face and she pulled Mars out of his seat so she could sit next to him. Kit became instantly wary, Snickers rarely looked this solemn. "Kit, I wanted to talk to you about the menu, I know it's hard to create new dishes and you also feel the need to work inside the restaurant. But with the upcoming restaurant promotion I want us to be prepared."

Kit was baffled about what Snickers was trying to imply. Did she need to be this intense just to mention the menu? "Ok, what do you need me to do?"

"Well with a promotion to a one star restaurant, people will expect new items on the menu. So far you have been working to fill the current menu and we don't even have any deserts available. So can you place working in the kitchen on hold for now. I think you need to put more focus on making new dishes."

Snickers paused to make sure Kit was paying attention then continued. "Not only will you need to concentrate on making some more additions to the existing menu, but you will also need to set aside some creations for the grand opening after the restaurant promotion." Snickers searched his eyes to see if he had any objections.

A hum of agreement left his mouth, Snickers was spot on, people would expect some surprises on their restaurant promotion. He hadn't even thought about this issue, he thought about his paltry menu and a frown appeared between his brows.

"Thanks for reminding me Snickers. I will get to work on it starting tomorrow. Can you adjust the roster to have me taken out? Oh, and can you organise a day off for all the staff, I have something I will need everyone's help with."

Kit thought about the trampling thick head meat in his pouch, there was no way he could cut something of that size up by himself. So why not rope his staff into helping! A smile broke out on his face at this thought, he had multiple helping hands at his disposal!

He had already come up with an idea for the meat, so he didn't want to delay starting to experiment with a new snack.

"I'll let everyone know now about the changes. What day will you need everyone to help you?" Snicker raised an inquiring brow.

Kit thought he would make it the day before he needed to log out. He had already started to make plans in his head to gather new ingredients over the next couple of days. That way when he logged back in, he could knuckle down and start experimenting without being distracted.

Kit counted off the days he had left before he had to log out. He was surprised when he realised after today, he would only have four days reaming. A sigh left his mouth, he always felt like there was never enough time in game. "Four days from now please. I will have to go on holiday after that."

Snickers tilted her head in acknowledgement then walked off to speak to the employees. Kit made his tired legs move and set about heading back to the boarding house. He needed to get a good nights sleep if he was going to fight some monsters and find new ingredients tomorrow.

A sliver of light shining through his window woke him. He glanced out the clear glass to see the sun's rays starting to spread across the sky. Kit heard movement in the hall and realised he was not the first person awake. He quickly put on his boots and rushed out the door to get some breakfast before he had to head out to meet the others.

Mars' tired eyes blinked at Kit as he entered the kitchen. "Morning Kit, are you going to make breakfast or grab something to eat on the run?" Mars inquired.

"Lets just grab some toast. We need as much time as possible exploring new areas today." Kit went over to a loaf of bread and started to slice even chunks. Twix soon trudged into the kitchen and headed straight for the kettle to make a hot drink.

"Good morning." A yawn stretched Twix mouth wide after he spoke. "Grandpa should be here any moment, then we can leave. He already has a place lined up for us to visit today, he seemed very happy last night that you were going to be trying to create new dishes again." Twix pulled out a mug from the cupboard and placed it on the counter.

Noise at the front door pulled his attention from Twix, Grandpa's familiar face came into view as he walked into the kitchen. Kit's lip twitched at Grandpas timing, Twix wasn't wrong about Grandpa arriving in a moment.

"Morning lads, are you ready for today's adventure? I've picked a place nice and close so Kit can get back to the restaurant this afternoon." After Grandpa spoke Kit realised that he hadn't informed anyone about the new plans he made with Snickers to concentrate on finding ingredients.

He soon filled the three of them in on his intentions for the next three days. Grandpa started to scratch his chin in thought after hearing the new arrangement. "If that's the case then I think we should head out to the Twisting tunnels. We can camp out overnight there, that place has numerous hidden areas that would be ripe for finding new ingredients for you."

Twix was nodding his head in agreement with Grandpa. Kit had no clue about the Twisting tunnels but he knew Grandpa wouldn't take him there if there was nothing to find. "Then that's settled, Twisting tunnels it is."

"Great! I will organise a mount for us. Kit are you riding Pint with Mars or do you want a mount for yourself?" Grandpa raise an inquiring brow.

A shudder automatically tingled down his spine, he didn't want to take a mount! "Can we not walk there?" Kit heard the plea in his voice and became disgusted with himself. Was he really that adverse to riding a horse?

"We couldn't make it back in time if we walked. It will take us a day's ride to get there, that will only leave us one day to collect ingredients. I know it sounds like we are wasting two of your three days, but I promise going there will be worth it lad." Grandpa tried to reassure Kit with his words.

Kit swallowed his discomfort about riding. "Then I will ride Pint with Mars, I don't want to waste time getting to know a new mount and Pint is big enough to take two people without any effort."

After Kit spoke, Grandpa headed out the door to go and organise mounts for him and Twix. The three of them finished off their breakfast then headed for the front door. Before they split up, Kit organised a meeting point with Twix.

Kit followed Mars to go and find Pint. Kit raised his brows when Mars took him to his personal residence. He was surprised to see that Mars had upgraded his house. Instead of the mud hut that had previously stood in the middle of his land, a large wooden cabin now occupied the space. Strangely there was no front door, there was only a wide gap covered with animal skins.

Mars swung the animal skin covering his entry to the side, a large horse was revealed sleeping inside the room. Kit couldn't help bursting out laughing. "Mars you let Pint take over your house?"

Mars gave Kit a look that said, 'obviously I did this.' "I didn't want him to sleep outside on his own." Mars replied like it was the most natural thing in the world to let a horse sleep inside a house. Kit could only shake his head at his friend's behaviour towards the horse. Pint was really spoiled by Mars.

Another burst of laughter left Kit's mouth when Pint was led out of the house, the damn horse barley fit through the gap in the wooden cabin. Kit swore he saw the horse suck in its belly to get out.

Kit scrutinised the house once again, the entry had obviously been adjusted to be three times the size of a normal door. Quite frankly the more he looked at the gap the more he thought there was just a large section of the wall taken out.

The wooden cabin was also higher than he expected. With the size of Pint, Kit realised the house had been tailor made for the horse. Kit wondered why Mars didn't just build a stable.

Pint came over to Kit and started to nudge him gently, distracting him from his thoughts about the cabin. "Hello, my friend. Long time no see." Kit took out a bottle of rum and fed it to the large horse. He received a soft snort as thanks after Pint finished.

With Pint's alcohol consumption taken care of they set off to met up with Grandpa and Twix.