Athelens, Royal Capital

I moved swiftly and aimlessly through the streets of Athelens. Although my pace was quick, I made sure not to break out into a run - I wanted to look busy, not guilty, as I more or less fled from the authorities that governed this place.

"It's fine, I have no reason to believe they're after me," I assured myself as I fast-walked down another side street. "It was a series of unfortunate circumstances, that was all. Those guards could've even been there to help, for all I know!"

I was not sure how forgiving - or unforgiving - Athelens actually was, after all, having been here for all of an hour.

Thankfully, this front district, closest to the gates, seemed to consist of nothing but shops and other services. I say 'thankfully' because this meant it was especially crowded, making it easier to blend in, and seeing someone moving with haste was the usual sight, not the exception. It made it look like I was concerned about a new deal...or something.

After weaving through the crowded streets for a time, I finally allowed myself to relax a bit. I had spotted other city guards during my panicked flight, and none had displayed even the slightest indication they were on the lookout for me, or someone like me, even when I was in plain view. It seemed safe to say the manhunt had never existed in the first place.

Athelens itself, meanwhile, was more or less what I had expected of a 'royal capital' - people, people, and more people, with buildings and services to match. The one thing I quickly noticed, however, was that much of the shopping district was arranged more like a bazaar, with each merchant managing a space on the street, rather than an arrangement of indoor shops. Perhaps those were elsewhere - the capital was enormous, after all - but it seemed owning your own shop was more of a rarity here, rather than the standard.

"I guess that makes sense," I thought to myself, looking down another street lined with merchants. "Selling in the capital is in high demand. This way, they can fit more sellers in less space."

"Objective fulfilled: Use mercantile sense."

"Wait, mercantile? But I- you know what, nevermind."

Most of the capital was arranged on the same level - that is, there was no drastic change in verticality - until you moved further inward, anyway. From what I could tell, the further inward you traveled, the higher you went, and the nature of what lay around you changed. It took only a single glance at the architecture to figure out that the more inward you went, the wealthier your surroundings, and I could only assume this culminated in the nobility and royalty at the very center.

"Makes it easy for them to look down on others," I observed bitterly, though I wasn't about to pretend I knew how these things worked in this world. Besides, when I become the most famous adventurer in the land, maybe me and the royal family would see each other a lot!

"Oh crap, the Adventurer's Guild!" I exclaimed, half way up another staircase. I was a decent way into the capital now, and from my position could see pretty far outward. I had gotten sidetracked by my run-in with the law, and then got sidetracked again exploring the city...

"Suppose I'm even able to find the Guild, how in the hell am I going to take on quests as...this?" I asked no one in particular, taking my knife from its sheathe in the hopes it would reveal something. Of course, it was just a plain cutting utensil, if not a high quality one.

"Oh yeah, my spells. Do I even have any...?"

I brought up my spell list and, of course, none of the spells from before were listed. In their place, however:

"Create basic meal."

"That doesn't sound like a spell to me," I muttered, scratching my chin absently. Then again, there was nothing indicating what this list was actually called - I merely assumed it was a spell list because it came up when I called it one. Perhaps "abilities" was a better way to put it?

"Create advanced meal."

I vaguely remembered Penta saying something about 'advanced techniques' when she was trying to explode my brain from the inside out.

"Create gourmet meal."

"You'd think I was a little low level for that one." Though, I had no idea what the levels corresponded to. How much of a skill gap was there between level 1 and 2, for instance? Did it get more extreme as time went on? I was still gaining experience like crazy, but leveling up had slowed, just a little.

I doubted this would be a miraculous thing - like creating a perfect meal from thin air - but I decided to give it a try.

"Create basic meal! Wait, I don't have to say the-"

"Prerequisites not met. Unable to create meal."

At the same time as Penta's remark, another small screen opened up in my view. It had a big red X next to two empty categories, one labeled 'material,' the other labeled 'heat.'

"That's...more information I was expecting, but those are still kinda vague." Not to mention, a lot less complicated than I was expecting. Would any kind of material do? Did it have to be edible? Did that just mean raw material, such as meat or wheat? This would require some trial and error...

My stomach rumbled. Perhaps it was best to figure out these chef abilities sooner, rather than later? Until I figured out how to change class - or it was changed against my will for a third time - there was no point in signing up at the Guild. They'd probably laugh me out of the room if I tried.

With newfound resolve, I set off back down the stairs, back toward the shopping district where I had initially fled. Although I had no money - and, therefore, no means to buy any material goods - perhaps there was still a way to procure them? Excess supply someone was willing to share, maybe even something that had been thrown away...

Would using spoiled material poison me? There was only one way to find out.

"CHALLENGE OPPORTUNITY: STEAL THE NEEDED MATERIAL."

I paused. Normally, Zeta's requests bordered on the insane, and were scarcely possible. But this seemed...doable, if not risky. It was only a small amount of raw material that I needed, after all. Slight of hand and a little bit of luck should be enough.

I shook my head, dismissing the thought.

"CHALLENGE FAILED."

The risk was too great. If I was not under scrutiny already, it may have been a different story, but if I was caught now, I might get kicked out of the city for good. And that was an outcome I'd consider "good" in comparison to other possibilities, depending on how strict this place really was.

For now, the dumpster would have to do.