With Wallice's matter temporarily settled, Avery only needed to wait for either Dext or Palor to make their next move. But only after she tells Tomoyo about the result of her conversation with Vice Manager Wallice.
Avery would have left to see head of the Disciplinary Committee if she wasn't the only one who could watch her tavern at that moment. She was wondering how she managed to give all of her servers the same days off. It could be said that not having a lot of customers in the past few days was a blessing in disguise. If it was anything like the usual days, she wouldn't even be able to have a moment's rest throughout the day.
Avery made a mental note to speak with the warrior after work hours. Except for more important matters, Tomoyo didn't appreciate Avery disturbing her at work. It would be more convenient to speak with Tomoyo at home anyway.
The day passed slowly, Avery took advantage of the lack of customers to experiment on a new dish. She had been attempting to make something with meat from the local Marl Willow Boar that could permanently give at least [ +3 VIT ] and [ +1 DEX ].
Food don't usually give people permanent stat bonuses. Or any other kind of bonuses, except HP and MP regeneration, for that matter. But there are a few branches under the [Chef] profession that can give special bonuses to the food and/or drinks that they make.
Of course, not all chefs can create those kinds of dishes. One of the prerequisites is to have at least one special passive ability. A chef can receive them as a special innate ability, aquire them after a multitude of years of intensive study, or they can learn them from a skillbook.
Roughly one in ten thousand chefs have a chance to obtain one special passive ability. And that's only a miniscule chance. Despite the low probability, chefs with innate abilities take up about 48% of the group of chefs that have special abilities, 27% are those who learned them through decades of study, 15% for those who managed to get their hands on a skillbook, and 10% are a mixture of any of the three types.
This special branch of chefs are rare in their own right. In Avery's case, she had [Artisan] and [Chef's Hand].
[ Artisan ]
Description: Let's be real, people who call themselves artisans are pretentious. It's just another fancy word for craftsman. But I'm pretentious too so I'll call myself an artisan. The only difference between me and the others is that I actually have the capital to be pretentious. I'm good at what I do and I know it.
This ability allows a craftsman, regardless of profession, to fully utilize their skills when crafting or performing. Be it drawing an egg to building a rocket, dancing, or even martial arts. If you think -- truly believe it in your heart -- that it's art, then it is art. Creation is but another step, perfection is the peak. It's only a matter of practice and determination (and a bit of luck). You are an artist. Show the world what you are capable of!
Bonus Effect: Anything crafted with this ability will receive a special effects. If there are other skills or abilities involved, [Artisan] will increase the chances of said ability's success based on the level of proficiency. When the same results are repeated a number of times, repeat production by the artisan will permanently give the effects. Level and proficiency restrictions apply. I don't care how strong you are, you and I are not omnipotent -- no one is.
[ Chef's Hand ]
Description: Young apprentice, a passionate chef must always do their best to create dishes and bring them to their peak potential. Good food is filled with love, even the most ordinary of ordinary recipies will taste heavenly in your hands! The question is, do you have the heart and the skills?
A passive skill that enables a cook to consistently create dishes with the best of their abilities. It allows the chef to surpass the limits of what a dish can offer.
Bonus effect: When the chef reaches a certain level, it will grant food and drinks created with this ability to gain special effects. Effects are limited to the ingregients' nutritional value and innate attributes. You can't make salad without fruits or veggies!
[Artisan] is one of Avery's innate abilities. It may not be an ability exclusive to the Chef profession but it no doubt has a large influence in a chef's progression. [Chef's Hand] was from a skillbook she won in a Silver ranked cooking competition in planet Viacante, the culinary capital of the Tonaci Galactic Federation.
Avery frowned at another one of her failed attempts. The most she could do was cook up a dish that gave Copper ranks a [ +2 VIT ]. Marl Willow Boars are earth attribute swines that would have no problem nourishing vitality.
With Avery's current level of skill, it should be no problem to make a dish with this type of pork that would give a Silver rank a [ +4 VIT ] but forcefully doing so would possibly cause imbalances in an adventurer's constitution in the long run. She was also ate her own cooking after all.
The biggest problem lied in the limit of what the people who ate her dishes could gain in the long run.
Wood ranks can't eat anything that are meant for Porcelain and higher ranks or they will risk exploding and permanently damaging their stats. Similarly, a wood rank dish would have either reduced effects or no results at all if higher ranks consumed them. This is also partly a result of the decrease in efficacy due to constant consumption.
Cooking a properly balanced meal is a must. Creating a new dish that was properly balanced and would work on higher ranked adventurers was truly difficult.
Avery looked up from her utensils only to notice that the sun had long set. She examined her latest creation and couldn't help but sigh. While Avery was still unsatisfied with her results, she knew it was time to take a rest.
It was earlier than usual but Avery decided to close her tavern for the day. she made her way up the stairs to her home.