Chapter 9. The fields (1)
Cooking Skills!!
They are simple skills that you can learn anywhere, by paying a membership fee to a chef's guild or by serving an apprenticeship in a restaurant. No doubt it pays off well.
As Ian was still classless, he can't learn the specific skills of classes, but he can skill learn some of the skills like cooking, crafting, etc.
"Have you ever cooked before?"
"I have but it's not on the level of your cooking. I am just a person who has some interest in cooking, I can't compare to your greatness."
"Oh, my you flatter me."
Ian was able to quickly gain some reputation with Jeff's wife and the chef of Rowlet restaurant, Alina.
His title 'Rising newbie' was one of the reasons behind this and another reason was Ian's flattery skills.
Flattery can get you through many difficult situations, especially if the situation is related to a woman. There are hardly any women who don't like flattery.
Alina was also the same.
"You should chop the vegetable horizontally and don't cook the meat in oil for too long."
"Yes, you are learning quickly."
"I can't believe that you are only on the level of an amateur. You can be a great cook."
Working in the kitchen together, Alina kept praising him and his affinity with her started rising quickly. The most important part was that Ian was able to learn the cooking skill in the end.
Ian was content with this skill and he wanted to hop and jump around the restaurant but he was not that shameless to do it, so he kept his thoughts to himself.
'Let's learn some more recipes from Alina.'
He wanted to learn some recipes from Alina. She was from a lower noble family, so she must know some good recipes.
That was the thought in his head but there was an obstacle in his path that blocked him from going further.
"It's enough learning for today. You should quickly eat and get your ass out of here."
Jeff's tone was polite but his words were full of malicious intent. It was enough for Ian to take a step back.
Jeff was a loving husband but he was also someone who gets jealous easily. For him, his wife was innocent and Ian was a vile man who can do anything to his wife.
Seeing his growing distance with his wife, he couldn't help but feel jealous. Well, his jealousy made Ian drop his plan.
When Ian saw that message, he forgot all about cooking and hurriedly ate the promised meal. He was worried that Jeff will throw him out of the restaurant if he stayed for longer.
The meal was pork made from red wolf's meat and vegetable soup.
It was truly delicious!!
Ian wanted to ask for seconds but seeing Jeff's jealous eyes, he dropped the idea completely and left the Rowlet restaurant in a hurry.
It was not a good choice to make an NPC hostile towards him from the first day.
* * *
Shoo!
When Lu Fei returned from the virtual world, he noticed that his body was full of sweat and his clothes were drenched in it.
The level 1 neuro gear didn't have any cooling options like the Arkane capsules. Moreover, Lu Fei's room itself was scorching.
'I should take a shower.'
Lu Fei took off the headset and the huge gloves. He walked up to the bathroom and took a shower.
The cooling sensation of the water evaporated all of Lu Fei's sweat and tiredness. After showering, he quickly wore some clothes and headed downstairs.
It was currently 5 in the morning and the day was Saturday. There was no high school, even if it was a weekday, Lu Fei would have just skipped it.
He wanted to spend most of his time in Ark.
'It's good that Xiaomei is sleeping.'
Lu Fei silently opened the room of his sister and peeked inside. His sister was sleeping soundly and he was able to hear a snoring noise.
He smiled before closing the door and headed outside to the park. He was going to exercise a bit.
In a broader sense, being a pro gamer is the same as being a sports athlete. One has to take care of his body, both outside and inside of the game.
That's why moving around his body is necessary.
After coming back from the fantasy world, Lu Fei hasn't bothered moving around his body much.
That's why his current body can't be compared to his body in the fantasy world. Lu Fei first did some regular stretches and push-ups to gain momentum.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
After that, he started practicing his kicks and punches. His kicks will create a trajectory in the air, and it will leave behind a whooshing sound.
Lu Fei's kicks and punches were not like ordinary people and there was a certain technique to it, of course, an ordinary person will never be able to see that.
An ordinary person watching him would surely be entranced by it, like the young girl watching Lu Fei from the side.
She came here like every day to run around the whole park. Normally, there would not be many people around this time.
But today, she saw someone here.
It was Lu Fei who came here to exercise. At first, she thought he was just a normal handsome guy but after seeing those kicks and punches, she became entranced.
His calm and gentle eyes, the sweat dripping down his neck and his slender but muscular body which could be seen through his t-shirt.
Gulp!!
The girl gulped and decided to approach him.
"Are you a martial artist or something?"
"Uhh, no, yes, well I can be considered one."
Lu Fei was somewhat startled when the young girl approached him out of nowhere but he still answered.
"Wow!! It's the first time I have met a real-life martial artist. If you have time, can you please teach me some martial arts?"
"I can't. It would not be easy and I don't have time."
The young girl was disappointed when she heard that but she still didn't give up. She kept pestering him.
'What should I do with her?'
It was the first time that Lu Fei felt that girls were noisy creatures. In the end, he swiftly finished exercising and amidst the disappointed eyes of the young girl, Lu Fei left the park.
* * *
Back home, Lu Fei visited one of the item transaction sites of Ark before logging into the game.
He had been checking the prices of the items for some time now. It was done to see the market value of the items and how much he can earn from them.
* * *
-Price: 100 dollars
-Price: 500 dollars
-Price: 300 dollars
* * *
A list of items in demand was thousands of pages long. A keyword yielded millions of search results, but few of them reached a deal.
As plenty of users were eager to get hold of cool items, demand was high. The supply could not keep up with it.
The system favored sellers, and when one of them posted his item, the auction was wrapped up in minutes.
He was shocked to found out that the price of an uncommon grade dagger with states akin to his Blaze dagger was more than 1000 dollars.
It was not a small sum for the current Lu Fei. If he hadn't gotten the Blaze dagger, then he would have to do many quests and accumulate some income to purchase a good weapon.
It would have taken quite a lot of time. He was lucky that he was able to defeat the Blaze wolf.
Among this, the top 10 percent of items were sold at astronomical prices. They are bought either by large guilds or rich players.
"Damn!! Someone is willing to buy the 'Ashok Halberd' for a million dollars."
Lu Fei's eyes nearly popped out when he saw that someone has bid a million dollars for a weapon. There was already talk about it on the forums.
Players were excitedly talking about it and were waiting for the seller's response.
The item was known as the 'Ashok Halberd'. It was a relic grade item, which was a grade just below the legendary grade.
It was said to be used by a great king in the past and the information about it was top secret. No one knows what its stats were and what type of effect it provides a player.
But they were certainly not some ordinary buffs!!
The player who has bid a million dollars for the halberd was known as a 'Darkray'. He was one of the rankers in the top 100 of the rankings.
Looking through the forums, Lu Fei found out that Darkray was actually from a rich family. He was from Europe and there were speculations that he was connected with the royal family of Britain.
Although they were just speculations and there was no confirmation about it, players were excited just because of the rumors.
Ark possesses state of the art technology and it has a common server for the whole game. It was rumored that the server of Ark was the largest in the world.
There was a unique language transition device connected to Ark which ensures that people around the world can talk to each other in the same language.
It was called one of the wonders of Ark.
As he was checking the forums, his sister's voice sounded out from the kitchen.
"Brother, where are you? I am hungry."
It looks like his sister has woke up and was hungry as usual. Lu Fei shook his head as he shouted.
"I'm coming!!"
It was time to do his duty as a brother.
* * *
-Ladies and gentlemen, we are back with our show. Today, we will talk about items.
-Yes, in this episode, we will tell you about the items and give tips on how to obtain rare items.
The two broadcasters were sitting in the studio talking about the items in Ark. Both of them have a coffee mug in their hands as they discussed the grade of items.
-Do you know the grades of items in Ark?
-Of course, I know about it. It's basic knowledge. They are common, uncommon, rare, epic, unique, relic, legendary.
-Yes, these are the item grades in Ark but the currently known highest grade item is a relic.
-Yes, the item is called the 'Abyssal blade'.
A photo of the Abyssal blade appeared on the screen. It was completely dark in color with red engravings on it.
-The Abyssal Blade is owned by the highest-ranking player in the whole Ark. The man is known as the hidden prince, Brendan.
-What's the hidden prince up to these days?
-I don't know or I should say nobody knows where he is, he is known to not leave any traces behind.
-He's really secretive as usual but do you know how he obtained the Abyssal blade?
The other broadcaster shook his head and asked.
-Do you know how he obtained the blade?
The program was scripted but due to the two broadcasters acting skills, it was looking like they were conversing with each other.
-Yes, there's not much information about it but he obtained it after completing a SS grade quest.
-Wow!! How was he able to do that?
-We don't know and the only answer we have is that it's because he's the number one player in the world.
The two broadcasters kept talking about the hidden prince and the viewers watched with shining eyes. Any broadcast regarding the hidden prince is widely watched by everyone.
It was because people are hugely interested in the hidden prince. It was also expected as he was the number one in the level rankings and was regarded as the number one player.
At this point, no one knew that in the future, someone will challenge his supremacy to claim the top spot for himself.
It would be Ian obviously, but he didn't know about it yet!!