It took the pair an hour to arrive at the base of the mountain. A few minutes later they arrived at Chuck's dungeon.
Chuck really hadn't tried to figure out how he could let Crumb in but he was sure that there must be some way.
Outside the door he began searching through the menus.
"Ah, here it is."
[Do you wish to invite the goblin Crumb to join your dungeon?]
[Once he joins, he will not be able to betray you until his loyalty falls below 40%]
Chuck selected yes and sent an invitation to Crumb.
The goblin quickly agreed.
Chuck opened the door and Crumb followed him in without meeting any obstructions.
"What is that?" Crumb gasped while seeing the high-tech kitchen on the other side of the dungeon. He instantly ran towards the doorway, but immediately bounced back.
[Warning: Members of the dungeon must be granted authorization or be part of the kitchen staff to enter the kitchen.]
Chuck immediately remembered the quest he had received earlier and went back into the menus.
[You currently only have two apprentice positions available. Would you like to offer one to the goblin Crumb? If accepted, you will not be able to recover this apprentice position even if the goblin Crumb is fired and removed from the kitchen. If accepted, the goblin Crumb will receive the subclass of Chef's apprentice.]
Chuck might have thought a bit harder about it if the message had not mentioned that he only had two 'currently'. That implied that there would be more later.
Chuck selected yes again.
After Crumb agreed, he was allowed into the kitchen. He immediately began to play with everything he could. As an apprentice, he was unable to touch the ovens and cooking stations, but he didn't care. The sink with both hot and cold water caused him to be dumbfounded. He drank his fill. And then found the refrigerator. Which he quickly and accidently locked himself inside of.
Chuck saved the shivering goblin who looked at the metal box like it was some sort of evil beast.
What was really surprising was that all the dirt on the two of them vanished the moment they stepped into the kitchen. It was quite the handy feature.
"Okay, let me teach you a couple of things and then we will eat."
Crumb stopped messing around and eagerly nodded. "First get changed. You have to wear this uniform when you are in the kitchen. It will make the food taste better." Chuck said. He didn't mind telling a white lie, because there was no way that he was going to let a goblin in rags work in his kitchen.
The uniform was the same style as Chuck's, but the pants, coat and hat were white, while the kerchief was black.
"Good, you already look like a real chef now."
Crumb admired himself in the reflection of the shinney metal table in the middle of the room.
Chuck found a small stool and set it next to him so the goblin could get his waist even with the table.
He then took out over fifty rats and piled them up. "Okay, watch me. You have to take out the meat as cleanly as possible without damaging it. Stay away from these areas here as you cut. If you puncture them, it will taint the meat and make it a waste. It won't taste good and is trash." Chuck spoke as he worked.
Being in his kitchen now. It was much easier to butcher the large rats. He was even able to acquire more the usable parts since he could actually store them instead of setting them on the dirty ground.
After he showed Crumb a few times, he set 10 rats in front of Crumb and took a knife from the drawer and gave it to the goblin.
"No, no, no, you can go against the grain of the meat. No, stop, look, you left decent chunks still attached to the bone. What are you thinking? How come this piece in the meat pile still has fur on it."
Chuck was able to perfectly finish five for everyone Crumb completed. Crumb started to get faster, but he wasn't the only one. Chuck, having the chance to hone his skill with repetition, was slowly turning his book smarts into actual talent.
When all the rats were done Crumb shook his head. "This is hard."
"That's right, nothing good ever comes easy. But look here, this is your first one. And this is the last one. I am sure you see the big difference. You are already doing better than I thought you would."
"Really?" Crumb asked as he was surprised when he compared his start to his finish.
He hadn't noticed his progress as he went. Even Chuck was amazed. He wasn't sure if this goblin had a talent for cooking, or it was due to his new subclass. What he knew for sure was that he himself would not have improved like that if he was the one learning it back on earth.
Chuck took the meat and sealed it in an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator. He then stored the rest of the usable materials.
Everything else was then swept into the trash compactor.
It amazed Chuck that when he turned back, not a single piece of rat fur or blood could be found on the table or floor. This was one nice kitchen.
"Okay, watch as I deal with this boar." He said as he summoned the boar on the table.
He then grabbed his knife and moved with a speed that was hard for Crumb to keep up with. The boar had a lot of usable parts. So, most of the creature was able to be saved.
Since Crumb was having a hard time keeping up, he had him then put different parts in containers and the store him while he continued to work. The intestines could be used for sausage casings. The bones could be used to make a broth. Even the tongue and hooves had their uses. Forty minutes later the messy job was complete.
"Alright. Its time to make dinner. This will be the first recipe I teach you. It will be easy."
He took out a shallow baking pan and preheated the oven to 325. Taking a small bowl, Chuck mixed salt, pepper, brown sugar and paprika. He then pulled out two large pork chops. He used some kitchen cloth to pat them dry after washing the meat, he then evenly seasoned both sides.
He then placed the pork chops in the pan and put them in the oven.
Crumb ran over and stared at the dark oven. He didn't want to miss a moment of it.
"Ahh!" He shouted out in surprise when Chuck turned on the light to the oven so he could watch everything happen.
Crumb continued to watch as Chuck began to get some plates and filled a pair of cups with water.
After fifteen minutes, Chuck pulled out the pork chops and turned them over before putting them back in. Ten minutes passed in a flash as the smell became even more tantalizing. Chuck threw a kitchen towel towards Crumb's feet so the goblin wouldn't slip in a pile of his own drool.
After the ten minutes, Chuck moved the pork to the broiler and left it for five minutes.
*Ding*
The final timer sounded.
"Is it ready?! Is it ready?!"
"Almost. We have to let the meat rest for five more minutes. It will make it taste even better and you also won't burn yourself." He said while pulling out the baking pan and setting it on the counter. "Go and sit in one of the stools." He then instructed.
The goblin quickly ran out of the kitchen and got ready to eat.
"Alright, dinner is ready." He said while setting a pork chop on a plate and setting it in front of Crumb.
The goblin ignored the utensil and picked up the hunk of meat and started eating.
Chuck sat next to them. Neither talked as they feasted in silence.
*Burp*
Crumb let out a satisfied burp as he patted his bulging stomach. "That was way better than I hope."
Chuck nodded. Although the system said it was barely qualified to be fed to dogs, he thought it was a divine food.
Crumb yawned. "I am sleepy."
"You can head to bed after we clean up."
Chuck didn't let the goblin get out of doing the dishes. Heck, that was one of an apprentice's main jobs. He showed hm the ropes so the goblin would know what to do in the future.
While Crumb finished the dishes. Chuck spent 2DP and bough a pile of hay for the goblin to sleep on. For now, Crumb would have to make do. Chuck also tossed the dirty sheets from the bed onto the pile of hay.
"Use this for now, we will arrange a room for you later."
Chuck was also tired. But he couldn't go to bed yet. He still had 4 dungeon cores in his storage. He quickly put away the fruits and vegetables he harvested and then retread into the Dungeon Core room.