As they were walking back, Kit realised he might have gotten swept away by Mars excitement. Right now, he didn't care. He was practically bouncing on his return. Kit and Mars arrived back to the pair of relatives with a sparkle in their eyes. Twix was digging his foot into the ground in an anxious manner when they approached.
Even though Kit was pumped from talking to Mars he still decided to ask some questions first before accepting. If he was offered residency this easily, he should try to squeeze the old man for all he could. Kit could tell he was desperate to get them to become members of Spartan Fire.
"I have some questions. Umm, I don't know your name sir."
"You can call me Grandpa."
Kit smiled at the old man. He liked the warm feeling the old man emitted. Even though he and Mars had gone off to talk on their own the old man was still all smiles. Kit didn't feel any apprehension about asking his questions, only excitement.
"What type of residency are you offering?"
"Permanent of course. If I give you temporary, then you would still be like strangers."
Kit almost laughed at his reply. The old man really wanted to gain more inhabitants to his hamlet. This was excellent news for Kit. Next to him Kit could almost feel Mars vibrating from happiness. Kit decided a little bit of acting was needed to see what other benefits he could possibly get. He was more than happy to exploit the old man's desperation. Kit pretended to be reluctant.
"Well, you see I'm a chef and am looking to open a restaurant soon. If I was a permanent resident, I would have to open my restaurant here, right? But a restaurant without customers is useless. There is not even a respawn arch here. How would I generate an income? So, I don't think we can accept."
Kit put a pitiful look on his face as he spoke as if he was reluctant to pass up the opportunity. Grandpa started to choke after hearing Kit's words. Kit wondered if he had gone too far in saying they couldn't accept. He was trying to come up with a plan to backtrack without looking like an idiot. While he was thinking frantically Grandpa had regained his composure.
He grabbed Kit's hands. Kit was surprised by this, and his eyes automatically sort Grandpa's out. Kit was met with a gleeful face.
"Kit my boy, don't you worry about a thing. A chef you say, once you accept permanent residency, I will upgrade the town to a small village and then open a respawn arch. Then you will get a steady stream of customers."
Kit looked at the twinkling eyes in front of him. He had been right he could definitely push for more benefits. Kit decided to try his luck in getting a bonus. There was no harm in pushing for a bit more. Worst case scenario he would just have permanent residency.
"Grandpa that sounds good, but I don't have much money. I don't know if I would be able to afford a piece of land in such a beautiful place like this." Kit gave a loud sigh to give more of a dramatic effect.
To Kit's delight Grandpa ate it up. "Now Kit, you are going to become a Spartan Fire resident how could I let one of my people worry about such a thing as buying land. Grandpa will give you a nice piece of land by the lake for free. How does that sound?"
Kit's eyes bulged. He had been hoping for a discount with his line of talk, not a free piece of land. Kit sucked in a breath. He wanted to quickly say yes please with sugar on top, but he had reacted reluctant. So, he pretended to think about his answer seriously.
"Grandpa is so generous this makes me very happy to become a resident with such nice people. So, my only concern left is that Grandpa will not be able to raise the town to a high enough level to generate enough traffic for my restaurant."
After Kit had spewed some reluctant words, he realised it was a good thing he went with acting hesitant. If Mars and he wanted to be involved with Spartan Fire development the best time to negotiate with the elder about this prospect would be now while they had some leverage. Kit had a feeling once he accepted permanent residency all negotiations would stop.
Even though he was heavily putting on an air of reluctance Kit really did have worries about having enough customers if he opened his restaurant in such a small town. If they couldn't help with the development of the town, his restaurant may never take off, even if he created the best meals.
"Kit, you don't have to worry about that the village will naturally grow after we gain a respawn arch. You are also new to the Forsaken state so you might not know this yet that chefs are rare here. People will come from neighbouring villages to sample your food. You really won't have to worry about getting customers. I for one can't wait to taste your food."
Kit wasn't happy with being told the town would naturally grow. This left no room for he and Mars to have input into town development. Kit was not happy, so he decided to push the sly old fox hard. Two could play at this game. Kit mentally pulled up his sleeves and preparing to go into battle, it was time to play hard ball.
"Grandpa, Twix told us you have been trying to raise this hamlet to a village for as long as he can remember, and you have not been successful yet. So, you can see my concerns with you saying the town will grow naturally. I really don't think I can open a restaurant here."
Kit went in for the kill with his next words. "I might look at the neighbouring towns to see what their development is like. Grandpa can always come visit me to taste food anytime he likes." Kit gave a beaming smile to the old man. 'Check mate old man.'
The old man started to splutter. Kit was happy with his reaction. He could already tell Mars and he would be able to help with the village growth.
"What neighbouring towns. They are all rubbish, there is nowhere more beautiful than my Spartan Fire. If you are that worried about town development, then how about I let you be involved. What do you think about that?"
Kit was almost jumping for joy. He reined in his excitement and put a look of confusion on his face.
"How could we be involved Grandpa? Are you sure I can have a say in how to develop the town?"
Grandpa gave Kit and Mars a once over, making Kit feel like his sole had been inspected. A shiver ran down his spine. Grandpa gave a grunt then nodded to himself as if he was happy.
"Why not Grandpa is getting old anyway and wants time to fish. How about you youngsters look after the town for me. I will give all three of you Spartan Fire founding member positions."
Kit had no idea what a founding member position was, but next to him Twix gave a gasp of surprise. Mars and Kit fixed their stare on the young man.
"Grandpa, you will give me a founding member position too? Won't this cause conflict with the rest of the family."
Grandpa snorted. "You are part of their team, yes? That's what you told me earlier, right."
Twix looked baffled at the old man's words. "Yes, what does that have to do with anything though."
The old man cleared his throat and looked at Kit as if waiting for him to say something. Kit was at a loss of what was going on. Thirty seconds had passed, and the old man was still staring intently at Kit. 'What the blue berries is he waiting for? He definitely wants me to do something, but I can't for the life of me figure out what. Ahh, this is too hard.'
Lucky for Kit he had Mars. The answer to what the old man was waiting for was cleared up.
"That's right Twix is part of our team. If Kit and I receive a position, then our other team member would need to as well or we would have to refuse. A team works together after all."
This seemed to be the right answer. The old man radiated happiness, Kit could almost see pink flowers blossoming around the elder. Kit ran his eyes over the old man. Would it be ok to accept a founding member position? It sounded like it was an important position in the town.
Twix had already brought up concerns about conflict with the other residents if he was to accept the position. Then what about he and Mars, would this not also be a sore point to the other inhabitants of Spartan Fire.
"Grandpa this position you just offered all of us sounds amazing. I want to accept. I'm just worried about how the other residents of Spartan Fire will feel if we accept. We have only just met after all, and we are strangers to the other inhabitants."
"Kit my boy, don't you worry about that. Once they find out you are a chef, they will be happy I gave you an important position. The further from the city that you get in the Forsaken state the less chance you have of finding a chef. So, to have one here so far from a city is a blessing."
Kit gave Grandpa a sceptical look. He did not want to accept the position then find out that he had caused problems. In such a small place like Spartan Fire this could have a negative impact on the growth of the hamlet. All he wanted was just to be able to help grow the town, he didn't think he needed a formal position.
Kit relayed his ideas to Grandpa.
"Kit without the official position you would not really be able to have an influence on how Spartan Fire is developed. I don't want to lie to you. If you don't accept the position then you would have to step back from wanting to be part of its growth."
Kit mulled over Grandpa's words. He decided to trust the old man when he said it wouldn't cause any problems. He then turned to Mars to see what he thought about the offered position. If they wanted to grow Spartan Fire they would need to accept.
Mars was practically glowing with delight. Kit chuckled, he could see Mars answer plain as day on his face. The next question was did he want to accept the position and build his restaurant here.
"So, then do you accept?"
Ding!
[CAL]
Hidden quest.
Become a founding member of Spartan Fire.
Spartan Fire founding members are responsible for the growth of the hamlet. They will have access to all the town functions.
Accept a position of founding member of Spartan Fire.
Yes/no
Kit stood staring at the information that just appeared with mouth agape. He thought Mars and he would just be able to have a little influence over the development of Spartan Fire. This was a whole different ball game. 'Holy golden pears! We really are going to build Spartan Fire!'
Kit could feel his whole body start to tremble. This was beyond what his mind could adjust to in such a short period. Joyous laughter bubbled from his mouth. As Kit was starting to wrap his brain around what was on offer, he was squished from both sides by his friends. He could hear the same joyous laughter from his friends in each ear.
The squished Kit soon lost his balance from being hugged on both sides and all three friends went toppling over. All three had stunned expression on their face from the fall. The old man burst out laughing from their antics.
"Ahhh, to be young. Now that you boys have gotten that out of your system how about you answer my question. Do you accept the position of a Spartan Fire founding member?"