Chapter 164: Barbeque

After leaving behind the shop of Genovesi Mirrors, Xinya and Melting Snow began walking leisurely through the bustling streets of the village. Their destination was MirStone's defensive walls where the entry/exit gate was located.

Xinya knew that his other two friends probably hadn't finished their tasks yet, so he wasn't in any hurry to arrive at the meeting place. With that in mind, strolled around, fully taking in the sights that the village had to offer.

And what beautiful sights there were. It wasn't just scenery, but the items that were out for display. Every store they passed, Xinya could see that MirStone's craftsmanship was something that shouldn't be looked down on.

If he didn't already have the skills that he wanted, he would have gone and learned a trade skill from one of these NPCs. Thinking about it, Xinya decided that maybe he would just do that one day.

One day, after he maxed out his skills in cooking, farming, potion-making, and fishing, he might just find a fun skill to learn. He had always been quite curious about jewelry making.

While he was lost in thought, a sudden tug on his pants, pulled him to a stop. Curious as to what caused him to stop, Xinya turned around to see that it was Melting Snow's hand. The boy was standing in front of a snack stall, his bright eyes glistening, memorized by the food that was being sold.

"Drifting Cloud, we should try this." Melting Snow said, his gaze never leaving the food.

Going over to where the boy was standing, Xinya looked at the stall. He almost laughed out loud when he saw its name, 'Bertha's beautifully barbequed beast tails'. However, he could admit the smell was very tantalizing.

Seeing that the price was quite high at 10 silver, Xinya asked, "Are you sure you want to try it? It's a little expensive for a snack."

"I'm very sure," Melting Snow replied with a nod of his head. "It's a local delicacy after all."

"You don't need to sell me on it, it's your coin, after all, buy it if you want," Xinya told the boy with a smile.

Grinning widely as the man, Melting Snow brought a bucket of barbeque beast tails. Once the food was in his grasp, he quickly tried one only to be taken aback by their deliciousness.

"Drifting Cloud, you need to taste one." Melting Snow exclaimed while devouring the tail in his hand in its entirety.

Looking at the boy's blissed-out expression while he ate, Xinya became a little curious. "Are they that good?"

"They are." Melting Snow told him while holding one for him to take. "Come on, try it.

Xinya took the offered tail from the boy's hand and took a bite. The rush of flavor hit him fast. The smokey, yet tangy flavor took over his taste buds, making him crave more. Before he realized it he had devoured the whole thing, and just as he finished swallowing the last bite a ding was heard.

[Tasting has leveled up!] *Chapter 11

[Catering stat gain effects, Cooking's base quality rate, Stability during cooking, and EXP provided from Cooking food will increase by 3%]

[.02% of Bertha's beautifully barbequed beast tails have been acquired.]

When Xinya saw this he was a little surprised, out of all of his skills related to cooking, tasting had been the slowest to rank up. So far up until now, he had only been able to level it to 2 out of 100.

However, it shot up straight to level 3 after he ate that barbeque tail, he didn't get it. After cooking food himself he would always eat some, but the experience gained would be so little. He didn't get why he got some much exp now.

Thinking about it, he thought it might have something to do with eating other people's food. Wanting to see if his theory was correct, he went up to the stall owner and brought his own bucket of barbeque tails.

While he was doing that, Melting Snow was chowing down hard on his tails. He couldn't believe how delicious they were, it was even on par with the Puff Pastry Fruit Pizza that Drifting Cloud made him.

As Melting Snow devoured the fatty but savory snack, he started wondering if he could find a recipe that was similar to this. That way he could ask Drifting Cloud to make it for him. Putting that on his to-do list, the boy continued eating.

Testing his theory, Xinya ate another one of the tails and saw that his Tasting exp did go up a lot, but not as much as the first time. It seemed the more he used to the taste of the barbeque tails the less exp he would get.

By the time he was done eating his fifth tail, he was only getting 20 experience points for the skill. It was still better than he was getting before though, and now he knew how to raise the skill more efficiently, so he was happy.

After finishing his last tail, he threw the trash away and looked to see if Melting Snow was ready to go. Only to find the boy smiling, face covered with sauce, patting his satisfied belly.

Shaking his head in amusement, Xinya grabbed a couple of napkins from the stall. Using his Bracelet of Requisite he poured some water on it making it wet. "Melting Snow, use this and wipe your face before we go."

Taking the now wet napkins from the man, he proceeded to wipe the sauce off his face. Once he was completely clean, the two of them continued walking to their destination.

By the time they had arrived, the sun was about to set. Looking around the area, Xinya realized that besides them and a couple of other players, the other two members of their party weren't there.

"It seems that we are the first ones here," Melting Snow said while looking around the area curiously.

"It seems like it," Xinya replied. "It will be dark soon anyway, even if they come now, we won't be able to leave until morning."

Looking up at the sky, Melting Snow agreed silently with what the man said. "Then should we set up camp, while we wait for the others?"

"Yeah, we should," Xinya told him while looking around for the player campground area. Seeing one a little ways away, he said, "Over there, let's do it over there."

With a nod, Melting Snow followed Xinya over to the campground.