When The Cute Godkiller Opens A Tavern [OP Mentor, SoL, LitRPG]

"It's up to them to approach the quest however they want to. That's why I sent them to do the quest in the first place. There's no point otherwise." ~Shallies Mythernal

During the night, Grace and her partymates went on to find some easy-to-gather ingredients for Shallies.

They plucked two fruits from a sleeping Level 30 treant. It didn't even care when Tayin stepped on its nose. Whether it was luck or not, for some reason, the treant had borne two different types of fruit. One was round like a red orange, and the other was a pink banana.

They also acquired vegetables from a wandering plant pod. It looked like a living mushroom with a hidden compartment on its cap, and it walked on all fours using limbs made out of what looked like thin wooden trunks. And it had two, long tails tipped with pincers. The halfling secured the pod in place through Time Slow, while Grace and Ren took a small bulb each from within its cap.

Unlike the treant, the yield from the plant pod were identical, but they immediately found a second, different looking pod. After executing the same plan, they acquired another pair of vegetables that was different from the first.

While Ren stored the ingredients in his Class Inventory, Grace realized that some of these ingredients—a total of six of the required ten—were actual whole creatures like the drillbull. She asked if that would be a technicality for their completion, but Ren and Tayin simply shrugged, saying that Shallies would probably want an entire carcass to work on anyway.

After that little excursion, they retreated to the camp, had dinner, and went to bed. Grace had taken little sleep by the time the sun went up. She pulled open the flap of her bedroll, rubbed her eyes awake, retrieved the Protection Orb containing her cradle egg, and went out of her tent.

There, she found Tayin, still in her pajamas, already grilling some corn for breakfast. The halfling turned and beckoned her over, preparing some other grilled goods. She had a small pop-up grill, just a bit larger than a head. Inside were burning coals and some dried wood for better smoke, while the top had a securely placed grill grate that could fit a bunch of things. Pork chunks, onion, tomato, bell peppers, a slice of pineapple, it was a skewer to fill and satisfy. On a plate, the halfling placed one already cooked skewer, along with a grilled corn, then passed it to Grace.

"Didn't expect a meal like this on an adventure," said the half-orc. "Shallies packed some food for us, the first time around. Then, we had dried up nuts until we could hunt our own game on our way home. Either's not bad, though."

"Well, we'll probably do that too on our return journey," said Tayin, fixing up a second and third plate. "And for the record, Shallies did pack these up for us. I'm just heating it up. She precooked it, so that it adds one of her innate Food Buffs. Favored Flavor, she called it. Gives a +1 to all Attributes plus 10% maximum mana capacity."

"Oh." Grace looked at her meal. "Didn't think it would last that long."

"Another of her Skills, she said," Tayin confirmed. She also brought out a small, glass container. It had more pork and vegetables for the skewer. "Should last one more day, by her count, if I pack it in my Class Inventory. It's a pity that meals aren't allowed in Creature Containers."

"That would be weird," Grace said, taking a bite out of her corn. "Besides, Shallies mentioned something about upgrading a Class Inventory, or there could be other types of containers. Like a Food Container or something."

"Well, I don't doubt that." Tayin took a large bite out of her pork skewer. "A lot of things for us to discover as we level up. For instance, I'm pretty sure there's a portable mana-crafted grill. I bet there are a lot of versions of it, and the cheapest one would cost the most mana to use. Lots for us to learn, essentially."

"Yeah. It's a bit frustrating and exciting at the same time."

"Because leveling takes too long?"

"Yeah…"

"You don't like leeching, but you also want to rush your levels… Seems a bit contrary, doesn't it?"

Grace stopped herself from mentioning that she could've skipped the entire Base Class. She gathered her thoughts a little before giving an answer.

"I want to get strong quickly, yeah," she admitted. "But more importantly, I want to earn it. Just gaining levels without doing anything feels like cheating. I know I need help as I gain experience, but just sitting there and waiting for it doesn't give me any satisfaction."

"That's fair," Tayin agreed, now starting with her corn. "And good on you. How far away are you from another level?"

"One more fight should do it."

"Alright. Once Ren comes back, we'll hunt another monster."

"Oh, that's right. He went to check on the Rift, huh?"

"Yep. He should be back in a bit."

And without further delay, the Shield Knight arrived. Tayin passed him a plate as he joined them. They exchanged greetings, and the two ladies exercised some patience, giving Ren some time to take a bite first.

"The Rift's currently closed," he said after washing down the food with some water. "At least from what I could tell. So long as we steer clear of it, we should be alright."

"That means we're headed for the swamp?" Grace asked. "Are we hunting some noldzwjaks?"

"Probably not a good idea," Tayin said. "Not that it would be impossible for us, but there's probably nothing from it that we can eat, seeing as what happened to Gar."

"And Gar was our main source of damage," Ren added. "You're already exceeding expectations, Grace, but you're not just a few levels behind him, you're an entire tier below. It'll take time, but you'll eventually match his output and probably even surpass it. But until then, we should choose our battles."

"That's a nice way of saying I'm not strong enough," Grace said, taking Ren by surprise. "You don't really have to hold back on my account. I already know that much. Shallies already showed me how much I have to go. And I was just mostly kidding when I mentioned the noldzwjak. Ah, but Shallies did mention we can take back anything poisonous. She said she could purify them."

At that, Ren and Tayin looked at each other.

"We can try a noldzwjak, then," they both said.

"Eh?"

"Only if you're okay with it," Ren said.

"Why the sudden change?"

"We think," Tayin started, "if we show Gar that we can deal with a noldzwjak, he'll be able to stop worrying about us."

"And it's technically the toughest enemy we've ever fought," Ren added. "If we can bring it down again, then that means our training's paying off."

"Toughest?" Grace frowned. "What level are we talking about?"

"Level 40 plus."

"Aren't I a little too under-leveled for that?"

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Revenge on noldzwjaks, huh?" Shallies mused, after hearing Stachie's report. "They should be fine. I've seen crazier stunts."

[You know the gap on levels alone puts her in danger, right?]

"Grace, yeah. Not the other two. They should know how to gauge their chances at this point."

While she did mention to Grace that she wouldn't be able to track her this time around, that was mostly to give the half-orc some sense of independence. She wouldn't be able to feel the gravity of the consequences of her actions, if she was always kept safe from different kinds of risks. The same was true even for her partymates. How they dealt with their trials was their own, how they strategized with their quest was their own, and everything else for that matter was for themselves to figure out.

The only time she would intervene would be if their lives were truly in danger. As in, on the verge of death. Any other possibilities were off the table, even if they had led any of them to being so severely injured that they had to change their way of life, as well as leave their adventuring careers.

"It's harsh, but…"

[That's how it's supposed to be, if we really want them to be strong.]

"Yeah…"

A noldzwjak would be their ultimate test at their current setup. Both Ren and Tayin already had the proper levels to tackle it. And Grace's competence would carry her through that challenge, as long as she knew her limits. It would also help boost their confidence significantly, if they could manage to defeat one. Not to mention the potential ingredients she could experiment on, if they were successful.

I can just go hunt one, if I really want to… Ultimately, Shallies decided against doing it. Not now, at least. She didn't want to undermine her potential students' efforts.

"Just have to trust that they'll get through it without irreparable damage."

[Do you think I should stop them?]

"No, I don't think that's needed." Shallies poured herself a cup of coffee with her new coffee machine.

Danilo had delivered it during the morning after receiving a request from Shallies a few days ago. She had asked him to stay for breakfast, but the buff man had declined, mentioning a sudden surge of orders for new graduates of the town's guards.

She popped two cubes of sugar into her coffee cup before operating the coffee machine. Technically, it doubled as a tea brewer as well, but Shallies wanted to practice with the coffee first. Or in this case, the milk frother. The other parts of the machine's coffee section, the grinder, the press and filter set, and the brewer were parts she was already familiar with. But not this fancy steam wand that made equally fancy milk froth.

"How hard could it be?"

[Not too hard, I hope.]

In any case, she poured some milk into a metal jug and began working with the frother. Like everything Danilo and Yor'ylin had provided for her, the machine worked with mana. When he installed it in front of the bar, he also made quick work with plumbing it in through the filtered water pipe, which was a separate water line that Mayor Schooner had provided since day one.

First, she made sure the steam wand was working, and not pushing out water but steam instead. The purge made a little spray of water, but that was probably part of the warm-up process. As soon as it was producing high-pressure steam, she went to work.

And subsequently splattered her arm with a spray of milk.

"What the—!?" In a fit of surprise, Shallies let go of the jug and turned off the steam wand using her mana-control. The jug almost fell, but she managed to catch it with the same control.

She glared accusingly at the machine while cleaning herself. "Did I do something wrong?"

[Surely, the Godkiller herself can figure out what went wrong, yes?]

Ignoring her System Assistant's sass, Shallies went back to the steam wand and activated it carefully without the mug, just to observe how it worked. At the flick of a switch, it let out high-pressure steam. That much was expected. So why the splatter?

Shallies tried to recall every memory of baristas she had ever met. They were all dressed properly, had a trademark smile or scowl depending on the theme of the café or restaurant, and worked almost on automatic. She recalled the flair and mastery each of them worked, but she quickly realized that she had barely paid any attention to how they had frothed the milk, or brewed the coffee in the first place. At the very least, she recalled that they had reached out to the machine before placing the milk mug under the steam wand. But she didn't understand what for.

Though this specifically, the learning of the mundane and the processes involved in it, was what had allured Shallies to have a vacation in the first place. She realized she still had some getting used to the little frustrations that came with it.

Nothing bad, nothing harmful. Nothing to get mad about.

The Chef ran her fingers along her own mana-crafted coffee machine, investigating what it could be the baristas had been reaching out for other than the switch for the steam wand. And then, much to her surprise, the steam wand moved forward at an angle.

"What?" Shallies asked, to no one in particular. "Is that it?"

She refilled her milk jug and tried again. At the very least, she understood not to fill the jug more than halfway. This time, Shallies was a little hesitant. But she held her breath and turned on the switch.

Fortunately, this time around, there were no splashes of milk to assault her arm. However, after heating up the milk, it didn't froth enough to reach the smoothness she remembered from those fancy cafés.

[It's the spin,] Stachie whispered, her voice coming intentionally through one side. [You should make it spin and not dip the wand too much at the start. Once you make some bubbles, dip the wand deeper and mix them together while making sure you keep the spin.]

"You should've told me that before I tried again," Shallie said, while cleaning the wand, and purging it of excess milk. She retrieved another metal jug full of milk, deciding to drink the failed milk later. It was already too warm to work with.

Third time was the charm. She placed the steam wand into the jug at an angle, and turned the jug slightly so that the wand's tip would be slightly off-center. While the steam did its work, she maintained control of the jug and started with the wand's tip ever so slightly just underneath the milk's surface. The sound was harsh, but it was exactly how she remembered it from the other baristas. After a few seconds, she dipped the wand deeper, keeping the spin, until the milk was properly warm.

Shallies smiled excitedly at the end product, as she tapped the jug on the bar to get rid of the bubbles. When she made the milk spin by moving her arm around, and saw the smooth slosh she was looking for, she knew she had made the milk successfully froth.

"Now, for the hard part," Shallies said. "The coffee's gone cold, hasn't it?"

[Yep…]

Out of patience, Shallies gave up and tapped the coffee cup as she used Water Control, heating up the contents in an instant. Then slowly, she tipped the milk jug over. When the cup was filled up more than halfway, she slowly changed the speed at which she poured, intending for the milk froth to stay at the surface.

It was surprisingly difficult. She remembered the baristas making some fine flowery art with the milk froth, but she only ended up with a circle. With a sigh, she called it enough practice for the day.

"One weird Latte for Shallies," she said disappointingly, imitating the baristas. The flavor, fortunately enough, was way better than the art on it.

[Congratulations.]

"Whatever," Shallies sighed, retrieving a saucer. "What else do you have for me about Grace and the others?"

[They came across a Rift,] Stachie began. [Total coincidence, I know. But I thought I should mention it, given that the report for the Rift investigation quest we sent out also just came back. Both Rifts are closed.]

Shallies took a sip of her Latte while she read the report. She lounged in one of her sofas and lit the fireplace with a spark of her mana-control.

"So the storm's now officially recognized as Thrush'ven Alir, and it's standing by on a Rift in the skies. Coincidentally, it's also closed, like the one Grace found."

[The adventurers sent out to investigate the Rift predicted it would open in about a week. If Thrush'ven Alir doesn't move by then, it would most certainly enter the Rift. And since it's closed, they don't know where the other end leads to, other than knowing for sure that it's somewhere in Ysvil.]

"And you're suggesting that it could be, coincidentally, the Rift Grace and the others found?"

[Like it or not, we have a knack for coming across convenient coincidences.]

"We should try and shave off our Destiny Adhesion sometimes."

[No! Don't do that…]

"I was kidding." Shallies manipulated her System Console, accessing records from the Adventurer's Guild. She brought out recent articles about Thrush'ven Alir, studying the recent observations of the Great Storm.

"What's the Gaiamaxims up to?" she asked Stachie.

[They're certainly on the move. Sent out the same requests to identify the other end of the Rift. They also sent out a wide search for closed Rifts, which would probably net your three potentials some nice quest rewards when they come back to the Guild Hall.]

"That'll probably attract one of the guild's officers."

[It sure would.]

Shallies smiled. "Looks like business is about to pick up."

[Better master that coffee machine, then.]

"I think we should settle on our menu, first and foremost."

[Based on how satisfied they were with your feast yesterday, I say, you already have a lot of potential meals you can work with.]

"Right, we should get to work then." A thought interrupted Shallies. "By the way, what about the other quests we sent out? Searching for high concentrations of storm mana."

[We've received information for most of them. You can check them if you want, but I doubt anything there's as significant as the one with Thrush'ven Alir.]

"I'll have a gander anyway. At least, until I'm done with this coffee."

[Sure.]

After finishing her coffee, Shallies summoned the failed milk and started drinking it, using it as an excuse to further her reading on the quest reports. Stachie was right, however. There weren't much to the mana levels surrounding the other spots of Bluepearl Sea. At least, nothing that would indicate a pseudo-dead god trying to return to life.

"Ooh! Fancy! A coffee machine!" said a giggling voice that stirred Shallies away from the quest reports. Phey'lan was looking at the machine, studying it up close but keeping her hands away from it. "It's one of those fancy barista things, right? Oh, and good afternoon…"

"Yeah," Shallies said. "Want one?"

"Yes, please!"

"You guys haven't slept in, in so long. Valor'el's still asleep?"

"Yeah, we got a little too drunk last night."

"Sure." Shallies eyed Phey'lan while she operated the steam wand. "I don't want to know about it."

The seraph's blushing, guilty smile told Shallies everything about it anyway. She could only sigh.