System Change

“Does it work?” Stella asked from across the desk.

‘Like this.’ Silvi’s voice rang out in Derek’s head, but did not emerge from the communication crystal.

‘No. You need to focus. Think about how you talk to me through our link, then direct that at the crystal while touching it.’ Derek did his best to explain how to use the crystal.

‘Like this?’ The bunny’s voice rang again. This time, before the voice vanished from Derek’s head, it also rang out of the crystal. “Like this?”

Silvi’s eyes widened, and she skittered backwards, staring at the crystal. The voice that came out was almost childish. ‘It worked! It worked! Is that what I sound like? I’m amazing!’

‘Yes. It worked.’ Derek confirmed. ‘Now, try again. This time, try not to send your voice to me at the same time.’ He was very happy with this turn of events. Now, he didn’t have to go around the city asking for a Telepathy scroll. He also wouldn’t have to be the go between for Silvi and the cooks.

It took a few tries, but eventually, Silvi was able to direct her thoughts into the crystal without directing them at Derek at the same time.

“It’s good to meet you, Silvi.” Stella said.

“You too. Can I cook now?” Impatient as ever, Silvi couldn’t wait to learn.

Stella smiled. “Soon. First, I would like to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?”

“Sure. Sure. Then I can go cook?”

“Of course.” Stella replied. “Now, why do you want to learn how to cook?”

“I love food! The Cooking skill makes food taste even better. I have the skill. I can make tasty food.” Silvi excitedly replied.

Stella laughed at the response. “Is that it? Is there anything else you want? Don’t you want to get stronger like the other beasts?”

“Stronger? I can beat you.” Silvi replied, and looked at Derek. “Even if not, I wouldn’t need to be stronger. I have him and he is strong enough. Leaves more time to eat and make food. Plus, I have my own personal mount.” Her voice continued to flow out of the crystal, and she nodded as if everything she said was a fact.

Derek sat back with an awkward look on his face. Why does she talk in complete sentences when it’s not me? And why do you have to do Thomas like that? Poor kid’s going to get his heart broken, and he has been officially demoted to a mount.

Stella looked at Derek as if asking if what Silvi said was true. Derek sighed. “Just because Thomas lugs you around doesn’t mean he’s your mount.”

“T-that’s what you had a problem with?” Stella asked, flabbergasted. “Are you saying that you think your companion is that strong?”

“Are you stronger than Bronson?” Derek asked out of nowhere.

Stella frowned and nodded hesitantly.

“Are you stronger than Walter Gracefall?” He asked.

“Possibly.” She replied, not answering directly.

Derek nodded to Silvi. “She is.” He said.

“No way.” Stella said. “She’s… she’s like…” Stella stuttered. She was holding her hands out in front of herself, like she was measuring a small distance. “She’s only this big.”

“I’m right here.” Silvi’s voice rang out. “And I’m a little bigger than that.” She stretched her back to make herself look a little bigger.

Stella sighed, reverting back to her professional demeanor. “I’m sorry.” She said. “Now, I can have the Telekinesis scroll ready in a few hours. And we have the communication issue settled. Seeing as how anxious Silvi is, let me take you to meet some of our chefs.”

Derek nodded and Silvi hopped up on his shoulder. Stella touched one of the crystals and they both turned to dust. Afterwards, she pulled a handful of them out of her desk.

Seeing Derek staring, she spoke, “They’re not even worth a gold each. They don’t travel so well after being activated. Usually, we activate them, say ‘your table is ready,’ and that’s it. However, if they are close together and still, they should last for a few hours.”

Stella led the duo out of her office down the stairs. “They’ve already been at it since before morning. One thing about our staff is that they all love cooking and bettering their skills.”

Back on the first floor, Stella nodded at the hostess before moving past and entering the double door room behind the host station. Derek and Silvi followed.

The room was stunning. There goes my running water idea. Derek thought as he looked at the multiple sinks with faucets and sprayers. Though it looked to be redundant as Derek watched one of the staff grab a dirty plate and cast a spell that instantly left it spotless. Now that’s a spell I need.

“Hey everybody!” Stella clapped, and the whole place quieted down. “This is Derek and his companion Silvi.” She motioned to the duo. “Now, I know this may seem strange, but Silvi, the bunny, will be learning skills from all of you.”

Confusion washed over the room. Stella continued. “You all knew that someone would be learning from you. It makes no difference if it is a human, elf, or beast. And, I can attest to Silvi’s intelligence. She is no less intelligent than one of you, she may even be smarter, and is much stronger.” Stella smiled. “So do well not to anger her.”

“As for communication.” She continued and moved to the corner of the room that was empty of all but a table and chair and sat a handful of the green crystals on the table.. “As she cannot speak out loud, she will use these communication crystals to talk. She is perfectly able to do so.” Then she turned to Silvi. “This is your ‘workplace’ for the time being. You will be able to ask questions, practice basic techniques, and observe how a kitchen is run.

“Later, during slow times, they will allow you to practice cooking while making sure you do not spoil the food. What you make will be what you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But that will come after you prove yourself with the basics, if you can prove yourself in the time you are here. Until then, the staff will make an extra serving for you.” She turned to the chefs and staff. “Is that understood?”

“Yes!” Everyone other than Derek replied in unison.

While Stella was speaking, Derek had used Identify on the room. Three people came back as crafters between level 70 and 85. One person was unidentifiable, and the other two were both mages of level 46 and 49. Those two were the ones that were cleaning the dishes.

“Now, let me introduce everyone.” Stella continued. “These are our first floor chefs.” She motioned to the three crafters. “Daniel, Stephanie, and Raymond.” Then she pointed to the two mages. “These two are our first floor cleaners, Marie and Jessica.” Then she walked beside the man that Derek was unable to Identify. “This is Gregory Sutter. He is the head chef of this restaurant. He spends most of his time down here because there aren’t any people with a membership in Torith. Only the occasional visitor...” She smiled at Derek. “Well, there weren’t any people with a membership.”

Gregory walked over to Derek and shook his hand. “It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Hunt. I would be happy to prepare you a meal whenever you need. And please, call me Greg.” Then the man moved his focus to Silvi. “I will make sure to take good care of your companion. You don’t have to worry.”

Derek smiled. “Thank you. I will definitely trouble you with a meal sometime before I leave Torith.”

Stella clapped again to get everyone’s attention. “Now, back to work. Silvi, to your station.”

Surprisingly, to Derek at least, Silvi flew from his shoulder and landed gently on the table in the corner.

Jessica, one of the cleaners, laughed and removed the chair. “I guess we won’t be needing this.”

Stella walked back over and linked two of the crystals. “You can introduce yourself now.” She placed one of the crystals in front of the bunny. Silvi channeled her mana into the crystal, and Stella had Marie answer the call instead of herself. “The one who activates the crystal can’t be too far away, or the connection will falter.” She explained.

“Hello everyone.” Silvi’s excited voice chimed out of the crystal. “My name is Silvi. I’m six years old and I really want to learn to cook. I’ll be in your care, please teach me well.”

All the females and Daniel blushed from the overflow of cuteness. Derek shook his head. Not falling for the bunny’s deceit. Stella seemed to have the same idea as him as she stared blankly at Silvi’s antics and looked back at Derek, shaking her head.

“Okay, everyone knows each other now.” She walked over to Derek. “We’ll be leaving. I’ll be back with the Telekinesis scroll later.” She opened the door leading out of the kitchen and Derek followed her out. “Intelligent indeed.” She whispered.

“Yup. Would you believe it if I told you that Silvi was so lazy that, other than a couple of times, she only spoke to me in incomplete sentences until today.” Derek turned and looked at the door swinging closed behind him, catching one last glance at Silvi before it shut. “They grow up so fast.”

Stella snorted. “Is that everything you need from me today?” She asked.

“Uh… that cleaning spell that Marie used for the dishes. Does that work on clothes and bodies too?” He asked.

Stella stared at him before nodding. “I guess Silvi would need a spell like that since she would have a hard time cleaning everything manually. It doesn’t cost much and I could have the spell scroll sent with the Telekinesis for a few hundred extra gold.”

“Uh… I was talking about me, not Silvi… but I guess she would need one, too. If the scrolls are so cheap, why do you need cleaners? Why not just give them to the chefs?” He asked, noticing the discrepancy.

“They all have the skill. The cleaners are both aspiring chefs. Their next class upgrade will allow them to switch to our restaurant’s main cooking class. It’s the most convenient path to the class, but it requires the cooking skill and a certain path through mage classes to get.” She explained, but didn’t give Derek any specifics. “I’ll get you a copy of the Cleaning spell too. But, your total is going to be 2,000 gold now. Is that still okay?”

Derek nodded. “That’s fine. I just hope that the coffee sells well.” With that, Derek gave Stella his regards and left the Crown. I guess I’ll go see if Bronson or Walter have gotten any information on the undying dungeon or the village in the last couple of days.