Waffling About [Mentor]

[Shuwen]

Words: 442

Shuwen was having fun trying another cooking experiment. Though his skill (and level) as a chef was growing in leaps and bounds. This time, he was trying to make a specific food, the waffle. Obtaining the ingredients and making waffles was, for the most part, not particularly complicated, but there was one potential hang-up. Back on Earth, whenever someone made a waffle, they normally did so using a specialized piece of equipment, a waffle iron. And quite frankly, getting one made would have been a pain in the butt, so he decided to see if he could make them using only the materials he had on hand.

Getting the recipe for waffle batter turned out to be a bit harder then he'd realized. He already knew the recipe for pancake batter, and had figured it had been more or less the same thing. Apparently, waffle batter needed a higher ratio of fat and sugar in order to caramelize and get the exterior crispy. Pancakes didn't, and figuring the exact amounts needed was a pain in the butt. Fortunately, he was able to find someone who knew the right amounts, and paid them a small amount for the info.

At any rate, it seemed that Shuwen's labors were about to pay off. He was currently somewhere in Windsor forest, having spent some time collecting ingredients. It was fairly early in the morning. Not too early; the sun had risen quite some time ago, but early enough that his next meal could still be considered "breakfast" as opposed to "brunch" or "lunch". When he'd finished collecting, he'd simply sat down, pulled out his portable stove and cooking supplies, and quickly gotten to work. After about half an hour of work, the fruits of his labors were almost complete. From the smell of it, the final result was so-so. They didn't look as fluffy as they were supposed to be, and due to the lack of a waffle iron, there was no lattice that normally characterized waffles. Instead were horizontal strips from where his utensils had been used to flip them. Shuwen took a bite of the first waffle. As he expected, it wasn't as good as some of the waffles he remembered having back on Earth, but they were close enough for his relatively lax standards. Next, I need to figure out how to make syrup. He thought to himself. Or at least buy it.

As he ate, the smell of fresh waffles began to drift through the forest, possibly attracting the attention of other adventurers or monsters, but unfortunately, the Monk was largely oblivious to such things; he was distracted by the food.

[Alto]

Daylight streamed through the old curtains of the attic room he rented out. It was old, unused until he struck the deal that allowed him to stay here, and still a little dusty but it was home. Well... relatively speaking. As one of the many players stuck inside this world Alto didn't really have a "home" anymore. His home vanished the moment he logged in and found himself stuck inside Elder Tale. Unlike a lot of players Alto never could find the mettle to take to the front lines and spent his days wasting away with a lander family doing odd jobs that really didn't advance his level or help him much. It was pathetic and he knew it. Today was different though. Alto was already awake long before the sun rose digging out his equipment he had buried in a forgotten corner of the old attic room. He couldn't live like this forever. He needed to change and today he was doing just that. On this fine morning he was going to set off beyond the city walls and start acting like and adventurer instead of just a coward who blends in with the "NPCs". Once he was geared up Alto said his goodbyes, he wouldn't be coming back here. He didn't want to impose further and if he was going to be doing the adventurer thing he'd be staying at the inn from now on so he could network. He'd come back to visit but he didn't think it was right to live here anymore. Geared up and ready to go the blond wolf hair guardian set off for the frontier land beyond the city walls. He had heard Sarum was a good place to power level. He was two years behind and he needed to level fast. So he needed to go where the bigger, stronger nasties where a and put himself over his head if he wanted to make up for lost time. Getting a mentor was also a good option but he'd worry about one once he got to Sarum. Getting the though meant crossing the greatwood. Now, for an adventure who was experienced crossing it would be easy. Sadly he was not experienced and thus found himself hopelessly lost within a half-hour of entering the woods. Luckily he hadn't run into any monsters yet (he wanted to conserve energy for the bigger things near Sarum) but it was only a matter of time. Alto's search for the path forward was interrupted by a smell he hadn't smelled in years now, waffles. Someo enterprising cook had found a way to make waffles. Alto simply could not ignore the allure of good waffles so he followed his noses and it led him to the cook and the source of the waffle smell. It didn't look great. Whomever this cook was he completely bungled waffles in terms of appearance but the smell... oh the smell, it was just right and despite looking like miserable failures the waffles probably tasted good at least. So Alto decided the onus was on him to break the ice and approach the woodland chef and see if he couldn't get a conversation going, "Hey, I smelled those from a half-mile away. Not bad. Could I... uh... have one?" Made by Zeref of THQ WORDS 546 TAGS Shuwen NOTESIts such a horrible post for how long I made you wait.

[Shuwen]

Words: 371

Being as focused as he was on the waffles, Shuwen didn't eve notice Alto until he spoke up. "Duh huh wha?" He sputtered, spinning in place towards the direction of the new voice. It was a fellow adventurer, and another wolf hair besides. However, that was where their similarities ended. Blond and relatively delicate-looking despite the heavy armor. Or perhaps it was the armor that made him so delicate looking, despite being a Guardian, one of the heavy classes. He looked like the type that would be skinny as a rail if he wasn't wearing said armor. Not that I'm one to talk. The monk thought wryly, before his thoughts returned to the here-and-now. "WAFFLES! Right, you wanted one, right? Yeah, sure!" Pulling out a spare plate, he turned and grabbed the last waffle off of the stove. He'd already eaten his fill, and had been planning to save the last one for later, but this was probably more convenient. "Hope you like 'em without syrup, 'cause I don't have any. Maybe I should work on that next!" Needless to say, the monk hadn't really been prepared for a guest. As a result, the guardian had caught him mentally flat-footed. Hence the babbling.

"So what can I do for you?" He asked Alto as he handed him the waffle. Unfortunately, he'd neglected to include eating utensils. Hopefully, Alto would remind him sooner or later. "I mean, nevermind, you already said what." Backing a way a few steps, he took a deep breath, folding his arms in what was supposed to be a meditative position. Alto may or may not notice this, on account of him possibly being distracted by the waffle. "Hi, my name is Shuwen. And you are..." As the guardian's mouth was full, he didn't bother waiting for an answer, instead opting to look up at his status bar "You are... Alto. Hi. He took another quick look at the guardian's status bar. His level was surprisingly low. As in, low low. Low enough that he couldn't have done much yet. I guess you're just starting out?" He asked, mentally smacking himself for stating something that was both obvious, and possibly a sore point for the significantly younger adventurer.

[Alto]

Awkward, that was a good way to describe the person before Alto. It was also a great way to describe the current situation. Alto had practically barged in on someone he didn't know cooking and had asked for a bite without thinking. In retrospect there were better ways to say hi. In all honesty, for as awkward as the fellow wolf hair before him seemed he also looked strong Really strong in the way only players on the frontline did. Maybe he found a good tutor and guide early? Wouldn't that be something? Alto was shocked when the blue clad monk offered him the waffle he asked for and Alto snatched it hungrily before woofing it down. He didn't mind the lack of syrup nor did he need a knife and fork. Alto just folded it over and ate it like a taco. Honestly it wasn't great. However it was good enough that he nearly cried at being able to eat one of his favorite breakfast foods in over two years. In between bites Alto managed to both breath and speak at the same time. "Its dreadful! SO GOOD! OH MY GOD! Its bland but I don't care I've missed waffles like you've no idea man. I appreciate you letting me eat this. I bet you could making a killing in the market if you sold these with vanilla icecream. Liiiiike an old fashioned icecream cone!" Alto was just so overjoyed that he hadn'y bothered introducing himself or looking at the wolf hair monk's name. Luckily Shuwen was a step ahead of him and did so already. "Alto, low level newbie guardian, uh, at your service I guess? Hi. I'm a bit behind the times yeah. I've been stuck in a rut since the cataclysm and haven't taken to adventuring till now. I'm actually on my way to Sarum to power level and make up for lost time. If you've got nothing better planned you wanna tag along and give me pointers since you seem like a badass adventure who's seen it all?" Alto seemed like an explosion of cheer and entusiasm. He wasn't usually like this but for some reason he just felt like he was in an especially good mood today. Blame the waffles. Made by Zeref of THQ WORDS 376 TAGS Shuwen NOTESAwful post is awful.

[Shuwen]

Words: 451

Alto 's reaction to the waffle was... interesting. On one hand, he heavily indicated that it was dreadful. On the other, it was also the first waffle he'd had since coming to the world of Elder Tale. And then he got it. Ah, he must be one of those guys who've been subsisting on wet rice cracker food. No wonder he didn't care if it tasted bad.

The guardian suggested he start making waffle cones and sell them with ice cream. "Eheheh, maybe some other time." Even as he said that, the numerous practical issues with attempting such a thing began to fly through his head. Improving his skill at waffle making to the point they could be considered sell-able, necessary modifications to the waffle to make it work as a cone, acquiring ice cream despite difficulty finding mechanics, which would probably be necessary to make it. Throwing those on top of the other plans he had, and he could easily tell that it wasn't something he could accomplish in the very near future.

With that out of the way, Alto quickly introduced himself properly, and explained what he was doing. Conscious of his low level, he wanted to head to Sarum and do some powerleveling. The monk shrugged. "Meh. No need to go anywhere to powerlevel. We can just make the monsters come to us!" Without another work of explanation, Shuwen quickly finished the last pancake, and stowed away the containers and utensils he'd used to make them back into his inventory.

Shuwen rummaged through the satchel at his side and pulled out... something.  Something sealed in a tight container of undeterminable make.  But even after he opened the container and pulled out what was inside it, something... terrifying.  Whatever it was, it wasn't something that could be identified on sight. It looked like an unpleasant mixture of something, something, and something. A quick look at the status screen would reveal it's name: "Unmentionable" A not so quick look would reveal it's description and purpose, among other things. It was a food item made via the monster bait recipe, used to attract monsters. Tossing the horrid concoction on the ground, he began scanning the area around him, mostly upwards. "With this out, we should be getting some visitors soon. " As he said that he sprang upwards and forwards, grabbing a sturdy-looking tree branch with both hands. With a heave, he pull himself up. "Let's see how you can handle whatever shows up!"

Of course, beyond the limitations of the food item he'd used, he had no control over what monsters showed up. What kind, how many, how powerful, those would depend on whatever monsters caught wind of the bait first.