Ultimate Level 1

Walking across the stone-paved street, Max stared at the sign taking up a large portion of the shop's second story.

The name, Big Buns, made him chuckle every time he glanced at it, and the massive buns painted on both sides of those words made it stand out even more.

The smell from the place made his mouth water long before he made it up the steps and into the shop.

Big windows allowed a lot of light inside the place and three counters were taking up most of the retail space. Inside were a mixture of male and female employees selling bread, cakes, muffins, and many other baked items. The shop was bustling, and the smell was intoxicating.

A massive board hung from the ceiling with the specials for the day and prices.

Behind all the organized chaos of baked goods being sold to patrons, Max saw the man in charge standing next to two young teenagers piping frosting on top of some cupcakes. His watchful eyes never left their hands as they piped out the frosting in a controlled manner.

Moving to the counter, Max waited, watching in fascination as he remembered those times he had gotten to do those very things. Part of him yearned for it, and with a twinge of pain, he felt the [Baker] skill he had called out to him, desiring to be used.

“Can I help you?”

A young woman, probably a few years older than him, stood to the right with flour on her arms and her apron covered in frosting smudges.

He smiled and noticed her blue eyes and green hair.

Green hair? That must be colored…

“I’m here because Big D… I mean Dick from across the street asked me to come and give [Baker] Wright his order.”

The girl flashed him a smile, nodded, and motioned to the man he wanted, pointing out a few small mistakes and demonstrating the best way to apply the frosting.

“I can take the order if you want, or you can wait a few minutes and let him finish up the training he is giving those two.”

“Learning possible skills for Choosing Day?”

She nodded, and a frown appeared on her face. “I doubt either of them will actually end up choosing this profession. They don’t like the early mornings and long days.”

“And do you?”

Shrugging, she let out a groan as she brushed off some of the flour on her arms. “I have lived this life since the day I was born. I doubt my father would have let me be anything else. By the way, I’m Aimee.”

She held out her hand, and Max gave it a shake, feeling the strength in her fingers from all the kneading and mixing she must do every day.

“Seth. I must admit I loved my baking experience. Part of me wishes I could still do it.”

Aimee’s eyebrow raised as she leaned her head slightly to the side. “You like baking?”

Unable to hold back his excitement, Max nodded, leaning against the counter as he watched her father fly through the cupcakes on the marble counter, layering icing with speed and precision that showed he had a lifetime of experience.

“If given the chance, I would gladly spend a day or two doing it again. Nothing more fulfilling than seeing the final product other than getting to taste it or see someone else enjoy it.”

Aimee grinned, nodding in agreement as she listened to Max. “Can I ask what you do now?”

Being silly, Max puffed out his chest and struck a pose. “Can’t you tell I’m an adventurer?”

Laughing, Aimee shook her head. “And yet you still want to practice baking?”

“What can I say? I miss it. I’d take it in a heartbeat if given the chance to bake for one more moment.”

Gently biting her lip, Aimee glanced back at her father and then turned to Max. “Stay here a moment, let me see how much longer he has.”

Max had watched as Aimee and her father spoke for a few minutes. She had run off to the back as her dad moved to the counter. His forearms were massive, and his brown hair was tied back in a ponytail. Clean-shaven, the man reminded Max of a baker back in his hometown. No one liked hair in their bread.

“[Baker] Wright,” the man said, wiping his hands off on his apron before extending one toward Max. “My daughter tells me you need to give me the order for Dick and his wife.”

Bobbing his head, Max shook the man’s hand, feeling his grip but smiling as it was nothing compared to his current strength.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I am. Mr. Dick seems to be unable to decide, and after trying the three deserts you sent over, we both were unable to pick a better one. The perfect blend of the orange with the coffee in the small cake and the contrasting icing was unbelievable. Yet, if I am correct, that red velvet cupcake was moist and unbelievably satisfying with its hint of ermine frosting, which left me wanting even more. And then on the last one –”

[Baker] Wright held up his hand, laughing and waving off Max’s description of his treats. “My boy, you seem to know more about those desserts than some of my own staff. I thought Aimee was teasing me when she said you wished you could bake still, but after listening to you just now, I see it’s not a lie.”

Shrugging, Max smiled as he scratched a cheek. “What can I say? Nothing better than fresh baked goods.”

The man nodded, a grin displaying his agreement with Max’s statement.

A few seconds later, Aimee appeared again with an apron rolled up and a smile that ran from ear to ear.

“Seems you were right, dear. This boy does love baking. If you don’t mind taking over the counter and putting Dick down for forty of each dessert, I am going to see what this young man can do.”

Aimee handed the apron to Max who was standing there, dumbfounded, as the [Baker] turned and moved back toward the cooking and prep area.

“Good luck,” she whispered as Max glanced down at his apron. “And stop standing there with your mouth open and make me look good.”

Chuckling, Max nodded, slipping the apron over his shoulder and mouthing the words thank you to her as she watched him walk around the counter and toward her father who was waiting.

Standing in Wright’s cooking area flooded Max with memories he had or at least tried to forget. So many emotions fought for his attention, but the sounds of fingers snapping won over all of them.

“Little overwhelmed?”

“You might say that sir,” Max admitted as he glanced at the area they were standing in. “It has been a while.”

The [Baker] nodded, pointed to the raw material shelf, and then tapped the stone counter.

“I’m going to do something I probably would never do, but since you were able to tell me all those things about my desserts just from one taste, I am willing to give you free rein of my kitchen.

The man leaned his head toward Max and spoke in a low voice. “As long as you don’t break anything or burn something, I’ll count this as a win. Show me what you got. I’ll check in when you say you are done.”

With that, the man moved back toward the stone counter that was still covered with uniced cupcakes and began checking on the two teens who were still struggling to get the icing right.

With another glance at everything around him, Max got to work.

The first thing he did was find out all the different materials and ingredients available to work with. The flour was fresh, the eggs were perfect, and the rune-covered cooling area had a variety of creams, milk, and other more exotic ingredients.

There was a range of cooking ovens, each kept at a different temperature and all again powered by a magic rune system he had only seen once.

This man must make a lot of money to keep these working like this.

With his research done, Max got to work, collecting his ingredients and tools.

He felt spunky, having tasted the man’s orange and coffee cupcake. He had gotten to play with those ingredients a few times and knew what he needed to do. The skill was reminding him of the recipe he had read a few times and the hours spent practicing those things.

Time flew by as he made the coffee, strained it, measured it, and added it to his mixture. He then took a little of the coffee and smashed the grounds to a fine powder, adding it to the bowl. He had seen [Baker] Wright’s eyes widen a little when he realized what Max was attempting, but he stayed away, just occasionally watching before returning to the tasks he had.

There had been the occasional small bobs of the man's head as Wright realized Max was doing things right.

Max had three cupcake trays out, pouring three variations of the cupcake batter. Each tray had a slightly different amount of orange zest and coffee as he wasn’t sure of the exact ratios and wanted to have a way to pick the best one.

As those began baking, Max started working on the icing, mixing the sugar and other materials together. He caught Aimee watching him and even heard her start to ask a question before her dad cut her off. When he added a little mint to the ingredients, he saw a small smile appear on the man.

He kept an eye on the cupcakes he saw when it was time and pulled them out. Letting them rest a moment, he then took them into the cooling area and set them on a rack. While they cooled, he got to work, scooping the perfect frosting texture into a piping bag and selecting the tip he wanted.

Max smiled when he stood back, with three dozen cupcakes all looking like the one he had taken a bite of a few hours ago.

[ 1 Experience Gained ]

What the hell?!ONE experience? For all that?!

“You ok?”

Realizing he was scowling, Max looked up and saw [Baker] Wright looking at him.

“There is nothing wrong visually with any of those. In fact, I would use some of these as examples for the teens I had here today.”

The man was genuinely smiling at Max as he motioned to them. “Don’t worry too much. From what I saw, I have no doubts how these will taste. I will even admit I was amazed you used the mint. Most wouldn’t have picked up on that.”

“I just…” Max let out a sigh, pausing for a moment. “I love baking, but I often wondered how it would have been if I had gotten it. As an adventurer, leveling up isn’t easy, but it is fast for a while. How long does it take to level up as a [Baker]?”

Wright groaned, closing his eyes and rotating his head on his shoulders.

“I don’t like talking about that. On a good day, I might earn three experience, but most days are one and two. I slaved away for a year before I got my first level. After that…”

The man paused, seeing Max wince at that knowledge. “I have heard it is much faster for an adventurer. One has to choose, though. Safety of baking or risking life and limb. I’m content to be safe every night when I lay my head in bed.”

“I can see how that might be the case but still, a year of non-stop baking for one level. That seems… unfair.”

Laughing, the man nodded and then gave a short whistle, beckoning his daughter to come to him.

“Now for the real moment. The three of us will see just how well you did, after all, Adventurer Seth.”

More nervous than when he fought the kobold boss, Max watched the man and his daughter pick up a cupcake and move it toward their mouth.