This question surprised the Auxiliary a.s.sociation's recruiter. Usually, when people approached him, they were interested in becoming a blacksmith or a gunsmith. He quickly picked up his pace and began his explanation

"Well, not even a hundred years ago, when some of the early adventurers killed a bunch of elves, they found out that the food those elves had on themselves temporarily boosted their health and stamina recovery. Apparently, the ingredients the elves used were rich in Mana. Since then we tried incorporating magical ingredients in our own cuisine with varied success and that is how the profession of a chef was born. In the Soul war plane, if you do something long enough with a proper goal in mind, the system can recognize it as job, and give you benefits based on your proficiency. We never figured out why that happens, but the main theory is that the system is extremely greedy for karmic points and will look for any means to rip us off" He chuckled, examined Leon once again and then added:

"Don't think of this as an easy job, because you will have to help feed the armies! Thousands upon thousands of soldiers and adventurers require food every day. And from the complains I hear, you won't be getting that many karmic points for your efforts"

He then took out a map from his system inventory and showed it to Leon pointing to a certain location

"If you are still interested, go along this street, it is a modern looking building not far from here, with a big Auxiliary a.s.sociation sign above the entrance, you won't be able to miss it. There you will find someone that will give you further instructions"

Leon thanked him for the information and went on his way.

'Magical ingredients, well this takes cooking to a whole new level. I will have to learn about a bunch of new stuff about this world. I just didn't expect that one of them would even be cooking and new ingredients.' Leon contemplated.

He was a great chef before his retirement. After Irene's death, he spent a lot of time buried in his work, in order to cope with the loss. Only when his grandson John was born in 2008. did he decide to retire in order to spend time with him.

On his way to the Auxiliary a.s.sociation, Leon noticed many stalls on the street. People were either selling their items or trying to strike a bargain.

"Modern weaponry, get yourself guns with Mana imbued bullets. Really useful against those pesky Goblins!" ...

"Magic artifacts that defend you from mental attacks. You can't fight Demons without them!"...

Those were just some of the shouts that could be heard from the stall owners. Behind them, be it random houses, or stores, all kind of different structures could be seen. If the architectural design existed somewhere on Earth, it could be found here.

'Just how vast is this city' Leon wondered, when the building he was searching for appeared in his sight. Many people were either entering or leaving through the main entrance, and while it took some time, Leon walked through it un.o.bstructed, appearing in a grand hallway. In front of him was a sizable stairwell that led to the higher floors, and on the sides were counters with signs that explained their purpose. It was as if he walked in to a bank. He soon found the counter that he needed and approached the person that was working behind it.

"I am here to apply for a chef's position" He blurted confidently.

The guy behind the counter lifted his head and after a.s.sessing Leon for a few seconds informed him:

"You must be a newcomer. You can't apply to be a chef without receiving a proper training. Head out to the fifth floor, and find Mackenzie there, she'll show you the ropes."

Feeling a little annoyed, Leon proceed to climb the stairs towards his destination. He noticed that no matter how many people were walking on the stairs, there were no irritating sounds of pounding, as if they were magically silenced. It was a whole different thing when he finally arrived on the fifth floor, where loud shouts could be heard.

"How many times have I told you idiots not to mix magical ingredients randomly!? You can blow this building up if you are not careful or worse, poison someone! Oh, for crying out loud, get your heads out of your a.s.ses and pay attention. Why, oh why did I sign up for this?"

A woman dressed in a white chef's outfit yelled out towards five other people that were in front of her. Right next to them, black smoke was coming out of the room that was most likely a kitchen. into the hallway.

It was then that Leon approached from behind and inquired

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"h.e.l.lo, I am looking for a woman named Mackenzie regarding the chef's position" even though he suspected that she was right in front of him.

The woman turned around and immediately noticed Leon's appearance. Frowning her eyebrows she blurted:

"Oh, another one of you newbies, go and join these idiots in cleaning the kitchen while I get back. It will take me a few hours so try not to destroy the kitchen while I'm gone." and then left the fifth floor hallway.

Feeling the tension among the other five people Leon introduced himself

"h.e.l.lo, I am Leon Swain, are you training for the chef's position as well?" He questioned.

"Hah, training my a.s.s, that woman is a complete nightmare, all she does is yell and criticize, And lets not even mention the constant insulting. You know what I just had enough of it" One guy said turning around to leave.

"Me too, I'll go look for a better job, maybe I can still be accepted as a hunter" Another one of them added.

"Nice to meet you Leon, I am Jane, but if you are staying here, I doubt that we will be seeing each other soon" A woman named Jane concluded.

"Yeah mate, see ya."

Soon Leon was left alone in the hallway of the fifth floor while everyone else left in a different direction.

'She couldn't be that bad, could she?' he thought and entered the kitchen from which the black smoke was still rising.

There, he saw five kitchen counters, one in front clearly used for demonstration, facing the other four. On one of the other four counters, a pan was placed on what Leon could barely distinguish to be a range because everything around it was charred out.

Having spent half of his life in the kitchen, he soon found cleaning supplies he needed and started scrubbing. What he discovered really amazed him. Apparently this was not an electric range he was familiar with, but one most likely powered by Mana, because after cleaning it for 15 minutes, he discovered magic runes drawn on top where the switches usually were.

Just like a mischievous child would, Leon started pressing on the runes in order to figure out how they worked. It really wasn't that difficult since the runes followed a clear pattern: the more lines the rune that he pressed had - the higher the temperature of the stove got. Intrigued, Leon checked around the kitchen and found out that none of the familiar looking equipment used electricity.

It was at that point that the smoke cleared out and Leon saw a handwritten note with the ingredient's names on it. He recognized every one of them, It was basically a recipe of a beef stew, almost the same one he made every other Sunday when his grandchildren came to visit.

Having nothing better to do while waiting for Mackenzie to return, and feeling a little bit nostalgic as well, Leon started gathering the ingredients from the recipe around the kitchen.