Marco places a cloche onto his plate of benedict and brings it to the judging table that someone set up in the dining area. Lucas is beside him placing his covered dish next to Marco’s on the table and stepping back to await judging.


    “I am Nelson Iceborn and I will be the judge today!” The dwarf with ice white hair introduces himself. “I am a gourmet that has traveled the realms of Omnia in search of delicious food for the last four centuries. I look forward to trying your offerings.”


    “I will try the left dish first.” Nelson lifts the cloche on Lucas’s dish. A messy plate covered by a large, browned pancake, soft scrambled eggs, seared tomatoes with garlic, and slightly too crispy bacon.


    “There is bacon fat on the rim, and everything is just scooped onto the plate, no thoughts for plating. I bet those seared tomatoes taste really good though.”


    Nelson grabs a fork and begins to sample everything on the plate, starting with a small bit of pancake, he makes appreciative noises and moves on to the scrambled eggs, pushing them around a bit, looking at the separation of the scramble. “Not bad! Great seasoning and the pancake is perfectly sweet.”


    Nelson says while continuing to move through the plate. He grunts and pulls a face when he eats the bacon, not going back for a second bite. The dwarf pops a tomato into his mouth and smiles, “These tomatoes are very good!”


    “I give this plate a seven out of ten.” Nelson declares. Lucas looks affronted but still prideful and smug toward Marco.


    “Onto the next plate!” Nelson pulls the cloche from Marco’s plate, pausing slightly in shock at the beautiful plate. “I am unfamiliar with this dish if the competitor responsible can explain what we are looking at.”


    Marco steps forward, “I have prepared a Smoked Salmon Benedict for you today along with some panfried hashbrowns seasoned with paprika and garlic.”


    “Most excellent! This is one of the most interesting plates I have ever seen.” Nelson says, grabbing a new fork and breaking the poached egg and looking in glee at the soft yolk within. He tries a bite of the benedict, managing to fit everything onto the fork and nearly moans with pleasure.


    “Incredible! You have created something I have never tried before. What is this flavor in the sauce that I can’t figure out.” Nelson asks, trying the crispy hashbrown and having a similar reaction.


    “Olive brine in the hollandaise sauce.” Marco says.


    “Innovative! Incredible! Ten out of Ten! Congratulations!” Nelson spouts with fervor.


    Lucas stomps his feet and storms into the kitchen, yelling and slamming noises can be heard even from the dining area.


    *Ping* Congratulations! You have won a Challenge


    The System will enforce Fairness in Chef Lucas’s Kitchen from now on


    Henceforth, it shall be a place of communication and respect.


    All is Fair Under the Sun!


    Farewell.


    The gathered crowd all watch in wonder as a small obelisk grows from the space between the doors to the kitchen topped with the nine-pointed star of the Sunlight System.


    Marco approaches the new pillar and rests a hand atop it and is rewarded with a System notification.


    *Ping* Forevermore, this place shall be considered Sunlit and Fairness shall reign.


    Whispers question if that is another Sunlit Pillar or something similar but Marco just basks in his small victory over a tired old Chef who has lost his love and passion for the work. He sees his friends and teammates and heads their way, accepting compliments and congratulations from many people on his short walk toward them.


    “Congratulations Marco!” Ben claps him on the back in excitement. “That dish looked great other than the smoked salmon.”


    “Thank you, Ben!” Marco says, “It was really fun to stretch those muscles again.”


    Shen and Lucia congratulate him as well, and they sit down to enjoy a mediocre breakfast, the effort put into the oat porridge and sliced fruit minimal while everyone was watching the cook-off. They are swarmed while they eat, most people asking Marco where he came up with the ideas and how he pulled off the dish in just an hour. He answers between bites of oats and fruit, explaining a little bit of his background and the steps he went through in the competition.


    They all manage to slip out of the dining area, away from all of the well wishes and congratulations, and up toward the Guildhall to find a Gold Rank job for them to complete.


    *Ping* Gold Rank Jobs Available:


    <ol>


    <li> Knights Spotted (0/2)</li>


    <li> Devil’s Dead Dungeon Clear (0/1)</li>


    <li> Lesser Abomination Spotted (0/1)</li>


    </ol>


    “Sun! A lesser Abomination would be a rough fight.” Ben says, “Marco, your [Salt Circle] would probably wreak havoc on the jumble of bones though.”


    “Is it at all similar to the Root Abomination we fought in that dungeon?” Marco questions.


    “In someways, it is a jumble of bones animated by [Curse] Mana just like the Root Abomination was a bunch of roots and flora animated by [Earth] and [Water].” Ben explains. “Undead Abominations usually have a secondary element; from what I’ve heard [Fire] and [Earth] are the most common.”


    “Interesting, that sounds like it would be a difficult fight. Do we just stick with the Knights?” Marco asks.


    “That is probably the wise course of action. With multiple Knights present we may see an Archer or Rogue Variant as well.” Shen says, “I don’t think the Archer would be much additional challenge with Marco and Lucia but a Rogue would be tricky.”


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    They decided to accept the first option, everyone returning to the barracks to gather gear and anything they left behind in the room. Marco slips into his chest armor, leaving the warm cloak behind as usual and leaving the hood down.


    The party makes their way to the ground floor, greeting Gatekeeper Renee and leaving once the gate is raised, once more into the gray world of the Deadwoods.


    Marco follows the directions to the last known report of the pair of Knights and they pick up speed, occasionally having to stop to reduce a roaming patrol to bone dust. They reach the last known location after about an hour of running at high speed, the furthest they have ventured into the Deadwoods thus far.


    Marco summons his [Salt Skin] and scans the woods for any monsters, not immediately seeing anything. “I’m not seeing anyt-” Marco has to dive out of the way of an [Air] arrow, the projectile obliterating the tree behind him.


    “Archer at two o’clock! [Air] Affinity!” Shen calls, raising a [Rampart] to chest height and crouching behind it slightly. Marco pushes himself to his knees and hides behind the rampart and watches as Lucia disappears into the shadows to attack the Knight and Ben summons his [Hyperion Plate], the soft yellow plates of hardlight protecting the Healer.


    [Salt Shots] and [Salt Bolts] begin to appear around Marco with startling speed, his increased usage of Mana increasing his proficiency with [Salt]. He looks over the top of the [Rampart] and sees the Archer variant Knight in the distance, Lucia carving through the [Air] armor with [Dark Slash] and her burning debuffs. He launches his bolts at the Archer, the [Salt Shot] blunt damage not effective against the swirling [Air] armor.


    As the Archer knight is peppered with piercing damage and struggling to hold its [Air] armor together, Marco sees the other Knight.


    Arriving at the head of a small horde of minions, a [Fire] Affinity Knight wrapped in flaming armor and with heavy fist weapons conjured around its hands.


    “Minions! Watch for the swarm!” Marco calls to his party members, letting his [Salt Shots] streak across the clearing and into the melee Knight.


    The dozen impacts shred the [Fire] armor into wisps of smoke and embers and a single [Salt Shot] punches through the fifteen foot tall monster’s ribcage.


    Lucia is dancing around the Archer mob, it unable to hit her at such close range with its preferred weapon and her small dual knives not doing a ton of lasting damage.


    "Marco! Switch!” Lucia calls, falling back into her shadow and appearing behind the [Fire] Knight and driving her own dark-wreathed blades into the side of its skull.


    A massive explosion of [Salt Strike] rips through the [Air] Archer and sends it to the ground where a handful of [Focused Beams] snuff out the [Curse] Mana within.


    Shen is wreaking havoc on the minions, conjuring a field of spikes under their feet and then smashing them into it with [Hammer of Granite].


    “Hmm, that may be a new spell. Go Shen!” Marco thinks to himself, pivoting back to the [Fire] Knight and the rest of the minions.


    Marco cups his hands together and casts [Salt Circle], retching his hands apart violently and spreading [Salt] Mana throughout the clearing.


    The undead go berserk, feeling the sharp Mana begin to eat away at the [Curse] Mana within them. Bones become brittle and rotten flesh dries and falls out revealing pitted bone beneath.


    “I’ve really have to use this spell more often.” Marco thinks to himself, embarrassed that he didn’t lead with it.


    The [Fire] Knight, sluggish from the debuffing [Salt Circle], finally falls to one knee and [Hammer of Granite] ends its existence.


    “Lucia! That switch worked perfectly. Good call.” Marco says, holding up his hand for a high five.


    The gathered party looks at him funny and he has to explain what a high five is. After that they all high five and begin to look for loot or forageables.


    The party members chat and discuss what they would do differently next time, not noticing the bones moving slightly or the orb of green Mana that falls into the biggest stack of bones.


    The bones snap together, finally alerting the party to the Lesser Abomination forming in their midst.


    “Oh shit! Gather up and form a bunker. Lets hope it is just a small one without a secondary element.” Ben calls, casting [Shield of Hardlight] on all of the party members and tossing a [Field of Wisps] onto the battlefield, hopefully enough to slow it a touch.


    Marco renews [Salt Circle] and begins to conjure as many [Salt Shot] projectiles as his Mana allows.


    Shen casts his newest spell [Caltrops] and the field of earthen spikes returns to the clearing and then pulls a massive circular [Rampart] from the ground to protect the party.


    The grotesque pile of bones lets out a warbling roar, and tentacles of bone and rotten flesh form from the blob-shaped monster.


    The lightly green glowing appendages slam down into the [Rampart], rending several large chunks off of the structure. Shen grunts, sweating heavily and tries to repair the damage but the tentacles strike again, breaking the spell apart.


    “Looks like we are facing this monster in the open.” Lucia calls before falling back into her shadow, appearing from a nearby shadow of a tree and launching a fast series of [Dark Slash] at the horrifying monster.


    The crescent projectiles hit and carve off several bones but the monster doesn’t seem to notice. Small pock marks are beginning to form in the outer monster portions of the monster’s body, courtesy of [Salt Circle].


    Marco launches his two dozen projectiles at the monster, the bolts digging through flesh and brittle bone to strike at the [Curse] Mana within but they don’t manage to penetrate deep enough to wound the monster permanently.


    Ben follows Marco’s attack with a bunch of [Focused Beams], targeting the holes where [Salt Bolt] lanced into the body, hoping to damage the core. The monster roars in agony and one of the beams makes contact with the [Curse] Mana within, striking out blindly with massive bone tentacles.


    Shen is flung away in the trees, Ben following him with [Lightspeed] and glowing with [Light] Mana. The Healer quickly gets the Tank back into fighting shape and they both charge back into the fray, [Hammer of Granite] growing larger by the second.


    Shen brings the greathammer down in a punishing blow, blowing away rotten flesh and bone and exposing the Mana core within. Marco capitalizes on the opening and blasts a [Salt Strike] into the body of the Abomination, ending its suffering.


    Every member of the party collapses immediately, sprawling out on the ground and gasping for breath. Tired from the fight and healing they had all received from the countless tentacles waving around.


    Ben, on the ground like everyone else, pushes out his [Healing Aura] a new wide-area spell he had developed. The spell constantly heals a small amount every second, not enough to close big wounds or get rid of bruises but enough to keep someone on their feet and full of energy.


    “We are so lucky that was a Lesser Abomination without a secondary element.” Marco groans from the ground, struggling to sit up.


    “Indeed, if it had any extra tricks, it might have put one of us out of the fight early on and then we would have been in a bad situation.” Shen says, rolling over and pushing himself to his feet. His armor dissolving into Mana around him, making movement a bit easier.


    Marco follows suit, dismissing [Salt Skin] and managing to make it to his feet with a groan. “We did it though! Two Knights, one of them a Variant, and a Lesser Abomination. Good job team.”


    As everyone makes it to their feet, they move close to Marco and give him a high five with a large smile.


    “You too Marco!” Lucia says.