[F4|PP] A Leisure Stroll

[Zajcica 0]

It seemed like it was literal days away from the boss fight. For months, she had been grinding these levels in order to help the frontliners get through this boss fight with a reliable tank for one of their groups. In order to get herself prepared, she needed to get away from the grind of higher floors. Down to floor four, the desolate and chilly snowstorm of an environment. A great place to get away from the bustle of the fighting and clear her head. At this point, the girl didn't even need to be wearing her armor, so she didn't bother with it whatsoever.

It was so relaxing to finally take a break. NIGHT had really pushed her to getting away from the battlefield. Yet even still, just walking outside of the safe zone could put anyone in danger. Whether that danger was lethal or laughable was up to the person. As a giant ice golem loomed over her, she hardly reacted to it. She stepped past it as though it didn't matter at all. Any onlooker would just see the golem raising it's club of an arm ready to smash the tiny, unarmed pink haired girl into the snow.

Spoiler

Name: Zajčica
Level: 68
HP: 1570/1570
EN: 136/136

Stats:
Damage: 18
Mitigation: 177
Evasion: -1
BH:78
TAUNT
H.M.:1
THRNS:54
FL. AURA:30

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Trap of Argalia (T3/Perfect/THAS): DMG III
Armor: Jack's Plate (T3/Perfect/HA): Fl. Aura II; Taunt
Misc: Trap's Bite: (T3/Perfect/HA): Thorns II; HM I

Skills:
One-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 1]
Heavy Armor [Rank 5]
Two-Handed Assault Spear [Rank 5]
Battle Healing [Rank 5]
Parry [Obtained]
Howl [Obtained]
Block [Rank 5]
Extended Mod Limit III [Obtained]
Searching [Rank 2]

Extra Skills:
Concentration
Familiar Mastery: Defender
Survival

Mods:
Athletics
Stonewall
Rampart
Vengeful Riposte
Emergency Recovery
Mark
Focused Howl


Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleportation Crystal*1
Immolation+2*5
Ration+2*4

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Tasty: Turn 2 identical food items into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Angler: +1 material gained when fishing
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild:
Tanos Statue: +15 Mitigation for a thread.

Wedding Ring:

 

[Endilix 0]

Endilix trudged through the snow to the fourth floor. He had long since become accustomed to the snow that surrounded him, but he still couldn't help but wonder with regret how different it would have been to live on a floor that was an island paradise instead. His steel boots left stamps in the snow as he pressed through the snowstorm to his small bar. He had spent yet another day helping train low levels on the basics of defending themselves in the death game. It was a thankless job, especially because Endilix is high enough level that he got nothing out of it. But it was rewarding morally, and made him feel better in the end.

As he stamped his way through the snow, he couldn't help but notice a girl walking along one of the paths in the snow. If you could call anything in the snow devastated landscape a path. She is alone, unarmored, and they were out in the middle of monster territory. His eyes followed her, with snow building on his brow and shoulders, before he noticed the golem shifting through the nearby trees. Endilix figured the girl would have noticed the monster, but to his horror she just kept walking along as if nothing was happening around her. Time seemed to slow down as Endilix watched the golem notice the girl and lift up its icy arm.

Without thinking, Endilix snapped his hammer and shield into existence, before charging the girl. His body seemed to move faster than his brain could process his actions, and he held the grotesque pumpkin lid over his head as the fist slammed down it. Endilix gave a heavy grunt as he held the arm up, and turned his head to the girl with a smile, hoping that now she had broken out of her little bubble and noticed what is going on around her. His green eyes scanned the girl from beneath the masquerade mask he wore. She's cute, and definitely didn't seem like she is someone who should be wandering around alone. 

Immediately after the golem's strike landed on the shield, thorns began to grow around the golem's arm, and it ripped away with a cry of pain and ice shards flying everywhere. The thorns receded back into the shield and Endilix casually adjusted his stance to prepare for the next blow. "It's probably not safe to just be standing around with no gear or weapons. Stay behind me. I'll keep you safe," Endilix said coolly, his confidence brimming. This is why he spent all his days training with the low levels. To protect them. To save the damsels when it mattered. It was his time to shine.

Spoiler

Current Level: 17
HP: 340
EP: 34

Crusher Equipped:

DMG Base (One-Handed Warhammer): 5

Crippler Equipped:

DMG Base (One-Handed Warhammer): 2
Paralyze: Paralyzed Enemy on BD 9 or 10

Standard Equipment:

Mitigation: 35 Damage
Thorns: 18 DMG to Attacker on Hit
Bloodclot: Immune to Bleed

Equipped:

• Crusher (T1 Rare One-Handed Warhammer)
  • Damage - 2 Slots
• Armor of the Sands (T1 Perfect Armor)
  • Damage Mitigation - 2 Slots
  • Thorns - 1 Slot
• Pumpkin Shield (T1 Perfect Shield)
  • Damage Mitigation - 1 Slots
  • Thorns - 1 Slots
  • Bloodclot
• Masquerade Mask - Blue and Sliver (Vanity)

Battle Ready:

• Crippler (T1 Uncommon One-Handed Warhammer)
  • Paralyze - 1 Slot

Utility skills:
►Concentration (Extra)

Weapon skills:
►One-Handed War Hammer: Rank 2 - Journeyman

• Sword Arts:
  • Rank 1:
    • Power Strike - x2 Stun - (5 Energy) - A slam that creates a small earthquake.
    • Upper Swing - x3 - (3 Energy) - A pair of upward swings that aim for the skull of the opponent.
  • Rank 2:
    • Strike Heart - x4 Stun - (7 Energy) - A pair of consecutive angular swings, succeeded by a thrust at the target's heart.

Combat skills:
►Howl
►Battle Healing: Rank 1 - Novice

Armor skills:
►Heavy Armor: Rank 1 - Novice

Skill Mods:
►[Howl Mod] Focused Howl

Edited February 22, 2021 by Endilix

[Zajcica 0]

The golem wasn't anything to worry about. Yuki didn't care much about it's presence, if anything all it was doing was ruining her peaceful walk. The paladin simply walked past it. If it struck her, it would probably have a hard time doing anything other than breaking it's arm on her.

Yet, when it thought it was going to pummel her like a nail into wood, a friendly player jumped in to "save" her. As if she really needed it. Yuki wasn't a total dick though, so she wasn't going to ruin his moment. In this situation, he was probably thinking that she was a low level player who wandered out of the safe zone by accident.

The paladin smiled and played up the act. "Oh, thank you sir. I was so lost in thought, I almost got myself killed! I'm so lucky that you were here." Yuki said as she backed up and watched him take on the golem. She wondered how good of a fighter this man is since he would so carelessly jump in to protect an innocent. There's no way he could be higher than Tier 1, but his shield interested her.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix couldn't help but feel his heart swell at the girl's praise. This was what he lived for ever since he got trapped in this death game. But he had best not get ahead of himself, so he gave her a nod and refocused his attention on the golem.

The golem's arm had been torn to shreds by the thorns of his shield, and he didn't figure that it was that strong of a creature. Not that the creatures they would find would be incredibly powerful this low on the floor count, but that was neither here nor there. Endilix wasn't especially high level so he couldn't get too far ahead of himself. If he were a dozen floors up, this wouldn't be such a cakewalk.

Not wanting to waste any time, Endilix readied his strongest sword art. He couldn't do a massive amount of damage, but it should be enough to send the golem packing. Taking a breath, and centering himself, he ran at the golem, smashing the arm that attempted to block his blows out of the way and finishing his combo with a solid strike to the chest. Endilix couldn't help the boyish grin that drew across his face as the golem exploded into pixels around him. If nothing else, Endilix was at least happy to see that he was gaining experience for once, even if it was only a little. He really did spend far too much time killing level 1 mobs.

And so, with the golem dispatched and Endilix's head having grown two sizes bigger this day, he turned to the girl and said, "So, how about that, huh? You're safe, and nobody is any the worse for wear. How about we get you back to the safe zone and we can continue this chat in a more... intimate setting." Endilix gave a wink and urged the girl to follow his lead back to town.

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki clapped softly at his accomplishments. The enemy was taken down with one decisive swing. If she was a careless noob with no understanding of the game, she might have been instantly swooned for his courageousness. Unfortunately, Yuki wasn't a level one noob. She was a fully seasoned frontliner. The enemy he took down was several leagues lower of a level than he was. Of course he would destroy it.

He offered to escort Yuki to town on the basis of getting to a much more intimate setting, whatever that meant. The girl went along with it for now, maybe she could just play him off a hero and move on as to not hurt his ego. That was quickly changed as the paladin's ears perked. The sound of stomping slowly getting louder. Something was getting closer, much more quickly than it seemed. Within seconds, trees collapsed around them and a massive troll emerged. It growled in anger, it's health bar signifying it was a dangerous enemy for such a level given it had three of them.

If this guy really was in the first Tier she knew he would struggle with this enemy. Maybe he could find the time to flee, but facing it one on one would get him killed. If he tried to protect her he would surely die. Yuki wasted zero time in getting absolutely serious. The massive jousting lance she called a spear formed in her hand. She didn't even need to equip her armor since it was unnecessary and time consuming.

Instead of running away from the beast, she ran straight at it. It's giant claws attempted to tear her in half, but even the stable as stone tank that she was could move swiftly. Weaving right through the attacks, she slammed her foot in the ground, kicking more snow off the ground than the Troll did when it crashed through the trees as she activated one of the strongest sword arts in the game. The piercing golden-pink lance pierced the boss. It's three heal bars depleted instantly and it exploded into data.

Yuki turned back to Endilix, twirling the lance with absolute ease and grace. A giant smile was painted on her expression. "That should make us even then. Nice to meet you, I'm Yuki. Front line tank and grandmaster cook."

[Endilix 0]

Endilix tried his best to think of what to say to the girl as they walked. He had to find some way to woo her before they got to town. Provided his amazing tanking skills hadn't already done so. Though based on her demeanor, she didn't seem exactly smitten with him. He did find himself hoping that she was actually into guys. That would be just his luck. Save a cute girl, be a badass tank, and she turns out to be a lesbian.

These thoughts were shaken from him as the ground started to rumble beneath them. He looked around, waiting for the next threat to appear, only for it to be a massive dangerous troll, far stronger than what Endilix would have expected. Was most likely a wandering world boss. Just his luck. With what little common sense Endilix had rolling around in his head, he opened his mouth to call for the girl to run, while he decided if he was going to run the fool's errand of trying to protect her or not. He knew he wouldn't be able to take this thing alone. But if he saved her, then that would just have to be good enough.

Yet, before he could utter a single word, she had materialized her weapon, a rather fancy lance. Not something Endilix would expect a low level to have. And then it happened. In an instant the monster was gone, exploding into pixels around them.

Endilix turned as white as a sheet, and managed to get a shade whiter than even that as she explained that she was a frontline tank and grandmaster cook. "No... no way," was all Endilix managed to stammer, as his ego deflated like a balloon. This girl couldn't have even been remotely impressed by him. He was a joke to her! If he had let the golem be, she probably would've just had to look at it and it would implode. 

Endilix felt weak. His knees buckled and his steel kneepads struck the snow with a hard crunch as he looked at the ground. He had spent all this time trying to impress all the low levels with his bravado and ability only to realize that even here on one of the lowest floors he was nothing when it came to the best players in the game. Endilix stared at his gauntlet, before clenching his fist. He slammed it into the snow, sending a splash of the white powder into the air. "I've wasted so much time!" he shouted into the wind swirling around him.

He knew this girl wouldn't understand. Probably wouldn't even care. She was a frontliner, and was probably just mocking him. Just like the frontliners used to do.

[Zajcica 0]

The paladin returned her weapon to her hammerspace. It seemed that her actions had really hurt his pride, but without a doubt, if she didn't kill this boss, he would have surely sacrificed himself for her. She knew it because she would have done the same thing in her shoes. He knelt to the ground, talking about how he had wasted his time. That made the girl frown. She walked over to him and knelt down on her knees.

"Hey, I wasn't going to reveal it, but the situation was dire and I didn't want you do something reckless." She said trying to comfort him. "I think your more brave than many other players I've met leveling. There are some greedy and vindictive people that would have laughed as a low level player was smashed into nothing but dust." She rested her hand softly on his, her betrothed ring made apparent now. "You were quiet impressive based simply on how you reacted to the situation. You're a truly wonderful tank that women would swoon for, in my opinion."

His motives were clear to the pinkette. Many might find that scummy, but she herself fell into that trap of loving your fame.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix hadn't looked up from the snow as he heard her footfalls crunching in the snow. He expected the worst. Scorn, disappointment, or worse, death. If she could take down a monster like that as easily as she did, his life was nothing in her hands. She wasn't orange, but that didn't mean anything if someone truly wished to take advantage of a weak opponent like him.

And yet, what he received was the exact opposite of all those things. She was kind, understanding, and her words were sweet like honey. The words felt like they were being sent through a filter and were a world away, but he could still hear them. As they processed, they slowly brought the man back to his reality, and he saw her hand on his, having barely felt her touch as he swam around in his thoughts. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he saw her ring. Of course, he hadn't even thought to check for that. Such a sweet girl would had to have been swept up by someone else.

Endilix shook his head lightly and cursed himself for falling deep into that old depression he had tried so hard to run away from, even if it was only momentary. Slowly he lifted his eyes to meet hers, before gripping her hand lightly and giving it a light squeeze, only to release and slowly make his way back to his feet, offering his hand to her to do the same.

"To be honest," he said, as he waited to see if she would accept his invitation off of the cold snow blanket, "I've been lucky enough to not lose anyone I care about in this game. Not to death at least. But I've lost plenty of other things since this game started. Death isn't the worst thing that can happen in this game, so I tend to lose myself in reveling in the idea that if I don't progress, I can't lose anything else dear to me."

If she accepted his invitation, he would help her up, before turning to the safe zone, "If you'd like to talk more, I'd be happy to. Kindness is rare in the frontliners I'm familiar with. I wouldn't mind experiencing more of that."

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki smiled as he seemed to come back around. His firm grip taking her own delicate hand before allowing it drift from his grasp. He spoke, reaching to offer her up from the snow when he did. He may have seemed like a big ladies man, but there was gentleman under that mask for sure. She accepted his hand pulled herself to her feet, quickly brushing the loose snow off her sweater and skirt while listening to his explanation. "I admit, I am of the lower bracket of the front lines and I'm only a recent addition. I apologize sincerely if my act seemed malicious or pretentious." She said with a slight bow.

Soon after he would turn and begin to make his way to the safe zone, offering the paladin to join him. The soft smile continued as she caught up to walk beside him. "I would be happy to. My duo partner refuses to go on quests with me until I've taken a good break, so I simply have been spending all my time on the lower floors to stay away from all that."

[Endilix 0]

Endilix wasn't sure how much he should really divulge to this girl. He wasn't certain of her connections or friends, or who this duo partner was. If it was one of the frontliners he knew, he could land himself in hot water speaking ill of them. But he figured he shouldn't play coy either, as that would just sour the mood.

"And see, here I am, getting you into more trouble when you're supposed to be taking a break!" he ended up joking, giving the girl a smile. Then he remembered he was still wearing his mask, and decided to open up his menu, giving it a few swipes. He took off the mask and flipped his armor off into a more neutral coat and pants, still suitable for the cold weather, but not combat intensive. If she was here to relax, he figured he should do the same.

"There, that's better. I don't ever seem to take that armor off anymore. I always have it on, even if it's just for show. There's a part of me that just can't seem to let it go sometimes. But maybe your partner has the right of it. We all need to take some time to unwind, from whatever our passions are." He turned his face to hers, now free of the masquerade mask that he wore to make himself look like a "hero". It felt more freeing than he probably would have readily admitted to her.

"Oh, and before I forget. I'm Endilix. Dael Endilix. Yes, my last name is my username. Yes, I've been told by many how stupid this is," Endilix admitted, rolling his eyes mockingly at himself and giving a chuckle, hoping to lighten the mood a bit more.

[Zajcica 0]

His smile only added to her own. The fact that he took of his mask and armor helped her keep a serene mind. He offered to relax with her, talking about how Night, the friend in question, was very much right about how people needed to relax. Who knows what kind of worn out mess she'd be without her best friend. "This game is too much for even the most prepared to weather. I think we should take it one day at a time, relax and keep our desires in mind along the journey. Trouble is my middle name at this point, so I don't mind it. I don't think NIGHT could be upset with me if it was to protect someone. It's not just selfish grinding."

He introduced himself to the front liner as Dael Endilix. Yuki's pearly white smile gleamed against the snow. "I'm Yuki Mikoto. People who don't really know me by name call me the 'Pink Paladin', a little embarrassing all things considered."

[Endilix 0]

"That's a lovely name," Endilix admitted, silently still wishing that this cute girl wasn't already taken by whoever was lucky enough to snatch her up. But he would be lying if he said he wasn't still enjoying himself despite all that.

As they reached the safe zone, Endilix pointed off to a nearby neighborhood inside the town gates, "I have a shop here where I live. A bar that I've never given enough love and attention to get it off the ground. I accidentally became a cook just to have a place to live I guess." He chuckled again, the more he talked and opened up to this girl, the more stupid he felt like he sounded. He was such a poor excuse for a player when he wasn't busy showing off. Never working on his profession, never leveling up, always just doing just enough to make it look good and never enough to make it better.

"You're probably a way better cook than I am, but I do hope you'll still let a simple cook make you a drink and maybe something to eat. If you're supposed to be relaxing, it's the least I can do. You say we're even but the monster you killed was way stronger than mine, so I still feel like I owe you something."

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki smiled as he complimented her on her name. She'd chosen the name Yuki herself so it only made sense that it would be beautiful. It meant Happiness in English. Soon, Endilix would offer to make the grandmaster cook food himself. As a chef, it could be come very unpleasing to eat only your food all the time. If you didn't sample food made by others, you wouldn't be able to find distinct flavors that maybe you would have missed in your own similar dish.

"I would love some food. Sure I might be the better cook, but I wouldn't be as good as am at it if I didn't try others' dishes. You might make soup differently than I do because of the way you cook it or the things you add to it. Your soup could be better than mine even though I have vast knowledge of culinary arts." Yuki tried to explain, following him to this part of the neighborhood that he was describing. "I would have been an even bigger monster if I did nothing about it. I think we're fair, sir." Her soft smile shined.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix chuckled as she continued to assure him that what was done was fair, but no matter how much convincing she tried he just knew in his mind he wouldn't accept it. At the end of the day, a life debt was something incredibly difficult to repay, and while he made it simpler for the newbies that he helped on the lower floors, he had a hard time accepting such weak payments for his own debts.

But at the end of the day, paying off a longer term life debt meant making friends with this sweet girl, and that seemed more like an offer he couldn't refuse, if anything. The longer he walked and talked to her, the more he wondered if she was even real, or if he was just making up some idealized friend he needed in the moment. He wondered if he really had finally started to lose it. But then he remembered her hand in his, and how warm and real it felt, and knew that this wasn't just some dream.

Without realizing, Endilix had ended up walking them to his bar, and struggling to break himself from his daydreaming, he quickly popped into his inventory menu to get out his key to his shop. He unlocked the door and opened it for her to head inside, "Welcome to the Fearsomely Strong Cider.... the bar that I never actually really opened." He tried his best to keep from sighing heavily at his own admission, not wanting to go back to depressing himself again. He was a little embarrassed at the layer of dust that sat on the bar top and chairs, and after the girl entered the shop Endilix would quickly and politely shuffle past her to grab a washcloth and start wiping things down.

As he did so, he pulled out a wiped down chair and offered it to her, before resuming cleaning of other parts of the bar. As he quickly tidied up a bit, he asked, "Any thoughts on what you would want to eat? I don't have a lot but I'm sure I could make a decent number of dishes out of what little I do have."

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki couldn't help but grin as the duo moved into the shop. It wasn't the best kept place she'd been to but it surely wasn't the worst. Some of the regular NPC shops she'd been to were just awfully well kept. You'd think that for a system they'd at least have some programming to clean the damn place up. Endilix's quick cleaning and offering of the chair got the paladin wondering if she should help him clean up really quick. It seemed as though her play of savior was really getting to him. Maybe it would be best if she didn't do anything.

Yet still, she wasn't one to sit down restlessly and relax. Her break only meant that she stop blasting through all these damn quests and take her life one step at a time again. She would grab a rag and look around the room. Endilix would ask her what she would like to eat. "Make me your favorite lunch food. Meanwhile, let me help you clean this place up a little." Yuki said as she began to work through the dusty wooden structures in the building and clean them off. Although it might look like she was going fast, she was simply akin to the cleaning with a soon-to-be like Crozeph. Although it didn't bug her to clean up after him, she never realized how much she did.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix received the answer to his question and his ears perked up as he realized that her voice had not come from the chair he had set for her, but from another part of the bar. He turned his head and saw that she had started cleaning herself. He couldn't help the frown that drew across his face. He would never normally ask a lady to assist him in cleaning when she was the guest. It was bad enough this place was the mess it was. But, seeing as she could send his HP bar into the abyss just by thinking about it, he thought it better to let her do as she wished. Even if it was something menial like cleaning. With a light sigh, he figured he shouldn't judge much, people find catharsis in a variety of things, including cleaning.

Having cleaned up the main bar area and his cooking utensils, he thought about what he should actually make. She had said Endilix's favorite lunch item, and he tried to think of some good bar food that he enjoyed back in the real world. It had been some time since he had made anything more than drinks, so he hoped he was up to it. After a bit of deliberation and staring in the fridge, he finally settled on making some yakitori. It was simple, and he figured it wouldn't require a high level of skill in cooking to make given the simplicity.

Preparing all the ingredients, Endilix started cooking. He called out to Yuki, "Do you have any preferences on drinks? I should have this cooked up in about 5-10 minutes."

[Zajcica 0]

For Yuki, cleaning was a good was to unwind and relax even if it didn't seem like it. With all the things she's been through, it was pretty low on the list of things that stressed her out with like double damage over time effects and the boss fight being at the top.

By the time Endilix had gotten started with the cooking, Yuki had already cleaned most of the tables. Hopefully he wouldn't get upset with her intrusion. If he was, he at least didn't voice it to her. What he did voice was if she had a preference on her drink here. All things considered, she had a pretty wide range when it came to taste so it wouldn't matter much to her. "Something sweet is fine by me, or even just water." Mikoto stated without turning her attention from the cleaning that she was doing. A slight moment passed as she wondered if Crow might get annoyed that she was hanging out with other men.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix heard her call back her response to him in the kitchen, and found it as vague and unhelpful as the response for lunch had been. Endilix gave a light sigh, but couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He'd be lying if he tried to say he wasn't himself as often this indecisive or vague. In fact, it was enough of a problem that his twin stopped asking him for input altogether, just assuming that whatever he decided was fine with the apathetic knight. He never once found this to not actually be the case.

But here he was, having to make all the decisions instead, for a stranger just as apathetic as himself in the moment. He could certainly see why Emerath often got so frustrated with the answer of, "Whatever works for you." So, as the meat finished cooking and Endilix did one final turn over of it, he decided that lemonade would be a good drink to go with the savory yakitori and was a good sweet option. So, turning off the stove, he moved the pan to the counter and let it sit while he prepared the lemonade. Within the few minutes it took to squeeze the lemons and stir in the sugar, the meat was more than rested enough, and he quickly shoved the chunks onto the sticks and plated them.

Deftly balancing the plates on his arms and the glasses in his hands, Endilix maneuvered his way back to the bar, and placed down the two plates of yakitori, two sticks each, and a glass of lemonade per person. A simple, yet hopefully filling lunch for two. As he called for Yuki to let her know that lunch was served, he turned to the bar and prepared some sauces for dipping from the back counter, hoping to turn back and place them and have Yuki at the bar for her meal.

Yakitori for reference:

Spoiler

[Zajcica 0]

Although she hadn't given it a 100% clean that she could be proud of, Yuki would hate to keep him waiting. All things considered, she didn't have much of a right to just start cleaning his place anyway, but it had at least given her something to think about other the floor boss. Placing the rag she had at one end of the counter, she would take a seat across from where Endilix had setup the food.

"Ittadakimasu." The girl would say in her native tongue, which Endilix would hear as 'Thank you for the meal' if his translation settings were on. Taking one of the kabobs, the paladin would nibble into the meat slowly, seemingly to get a good feel of the flavor and passion that her chef here had put into the meal. Not bad at all. It's not like she herself was an authority on perfect cooking, but after you take culinary for years, you tend to pick up on these sort of things. "This is actually good. Yakitori isn't something I make too often myself. The flavors are mixed together very well. If you can impress a culinary major with your food, you could impress just about anyone." She attempted to offer him a little flattery to help cheer up his mood. The food likely wouldn't hold a candle to her own dish, but it had it's own distinct taste thanks to the one who cooked it. That's how a good chef learned to adapt their own cooking.