Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Getting over the Hump (Levels 8-12)

Jarvie refused to teach Ralsu anymore until he reached chef level 10. I experimented with a few of my beginner recipes, learning to perfect techniques to achieve quicker results and meet minigame milestones. I splurged and bought a recipe for a dessert that required starnut.

I traveled northeast to Perry’s Pasture to get the starnut and then wandered into Highroad Junction to prepare the ice cream treat.

In Highroad Junction, I met Auguste Frydaze, the local cook, who was waiting on an order from Perry. Auguste supposed that his shipment might have been delivered to Ranger Ricardo at the station to the east. Why Auguste would assume that eludes me. Perhaps their mail had been mixed up before, or maybe there is more to the story.

I found Ranger Ricardo easily, and he admitted that he had the shipment bound for Auguste. He refused to simply turn it over, though. Some of the local youth had carelessly left fireworks strewn about, and the safety-minded ranger couldn’t concentrate until all of them had been collected. I offered to do the errand for him if it would help him focus, picking up five bunches of fireworks in less than two minutes.

Once I had returned his ingredients, Auguste suggested I go introduce myself to Perry. I had already handled the farmer’s starnuts, so I felt a proper introduction was the least I could manage. It turned out that Perry needed a hand with some more harvesting, so I pitched and was rewarded with a shiny spatula.

Finally chef level 10, I returned to Jarvie in Merry Vale. He wanted me to meet Cook Yumtumlot in Wugachug to the north, so I headed out right away.

Wugachug turned out to be a festive, carnival-like town nestled in the mountains far north of Merry Vale. Snow flurries were falling as I entered the town, and raucous music filled the air.

Chef Yumtumlot was a...something. She might have been a yeti, but suffice it to say that even a playboy like Ralsu wasn’t thinking of putting the moves on this female. And praise from Jarvie was not enough to impress her. She challenged me to perfect her rainleaf wrapped dumplings, a plate no one could get right.

At this point, I found that I needed to sell some of the extra goods I had harvested. I was running low on money. Cooking is a cash sink because the consumables eat up money rapidly, and successful completion of a recipe seldom covers the cost of a single consumable item.

Despite the hardship, I impressed Yumtumlot with the dumplings and even garnered a “delicious.” The cook from Wugachug said that I was ready to face a real food reviewer and told me to head for Snowhill to meet Chef Lucca De’Flor. I was finally on my way!