The Rise of the Black Plain

On the Central Continent, it was not uncommon for certain shops, restaurants, and other private services to have stars on the walls of buildings.

Despite not being seen in all establishments nor being extremely popular among spiritual professionals, such a thing was still used by some people. That is because each star represented a rating, which that establishment had achieved through its owner.

In other words, a location with 4-stars would represent a service provided by a low-level grade-2 specialist. As for the case of the restaurant in front of Minos and Abby, this place was managed by a high-level grade-2 cook!

And for some people, such a thing acted as an advertisement for their establishments. After all, even if the inhabitants of a city probably knew about these high-quality sites, the same couldn't be said for visitors.

However, such professionals would already indicate the quality of their services to visitors by displaying the stars on their buildings. Consequently, those looking for services of certain quality would know precisely where to go, while others could avoid going far below or above their requirements.

But only a part of professionals would do such a thing. After all, some places would sell items of different ratings, so it didn't make sense to have that kind of indication. So, for example, a blacksmith could be at low-level grade-2, but sometimes he could produce high-level grade-1 artifacts.

While such a thing is not helpful in their training, it could yield more significant sums of crystals at short periods. That is because, in addition to being easier and faster to be produced, high-level grade-1 items would also be in greater demand due to their lower prices!

Anyway, such a rating could be seen in places that sell services of a specific quality, which generally matched more with restaurants and, sometimes, hotels.

Like the hotel, Minos and Ruth had stayed at during their stay in Capital City.

Despite having a high-level grade-2 cook, that place was officially a 5-star hotel, as its services, such as food, accommodation, among others, were developed and prepared by medium-level grade-2 professionals.

That's why the daily price of that place was so high!

As for the restaurant in front of the two youths, only the Jalene City Culinary School director cooked in this place, and because of that, this building could boast such a rating.

...

In front of Minos and Abby was a building that, while grand, probably didn't have a vast interior space.

The place looked like a giant seashell, made of several arches of a golden metallic compound, in which, between each segment, glass surfaces interlocked to cover the small spaces left by this enormous structure. But despite having a fair amount of glass, nobody would be able to spy on whatever happened inside that place.

As for the rest of the exterior of this building, well, there was a construction that imitated the sea's surface, from where some paths connected the sidewalk of the street to the entrance of that place.

At the entrance, on the widest and highest side of the 'seashell,' there was a large glass door, where above it was the name of the restaurant, along with the six stars.

"This place looks interesting!" Abby commented to Minos, observing such a place. From what the two had seen, Jalene City had several buildings that resembled oceanic objects, such as the case of 'The Jewel of the Sea,' this restaurant in front of them.

And Abby had enjoyed seeing such things!

Rather than following the pattern already prevalent in every large city in the north of the Central Continent, this location took a unique path, utilizing regional characteristics to beautify the city!

Hearing this, Minos waved to her, and then the two moved into that building.

"Good afternoon! Welcome to The Jewel of the Sea." An attendant soon greeted them as soon as she saw this couple dressed as nobles approached the reception of this place.

In that place, there were two aquariums on the sides, with lots of small fish and vibrant decor. And at the end of this entrance, there was a small corridor, which gave access to the different parts of this restaurant.

And upon realizing that these two newcomers had stopped appreciating the beauty of the aquariums and turned their attention to her, this attendant then asked. "Do you already know our restaurant? Or is your the first time here?"

"It's our first time here." Abby responded.

"OK. Well, our restaurant offers services that vary in price from the location of your tables to the possibility to speak with the chef in person. Lastly, I'm afraid to say that the payment can only be made with medium-grade crystals." She politely said while standing behind a small partition.

Minos then nodded, indicating that he understood the arrangement of this place, and said. "Okay, so we want to talk directly to the chef, and as for the location, one that's discreet will be best for us."

Then, the young attendant smiled and started conducting them to their place. "Please follow me. I will take you to your table..."

After that, Minos and Abby followed that woman into the restaurant until they arrived at a specific place there, where there were only six tables.

From what Minos had noticed, even considering the rest of the restaurant, this whole place couldn't even have 20 tables in total!

But in thinking about it, young Stuart had understood the reason for it. 'There shouldn't be many people in this town able to spend medium-grade crystals on meals…' He reflected, seeing that there was still no one where his table was located.

And such a thing was natural. Cooks like the one of this place and other top professionals in this region generally provided services to only Spiritual Kings and the wealthiest nobles, those who could afford such services.

For example, even though Abby was a noblewoman of the powerful Miller family, she couldn't afford to eat in places like this regularly. She was just the daughter of one of the elders of that power, who had only reached the middle of the 6th stage.

With only level 54, he was not one of the top elders. That's why Abby's father couldn't afford that his daughter had the luxury of eating in places like this.

Generally, only those children of influential individuals with hundreds of years of savings could have decent amounts of medium-grade crystals. Some examples of this are the young masters of these families, who naturally have reasonable allowances from their parents.

Finally, after enjoying some of the waiting services of that place, a man dressed all in white came towards them.

This person appeared to be about 2 meters tall, with a body proportionate to his size. And although he didn't look as old as Caesar, this person didn't have hair on his head.

"Good afternoon, young lady, young master. Have you already chosen your meals?" He asked while he had a smile on his face as he looked at them, with both of his hands resting at the level of his chest.

Eventually, Minos and Abby listed those dishes that had caught their attention, along with the drink and dessert they wanted to try. There were several options on the menu, but in general, the restaurant's focus was the sea.

No wonder this place was called The Jewel of the Sea!

And it wasn't long before this restaurant's cook, Alex Shepard, sent all the dishes to that table. The restaurant was only in its first few minutes of operation of the day, so there weren't many other customers to delay the couple's order.

On the other hand, as a top cook, Alex wasn't slow at all and could prepare meals for more than one person in a few minutes.

Finally, when they had finished enjoying the meal, Minos and Abby remained in that place until an attendant came to collect their payment.

"Here they are, 28 medium-grade crystals." Minos handed that woman a small bag of the size of his palm. "Would you please inform the chef that I have something to tell him?"