After packing up for the morning, Crisplet turned into its little orb form, and I slipped it into my pocket. That’s when I discovered it could still shoot sparks from inside the orb.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to it. “I can’t keep you out while I’m riding Sable; I’ll fall.”
“I’ll hold it if you like,” Jen’s voice ca from behind .
Before I could even respond, Crisplet let out a bright burst of sparks from within the orb.
“Guess that’s a yes,” I said with a nervous chuckle, handing it over to Jen.
The ride that morning was mostly uneventful. We were attacked by a pack of sky wolves, but they were apparently low-level. The mont they charged out of the tree line, Milo’s wind blades and Jen’s arrows cut them down so quickly it was almost embarrassing. Out of the six, only two corpses were even worth salvaging for at or hide.
After storing them away, we continued on.
“How far from Boltron are we now, anyway?” I asked.
Liane didn’t answer—probably still half-asleep in the saddle. Jen, however, looked thoughtful.
“About five days, maybe less. We’ve been moving faster than normal,” she said. “Today’s our last day skirting the forest. After that, we enter the mountain pass. There’s a small village about a day in where we usually stay.”
I nodded, settling back in the saddle as I let that sink in.
When we stopped for lunch, Crisplet burst into his normal form before Jen even had a chance to set the orb down, giving her a bit of a fright. To her credit, she didn’t drop it—and Crisplet, of course, didn’t burn her either. Almost imdiately, he zipped off to explore the area while Milo began setting up a basic structure.
I pulled out the last of the Miremaw. There was still plenty of at left on it, but honestly, I think everyone was getting a little sick of the sa al. Tonight, I’d prepare sothing different; this would be our final al from this Miremaw.
As soon as Milo lit the fire, Crisplet shot into it at startling speed and imdiately started rolling around in the coals like it was his personal playground.
“Uh, I probably should’ve asked this earlier,” I said, glancing around at the group. “Do fla elentals eat anything?”
“Yes and no,” Milo began. “They draw in the natural fire mana from their surroundings. In this case, the campfire it’s playing in will keep it fed.”
He paused, then added, “That said, there’s always a little bit of fire mana in the air anyway—not enough to sustain it forever, but enough that it won’t just vanish if you don’t keep a fire going.”
That was a relief. So, if I just let Crisplet play in the fires or ovens, he’d be completely fine.
About halfway through lunch, I was a little surprised when Jordan ca over and sat down next to .
“Uh, Trevor?” he started quietly. “Look, I just wanted to apologise if I upset you the other day with what I said.”
“No, it’s okay,” I replied. “You… you were probably right about what you said.”
A wave of sadness hit as I admitted it. Then, almost imdiately, guilt followed. In all the excitent of the last couple of days, I hadn’t even thought about George—or what situation he might be in.
“I spoke with the others,” I added. “And, yeah, I still want to find out more, I still want to find my friend, but what you said wasn’t wrong.”
Jordan was quiet for a long mont before finally speaking. “My dad used to call it a ‘necessary evil.’ He said if they didn’t send people to the front lines, then everyone would have to fight, and it would be worse. But…” He stared down at the ground. “I just don’t see how it could be worse.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I was glad he apologised—even though he didn’t need to. He’d only been honest with .
Trying to change the topic, I asked, “No luck with work in the town we passed, then?”
Jordan let out a small laugh. “There was work, alright. But that’d be a last resort. It was all lumberjack jobs along the forest’s edge.”
“Is it bad work?” I asked, curious.
“Not bad, no—just dangerous,” he said. “You take one wrong step into the territory of a strong beast, knock down the nest of the wrong creature, or even run into one of the countless venomous things out there—that’s why there’s always work. Too many don’t co back.”
I blinked, stunned. “Wait, then why do people do it at all? It sounds awful.”
“The pay,” Jordan said simply. “A gold a month, plus production bonuses. When you consider I’ll be lucky to make a gold a year as an apprentice in Boltron, it’s good money.” He sighed. “But I don’t want to throw my life away, you know?”
I got it. So people just wanted a quiet life inside the city walls, and I couldn’t bla them.
Before I could say anything else, our conversation was interrupted by a small ball of fire bursting from the campfire and rushing straight toward . Crisplet ca to a halt right in front of where I was sitting, holding what looked like a piece of coal.
It appeared to be proudly raising it up, as if presenting it to . Not really knowing what else to do, I held out my hand. Crisplet placed the coal in my palm, then imdiately floated back to the campfire.
A second later, pain hit like a spark.
“Ouch!” I yelped, shaking my hand as a small red mark appeared.
Jordan, Milo, and Jen all burst out laughing.
“I really need fire resistance,” I muttered.
“You’ve only yourself to bla,” Jen said, trying not to laugh. “It brought you a hot coal from the fire.”
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Before we left after lunch, I carried the remains of the Miremaw to the tree line. I didn’t have any use for it, and I didn’t want to serve it again anyway. Part of hoped maybe so nearby creatures would eat it and earn a little experience—but honestly, I doubted it.
While riding that afternoon, I was trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I really wanted to make sothing Crisplet could help with—hopefully to see how it earned experience. I also wanted to cook the Juvenile Phase Spider that Liane had brought back, but I knew if I served that, I’d also need to prepare sothing else for anyone who didn’t want to eat a spider.
The afternoon passed, and I managed to use Arcane Foraging while helping Milo gather firewood. There wasn’t a lot around, but I did manage to find a small patch of mushrooms glowing blue.
When I picked them and stored them, I was a little surprised by their na:
Would you like to store 13x Death Cap Mushrooms for 5 mana? Yes/No
Well, damn. I needed to purify those as soon as possible.
I chuckled to myself before grabbing so wood for the fire. Crisplet followed close behind, and every now and then I’d see a stray leaf burst into fla. The fire never spread, though—it just seed like Crisplet enjoyed exploring.
For dinner, I butchered one of the regular boars I had stored. After skinning it, I got Jen to slice it in half.
I rubbed Fire Salt into the skin along with regular salt and pepper, then set it up on a spit. It was only half a boar, so I’d need to watch the balance a little, but it would be fine.
As I worked, I explained everything I was doing to Crisplet, who appeared to be watching closely. I couldn’t tell if it actually understood, but I decided to treat it like it did.
Once I had brought the boar inside and placed it over the fire, I turned to Crisplet.
“Alright, not too hot, or it’ll burn the food,” I said.
In response, it let out a burst of bright sparks and dove straight into the campfire.
Next, I went back outside and withdrew the Phase Spider from my storage. It was huge—easily larger than my torso without its legs. The first thing I did was remove the chelicerae, along with the hard, claw-like appendages on the tips of its legs. After that, I tried to gut it. I could slice into the abdon easily enough, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t cut through the carapace.
I briefly considered removing the abdon altogether since I wasn’t entirely sure what was edible, but in the end I left it intact and decided I’d let Liane make that call. For now, I went to find Milo and asked if he could make a stone vessel similar to the one we’d used for the Miremaw.
A short ti later, the Phase Spider was resting inside a sturdy, oven-like stone vessel. I started filling it with ingredients: Garlic Grass, onions, marbled tubers, salt, pepper, Virfolium, and even so fresh Lemon Tea Grass. Finally—figuring why not—I pulled out the twelve Death Caps I’d gathered. After casting Transformation to remove their toxins, I tossed them in as well.
Crisplet, who had been sitting under the boar, ca over to inspect the new item. I explained everything—the oven, how it would cook the spider—and then Crisplet suddenly rushed inside.
“Uh, Crisplet, we were going to seal this. You’ll be trapped if you stay in there,” I said, trying to coax the little fla elental out. Instead, it let out a burst of bright sparks, and I could feel the heat radiating from inside the oven.
“Are you going to stay in there and cook it?” I asked, confused. Another bright burst of sparks was the only response. “Are you sure?” I asked nervously.
This ti, there was no burst. Instead, a single spark flew toward , hitting the back of my hand and burning it.
“Ow! Alright, alright! I’ll trust you with this,” I said, rubbing the spot. “I’m going to make a little hole, so just co out when you think it’s ready, okay?”
Milo then sealed the oven, leaving a small opening at the bottom for the little elental to co and go.
“Hopefully that works?” I said, looking at the others, at a loss for what had happened. I went over to the boar and rotated it. I will say—Crisplet had done a great job. The fire was at the perfect temperature.
After several hours, I felt like the boar would be ready. Crisplet still had not co out yet, but the heat radiating from the oven told sothing was definitely happening inside. I started serving up the al. Using Infuse Flavour on the at, I laid it out on a slab of stone Milo had prepared. Everyone except Milo, Liane, and Hari was already helping themselves to the boar.
“I’m waiting for the main course,” Liane said, her eyes fixed on the stone oven. Hari nodded in agreent, while Milo just shrugged. I was excited to see it myself.
While I had so ti, I checked my notifications before the final dish was ready.
I was a little surprised my plan had worked. It wasn’t a lot, but I had 17 combat buff notifications, which I assud ca from the Miremaw I had left behind. I also noticed only 3 of the usual 9 “enjoyed al” notifications ca through, so I was right to guess people were losing interest in it.
One minor detail caught my attention—I didn’t get any “liked al” notifications from the creatures who ate the Miremaw. I assud there were more than just three of them?
Another hour passed before Crisplet launched out of the small hole, bursting sparks into the air repeatedly. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I guess it’s ready. Milo, do you mind removing the cover?” I asked, watching as Crisplet ca racing over to us, still sending off sparks.
Milo got up from the ground and walked over, eting Crisplet halfway.
“Good job,” I said, then approached the oven, which was now losing its top, crumbling away into nothing.
I was a little shocked by what I saw. The spider had been a dark, almost black-green colour with a hint of blue when I put it inside. Now, it was orange.
Everything looked perfectly cooked—even the garlic cloves, which would normally be so overdone by now they’d be almost gone, were a perfect golden brown. The sll coming from it was remarkable.
Before I got too distracted, I used Infuse Flavour.
Would you like to Infuse [Rare] Mana Rich Herb Roasted Phase Spider for 50 mana? Yes/No
I selected Yes, but I was still caught up on the na. What did mana-rich even an? And rare?
The next thing I noticed was that the al glowed much, much brighter than usual. By now, it had definitely caught everyone’s attention.
I wasn’t entirely sure where to begin, so I placed so of the vegetables on my plate and snapped off half a leg.
Liane was right behind , inspecting the whole thing. She pulled out a dagger and nearly popped open the hard carapace of the spider’s body.
“Wow! It looks amazing! There’s so much at in there!” she exclaid loudly, grabbing two plates—taking the other half of my leg, along with several chunks of what looked like soft white at from inside the carapace. She completely ignored the vegetables.
Milo and Hari were more restrained but still took very large portions. What surprised most was that Jordan was right there with them. I’d seen him eat the boar, but apparently he was curious enough to try the spider as well.
I was broken out of my musings by a high-pitched squeal.
“It’s so good!” Liane exclaid.
“Jen, you have to try it. It’ll change your view on it, I promise,” she said, trying to coax a bit of the white at into Jen’s mouth.
I cracked open the leg and took a bite myself. I was stunned by the flavours—it had a tangy taste, almost like lemon but very faint. The at was incredibly delicate, almost like fish, but without the fishy aftertaste.
I heard moans of enjoynt from both Hari and Milo as they took their first bites.
“Hey, Crisplet, great job! This is cooked perfectly,” I said to the little fla elental, who was dancing between us and occasionally shooting out sparks. At that, it did one final large burst before dashing into the fire.
Before long, everyone—even Jen—had tried so of the spider, and all were in agreent: this was the best al to date. Even the vegetables, which usually had a fairly bland taste, were perfectly cooked—caralised on the outside and soft and fluffy inside.
“Is it too late to go back into the forest and find more of these?” I heard Liane ask, while Hari just chuckled and kept eating.
But it was Milo who suddenly stopped mid-bite, catching even Hari’s attention.
“Everything okay?” Hari asked, concern in his voice as he looked at Milo.
“Uh, yes, I think—check… check the buffs,” Milo stamred, sounding a little rattled.
I pulled up my status, but as usual, I had no buffs. I’d have to wait until soone told . One by one, the others stopped eating and went quiet.
“Soone want to clue in?” I asked, trying to keep the mood light with a nervous chuckle.
Jen was the first to respond, not beating around the bush.
“Fire Immunity, Major Poison Resistance, Major Improved Stealth, 2 Endurance, 3 Intelligence, Minor Speed Increase, and Health Regeneration.” She sounded almost shocked.
“Trev, could you please store that right away?” Hari said firmly. “That’s too good to leave out and waste.”
I didn’t argue. I stood and carefully stored the spider, along with the boar while I was at it. Everyone else stayed spaced out, eyes fixed on their status screens.
Then I saw Jen pull out a knife and slice her arm.
“Hey! Wait! What are you doing?” I said, rushing over to her.
“It’s okay, I just wanted to test sothing. It’s only a minor cut,” Jen explained calmly.
But even as she said it, we all saw the cut visibly start to seal shut.
“This regeneration buff is no joke,” she said, watching her skin close up. “It just restored fifty HP in a couple of seconds. I wonder how long it will last.”
I sat there, half watching my own leg while the others began testing their buffs. Milo casually put his hand in the fire. Crisplet happily leapt onto his palm—and Milo felt nothing. As Liane had ntioned, he was completely immune.
This was going to be interesting.
User Comments
0 comments from readers