Chapter 324: A Better-Smelling Fire
Rainbow light cleared from Martin’s vision, revealing gray stone instead of the luminous roots he had expected.
[Welcome to the Monster Hunter Academy Online.]
Mountain Risen’s visitor point formed around him. Freight platforms groaned overhead, chains rattled inside the vertical shafts, and distant hammer blows vibrated through the ground beneath his boots.
For one confused moment, Martin wondered why the Light Tree was gone. Then he remembered that he and Rias had last logged out at the visitor point while waiting for Crucible Concord’s evidence update.
Before logging in, Martin had watched Cassandra message Alexandra and arrange a private call for that evening, when everyone would be available. She planned to face them herself, exactly as she had promised.
A message from Rias waited in his inbox. Crucible Concord had received Cassandra’s archive, but its investigators needed time to compare it with the laboratory evidence. They would contact Martin and Rias once they had something definite.
He opened his character panel. Night Espresso’s crest was no longer displayed beneath his name.
Martin dismissed the interface before he could dwell on the missing crest. He had already spent enough time thinking about everything the guild had lost. Right now, he wanted to return to Forest Hidden, let Angel out of her pocket dimension, and find somewhere quiet where no serious conversation was waiting for him.
He traveled down Mountain Risen’s exposed roads, crossed the rain-dark territory beyond them, and eventually passed beneath the enormous canopy surrounding Forest Hidden. Most of the afternoon had passed by the time the Light Tree appeared through the branches.
Martin could have gone straight to the hub, where everyone he needed to speak with would eventually pass through. He was not ready to turn his first minutes home into another meeting, though. Cassandra could not enter Forest Hidden, so any conversation involving her would have to happen elsewhere or through a private call. A few players recognized him on the academy paths, and their gazes kept slipping to the empty space beneath his name where his guild affiliation had once appeared.
He kept walking.
Robert’s smithy stood far enough from the central grounds that gossip rarely reached it, though hungry visitors always seemed to find it. More importantly, a river flowed beside it, and Martin knew one Dragon Turtle who had already been patient for far too long.
The familiar turtle-shaped building came into view between the trees. Afternoon heat clung to its rounded stone walls, and dark smoke rose from two chimneys above the canopy. Orange fire mushrooms glowed undisturbed around the yard, while steady hammering rang from inside the smithy.
Martin followed the river until he reached the broad pool beneath the small waterfall. Only then did he call Angel out of her pocket dimension.
[You have summoned Ao Tenshin out of her pocket dimension.]
Sapphire light spread beneath the surface.
The pool heaved before Martin had time to step back. Water surged over the bank and soaked his boots as Angel’s enormous crystal shell emerged from the center of the pool. She appeared with her head already raised, drew in one delighted breath, and plunged forward with enough enthusiasm to send another wave across the grass.
Martin jumped away too late. Cold water struck him to the knees.
"You did that on purpose."
Angel answered with an innocent squeal that became less convincing when she turned away and slapped the water with one broad foot.
She had grown too large to race through the river in the bright little loops she once made here. Her shell was nearly the size of Robert’s smithy now, and parts of the pool looked shallow beneath her. Even so, she pushed into the deeper current, dipped beneath the small waterfall, and let water stream over the sapphire crystals covering her back.
Martin watched her make the widest circle the river allowed. After Kumoe’s encounter with the Beastslayer and everything he had learned in Mountain Risen, he needed the simple relief of seeing Angel safe in her favorite water.
"I know the trip was boring, but some of those mountain roads barely had room for two people. You would’ve taken half the cliff with you."
Angel lifted her chin as though the road should have widened out of respect.
"Right. My mistake."
She rumbled in agreement.
Martin left her to enjoy the current and chose a patch of bare ground well away from Robert’s fire mushrooms. He arranged several river stones into a low fire pit, gathered dry wood, and laid the compact iron grate from his cooking supplies across the top.
The setup had none of Samu’s polished counters, but his Chef subclass worked just as well beside a river. Once the fire settled into steady coals, Martin unpacked strips of marbled monster meat, river peppers, onions, and several whole fish he had kept for Angel.
He threaded the meat and vegetables onto skewers, then paused as an old promise returned to him.
Rangar had asked for kebab the first time he brought Martin to this smithy. Martin had promised to make it for him, but dungeons, guild wars, dates, and an illegal Beastslayer laboratory had kept pushing that promise aside.
"He’ll probably find me the one day I don’t make enough," Martin muttered.
He prepared several more skewers.
The first pieces hissed against the grate. Fat dripped onto the coals, and the smell of peppered meat spread across the riverbank. Martin turned the skewers slowly, brushing each one with a glaze that darkened over the flames.
Across the water, Angel stopped pretending not to watch.
Her massive head drifted closer to the bank until her chin nearly rested on the grass. Sapphire eyes tracked Martin’s hands while he seasoned the fish and placed them along the cooler edge of the grate.
"They aren’t ready."
Angel released a low, wounded sound.
"You survived an entire trip in your pocket dimension. You can survive another five minutes."
Her head lowered by an inch, bringing her mouth closer to the food.
"That isn’t waiting."
The hammering inside the smithy stopped.
Martin glanced toward the building. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then the heavy door swung open, and Scunko emerged with his pointed nose raised high enough to pull the rest of his body after it.
Robert followed him outside, still wearing his dark apron over his bare chest, with soot smeared across both forearms. His gaze went straight to the skewers, and a broad grin spread across his face.
"Aye, what kind of bastard builds a better-smelling fire outside my hell kitchen?"
"I was trying not to interrupt your work."
"Then ye failed." Robert drew in a deep breath. "Damn, that smells good."
Robert crossed the yard, wiped both hands on his apron, and helped himself to one of the finished skewers from the plate beside Martin.
Martin stared at him. "You could ask."
"Rent," Robert said before biting into the meat. "Ye use my river often enough that I ought to start charging."
Scunko needed no excuse. The flame skunk hopped onto a flat stone, stretched toward the plate, and snatched a smaller piece before Martin could move it out of reach. He landed beside Robert with the food clutched between his front paws and gave Martin a sharp, satisfied squeak.
"Both of you are thieves."
Robert chewed, considered the accusation, then nodded. "Good food, though."
Scunko gave another squeak of agreement.
The little flame beast turned toward the much larger portion Martin had prepared for Angel. One rumble from the river made his tail stiffen. He looked up at the Dragon Turtle looming over the bank, hugged his stolen food closer, and wisely retreated behind Robert’s boot.
Martin chuckled. "At least one of you understands boundaries."
"Aye. Scunko knows exactly which crimes he can survive."
Angel received her first fish as soon as it was cool enough to eat. Martin tossed it, and her jaws snapped shut around it in midair. The fish vanished whole, and her expectant stare returned to him before he could lower his hand.
"I made more."
A crashing sound came from the trees.