19: Greenstone
I couldn’t help but smile at that. At least amidst the chaos of today, there was some joy to be found looking at the others in camp. The only other person who seemed as rattled as I was appeared to be Jordan.
I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk to him again yet. Memories of our earlier conversation that day were still fresh in my mind.
Milo had already raised a stone block to act as a butchery table outside the main building for the wolf. I guessed Jen would skin and butcher it since I had never done it before, but I really wanted to see how it was done, so I headed over to the table.
“Ah, good, you’re here!” Jen said excitedly. “I’ll show you how to start this. You likely won’t get the experience for the butchery, but you’ll know what to do.”
The wolf was large. I felt like it weighed as much as I did, maybe even more, and it would have come up above my waist if I’d been standing next to it.
She immediately got to work. I tried to help, but truthfully, the movement and trying to hold on to the wolf with my arm hurt far too much. In the end, I stepped aside and let Jen finish it.
She cleanly removed the skin—it looked pristine, except for the stabs from a couple of daggers, obviously where Liane had killed it while hunting. She then went through the different cuts of the wolf and explained what each was commonly used for, including the back strap, the loin, the rump, round, and shank.
It was very useful. Once twelve good-sized steaks had been portioned out and set to the side, Jen looked over.
“Normally, at this stage, we’d set up a smoker and strip the rest of the meat off the bones, then smoke it overnight to dry it out—make a jerky of sorts.”
Suddenly, she had a gleam in her eye. “But maybe we don’t need to do that anymore! Could you store the rest of this wolf? Is it too big?”
I shrugged but stepped closer to the skinned wolf carcass.
Would you like to store Skywolf for 5 mana? Yes/No
Selecting yes, the whole wolf disappeared off the bench, leaving behind just the twelve steaks that had been separated.
“That’s so cool!” Jen said excitedly. “I wonder how large that space is,” she mused.
I just shrugged, honestly having no way of knowing. There was already a lot of stuff in there.
“Do you want me to store the steaks until we’re ready to cook them?” I asked curiously, looking at the pile of meat.
“Oh sure, yeah, please. I don’t suppose the pelt will go in as well?” she asked inquisitively.
Not knowing and figuring there was only one way to find out, I attempted to put the pelt in first—but nothing happened.
When I tried to put in the steaks, I was a little surprised at how it broke them up.
Would you like to store [Common] Skywolf Rump x8 for 5 mana? Yes/No
Would you like to store [Common] Skywolf Loin x4 for 5 mana? Yes/No
I was happy the pile of steaks counted as just one lot of five mana, but I was surprised the system separated the cuts of meat. I guess it made a certain kind of sense, all things considered, but it still caught me off guard.
Sitting down next to the fire Milo had already started, I was reminded of my arm as it throbbed in pain. I should really check my status—I hadn’t thought of it at all earlier.
Name: Trevor
Class: Arcane Chef
Rarity: Rare
Level: 10
Experience: 2600/5012
Feed the body, Grow the soul.
Hit points: 134/160
Mana: 205/300
Stamina: 90/160
I couldn’t help but notice that my experience had gone up drastically. I was still missing a fairly large portion of hit points, though—for a glancing blow, that was a little concerning.
I looked at my notifications next.
Notifications:
You have suffered 30 HP damage
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
...
You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
In total, I had seventeen buff-used-in-combat bonus experience drops. That made little sense to me—there were only eight bandits. Then it dawned on me: I was getting experience for every bandit individually, and for each person who fought them with the buff.
That was ridiculous. What if you fought a swarm of a hundred rats?
“Excuse me, Milo, I have a question about experience,” I decided to just ask. The adventurers would be more familiar with this than anyone else, so why not?
“I’m getting 100 experience every time you engage in combat with a buff, and during the fight today, I got seventeen notifications of that. Couldn't this easily be abused with a swarm monster? Or just sharing my food with a huge group and having them all go out and kill something?”
Milo pondered the question for a moment. "Yes, and no. You’re right—you could level up quickly if you abused it like that. However, the experience curve, as you may have noticed, starts rising rapidly. For example, right now, you need around five thousand experience to level up."
I nodded. Milo continued, "Meanwhile, at Level 41, where I am, I require fifty-five thousand. By Level 60, you need over one hundred thousand—and it just keeps going up from there."
I was taken aback by that. Just the thought of how many meals I’d need to make at the inn—each granting 25 experience—to get that high was mind-blowing.
"That’s so high," I managed to say.
Milo just chuckled. "That’s nothing," he explained. "Once you get above level 90, it’s already over a million experience per level."
I was shocked. I couldn’t even wrap my head around a number that high.
"So enjoy these first levels and the easy experience while you have it. You’ll be wishing for these days later," Milo chuckled as he concluded.
That evening, with my arm in the state it was, we kept things very simple. I just seasoned the steaks and cooked them on a flat stone Milo provided. I didn’t have any vegetables already cut, and I was certainly in no position to make any bread with my arm, but everyone seemed happy with the meal.
I managed to infuse the steaks, giving a +2 Perception buff, much to the delight of Jen and Liane, who were eager to head back into the forest—especially now that Jen knew I could store kills and they wouldn’t go to waste.
I was still exhausted from the day, so I didn’t engage much in conversation or stay up late that night. Instead, I tried to sleep early, heading to one of the alcoves around the outside and setting up my bedroll.
Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep well. I kept dreaming about what I’d seen that day—the cold, dead eyes of those on the ground. Three times that night I woke up in cold sweats. In the end, I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up, guessing it was early morning.
On the plus side, my arm was feeling a lot better—just a very slight dull ache—and my hit points had nearly fully recovered. Deciding to be proactive with my time, I started preparing a stew for the day. I also decided to make some very basic bread, grabbing flour, water, salt, oil, and some brewing yeast that Geo said would last me forever.
By the time the sun appeared through the hole in the roof, I had at least twenty rolls rising and was soon ready to cook. I had my stew simmering next to the coals from the night before, with the fire starting up again on the opposite side of the pot.
Overall, I had been very productive, and I was happy with my efforts.
"You’ve been busy," a female voice came from behind me. Turning around, I saw Jen and Milo coming in from the night watch.
"Yeah, my arm feels a lot better, and I was having trouble staying asleep," I trailed off, not really wanting to talk about it. Pulling myself together, I added, "So I’ve been making some food for today. It probably won’t all be ready for breakfast, but Milo, I actually wanted to ask if you could make something for me—an oven of sorts—just so I can bake the rolls."
Milo looked shocked. "You made bread?" He came over to where the rolls were sitting, rising in the warmth. "Yeah, absolutely. How large do you need it to be? And where do you want it?" he said, nodding with an enormous smile on his face.
“Just by the fire is fine, and I only need to cook the rolls, so not huge—or I won’t be able to heat it up in time,” I responded.
Before I knew it, a very crude but sturdy-looking stone oven had formed in front of me. I really wondered just how versatile that skill was. Could he make anything he could think of? How large could they be?
“Thanks, that’s perfect!” I exclaimed, using a stone plate from the night before to shovel some hot coals inside the oven to the side so I could start heating it properly.
Everyone woke up that morning to the smell of fresh bread, and it seemed to start the day right for most of them. Everyone except Cee and Saddie’s driver—whose name I still didn’t know—had a giant smile on their face. They all insisted that the stew would be fine even if it wasn’t super tender. I attempted to infuse the bread rolls, but clearly something in the ingredients wasn’t considered made by me, so it failed. I could, however, infuse the stew.
Everyone happily ate their stew with a bread roll. All the extras were placed in my pantry, and Milo confirmed he got a +1 Strength buff from the Buvul stew again.
The morning passed uneventfully after that. We packed up, climbed onto the wagon, and headed off again. As the hours went by, I noticed we were passing through a lot of farmland. When I asked Milo, who had been riding alongside me, he explained we were approaching a village. We wouldn’t reach it until late afternoon, but we’d be staying there overnight and leaving the following day. It would give Troy and Saddie time to buy and sell some wares, and it was a good opportunity to restock supplies.
Unfortunately, I still only had four coppers to my name, so I really wouldn’t be able to get much with that.
"You should talk to Troy about selling that Mana Truffle," Milo suggested when I mentioned my lack of funds. "If you can keep it fresh for him until we reach Boltron, I’m sure you’ll get a really good price for it. And if you can find more, even better — to the right buyer, the one you have is worth close to one gold."
"But even if Troy doesn’t buy it, I’m sure one of us will get you what you need just so you keep up the cooking. I must say, having a proper cook compared to a campfire travesty is so much nicer."
I heard Hari laughing at that, but Troy called out from inside the wagon.
"Come in here and let me have a look at the Mana Truffle. I absolutely can buy that from you. Those things sell at a premium in Boltron; the earthy taste is sought after by the mountain folk who don’t get it very often."
Climbing inside the wagon again, I joined Troy and pulled out the Mana Truffle, handing it over to him. He pulled out an inspection tool — it looked like an eyepiece.
“What does that do?” I asked, curious.
“Ah, this,” Troy said, pointing to the eyepiece. “It lets me inspect certain aspects of an item’s quality, mana density, size; and then my Merchant skills help me estimate the price I could sell it for,” he explained.
“This is a good-quality truffle. It’s not the best I’ve ever seen, nor the largest, but it has strong mana saturation and perfect quality — no damage or decay at all, probably thanks to that storage skill of yours. I’d sell this one for between 90 silver and 1 gold, so I’d offer you 45 silver if you keep it stored until we reach Boltron.”
I sat there completely stunned, simply nodding my head as words failed me. I knew Milo had said it was worth up to a gold, but it hadn’t really sunk in just how much money that was.
Troy handed back the truffle along with a small handful of shiny silver coins.
“That’s 10 silver for now, so you can get what you need along the trip. The rest I’ll give you once we reach Boltron and you hand over the truffle. If you happen to find more, let me know — these never fail to sell.”
I sat there, staring at my hand holding ten silver coins — more money than I had ever seen before. Suddenly, we must have gone over a bump in the road because a couple of coins slipped from my grip. I scrambled to pick them up as Troy just laughed.
“Put them away, boy, before you drop them all and some slip through a gap in the floor,” he said with a chuckle.
I quickly stuffed the coins into my pouch, counting all ten. I didn’t need to worry about finding the money to return to Dunhearth anymore — the silver coin price tag for travel was covered. But more importantly, I now had a source of income: one single truffle was worth more than a year’s wages at the inn.
I climbed back up to the front of the wagon and shared the good news with Milo, thanking him profusely for the suggestion and promising him the most amazing meal I could muster.
As the afternoon sun dipped, we moved through mostly farmland, and I could see the village on the horizon. It was surrounded by a wooden wall, the gate wide open. It looked much smaller than Dunhearth, but I was excited to see it. This would be the first place I’d visit outside my own town.
“What’s the name of the village?” I asked Milo as we came down the road.
“You know, I’m not too sure. Hari, do you know?” Milo yelled over the horses.
“Greenvale, or Greenhill, or Green something. Honestly, I don’t remember,” Hari replied.
“A lot of villages have an official name, but rarely need to use it for anything. To them, it’s just home, or the village. The name’s really only for tax and government purposes,” Hari added.
I just nodded. That made sense, I supposed.