256: Weaver
For dinner that night I went with something very simple, deciding to go with a slow-cooked sky wolf shank, which worked great because for Hari, Lily and Liane I could use the bigger ones. The only person I wasn’t sure about was Gilain, so I sided on the larger side.
Cooking it was very easy. It was one of the recipes I was shown by Geo. First, I would brown off the shanks, which was made easy with Crisplet making me a flat surface on which I placed some lard to get extra oil. The aim here wasn’t to cook it, purely to get a nice colour on the outside, and extra flavour as a result.
While they were cooking, I pulled out some carrots, onions, and celery which I diced into small pieces, and once the shanks were browned off, I used the same surface to cook it off, once they were soft, I moved it into a large pot that I had a lid for, adding in some non-infused stock, along with a small handful of garlic grass, and red wine.
I made sure the shanks were just covered, with the lid then sealed by Crisplet before I left it close to the fire so it could slowly cook over the next few hours. The aim was to have it basically fall off the bone when it was done.
“Couldn’t you use those runes while you’re cooking?” Gilain asked.
“Probably, but it would require some testing; I also think Crisplet wouldn’t get experience from it if I did.” I said.
Gilain just pointed to the pot holding the chironid stock. “For that one, that will take two or three days to boil down, and your elemental friend won’t be on it the whole time, right?”
“Point taken, though at least for this one, I think it’s best we don’t cut corners, or I won’t learn properly,” I agreed.
Gilain nodded. “Smart, usually young people like the fast route, want to cut corners. I appreciate you’re not.”
Gilain seemed satisfied with that, and shuffled back, pulling out a book and leaning against the wall as he began to read.
While this was going on, I noticed that Paro seemed to be hesitant about approaching the fire, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was taking up most of it with my cooking or if it was Crisplet.
Rather than waiting to see, I decided to bridge the gap there. “You can use the fire if you need a grill to cook or a spit or anything like that, just ask Crisplet; he’ll make it for you, I’m sure.”
Milo, who had been going over past notes, seemed to have a realisation about something as he looked alarmed, followed by staring at Lily, then back to his notes.
“Trev, could I show you something?” he asked.
I moved next to him, where he pointed to very finely written notes that detailed the occasion when Lily confirmed she got the permanent buff twice only hours apart, then flipping to more recent ones where he showed his personal timer.
“Any ideas?” he asked, attempting to be vague.
I shook my head. “Perhaps level, or that she’s a cat, I’m really not too sure.”
“Not a misunderstanding of what she said though, right?” Milo confirmed.
I shook my head. “Not at all.”
We were interrupted by the sound of thunder, and I couldn’t help but notice that the drains that ran along the wall widened ever so slightly.
“Saw that,” I chuckled.
Milo looked at me. “You saw nothing.”
As he said it, I felt the air mana rush past me, and reaching out, I noticed it just happened to be blocking all the holes, causing me to laugh.
“I knew teaching you mana control was a bad idea,” Milo muttered.
“Will the horses be okay, though?” I asked.
Milo nodded. “Yeah, they’ll be fine, it’s actually easier to guide the water away up there than down here, but don’t mention a word to Jen, or a small crack might appear above where you’re sleeping.”
There was a grin on Milo’s face that gave the impression he was joking; however, seeing that he still held a grudge over the swamp incident, I wasn’t willing to test if it was or not.
It only took another hour before Liane also returned, soaking wet as the storm moved overhead. Even with Milo blocking the holes as he tried, there was still water leaking in and mostly filling the extended drain, and part of me was wondering just where he was taking the water to that was going down the hole.
Crisplet helped her dry off as she took a seat next to the fire, talking to Hari, “I don’t think they are up to anything. The mage seems to be very interested in the group, but the warriors just want to reach the pinch.”
Overhearing the conversation, Milo said, “You didn’t catch a surname for him, did you? He seems incredibly familiar to me, and for the life of me I don’t remember why.”
Liane shook her head.
Milo continued, “They called him an average mage, which tells me their ability to sense and feel mana is useless, because that mage was anything but average. Going by his age and the strength I felt, I’d go as far as to suggest he’s actually a very good mage, but why hide it?”
“It’s certainly odd, but some of you mage types are odd. It’s good news they are not seemingly up to anything; we’ll still be cautious, though if anything I suspect they might think we are actually transporting something expensive,” Hari laughed.
Paro by the fire frowned. “I hope our wagons don’t get robbed.”
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Hari just waved it off. “Don’t worry yourself; those wagons will, as always, be guarded.”
Paro nodded, returning to cooking his meat on a grill that Crisplet had formed for him, though I noticed Crisplet was trying to instruct him how to cook better, and failing, earning Paro the occasional ember thrown at him.
“The ember means you’re doing something wrong,” I laughed, as the latest one bounced off him.
He looked confused at me. “What do you mean? I’m just cooking the meat?”
“Yeah, but you’re burning it.” I pointed to the side that was getting a deep char over it.
“Oh, that, yeah, Nero likes his meat extremely well done, so it’s intentional,” Paro explained.
As Crisplet looked towards me, expressing confusion, I shrugged. “Some people like their meals ruined; it doesn’t make sense.”
Paro let out a snort of laughter at that.
After a few hours of slow cooking, I broke the seal on our own dinner, allowing a small cloud of steam to escape, and getting my first smell of the dish. The smell from the meat was light, but the vegetables and the wine created an almost sweet smell.
Before it was finished, I cooked it for another half an hour uncovered. This was to give the shanks colour, but I could already see they were falling off the bone; it was so tender.
I noticed everyone had moved closer, with the merchants giving me a sour look from the side, not that I minded.
“This one smells fantastic,” Luis said.
Dishing it up for everyone, I scooped on some extra sauce, only infusing Lily’s both for the mana, but also I was curious about the stats, though nothing in this one was special. I wasn’t going to worry about my twenty-five meals in a row until I made another permanent dish.
I couldn’t say it would give me better options, but I figured having a legendary dish or two in there can’t hurt at all, and best-case scenario, I get a really strong evolution as a result.
[Common] Sky Wolf Shank.
+3 Perception.
Fire Immunity
I couldn’t help but laugh; after all the fancy buffs and long lists of buffs I’ve had over the last few weeks, having such a simple dish felt almost wholesome.
Handing it out to everyone, Gilain was surprised when I passed him a plate. “You don’t have to make me food; I have plenty of jerky.”
The protest felt like words only because as he was saying it, he was reaching out to take the plate.
The dish itself was exactly what I wanted, the seasoning was on the peppery side, and the wine and carrots gave the sauce a sweetness, but it wasn’t harsh; the gamey flavour of the sky wolf still came through, with the meat falling off the bone.
I was only temporarily distracted by a loud crunch as Lily ate hers bone and all.
The night passed as the storm raged overhead, and the thunder felt as though it shook the earth. For a moment I was worried the storm dragon was back, but by early morning it had cleared up and I finally got a few hours sleep.
I actually saw the watch change over, and in this case with the extra people and Crisplet, Jen and Liane both took turns checking the camp of the other adventure team, just in case, with Jen reporting back just before sunrise that they had already packed up and were moving towards the pinch already.
This seemed to make Hari very happy, and after waiting an hour from that message, we packed up our own camp, as I watched Milo return his building to the earth.
“Seems like such a sad thing to get rid of after a night,” I said.
Milo nodded. “True, but the most likely thing to move into something like this would be an animal, not travellers. Also, I can rebuild this anytime, so I’ll certainly use it again. I’ll need to make some alterations to how I shed the water, but overall it was a success.”
“Next time you’ll need to add a butchery room for me!” I said happily.
Expecting Milo to laugh it off; instead, he just nodded. “I’ll figure out a way.”
The rest of the journey to the pinch was smooth. Crisplet was back on drying duty along with Milo, and before midday we arrived, with a pair of confused guards at the gate who couldn’t decide whether to gawk at the caravan and its guard or the road behind us.
“It’s all dry. Two groups went back to the inns today, it was so muddy,” one guard said.
While the other was staring at Crisplet, Gilain and Lily.
“May I ask what you’re moving?” the guard asked Anthony, who was moving to the front with his paperwork.
“General goods from the capital, heading to Elarith Vale and turning around with grain,” Anthony said, handing over the paperwork.
The guard looked past him again at the group. “I see… general goods.”
Anthony let out an awkward laugh. “I’ll be honest, we hired a team of five.”
The guard didn’t look convinced but clearly wasn’t going to press it.
“Right, well, don’t cause any trouble in the town, and no setting up shops outside the market, and uh, control your pets, or summons…” The guard froze after saying that.
A deep rumbling growl came from behind me; clearly Lily was unimpressed by being called a pet, which set off Crisplet, who got streaks of black flame circling through his body as the crown appeared.
I quickly jumped in with an awkward laugh, “Wait, wait, he didn’t mean it. Just letting you know, neither are pets nor summons; they are both their own entities and both can very much understand you.”
Gilain, who I couldn’t help but notice was having a laugh at the situation unfolding, said from the back, “And one of which could probably level this whole town in a single attack.”
Looking back at the guard, I don’t know if he heard it; however, with sweat appearing on his brow, he muttered out an apology.
“Lily, take it easy. He’s likely never encountered a shadow cat before,” I said.
I noticed Anthony visibly relax as Lily’s presence lessened.
“I’m sorry if I caused any offence, uh, miss Lily?” The guard bowed.
I held back the urge to laugh at the miss part, but we were soon waved on. Where I noticed our arrival had already drawn attention as we arrived through the gate, as dozens of eyes were locked onto us the moment we entered.
I didn’t care about that, however. I was too busy looking at one of the nicest-looking towns I had seen so far. Every building looked to be carved out of wood, with intricate statues and figures carved into the very beams of the buildings before me, and the road and all the side streets were lined with smooth stone.
Even Milo let out a low whistle. “They have had a nature weaver come through since I was here last.”
“Nature weaver?” I asked.
“Yeah, like how I work stone, they can work wood. You can tell by how incredibly smooth all the woodwork is; there is no sign of a tool having been used. It’s rather common in dryads if they are not trying to kill you,” Milo explained.
“Does that mean a dryad is here?” I asked, excited.
Milo laughed. “No, not a chance. They’d hate the fact that there are buildings at all; they work with trees in the forest. I’m sure Lily would know some. No, this would just be a very talented mage.”
Hari interrupted our conversation. “Right, we are here for two days. We’ll be heading to the inn now; everyone follow me.”
With that, we moved forward, as more eyes were on us, and in particular on Lily and Crisplet.
Gilain appeared to have a skip in his step. “You know, it’s nice to not be the one everyone is staring at for once; I think I like this group.”