194. Procuring the Ingredients
The sun has just set and Clay is walking on a street made of cobblestones. Just now he passed a few residential and establishments of small Dwarfen Town at least fifty kilometers from the border and he is currently headed to one of the central guilds managing every Warrior and mages who want to contain beast tides caused upon by Spatial Tears near the area.
(Hay grampa. He looks different!)
(Keep walking, yah knucklehead!)
Despite wearing a hooded coat and a scarf covering his mouth, Clay is impressed by how keen Dwarfen senses are.
Unlike humans, Dwarves have skin color ranging from dark pink to dark red depending on their cultivation level and contrary to the prevalent belief that they are all stout, short, and bearded creatures, they can actually grow as tall as two and a half meters.
As a specie who did not evolve from monkeys, they have an ability to shrink themselves in response to the availability of food and cultivation resources and the grandpa Dwarf he just met is good example.
After a few minutes of walking, Clay finally arrived to large wooden building that looked like tavern.
“Oh, the smell.” Clay is standing not far from the building but he can already smell the famous stench unique to Dwarves.
Normally, they do not exude a repugnant odor but when this race ingests beer and other alcoholic beverages in general, their bodies produces a gas soluble sweat. From Clay’s research, this odor marks the territory of their specie as a whole and signal other Dwarves that they are roaming a community free of predators.
Clay ignored the smell and walked straight towards the entrance of the guild.
He was expecting a boisterous crowd but as soon as he stepped inside, he was surprised by what greeted him.
The interior is not much different from a normal pub. Surely the hall is much bigger but remove the area where the missions and announcements are posted and tighten the space between each tables, it was not different from your regular bar.
But the biggest surprise are the people. Looking at the scattered gigantic and muscular Dwarves, he was expecting them to be a bit noisy and lively raising their mugs while celebrating but the sight is just pathetic. They all look like solemnly praying before their mugs.
“There’s a nice inn nearby across the road.” While Clay was busy looking around, the barkeep behind the counter spoke.
Out of respect, Clay removed his scarf and put down his hood. A few Dwarves turned their head and glanced at Clay then immediately looked away and went back to their silent meditation.
“I heard Dwarfen Ales are the best in the world so I came here to try it.” Clay walked towards the long table where barkeep is busy wiping transparent mugs together with a young Dwarfen staff.
“Ha ha ha. The last time someone said that was a decade ago then after trying our small bottle, he passed out and had to recover for two days.”
Clay took a seat then observed the bushy beard extending all over the bartenders face. Similar to Elves, Dwarves have elongated ears.
“Maybe he was sick and old. That’s why we don’t serve the sick and the old.”
“Ha ha ha.”The barkeep laughed again then grabbed a small shot glass and poured a mild whiskey then placed it before Clay. ”What are you here for, human?”
Clay grabbed the drink and poured it into his mouth bottoms up.
Arggghh!
Clay cleared his throat then he said, “I came here for that famous Ale and if you could place it in a mug, that would be lovely.”
There was a moment of silence before the barkeep laughed again. Even the young staff nearby and a few customers who heard Clay can’t help but chuckle.
“Quite amusing you are.” The bartender smirked then continued, “Would you like to make a bet? If you won’t pass out, your drink will be on the house. Otherwise, you’ll pay double the price.”
“Why don’t we make it interesting? Is that guy your son?” Clay slightly tilted his head as he looked at the nearby staff.
“Grandson. His name is Gundahr.”
“Then I’d like to challenge your grandson to have a drinking contest with me. Using that Special Ale of course. The first one to pass out will pay two times the price. You can join us if you want.” Clay took out a Greynam Dragon Coin then placed it forward on the table.
The barkeep forced a smile seeing Clay’s boldness.
“I don’t know what human prank is and as much as I would like to chase you away, I’m not good at turning down customers who can pay. He’s currently working so I’ll take on your challenge.” The barkeep took the coin and turned to his grandson. “Open a Mimic bottle and bring it over here.”
“I came here to make a trade. Should I keep pretending the guild master is a barkeep?” Clay suddenly interjected.
The guild master pretended to be surprised upon hearing Clay. Here he thought his cover was fine.
In the past, Greynam Country would send out scouts to patrol the border and to avoid skirmishes arising from misunderstandings, these scouts must at least register their presence to the closest Dwarfen guild.
Unlike any other countries, Greynam Country mandates every mages be it citizen or foreigner to register as Reservist and as the name implies, they are mages not on active duty but when Warriors are unable to contain beasts be it from the mountain ranges or from Spatial Tears, they will be summoned to subdue said beasts.
Stolen novel; please report.
However, with the constant rise of technology, the need for Reservists had dwindled and as to why Greynam continues to accept and support them, it is the only way the country could indirectly control and manage every cultivator in the land.
He planned on preparing a traditional reception but upon seeing the Identification Number of the scout, he was confused he had to call Central Intelligence to verify the number. To anyone, the identification number did not really mean anything but as someone who has direct connections with the higher ups of Greynam Country, he knows a secret or two. This morning, he found out that a True Ranked Reservist was on his way.
Reservists have their own hierarchy as well and to be given the highest level of rank, they must be tested directly by the Magi School and to emphasize how difficult obtaining the position is, even he as 2ND Circle Mage is not qualified.
He was planning a grand reception upon hearing that a guest is a human, he can’t help but wonder if they standards of Lunares Magi School had rusted. And this is the reason he pretended to be a bartender to observe their guest.
With his cover exposed, he still wished to know how strong this human really is.
“I’m indeed the Guildmaster. I hope this hobby of mine will not cause any misunderstanding.”
Clay forced a smile as things were going as planned.
“Here you go. One Special Mimic Ale.”
Clay ignored the arrogant look on the guild master’s face as he looked at the sparkling golden liquid inside the transparent mug. It looks like a normal beer and despite the stench coming from everyone else, the Special Ale exudes a strong sweet malty aroma. But despite its appearance, the alcohol content is triple that of earth’s strongest alcohol.
“It’s called Mimic Ale because it mimics your regular beer. And since you are quite the adventurer, why don’t you mix in a few Murakas.” The guild master placed a plate of sliced Muraka peppers near the foamy mug.
Clay smiled again. Thanks to the internet of this world, he did learn a few weird practices. From what he learned, the Muraka pepper will be dissolved into the mug which will give the Ale better flavor. For humans and Elves, aside from their mouths being set ablaze, dissolving the Muraka pepper into the Special Mimic Ale will significantly increase the dopamine effect causing one to become easily inebriated and high.
But that is if the Muraka pepper was normal.
Clay slightly raised his hand enough for the guild master to see what he was about to do next.
“You see, the trick here is the Muraka pepper. If you mixed in pepper you picked up from a dumpster, the effect is naturally garbage.” Clay retrieved his own version of red pepper he nurtured in his spatial ring then manifested his mana and shaped it like a knife then slowly cut the fist sized pepper into four and dip one of the slices into the mug causing it to generate more foam and at the same time, releasing mana towards the surroundings.
“My name is Grumaht, third of the five guilds managing the leyline zones on the border. I hope this friend will not take my disrespect to heart.” There was a hundred and eighty degree turn in the guild master’s attitude.
Upon entering the guild, Clay had already observed everyone with his Godly Sight and supposedly, he would like to directly speak to the guild manager in his office but seeing him serving drinks, he did not mind playing with Grumaht’s little game.
With the sudden burst of mana, everyone stood up and while they wanted all to get closer to Clay, they just felt a dangerous and domineering aura making them all wary. After a few seconds, everyone instinctively stepped outside.
*Gulp
Mrrgghhh!
“Strong ha ha ha!” Clay took a sip from the mug and let the beer smoothly coursed through his tongue then towards his stomach. In just two seconds, a warm and relaxing wave of energy spread throughout his body. If not because of that hot lingering chili on his mouth, he would drink the mug in one go.
“Your turn.” Clay let the mug slide forward towards Grumaht.
Grumaht placed his hand on the handle of the mug. Just looking at the mana infused in the alcohol, his heart aches as he knew that even one drink from him will be too much of a waste.
*Gulp
Mrrgghhh!
“Quite a kick.” In just two seconds, the skin of Grumaht seemed to shine giving of a dark crimson sparkle indicating just how potent its cultivation effect is. If the drink was given to a young Dwarf, this would immensely boost that youngling’s innate Berserk Combat Ability.“If there is something this friend is in need of, I will relay it to everyone.”
“If I’m not being obvious, I need Berserk Blood enough to mutate ten Tranquil Sarracenia Pitchers and in return, I will give you three of my Muraka fruits.”
Grumaht eyes squinted and looked Clay in the eyes. The reason their race have migrated to the west is because their Berserk Blood is a natural reagent to corrupt some plants and a few water-borne insects that thrives in waters sources and since humans have different physiology and have no natural resistances to diarrhea-causing feces of these insects, the most natural move is to banish the cause which is them.
“Your country will torture you if they know you’re in possession of such item right?”
“They’ve punished me once. No big deal.”
Grumaht took out a transparent jar then after taking out the lid, the veins around his hand started to pop out.
*Raaaaaaaaa!!!!!
Grumaht clenched his teeth as he activated his innate bloodline ability. His body started to release thin layers of smoke and like raging bull, he looked like an unstoppable disaster when released.
*Zzzzk!
Using his fingernail, Grumaht tore an artery on his wrist then let his blood flow into the jar. He did not need to assess Clay any further. That aura released earlier was an indication Clay is not to be messed with and since Clay chose to trade, he will naturally take the offer.
“I don’t know how long your business is in these lands but if you need someone to take care of your mundane activities, I can recommend a few Elves from the neighboring guilds. Except for taking care of human’s special needs, they can cater to pretty much everything. You can even train them to be your underlings.”
Clay was observing Grumaht’s actions and while many think Grumaht’s appearance is scary but to him, this guy looks like he is having trouble defecating.
“And what makes you think I need them?”
“Like every other human who would come visit our lands, either they are outcasts needing to earn a few bucks or have some crazy ideas that needed experimentations and they usually settle for a year or two. You don’t seem like you can cook so I was just curious.”
Clay watched as blood dripped from Grumaht’s wrist. Prior to coming to Greynam, he did a little research but to avoid awkward conversations, he will avoid these kinds of questions without being misunderstood.
“I’ll think about it. Thank you.” Clay politely responded but he does have plans on recruiting a few mages.
As for humans visiting Greyman, he already knew of human names who have travelled to these lands for the past two centuries and one of them goes by the name of James Bolivar from Nine Province. This man is a scientist and postulated that somewhere among the monsters spewed by Spatial Tears have mysterious energy behind them and while it is difficult to prove, countless records shows consistency of their presence.
As someone who is searching for clues of Dao, Clay could never miss such information especially that he had worked with historians for the past two years.
Unfortunately and as usual, Bolivar’s work ended with no conclusive evidence.
“Too bad. I was thinking of applying as a cook. I guess my cooking skills will rot with me.”
“He he he. Well, I’m not really looking for maids. I plan on conscripting manpower with decent strength.” Clay smiled.
“And how decent are we talking about?”
“I’m looking for someone daring enough” Clay drank from the mug and after a brief pause, he continued, “Someone capable of keeping their head intact when placed at the heart of a Spatial Tear Burst. And as for rewards, let’s just say they call me Mr. Generous.”
Grumaht’s countenance changed upon hearing Clay’s last sentence. Even he as a 2ND Circle mage would not dare risk it.
“I’ll post it later today.”