Chapter 70
First Arrival
Brewer’s Reputation: 587.
Dream Cutter Stone Shard Quest: 14,444/15,000.
Hiccup was evidently selling my beer at his tavern. Judging by the increasing shards I received which were directly related to pints sold, I would need to brew a lot more beer—and quickly.
I spent the brisk morning brewing ethereal dungeon beers, goblin spit beer, warm-warm root beer, and Ethereal Stroll #1 clones.
Brewer’s Harvest rose to level 1918, Flash Ferment rose to level 1999, Kiss of Yeast rose to level 1999, Forced Carbonation rose to level 1939, and Foam Cascade rose to level 1805.
As for my Planes Cutter skills, Ethereal Dungeon Master rose to level 983, just shy of silver rank; my Forge Ethereal skills simultaneously rose to level 1960; and my Planes Cutter Master skill rose to level 1059.
Thus, two more skills hit the silver rank ceiling! It had been much easier to hit silver rank than it was trying to break into gold. Gold was feeling increasingly further from reach the more I leveled up.
After bathing in a Landmark ale of clear brook water on my Beyond the Cabin ethereal plane, I returned to the cottage and donned my favorite wool sweater.
The strong, sweet scent of smoking wood drifted through the cabin. Abigail’s laughter bubbled. Smoke? Laughter? No, it couldn’t be! I exited. Lo and behold-
“Thrush!”
The beast, tending to his smoker, turned to me. His colossal eyes were speckled with flakes of silver and wild colors of the sea. Fish scales armored his snub nose and the insides of his ears. His fangs were piranha-like.
“Hello,” the beast said.
His fur wavered. The closer I drew, the more I could discern his loud purring. Abigail sat on Thrush’s throne-like rock which daily watched the smoker.
“He’s giving me a tour of his inventory,” said Abigail. “He’s got the entire sea in there! There are monsters I don’t recognize.”
“My Composition recognizes them,” said Thrush. “Lots of names, but I just call them tasty.”
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I leaned on the stone seat and listened to Thrush and Abigail talk back and forth about his recent adventures cutting into the sea and snatching fish out of thick water.
“There are farmer’s markets in Lavenfauvish,” said Abigail. “People go there and pick out vegetables and goods to buy. Like that?”
“Yes. I cut through the sea until I find fish and monsters, and I pick them out just like that. The small ones stay in big groups. They’re easier to find. Sharks are harder. Monsters are easier; they’re mostly bigger.”
“How about a beer?” I said, unable to withhold the need to celebrate Thrush’s return.
We shared beer, and I added another entry to my Collector’s Journal. One which earned me an advancement of 1 level in my last quality tier of silver rank.
[Red Crisp Ale.]
[Silver Rank. 53/100 Grand Honorable.]
[A simple crisp style ale hued red with a bleed of dark roasted malts. Crisp malts dominate the beer. Larch hops offer a faint aroma of spice which complements the unusual rustic grain.]
Thrush gobbled the beer up in no time at all between handfuls of dreambons. Beer foamed through his fangs. His eyes pulsed out of sync. Abigail sipped hers, considered the beer for a moment, and nodded.
Thrush withdrew chunks of splintered oak from his inventory and shoved them in the off set smoke chamber. After checking the heat, he returned to giving Abigail a tour of his inventory.
“And this one’s a Klamburak,”he said. “It was as big as Barnacle-eyes’ galleon. Not for humans; it’s toxic. I find it spicy. I think I’ll try smoking it next.”
“When will you get to all your elodon meat?” said Abigail.
Thrush smiled. My hair stood on end at the sight. But it was so good to see him and even better to see him so excited to smoke meat again.
While they chatted, I crossed the clearing of flowers and built a fire in the firepit. I brought a single lemon-size kernel of Saint Maxt barley.
So many skills were on the brink of gold rank. Would it be too unreasonable to try and brew a golden chapter beer with something that should produce a diamond chapter beer?
Before attempting another golden chapter beer yet again, I used Brewer’s Harvest to collect a few bushel’s worth of Saint Maxt barley. I went for the whole 15 gallon batch by brewing with a single grain. As soon as the water of Brewer’s Bubble came up to temperature, the single grain turned the whole bubble into a pale golden color. It looked as translucent as orange blossom honey. I chose my smurgard hops which were woody and imbued the wort with an aroma of bitter orange peel. For the foam, I used my level 1 Grains Like Sand Foam Cascade sub skill.
Alas, all my practice with Memory attribute ales, mixed with the use of such rich barley, did not yield a golden chapter beer. Even though my quality tier rose to level 58/100 Grand Honorable, I couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. I closed my eyes, sat back, and breathed the chill.
“Thrush?” said Abigail.
The beast was staring south into the cocoon laden forest. “I smell light. Big light.”
I went over and asked Thrush what he meant. He simply peered. His fishscale speckled nose bobbed as he sniffed.
Suddenly, through the distance between trees, huge shapes and columns of light drew near. It was as though a peculiar rainbow was advancing, made of white, red, yellow, green, and thick black bands of colors.
Abigail turned to me. “Remember those kingdom seekers I told you about?”