Sean sat down at the edge of Warabe’s pond, idly tossing Gel bits of the bright-red melon they had been given for ‘lunch’. The thing was massive up close, easily 20+ lbs, and Sean’s best description of it was that it was what a watermelon might look like if given a cherry’s exterior.
Auntie Ta had called it a “Kutrilon”, before revealing that the things he had been calling palm trees in his head this entire time were actually ‘Kutri’ trees with vines at the top he hadn’t been able to see from the ground. That odd fact was part of a reveal wherein he learned the word ‘lon’ in ‘Kutrilon’ essentially just meant ‘melon’. Having encountered hawlons before, that distinction had been easy for Sean to understand. As had the fact that ‘lat’ of ‘marmlat’ fame also apparently just meant ‘berry’. Auntie Ta taught him that most berries and melons she knew of were named in a similar fashion, but warned that this particular distinction didn’t always hold true.
It was the same back on Earth. Sean reflected, stripping another piece of the dripping-green interior flesh away from the rind to feed his friend. Watermelons, muskmelons, and sprite melons all make perfect sense, then you have honeydews, gourds, and cantaloupes come flying in out of nowhere to mess it all up.
They had gone through all three of the recipes Gel had traded Auntie Ta for, and were now waiting for her to return. The druid woman had decided to go check and make sure the white puffs – which she had called ‘Floofs’, a name Sean was not convinced was their scientific one – had actually gotten Rastegar’s meals to him instead of feasting upon it for themselves. Sean hadn’t seen a mouth on any of the dandelion-esque creatures, so he was admittedly curious as to how the cute little ‘floofs’ could pull that off.
Maybe I’m better off not knowing. Sean had no desire to see the Dowel’s Moving Castle look-alikes go full Children of the Scorn on something. Yeah… just going to leave that alone. ‘Cute but dangerous’ has enough tropes as it is.
“This has the strangest taste.” Gel said, making slurping sounds inside Sean’s mind as he scarfed down more of the kutrilon. “It’s like eyeballs crossed with berries and watered-down blood, but then the rind is more like the outside of a marmlat? Only you’d need to add skin in to get the taste right… and fruit doesn’t have skin.”
“Actually that’s why the outside of fruit is called the ‘flesh’.” Sean explained, giving the melon an exploratory bite more for the tactile sensation than anything else. “Because it’s got the same consistency as skin.”
“Oh, well that makes perfect sense.” Gel said, bringing his whip arm around and dissolving the rest of the melon out of Sean’s hands. “Mmm… How many more of those do you think we can get out of her?”
“Considering that was the last of the ten we’d traded for? Probably none. Unless she has chores or errands we can do, or you’ve got more information to trade.”
“None I can think of, and from what I’ve seen of them, I’m not big on the idea of ‘chores’ either.”
Sean almost asked whether the slime would be willing to trade any information the villagers back at Dry Run had held. Or something from Barry the adventurer’s memory… but he had noticed how Gel had, rather pointedly, left their information out in his retelling. So instead of following that track any further, he simply kept his peace and moved the conversation on.
“Alright.” Sean said, picking up the several sheets of recipe-covered parchment Auntie Ta had left them with now that Gel had cleaned his hands off. “Run me through these symbols again. This weird, wavy line equals a… ‘dash’, right? The tree branch-looking one means only use a ‘sprinkle’, and the double wave pattern is a ‘pinch’?”
“Almost.” Gel corrected brightly. “The double wave is actually a ‘handful’. Single wave is a ‘pinch’. Close, though. You’re getting better!”
“Thanks.” Sean narrowed his orbs at the paper in front of him, realizing what he had taken for a crease in the parchment was, in fact, an entire word. “Figure there’s no better time to learn, right?”
“Mhm, keep it up and you’ll be reading peasant in no time!” Gel crowed. “Especially with me as your teacher. I’ve consumed dozens of peasants! Some of them could even read.”
“‘Some’?”
“Well, okay, a few. But in their defense, how many books do you think they encountered on a daily basis?”
“I’m going to say… None?” Sean guessed, still staring at the paper. Never thought I’d be learning a language and a recipe from scratch at the same time.
“Not a one!” Gel answered with far more fanfare than the answer deserved. “Well, except for Brekkin, but he spent most of his money on books so I don’t think he counts.”
The pair spent the next half hour or so going back over the recipes Auntie Ta had given them, checking Sean’s memory against the various symbols and ingredients he now knew the names of. It was admittedly much more relaxing of an exercise than Sean had ever experienced in school. Who wouldn’t want to learn a new language and new methods of cooking while seated in the middle of a magical oasis? The fact that he didn’t have to worry about his mana for now as their host had promised to return with more of her mana-restoring water was only icing atop his already-delicious cake.
And I am going to eat my fucking cake! … Metaphorically, of course.
What Sean found particularly fascinating were the units of measurement. Back on Earth, a ‘dash’ was more of a joke way to measure something. ‘Officially’ it was something like 1/8th of a teaspoon, but only ‘official’ in the sense that your grandmother might claim that while dumping in what she thought a ‘dash’ of sugar ‘ought to really be’. Here, it was both a legitimate measure and a technique.
To add in a dash, one had to scoop their index finger (or claw, or whatever) in, press down on the middle of their finger with their thumb (or monster-equivalent) and then flick the resulting amount directly into the dish. As ridiculously unscientific as that procedure sounded, Sean had found while cooking that it was actually rather accurate. Auntie Ta had demonstrated the degrees of pressure involved in adding in ‘one’, ‘two’, or ‘three’ dashes, and after a bit of dubious effort he had managed the same relatively quickly.
A ‘sprinkle’ here was also not the half-dash, or 1/16th teaspoon, it was back on Earth. Instead one performed the same scoop as a dash, but with one’s palm in more of a cupping motion. Then you shook the excess off until it was sufficiently level, brought your hand to just the right height to where none would fall too far off your target, and ‘sprinkled’ your seasoning down by tilting your hand to a 45 degree angle and vibrating it back-and-forth. Again, the technique was apparently vitally important and Auntie Ta had made him repeat it with what he suspected was a blue-ish rice flour several times until she was satisfied with his performance.
As for a ‘pinch’, Sean had never heard two chefs back home agree on a specific amount. Whether it was because the word translated a bit differently here, or because Auntie Ta had a flair for the dramatic he didn’t know, but this one had a process as well. One had to take all of their fingers (claws, what-have-you), punch them into the container up to the palm, pinch all of said fingers together, then invert their whole hand while enclosing those same fingers (and thumb!) as quickly as possible. The result was then carried over and dropped in while rubbing the excess off of one’s hand.
Again, all three of the processes felt entirely subjective – but in practice the results were fairly consistent. Sean didn’t have any measuring cups around to compare with, but he guesstimated a ‘dash’ was actually a solid teaspoon’s worth of any given ingredient, whereas a ‘sprinkle’ was a tablespoon, and a ‘pinch’ was more like a half-cup. All of them had variants for adding more or less, which were often rather intuitive rather than complex.
Neat as it was, Sean hadn’t been particularly impressed until Auntie Ta had pointed to a ‘legend’ of sorts that was on the upper-left side of each of her recipes. With only a few quick symbols, this measuring legend let any reader or future chef following that recipe know how many adjustments up or down they would need to make based on a given hand size. One simply had to compare the results of one’s ‘dash’ to the weight or image listed on the legend, and then adjust from there.
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All in all, it was a rather satisfying system. One Sean rather appreciated, and one that provided him a hefty chunk of experience towards his ‘magichef’ title once he’d gotten the knack of it. He cast an eye towards the counter, and couldn’t help a rush of excitement at seeing how close he was to achieving it.
When she gets back, I’ve got that title in the bag. Sean thought, grateful that the potentially ageless druid had eventually agreed to show him a fourth recipe – this time a dessert – on the condition that they wait here for her return. That was probably the fastest I’ve ever seen Gel agree to a deal.
He took a moment to pantomime what she had taught him in midair, using some of the nearby emerald-shade sandy dirt as a substitute. The techniques themselves were important to master as, according to the druid currently serving as his instructor, the gestures involved also helped ensure a proper imbuement of mana into the dish. She had clarified later that what they were actually doing was ‘refining’ the mana rather than literally imbuing a dish with their own MP, but had been rather vague as to what that actually meant. Auntie Ta had simply said he would understand eventually, and she would show him how when he did.
At this point, Sean had found that an acceptable response. The woman had helped them out far more than he had ever expected so far. She had earned a little trust.
Both he and Gel must have spaced out while doing so, because a short time later they were both surprised by the sudden appearance of several prompts. Each had borders shaped by a dark, ornate metal with unrecognizable symbols and their appearance was marked by a fanfare of steadily rising drums beating out an energetic beat. It was a catchy beat, but one Sean completely forgot about as he read through them.
You have successfully survived an assassination attempt by a more powerful creature, and have even managed to do so in a way that freed the spirits trapped within from their torment! You have earned 100 experience points.
You have successfully freed an entire colony (most of which you killed yourself and then consumed) from its mind-controlling oppressor, and have even managed to do so while freeing other captives that were openly hostile to you! Out of an entire colony of opponents with an average level roughly equal to that of your own, nothing was left alive that you didn’t expressly allow to live! You have earned 200 experience points.
You have successfully lasted an entire week after being discarded by your summoner, and have even managed to do so in an area not normally conducive to the survival of your kind! You have earned 100 experience points.
If Warabe hadn’t respectfully asked them for quiet before they had sat down by his pond, Sean would have leapt for joy in that moment. Especially because he knew what prompts were coming next.
Sure enough, the shining bright, transparent gold-with-silver-trim prompts appeared only a second later, with their glorious words spelled out in the same sweet, victoriously black lettering the gelaton had come to expect. Gel whooped in elation when they did, though the slime was gracious enough to keep the sound within the confines of their mental bond.
Congratulations, by accomplishing feats remarkable even to the patient notice of Death itself, you have reached levels 13 and 14! As a Gelaton you gain 1 point of Might, 1 point of Adaptation, and 2 points of Toughness with every level.
You have gained two manasphere node points!
“Hahahahhhh! Hell yeah!” Sean crowed to his friend, just as the slime’s whip shot out behind them and pulled another kutrilon out from behind some bushes. Sean stared at it, confusion evident on his face.
“I figured this was coming, seeing as how we’ve finally stopped to take a break for once, and I wanted to make sure we had some food on hand to celebrate.” Gel said, before immediately cutting off Sean’s unvoiced concern that the slime had squirreled away some food without Auntie Ta’s permission. “Don’t worry, it’s from the ones she gave us. I just rolled it away when you weren’t looking.”
“Wait, you actually kept food away from yourself… willingly… for my sake?” Sean was touched. He knew holding off on eating something for a few hours was the slime equivalent of saving up a full week’s paycheck.
“Well, for our sake.” Gel admitted with a touch of embarrassment, before tossing it to him. “Annnnd now I can dive in, so open up!”
Sean laughed, and cracked open the kutrilon. He dove into it with gusto, and as he did the gelaton decided now was as good a time as any to give their status sheets a good once-over. He had been putting it off really combing through things again ever since the whole ‘interference’ incident, but there really was no better occasion for it than a double-level-up.
Besides, if anything happens, at least we’ll have Auntie Ta and Warabe around to watch over us for a bit.
With an almost inconsequential fleck of mental effort, Sean pulled up his own status first. When he did, he made sure to add in a mental request for a bit more information than last time, as he wanted to see more of what it could show him at a glance. What he found stretched a grin across his reinforced skull.
Name: Sean O’Connor
Race: Gelaton (Sentient, Skeletal Half)
Level: 14
Health: 12 / 27
Mana: 4 / 5
Damage Reduction: 16
Attributes: Physical (9), Mental (4), Recovery (19)
Attribute Breakdown: Might (16), Competency (2), Ego (3), Cognition (6), Toughness (30), Adaptation (9)
Abilities:
* Passive Abilities
* Pulse Sense II
* Mental Link
* Active Abilities
* Slash
* Bone Shield
* Momentum Shift
Traits: Undead, Darkvision, Flesh-bound, Summoned Creature, Symbiotic Structure II, Composite Form II, Morphic
Nodes Chosen: Slash, Thick Bones, Bone Shield, Reinforced Bones, Reaper Hand, Essence Stability, Thicker Bones, Bones of the Risen, Momentum Shift
Active Titles: Shellcracker, Savage, Arsonist, Profane Luck, Marauder, Bombardier
Inactive Titles: Flash Batch, Unstoppable III, Merciful Executioner, Liberator III, Colony Compatriot
Titles in Progress: Magichef, Saucerer
Looking it all over, a number of things stood out to him but the first and most obvious was just how much he had grown in a little over a week! He had twenty seven health now! Well, not right now because of all the damage he’d taken from the inmortu and from battling over the last few days, but even so he still had 12 HP left. That was nearly double what he’d had at level one!
Sean looked down to the many scratches, gouges, dents, and sometimes literal stab wounds he had taken over the last few days as they had fought their way here. The inmortu’s marks were more obvious – long gashes in otherwise solid-white bone – but the rest of his damage was clearly visible all over his body. If he had been human, the gelaton would have probably needed to be in a hospital bed right now. Instead, he didn’t even notice any discomfort. It was honestly like the damage wasn’t even there.
Which is both incredibly useful, annnd slightly concerning. Sean reflected, before continuing down his status page. Holy shit, I have sixteen damage reduction… and thirty points of toughness? Sweet, merciful marmlats. I doubt I could even hurt myself at this point.
Sean knew that a lopsided build like his was a dangerous thing to have, especially as he had literally two points in ‘competency’ and only six in ‘cognition’ – something he still wasn’t sure whether or not he was offended about. But he didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it. There was no doubt in his mind that his toughness score was the whole reason he was still alive right now.
Without that, the inmortu would’ve killed us. Hell, just fighting out here in the desert might’ve. The chitin armor they had crafted back at the colony hadn’t held up well against non-ant opponents. It was little more than rags on his chest at the moment, but that was okay. It did its job, and we can always make another suit. Maybe out of something sturdier this time. Like a scorpion. Oooh, or a cactus…
Shelving that discussion for another time, Sean went back to his status. He felt like he had picked up a good swathe of abilities, but now that Gel could swap them around Sean was starting to feel like it was time to bolster his numbers. Not that they were rookie numbers or anything, but it was definitely time to pump them up.
His list of traits was getting fairly long, too. Symbiotic Structure II and Composite Form had both shown up after his evolution into a gelaton, and a quick inspection of each revealed no new information that hadn’t come from either the evo prompt or the one that had popped up right after the strange ‘interference’ incident. That had upgraded Composite Form to Composite Form II, allowing them to temporarily share their base mental attributes in addition to their physical ones.
We got real lucky on that one. My mental attributes are kind of garbage right now. Sean noted. If Gel hadn’t pitched in back there, Bancroft would’ve had me.
Sean shook his head to dispel the unpleasant thought, and moved on to examining the nodes he had selected. His current build had a consistent theme of ‘defense’, which made perfect sense and was currently keeping them alive. Sean saw no real reason to change that path, and so he moved on to the next li–
The gelaton’s mind froze in place. His jaw slowly dropped open. When his non-existent brain got back into gear again, his first words were simply: “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”. Then, without even a single word to his friend, Sean inspected the last lines of his status.
Active Titles: Refers to the amount of titles currently active. Current max: 6 titles. Maximum titles allowed is based on a combination of evolution tier (2) and rarity (4). Active titles may only be changed during a period of extended rest.
Inactive Titles: Refers to the amount of titles currently inactive and not providing any boon. There is no limit to the amount of inactive titles one can have. Inactive titles may only be activated during a period of extended rest.
The next several minutes while Gel continued to happily dissolve his way through their victory kutrilon were spent with Sean cursing his own lack of attention as creatively as he could manage. Not because he had failed to learn this crucial bit of knowledge before, and not because he felt like the slime had failed to inform him of it – no, it was because his most important title was currently listed as ‘inactive’.
Unstoppable III: This title will preserve 1 health from an otherwise fatal blow, regardless of the total damage that would have been taken. Due to your heroic resilience, this effect can occur no more than once per week.
The most important title I have ever earned… has been inactive this entire fucking time. Sean wanted more than anything to facepalm himself right now, but he didn’t want to interrupt his friend’s celebrations – or tip the slime off to how much of an idiot he’d been in not catching this.
Gods damnit… How do I—?
Thankfully, it only took the act of simply willing it for Sean to be able to deactivate his ‘Savage’ title and then activate the title that should have been so from the very second he had earned it. Sean tried not to think about how close he had come to death in their battle with the inmortu. Especially given that one of the reasons he had been so confident in taking the creature on in the first place had been the now-proven-false idea that he would have survived any sudden deathblows the inmortu might have dished out.
It’s cool, you didn’t need a once-a-week get-out-of-jail-free card. Who needs those? Nobody, certainly. Sean berated himself sarcastically, before making a quick and eternally-binding promise to himself as finagled his titles into a more optimal configuration.
Gel must never know.