Food.

A scant four letter word hiding not only a wealth of knowledge, but also carries an universal truth.

Everything, one way or another, needs nourishment to maintain themselves and prosper.

From the smallest plant to the gods themselves, all need to eat.

If the ordinary dishes prepared by anyone usually suffice to stave off hunger and nourish, it is a mistake to think this is all there is to know about the art of Cooking.

An experienced Cook, or a Chef, knows how to bring the properties of their ingredients to the fullest, using the mana naturally present within or enhancing their dishes with their own.

Such dishes, in addition to their usual properties, are known to help replenishing the mana upon consumption and even can imbue special properties.

The Waxian combat ration is one of such. Known to enhance one’s endurance and speed up recovery enough for their troops to be able to function and march toward battle quicker than any other force on the continent.

This thick and dusty biscuit, whose recipe is a state secret, can be sometimes found in the duchy’s Adventurers guild, or contracted sellers outside their borders available to purchase, if one is ready to pay several dozen times the price of an ordinary ration.

Monster meat from a carcass with a destroyed core, can be salvaged to enhance one’s body further, albeit with a reduced potency..

Ordinary meat and plants are usually not rich enough in mana to be sufficient to prepare such dishes. Enriching them with mana is not cost efficient, so using Monster meat or plants naturally growing in rich mana areas are preferred instead. Adventurer’s and their guild will be your go to to get such ingredients.

Of course, such a medium to work with comes with a slew of drawbacks and special considerations to have, as you’ll discover in this very book.

The Gourmet’s Gospel

Preamble to Cooking - Understanding food

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How did it come to this ?

Howard and his group were running, slaloming between the trees of the deep woods he was hunting in only a moment ago.

Everything was going smoothly, Dire Ostriches and Pseudo Wolves are dangerous, but a full team of experienced adventurers like his could easily take them on with little preparation.

Pest control, really.

They were heading back to the Village, to report their findings as planned.

Then, Dijeau almost almost got his throat slit by a Camo-Lynx.

It almost killed him here and there, if it wasn’t for the healer’s staff resting on his shoulder caught in the beast’s maw during the pounce. The thick length of wood transformed the lethal hit into a serious, life threatening injury instead.

The monster faded with its surroundings before anyone else in the team could react, leaving the poor man floored, clutching his neck, doing his best to use his mana to stem the arterial blood from squirting out.

Howard and Cassis took point, weapons drawn, while Vermouth was tending to their friend.

And if it wasn’t enough already, what they heard next froze the blood in their veins.

Rumbling, tumbling, Trees falling down, ripped off the ground.

They experimented the exact same thing about a year ago near the Silent mounds, and they almost did not make it.

That was the sound of a stampede of Dire Ostriches.

They stopped thinking altogether, their training and survival instincts taking over. They ran away diagonally, trying to put themselves out of the Stampede’s range.

This shouldn’t be happening was the only coherent thought in Howard’s head. This simply doesn’t happen if only a few monsters moved away from their habitat. From what they saw thus far, it didn’t seem they were numerous enough to trigger a stampede.

Which meant that they weren’t facing estranged monsters, but a full migration.

Something brought them here from the Silent mounds, something bad.

Running like crazy without looking back, they tried to angle themselves away from the Ostriches’ path, quickly meeting a steep incline in the forest, almost a cliff, keeping them in range of the crazed monsters.

With no other choice than sprinting mindlessly, hoping not to be caught or jumping down, Howard made the decision for his team.

“Everyone, Jump down now !”

Not waiting a moment longer, Howard jumped, feeling the rush of air and staring at the ground coming quickly toward himself.

This is gonna suck. He thought, gritting his teeth and preparing for the world of hurt awaiting him.

Howard rolled on his side, landing not quite all the way down, tumbling away and finally stopped by a bunch of thin trees and rocks. Still dizzy from the tumble, he took a moment to regain his senses. Breathing in sharply, he righted himself, sitting down in the grass, listening intently as the stampede’s sounds gradually faded into the distance. They were gone.

He turned to his team, taking stock and counting them. Everyone was fine, despite some scratches and bruises and some broken gear. Quickly assessing the state of each of his comrades, he stood up, moving toward Dijeau and Cassis. The former was leaning against a trunk while the second was trying to apply tincture and salves over the lacerations and bite marks on his neck.

“Cassis, Vermouth, help Dijeau stand, we need to leave and head back to report what we saw here.” He decided, quickly picking up what dropped off his pouches during his tumble hissing to himself as he saw his first aid flask had broken, the healing fluids spilled on the ground, where a particularly green moss patch steadily grew in diameter.

Tch -

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“Ah.”

Andrea stayed quiet for a moment, processing the information.

“And, uh… What of it ?” Tanya asked, at a loss of what it could mean.

“Do you know any other people with a family name or a surname around here?” Len asked. “Family names imply either one cares for their lineage or they are known for their distinctive traits or achievements.” He explains. “Elves, with how long they live tend to collect many names, it is a matter of pride for us to keep track of that kind of thing. Amongst humans, notable people like mayors or adventurers of renown like Steel Rain or GodFinger… and nobility have them as well, like the house Serval.” he counted off his fingers. “Lipswick is a noble house from Waxia.”

“What, are you sayin’ our mage is a noble, and Alaster too ?” She asks, pointing toward her friend, busy staring at his trimmed claws with a giggle.

Andrea sips her tea, making a show not to answer, staring away from Tanya.

“If what that adventurers claim is true, Lipswick is the name of a very, very small county in Waxia. Barely a city, apparently.” Len added, blowing air on his tea.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Tanya raised an eyebrow, this was hard to believe for her.

“My brother Armand is the patriarch of my House and Count of Lipswick.” Andrea says matter of factly. “I left the duchy altogether so as not to be bothered by such things. Adventuring was more exciting, really.”

“Well, maybe you did, but it doesn't mean much to your average lumberjack here. Not only are they part of the nobility, they are the shady sort!” Len shrugged “And listening to what that guy had to say, Lipswicks are known to be a strange, creepy bunch. No offense, Ma’am, but the fact your son’s a Lizardfolk kind of gives credence to his claims.” He shook his head.

Pointing to Alastor, he continues: “In the short while I've been here, I've heard a lot of rumors about this one. Mostly good things, but also plenty bad ones.” he adds “Nonsense, All of it, as far as i can judge from my time training with him. Did you know that a couple of them believe he was the one that killed your Chief not so long ago ?” He had a dark chuckle. “Now, not only is he not “human-ish enough”, but he apparently got adopted into an eccentric noble family. When I left, the theories were starting to go wild as for why our resident mage decided to burden herself with a reptile son”.

Tanya bit her lip. She had too heard some of the rumors while working at the apothecary. She did not believe any of them of course, she’s been playing with Al for as long as she remembered, and he was far from the violent, perfidious picture the adults painted of him. Most of them never saw him or interacted with him more than a few minutes at a time, and had their opinion set in stone even before meeting him in person.

“What the fu uh uh uhhh…!” Andrea snarled, gripping her cup so hard it shattered, her fist closed around the few scraps of terracotta left in it, the rest crashing down, some in powder. She barely contained herself, remembering the age of her company a little late. “...uhuhuuudge are they blabbering now? Has common sense left this place along with the first monsters ?” Andrea was livid. gathering the broken shards of her cup in her magic grip, she tossed them toward the bin without looking, missing the opening by a hand, peppering the wall with it, some particularly sharp ones embedding themselves into the masonry. “

Silence fell on the kids, processing the information when suddenly the entrance opened violently.

“Andrea ! Come quick, A patrol has returned, it’s worse than what we imagined” Felix urged, noticing the kids a moment later.

“Kids, stay here for now, i’ll be back soon. Keep an eye on my son, He’s still a bit out of it.”

The door closed behind the two adults, leaving them alone with a giggly friend.

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“... I strongly advise that you request further help from the guild, sir Merik. There aren't enough adventurers here to take care of a situation like this. The monsters are coming into your land fast. Pseudo Wolves are dangerous enough, but Dire Ostriches and Camo-Lynxes are invading your territory as well. If we don't hunt them to the end, they’ll start multiplying and the situation will get out of control!” Howard argued as Andrea and Felix took place at the Council’s table.

“I hear you loud and clear, Howard, but we already requested reinforcements from the guild days ago. We had a little back and forth and sadly, their final answer was: nobody is coming from the emergency measures. They say they are stretched too thin with what is happening at the borders of the Silent mounds” Merik confessed, rubbing his face in his hands.

“The guild refuses to send help, and we cannot afford personally hiring higher ranked adventurers. I doubt the current number will suffice, let alone the ones left once some of them get their orders to leave for the Mounds.”

Andrea raised an eyebrow at that, there should be more than enough numbers to protect the settlements between here and the mounds and some, especially if we can get the Knights to dispatch, as it is the solemn duty of Serval and the Kingdom to protect their lands and populace.

Howard looked confused, as he turned to look at the current guild’s representative, Brie.

“Is that true, Adjoint Brie? If we don’t do anything soon, the situation will just get worse and this place will become more and more dangerous, and it may end up with a rating downgrade from Settled territories to Frontiers. This simply cannot happen, the people here aren’t prepared to live in a land full of monsters, It’s a lumberjack’s settlement, for gods sake !”

Brie held his hands up helplessly. “This isn't my decision, I swear! The Headquarters in Serval considered that this place had no strategic value to the guild or the duchy, nor the income to keep up with the growing need in manpower. I’m afraid this place will have to make do with what they have for now, until we get our stipends from raising a True One to their Sparkling so we can hire guards or more adventurers by ourselves.”

Andrea barked a laugh. “So, this is what it is all about? money?” She let her word drip with disdain. “So much for the guild and their engagement to the crown and the people. To think they prefer to bail instead of performing their duties.”

Brie Bristled at that, exasperated. “I’ve been the liaison for the guild here for more than ten years! I’ve seen you arrive all these years ago to help what will become the village! I have no reason to hold out on help. If anything, the last two weeks saw thrice the amount of gold circulate than i usually expect to see over a couple years. I.. I don't dare to think of the reason why they aren’t sending more people. I haven’t heard from my colleagues near the Mounds in weeks now.”

The Headcouncil Merik cleared his throat.

“It’s good and all, but it doesn't tell us what to do. The council still has some of the emergency funds set aside by our late Headcounsilor in case of hard times, but the guild won’t take that money, they say it’s not nearly enough for them to consider it.”

“Can’t we ask the Duchy for troops ?” hazarded someone at the council’s table, followed with grumbling assent by his peers.

“We did, but apparently Serval already sent what they could muster at the moment to the villages near the Mounds, at the request of the guild.” Merik sighed. “Mage Lipswick here contacted the Duchess and made an official request for the Knights to come here, but it is a crapshoot at best, and in the meantime we will need to hold and keep the situation to an acceptable level until or if they come to help us.”

“She better answer,” Andrea sniffed in annoyance. “If she wants my research to bear fruit, she’ll make an effort to assist us. Or at least, assist me.”

Silence fell on the assembly, the wind rattling the panels on the windows.

“I have an idea,” Suddenly declared Felix. “May we discuss it in private, the council, the mage and I ?”

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“We could hire a Taskmaster.” Said Felix, once Ser brie left and they were between themselves. “It’ll cost a lot, and we can’t have the guild know about it, but that may solve our problem.”

Andrea bit her lip, and Merik looked less than pleased by the idea.

“I don’t think we should get ourselves involved with the Black Guilds and their mercenaries.” Merik shook his head. “If the guild or the duchy hears about it, we’ll be neck deep in trouble. This won’t end with a fine.”

Andrea took a moment to think about it. “Simple, we don’t. Let’s work through an intermediary.”

All eyes turned to Howard.

“Oh come on! Why me? I risk expulsion! you do it , you two aren’t adventurers anymore!”

“You tried to abduct our son,” Felix pointed out.

“It was like … A while ago! and I didn’t know it was yours! They said he was trouble” Howard moaned. “I already said I was sorry !”

“Look at this this way: you’ll be helping the whole village getting in contact with the black guild and get us a Taskmaster to help out.” Andrea ignored the outburst, crossing her arms under her chest. “You DO want to help the village and for your reputation to improve, right ?”

Howard turned to Merik, who pointedly avoided his gaze.

“It would help out immensely and keep the fire out of the village, Howard…” Merik said sheepishly.

“If you do that, I'll allow you to meet Alaster so you can apologize properly, what do you say?” Felix added, playing with his dagger’s sheath.

Howard's complaints stopped as he considered the matter. After a little pondering, he sighed. “Fine, I'll do it. I happen to have heard about a Black guild near Serval. If I leave now, I'll be back in a couple days with their answer. Hells, if we are lucky, I might even come back with the guy.”

Merik perked up “Thank you, Howard, you won’t regret it, we will make it worth your while, I promise.” The new head counselor shook the adventurer’s arm energetically. “We will double your group’s fee.”

Andrea adjusted her pointy hat on her head.”I’ll go back to my tower and scry around for manacores to estimate just how many of them we are currently dealing with.” She turned away, ready to leave. “Felix, you should go back home, our son is a bit under the weather at the moment, and his friends will need to get home before dark.”

“Alright, I’ll go check on them, and light the forge back up.” Felix waved as he left. “Merik, Howard.”

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The village continued to prepare its defenses in the meantime, part of the adventurers stationed left as the guild promised, providing help to the cities and villages closer to the Silent Mounds.

The danger classification of the surrounding area evolved as a result, from settled to infested, and it was left at that for the time being.

The elimination efforts of the nearby monsters settled down to simple pest control, and Dire Ostriches, Wolves and Camo Lynxes, unseen before in these parts, became if not a common occurrence, a somewhat regular sight, rendering some previously safe parts of the forest dangerous.

Alaster and Len kept training for the time being under the shadow of Andrea’s tower near the forge, where monsters wouldn’t come due to the impoverished mana in the air, captured by the tower itself for Andrea to work with.

Howard, who promised to return within a week, was unseen for a month.