Musashi took Jack across Grumgrod until they arrived at a district within this city that seemed to be more densely populated with mycoflors than anywhere else. There were mycoflors of many kinds, each pertaining to a species of mushroom. There were white button, brown button, portobello, oyster, porcini, morel, chanterelle, maitake, lion's mane, giant puffball, and so much more. Honestly, with this many mushrooms in one place, this was either a vegan's paradise or nightmare; paradise in that they have all the mushrooms they could eat in one place, nightmare in that these mushrooms are technically alive and thus making it unethical for them to be eaten. (Is it ethical for vegans to eat mushrooms if they are also people? I'm at a loss here. Vegans out there, help me out.)

As they strolled across the district, they've passed through several sake shops and drinking stalls filled with people drinking leisurely and having a generally good time.

"Ooh, these places look nice. Which one of these are you taking me?" Jack said, enticed by the alluring smell of sake and street food.

"I'm not taking you to any of these. Instead, I will take you to my house," Musashi clarified serenely.

"What? But I thought you said we were going out for drinks."

"I did offer you a free round of drinks, that is true. I just didn't specify where we'll be drinking. We shall drink at my home, where my spouse will serve it's home-brewed mushroom sake."

Jack groaned. "Oh, come on, that's cheating!"

"No, it is not. Calling it cheating would imply that there are previously established rules that prohibit it." The mycoflor samurai gave Jack a wink. "You are not the only one who can twist words to your advantage, sporeling."

Jack shook his head and let out a chuckle. "Alright, I admit defeat. You win."

"Don't be so down. My spouse Chiyome is an excellent brewer and its mushroom sake are out of this world. I'm sure it's just as good as, if not better than, any sake that is served in any of these stalls around here. Besides, it's about time you meet Crimson Flame's foremost alchemist anyway. Chiyome is very friendly and welcoming. I'm sure you two will get along quite nicely."

"Really? Then I'm looking forward to it!"

As they kept walking, Jack scratched his head, deep in thought of something in particular.

"Say, Musashi. There's one thing that's been bugging me," Jack asked. "Why do you keep referring Chiyome as your 'spouse' instead of your 'wife'? That seems kind of strange to me."

Musashi turned to look at Jack with a confounded expression. "Did you not know? Mycoflors do not distinguish themselves between 'male' and 'female'. Biologically speaking, we each have tens of thousands of sexes, meaning that any mycoflor can mate with any other mycoflor without any regard to gender. In fact, the concept of gender itself is inherently strange to us. That is why I do not call my 'spouse' my 'wife' or 'husband', as those terms have the connotation of a 'female' or 'male' label attached to them, which would technically be incorrect."

"Wait, really?! Huh, that's really interesting. I did not know that at all."

Jack tried to wrap his head around this new tidbit of information. So Musashi was technically not a 'male' at all, as he first assumed. Or 'female'. It was just...something else entirely. This just made Jack look at the mycoflor race in a whole new light. Simply thinking about it made his head spin.

"Ah, we are here," Musashi said, stopping at the front of a small house.

The house was stylized in a way that's remarkably similar to ancient Japanese architecture with an added simplistic feel to it. Stepping through the gate, they've entered into a small garden area in front of the house's structure. However, instead of the plants that were found in a typical garden, this garden contained mushrooms of various kinds. Some of the mushrooms glowed in the dark with different colors to illuminate others, making the whole scenery look entrancingly beautiful.

As they moved further inward, they came across a person tending to the garden. Upon closer inspection, the gardener was a mycoflor just like Musashi. However, instead of a humanoid version of a shiitake mushroom, this one was a humanoid version of an enoki mushroom. Hundreds of white puffy mushroom strands sprouted upward from its head as though it was a neat head of hair. Its eyes, while bearing the same beady appearance as Musashi's, were pink in color instead of yellow. Furthermore, the enoki mycoflor was wearing a white kimono with designs of sakura flowers on it and Japanese wooden sandals, making it look both plain and elegant at the same time.

"Chi-chi, I'm home," Musashi called out to the enoki mycoflor gardener.

Chiyome turned to face Musashi with a buoyant smile. "Oh, Mu-mu, you're back," it said delightedly before pulling Musashi in for a hug. This mycoflor's voice had the same vibrating quality that Musashi's voice had, which Jack had already accepted to be a common quality amongst the voices of all mycoflors in general.

"Chi-chi, this is Jack, the one I've been telling you about," Musashi introduced as it gestured to Jack.

"Oh, so you are Jack. It is really nice to meet you," Chiyome greeted with a polite bow before shaking Jack's hand. Even from this brief interaction, Jack could feel the immense positive energy radiating from this mycoflor. The optimism coming from it was almost infectious. "Mu-mu has told me a lot about you. I am Enoki Chiyome. Welcome to our home."

"Nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Enoki," Jack replied in kind.

"I think you mean Senior Enoki," Musashi replied. "Remember, we mycoflors have no gender distinction."

"Oh, that's right. Sorry, force of habit." Jack turned to Chiyome and did the whole introduction all over again. "Nice to meet you, Senior Enoki. God, this is gonna take some getting used to."

Chiyome giggled. "Just Chiyome is fine, young one. We are all friends here. No need to be so formal. Besides, people kept mislabeling mycoflors with binary genders all the time. Sure, some mycolfors might take offense to that but I'm certainly not one of them."

"I have brought Jack here to sample some of your exquisite mushroom sake, my love," Musashi said.

"Yeah, Musashi kinda lost a round of drinks to me on a bet. I've disarmed him in a quarterstaff sparring match," Jack said before slapping his forehead. "It! I've disarmed it in a sparring match. I'm sorry, did I get it right this time?"

Chiyome let out a gasp. "You've disarmed Mu-mu?! But it is the best martial artist I know, as well as being an expert on Seersight."

"Apparently, this sporeling knows of some tricks that surprises even me," Musashi admitted. "He has a lot of potential and is not to be easily underestimated."

Jack puffed himself up in response to that compliment. "Yeah, I'm basically the best student amongst the newbies. No one can top my skills, that's for sure."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"However, he is also lacking in quite a number of areas, particularly in healing magic," Musashi added. "Couldn't even grow a sapling to twice its height."

Chiyome gasped again. "That is quite bad. I know of many novice healers who can do better than that on their first try."

Jack's confidence deflated as he bore a mildly annoyed scowl. "Aww, man. Why you gotta put it like that, Musashi? You're busting my balls here."

"Well, regardless, if its good sake you're looking for, then you've come to the right place," said Chiyome. "I'd just brewed a new batch a few days ago and I guarantee you are going to love it!"

"Sounds great! Can't wait to try it out," said Jack.

Just as they were chatting, Jack caught sight of something at the corner of his eye. Hiding from within the house behind a sliding door was a child. And not just any child, but a mycoflor child, to be exact. Wearing a pink yukata with white flower designs, it possessed the same enoki mushroom head that Chiyome had, making look like a smaller version of Chiyome. As it hid, it poked its head ever so slightly out the side of the door frame to take a peek at Jack and the others. Right as Jack noticed the child peeking, it quickly withdrew its head back behind the door. Chiyome noticed the child peeking as well and called out to it.

"Yukiko, don't be shy. Come here," Chiyome encouraged with a giggle.

With much trepidation, the little mycoflor shuffled towards Chiyome before hiding behind it, grabbing its kimono as it did. While hiding behind Chiyome, the child did the same peekaboo action as did with the door as it bashfully stared at Jack. From the looks of it, Jack estimated the child to be no more than five years old.

"This is our child, Yukiko," Chiyome said to Jack while gently brushing the head of the child. "Excuse us for its behavior. Yukiko is quite shy, especially around strangers, but it is otherwise a very lovely child." Chiyome then turned to the child with a warm smile. "Go on, Yukiko. Say hello to Jack."

"H...Hello...," Yukiko said softly. It was a barely audible whisper.

Jack knelt down to try to approach the child, slowly and carefully as to not spook it. "Hey there, little one," he said softly with a wave. "Don't be scared. I won't bite."

Jack extended his outstretched hand to try to shake hands with Yukiko. The mycoflor child hesitantly reached out its hand in return, though its hand was so small compared to Jack's that it was only able to grab hold of one of his fingers. When it did eventually manage to wrap its whole hand around Jack's finger, its face blushed, after which it quickly receded back behind its parent again. The whole interaction was a bit awkward but also kind of cute. Out of all the children Jack had met in this fantasy world so far, Yukiko was perhaps the nicest one so far. Certainly a lot more pleasant than Mitra or the twins.

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As Chiyome was preparing some snacks in the kitchen, Musashi and Jack were sitting by the living room table and enjoying a cup of mushroom sake while Yukiko was playing with its dolls besides them. They drank the sake from small porcelain cups, each barely holding a mouthful of sake at a time. This forced them to drink more slowly in order to savor the flavor of the sake, which was ideal given the sake's unique flavor that was meant to be savored slowly.

"So, Jack, what do you think of the sake?" Musashi asked.

"It was...exquisite," Jack said after taking a sip, savoring the sake in his mouth. The sake was indeed exquisite, so much so that it made all the alcohol he'd drank before this moment taste like piss-water in comparison. After just one sip, he couldn't wait to take another. "Holy hell, I can't even begin to describe it but you're right. It is out of this world! How is it so damn good?"

"That is mostly due to Chiyome being an amazing brewer, though it is far from being the only one in that regard. Mycoflors in general are the masters of fermentation as we are closely related to the fungal kind, after all. We have methods of controlling fungi such as yeast in very precise ways in order to create the most refined alcoholic beverages. And not just alcohol either, but also bread, cheese, miso, and all sorts of other fermented products. That is why fermented products made by mycoflors have garnered such a high reputation. Any mycoflor product that involves the usage of fungi such as yeast and mold are bound to be a cut above the rest. We have an innate connection to those fungi and thus take pride in cultivating their efforts into creating the best products."

"Wow, that's really interesting." Jack took another sip. "I've honestly never drank anything like it. Such a clean feel to it---like a meadow after a rainy day---but with just a hint of mushroom flavor. Not too faint but also not too overpowering either. Ooh, and it kicks like a mule. That is how I would best describe it."

"How very poetic," Musashi said as it also took another sip.

"Yep, might as well give me first place in the poetry contest right now. I am just killing it today."

"Here it is," Chiyome said cheerily as it arrived from the kitchen with a large tray. "I've prepared some snacks to go along with your drinks. They pair quite well with the sake. Go on, give them a try."

Jack saw that the tray had a variety of snack foods, each contained neatly in a small round porcelain plate. The varieties were so plentiful that he had a tough time just choosing where to start. After a while, he decided to pick one at random, one of which being a plate of dried mushrooms, cut into thin slices. He picked up one slice of mushroom and eyed it carefully.

"Say, now that I think about it, isn't it weird that you guys are mushroom people and yet you eat mushrooms?" Jack asked, staring at the slice of mushroom in his hand. "Isn't that like...I don't know...semi-cannibalism?"

"Not quite," Musashi said. "Though we bear similarities to the fungal kind, we are ultimately two different beings. It is similar to how you would have no apprehension with eating a monkey."

"Oh, trust me. I have plenty of apprehension with eating a monkey. But I guess you have a fair point."

He took a bite out of the mushroom slice. The intense mushroom flavor burst in his mouth like a tidal wave before pleasantly mellowing out.

"Mmm...so good," Jack commented, slowly chewing the dried mushroom slice to savor its flavor. After that, he took another sip of sake to wash it down, the combination of flavors complimenting each other quite well.

"And that is not all. I've also got tempeh cubes, sourdough breadsticks, blue cheese, red yeast rice crackers..." As Chiyome continued introducing the snack dishes, Jack continued eating, each dish just as good as the last. By the end, Jack's stomach was filled with so much snack food that he might as well have eaten a full meal. The combination of snacks and sake had left him in a lethargic and drunken food coma. Eating good food, drinking good sake...now that's the life.

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Afterwards, Chiyome and Musashi took Jack to a tour around the house. While the house may look simple on the outside, it was actually quite complex and intricate on the inside. Within it, there were several sections dedicated to different tasks. One section contained a miniature brewery for brewing the sake. Another was a cellar for storing the sake. Then, at the basement, there was Chiyome's personal alchemy lab, which was a sight of wonder all on its own.

All around him, Jack saw a room filled with medicinal ingredients of all kinds, some of which were stored in glass jars and wooden display boxes while others were stored in shelves and hung on racks. Amongst the countless ingredients he could make out were herbs, flowers, mushrooms, dismembered parts of animals, dried carcasses of small fishes, containers of various colored liquids and powders, and about a dozen varieties of dead insects. If this wasn't used as a laboratory, it could easily be turned into a section of a natural wildlife museum.

"Woah, this is amazing," Jack said, his eyes practically sparking as he looked around him. "In fact, I would say that this is even more impressive than your brewery."

"Oh, brewing is just a side hobby of mine. My true main specialty is in alchemy," Chiyome explained. "This is where I make all the potions and poisons used by all members of the Crimson Flame, you included. Anytime you need a remedy for something, just simply ask and I'll have it ready for you in no time."

"Perhaps it might be better for Jack to make his own potions, don't you think?" Musashi said. "His skill in healing magic may be insufficient but he does has a mind of ingenuity, made apparent by his proficiency in enchanting magic. Perhaps that ingenuity can be applied to alchemy as well, allowing him to compensate his lack of healing capabilities with potions."

"Oh, that's actually not a bad idea. I'll be more than happy to teach you alchemy if you like, Jack," Chiyome offered.

"Really? Ooh, I appreciate the offer very much, but I'm kinda already crammed with lessons as is," Jack said. "I've gotta learn basic magic and combat training from Dingo and the others, enchanting from Yemi, smithing from Oren, language and lore from Tobin...I've got too much on my hands at the moment. I just don't think I can fit another lesson."

Man, this feels almost as stressful as going to college, Jack added in thought.

"Take your time, sporeling. No need to push yourself too hard," said Musashi.

"Yeah, Jack. If you feel like you have some extra time on your hands, feel free to come here for alchemy lessons," said Chiyome. "Our doors are always be open for you."

"Really? In that case, I'll take you up on your offer then," said Jack.