117: Soup

I pulled out all the rolls when Crisplet alerted me they were done, storing them all away and mentally bringing up the buffs of each as I went.

The first was the healing roll, which had minor regeneration, as well as Earth Magic Potency and Fire Immunity, which were on all three.

The second, the stamina one, surprised me a little, and it was likely due to using the second ingredient. It provided +1 Dexterity, increased stamina regeneration, and reduced stamina drain, which I could see was from a combination effect of the two.

Lastly was the mana one, which only had +2 Intelligence and minor mana regeneration. I might have underdone that one, but I was sure it would still be useful to Milo, if only for the earth potency.

I got Milo’s attention again.

“Hey Milo, I think I’ve crushed it enough. Is there any chance I could get you to add some water to the barrel?”

Milo just nodded, dusting himself off as he followed me to the barrel. Looking inside, he said, “Good, yes, that’s a good start. A lot of inns use a machine, which I’m sure we could get the design of and copy next time you do this. Now let’s discuss the yeast source. Normally when inns are creating this, they’d use the foam off a previous batch to carry over the yeast to the most recent one. Since you don’t have this, and from my understanding your only source of yeast right now is from the starter dough that Geo gave you?”

Milo looked over at me to make sure I was following along. I just nodded, but mostly I was annoyed he let me beat those reeds for so long with a giant club instead of telling me about a machine that can do it!

Milo continued, “Well, we have two paths we can take. Sugar-reed has a natural wild yeast that grows on it, so we can leave this and, with enough warmth, it will hopefully eventually grow that yeast. Alternatively, when we’re in Dunhearth, we get some dunder from any of the inns and use that.”

Thinking it over, I knew Larry produced his own drinks; I wasn’t sure if he’d have this dunder though, and even if he did, whether he’d let me take some, was a different matter.

“Either way, keep this close to the fire to keep it warm. I’m sure Crisplet will be more than happy to help, and if nothing has developed by the time we reach Dunhearth, we’ll deal with it there,” Milo said, helping me move the now much heavier barrel towards the fire by twisting it along the ground. I suspected there was some magic help happening as well.

Chuckling to myself. “I know you all said no to points in Strength, but I can’t help but feel it would be really useful for situations like this—moving heavy barrels and items.”

Expecting Milo to shut it down and call it silly. Instead, he seemed to be really thinking about it. “Well, normally I’d be adamantly against it, but there are situations where it may be of use to you. It’s the same as Perception—it might have more use for you now than I had originally expected it to.”

I had not considered perception at all. I felt like that was just being able to sense and see threats, but Milo continued.

“With strength, you’re going to have an easier time moving larger objects such as this. The problem arises with how much strength to dedicate, because every point in strength is a point not spent on stats you want normally…” He paused, seemingly getting an idea. “Trev, what food provides a strength bonus currently?”

I really had to think about it; it wasn’t something that showed up all that often.

“Um… Buvul provides one strength, mana truffle provides two strength, and baelvryn was three,” I responded. I was actually surprised at how few things provided strength.

“That’s excellent,” Milo responded happily, before continuing. “So let’s say you made a soup or stew with those three ingredients—or two of them and a stock reduction that you’ve been neglecting?”

A smirk appeared on his face. “Or better yet, let’s say you sear off a piece of Buvul, create a nice crust, let it cool, before dicing it up, then use it in said soup. It’s a reasonable expectation that you’ll be able to amplify that Strength buff, right?”

I nodded, my mind racing. He was absolutely right. “I’d essentially be able to make a Strength potion of sorts.”

“Exactly! Then you won’t need to waste stat points,” Milo beamed.

I wanted to get to work right now, but my heart dropped when I remembered I’d avoided butchering the two Baelvryn I had, so they were currently still whole, and it was far too late to head outside and do it now.

Remembering that butchery session though, I recalled a particular creature that surprised me with how strong and powerful it was in such a small package—the grarok. I had not cooked one yet to discover what buffs it would provide, but I had two of them butchered and ready to go.

Pulling out one, I looked the butchered carcass over. I had not cut it outside of removing the hide, head and claws, but I figured it would be worth cutting it now and cooking a small piece just to test the buffs.

The first thing I noticed was that the hide wasn’t the only tough part of this creature to cut. I was surprised just how difficult it was to cut into this particular creature’s meat itself; I would even say that it was more difficult than the dragon flesh I had.

The meat was incredibly lean and deep red in colour. I couldn’t really see any fat at all on it, but I removed a small strip from the back where the fillet should be, storing the rest away. Only applying some salt and pepper, keeping it very simple for this test, and went to Crisplet.

“I’m just running a test on this one. Any chance you could create a grill for me?”

Crisplet happily got to work as a grill of hardened coal formed over the edge of the fireplace.

I didn’t need to wait to heat it up, so I placed it down. After sitting on the grill for a minute, I remembered I should really try to get a crust on this for the best test.

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“Crisplet, do you mind filling the gaps? I just want a solid plate, like Milo usually makes in stone.”

Crisplet happily followed, and I pulled out some suet I had, which would provide the oil I required.

Several minutes later, I was left with a strip of grarok fillet that had a deep brown crust all around it. The smell was unmistakably earthy.

I used my Infuse on it. I knew I could have just thought about what the buffs were, but I was curious, so I sliced off a piece and put it in my mouth, chewing—

And chewing, and chewing…

It was so tough it almost felt inedible. By this stage, Liane had appeared, and never missing a chance for food, she had also helped herself to some, and I saw she was likewise having the same issues.

“I don’t think this one would be any good in a roast or as a steak like this, Trev,” Liane said, spitting out the bit she took.

“It tastes nice—like an earthy, gamey Buvul—but it’s impossible to eat like that, almost like Milo cooked it.” She added with a grin as Hari walked by and overheard us.

“Mind if I try a bit?” he asked.

I just gestured for him to go ahead. Hari never asked to try food early, so I was not against him wanting to now.

Both Liane and I stared in disbelief when he seemingly ate his piece in two bites, swallowing it without a problem.

Hari nodded. “It is a little tough, but the taste is great.”

As he wandered off, I couldn’t help but stare at him. “How…” was all I muttered.

Liane just shook her head. “He’s not normal. I’m certain he could eat shoes if they were placed in front of him.”