Chapter 18

Take a Gourd With You

Once sufficiently cooled, I pitched the beer with yeast. Then I crammed the cork back on and set the gourd against the wall opposite the stove. All I needed to do now was wait a few days.

Curiosity kept Thrush hanging around until then. I learned a valuable lesson in fermenting beer when the pressure inside the gourd had built enough until it was too much. Thrush and I had been sitting at the table, leisurely chatting over dreambons, when the cork popped off the gourd and sailed through the cabin. Other than reaching out, Thrush didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. He caught the cork and popped it in his mouth, swallowing it right down.

We laughed about it—or rather, I laughed about it while Thrush performed a wicked smile. He hadn’t meant to eat it. He’d turned his reaction over to instinct and reflexes. The only downside was that I was now down a cork. I could easily say it was worth it for the laughter and camaraderie. On top of the fact that I had leveled up my Brewer skill.

It was either the cork or the fermentation that brought me to level 2. I was thrilled with the advancement. My system notified me that several things improved with leveling up. My taste for beer improved and my ability to differentiate flavors in beer improved. Every beer that I produced now had a poor man’s ale reputation, which I was a bit lost on. I’m pretty sure it had something to do with quality. Another thing that came with leveling up was the fact that my rewards had an increased chance in containing higher value items. Lastly, I wa closer to being able to absorb level 2 brewer’s skill books without taking damage or suffering adverse effects.

“It’s foaming over,” Thrush said, pointing at the corkless gourd of beer.

I rushed over and brought over the gourd. Foam continued to volcano out and splat on the cabin floor. Thrush retrieved a bowl and my beaten copper mug. I eagerly filled them, mostly of foam that took a minute to settle.

The beer was brown and hazy with quite a bit of settlement in it. It smelled a bit skunky, which made my cringe, but Thrush didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he was eager to try some, so we raised our vessels for a toast.

“To finding metal,” I said.

“Yes,” Thrush said.

We drank.

[Quest Objective: Brew your first beer. Complete]

Reward: Two small brewer’s loot chests. One uncommon brewer’s loot chests.]

It was one of the foulest beers I’d ever had. Especially when I’d been enjoying the ale from the Vale of Ara.

“This is not a good beer,” Thrush said. “It tastes worse than dirt.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve eaten dirt before,” I said.

“I’ve eaten dirt. How else would I dig as fast as I could?”

“I hate to say it, but I agree with you. This is the worst thing I’ve ever had.”

“If you don’t like it, I’ll take it with me,” Thrush said.

“You’re still leaving.”

“Yes, Hawkin. I’m still leaving. I’ll be back. I want to go find metals. I want that smoker.”

“This could be the last time I see you.”

“I know.”

“You might not return,” I said. “I won’t lie, it makes me a bit sad. I’ve come to enjoy your company.”

“I know. You taught me to smoke fish. I’ll remember that for all time.”

We suffered another draught of my very first ale. I suffered it. Thrush again didn’t seem to mind.

“Do you want to take the beer with you?” I said.

“Ok.”

I took one of the nine remaining corks from my inventory and popped it on the gourd. Within the hour, Thrush was ready to leave for his adventure. He had his hide bag, filled with dreambons and the gourd of beer. It softly snowed.

“Until next time, Hawkin,” Thrush said.

“Until next time,” I said.

That was that. Thrush walked off down the trail towards the sea.

Probably wants a good meal in his belly before he goes. Good for him. I hope he’ll do alright around humans. I don’t see how else he’ll find metal.

When I could no longer see Thrush through the pattern of snow and stripes of trees, I returned to my cabin. Within the hour, I could hear blue jays. They’d returned, which meant that Thrush must be well on his way. Hearing the birds was nice. It brought back a company I hadn’t had in quite a few days. So the first thing I did was set a plate of cold animal fat with some nuts on top of my cabin roof.

I opened the new loot chest I’d received. In the first small loot chest, I received more dried old hops and a pile of barley grains. The second one had a clear glass bottle with cork, and a pile of barley grains. The uncommon loot box had a pile of blue brewer’s yeast, a pile of cracked barley grains, and another pile of wheat grains.

I decided to brew the rest of my ingredients. I wouldn’t be able to do it all in one day since I only had one pot with which to mash the grains. I had all the time in the world, so I took my time over the next few days going through the brewing process.

Several prompts came up for new quests which would have involved in traveling. I declined every single one until a strange new quest prompt came up.

[New Quest Objective: Brew a mana beer.]

Reward: Two uncommon brewer’s loot chests. One rare brewer’s loot chest.]

[Accept quest objective: Y/N?]

A mana beer?

The only thing I could think of was that the blue yeast had something to do with mana. Without Thrush to help me identify ingredients, I was completely in the dark. I had to simply assume that the color blue had something to do with mana. Since I only had enough grains to make 5 gourds of beer, One of them would have to use the blue brewer’s yeast.

I decided to use the cracked barley grains for the last beer and pitch it with the blue yeast. The other four gourds were fermenting with the corks fitted enough to leave a small gap on each one. I’d done one a day since Thrush left. They’d be ready, one a day, in about a week.

When the beer with cracked barley was sufficiently cooled, I brought it inside and pitched some of the blue yeast into it. Ethereal blue smoke rose from the neck of the gourd in a single steady stream. I gently placed the cork on the opening of the neck, but the steam kept pushing it off. Eventually I gave up and returned the cork to my inventory.

For the rest of the night, I ate a simple salad with onion soup and watched the blue smoke rise to the top of my cabin and ripple around unendingly. The smoke got so thick, that it felt like I was looking into a magical lake on my ceiling.

Incredible. Absolutely incredible. I hope I can show this to Thrush one day.