Chapter 119

Something of This Caliber

Hawkin

With great care. Great attention to detail. Much repetition. I finally did it.

[Oatmeal Crisp ale.]

[Silver Rank. 01/100 Respectable.]

[Brewed by Hawkin Ballow.]

[An unusual pairing, this crisp ale is like a hint of crumb cake with the clean, crisp taste of a crisp ale. Light malts give the ale a slight pastry-crust body. The malt and hop ratio is beautifully balanced. The foam cascades matte white and the aroma is slightly reminiscent of a fried cobbler.

[Congratulations! You have reached Silver rank!]

[Alchemical Control will now work on Silver Rank recipes.]

[Your reputation as a world brewer is 600,731.]

[Stat acquired: Brewer’s Reputation.]

[Skill acquired: Foam Cascade.]

[Skill acquired: Fire and Roast.]

[Special Skill acquired: Forge Ethereal Grain.]

[Special Skill acquired: Forge Ethereal Hop.]

[Special Skill acquired: Forge Ethereal Yeast.]

[Special Skill acquired: Forge Ethereal Water.]

[Special skill acquired: Ethereal Dungeon Master.]

[Special skill acquired: Planes Cutter Master.]

[Your mana pool has doubled.]

[Previously brewed and cellared beers will not evolve into Silver Rank, Respectable Quality. They will evolve into the highest quality tier in Bronze Rank. Grand Tavern Ale 100/100.]

Silver rank.

Brewer Level 1001.

I couldn’t believe it. I sat stunned at the table in my cabin. Stared at the bottle of oatmeal crisp ale before me. It was in a 330ml bottle, a glass cylinder that had been squeezed at the top, just to fit a cork.

I was too late in warding off the leveling headache, but I scrambled for a waterskin and gulped down as much as I could stomach.

The overload of information was debilitating. I couldn't even make it to my bed, much less off my chair. I fell. I was frozen on the floor in mind-wrenching agony as all this new information flooded me. How to forge ethereal ingredients. What it meant to be an ethereal dungeon master. A planes cutter master.

It was all too much.

Thoughts began compounding. My brain felt like it was trying to think 100 thoughts at one time. I tried to mentally process each thought but I felt like I was a dam during a flood. Thoughts and new information began to flow so fast that I couldn’t mentally keep up. I was forced to let go, break the dam that I was, and let my mind soak in everything on its own.

I was incapacitated for nearly two hours. When I finally sat up to my elbows, I felt exhausted. It took another 20 minutes to get on my feet and catch my breath.

After making myself a nice big meal, I felt more like myself again.

I wiped the salted fish fat from my hands, finished chewing my last bite of salad, and then tended to my garden. Picked a few heads of cabbage. Squash. Peppers. Eggplant. Tomatoes.

I spent another hour foraging chicory roots and then cleaned and roasted them on the stove. I kept them on a low heat until they were done and stored them away once cooled. Then I finally sat down to plan brewing my next beer.

I decided to brew the Mist Hidden attribute beer in the crisp style. It was a clean and straightforward style that had treated me well all summer. I looked over the recipe a couple of times more and then began the brewing process.

The beer was made from ingredients harvested on the ethereal plane. Even the water came from there. After the mash, I brought things to a boil and added shaved cowbell roots. The liquid reacted and I used Alchemical Control to imbue the wort with the roots.

As everything floated in mid-air above the table, the bubble of wort contained several explosions. It was like looking into a golden planet and watching blue thunderstorms collide and boom. The bubble deformed in a few different shapes and a mist began to form an atmosphere that encircled the sphere.

When I used Brewer’s Chill, the encircling mist entered the bubble. I then fermented the beer and bottled it.

Then, of course, I poured a drop into my collector’s journal.

[Crisp Ale.]

[Silver Rank. 02/100 Respectable.]

[Using otherworldly ingredients, this ale boasts a crisp and clean balance of hops and barley. The malt is light and has a slight flavor of popcorn. The foam is a bioluminescent mist that expands to drift into the world like a low rolling cloud.]

[Special Attribute: Mist Hidden. When offered as a libation, it enshrouds a selected area in a wall of mist that cannot be navigated through except by those who drink from the same beer, called a key beer. Stealth. Base building.]

“I can’t believe it,” I mumbled.

It was an achievement to celebrate with someone, so I went looking for BarnacleEyes. I found her in her cove, working on her boat.

Split wood covered the barrels of her boat. A log stood at an angle, shoved between the barrels. A length of rabbit hide was tied to the top of the log.

“What are you up to?” I said.

Without looking up, BarnacleEyes spoke through clenched teeth as she chewed at a knot in some cordage. “Trying to build a deck.”

“What happened to the other barrels I made for you?”

“I wanted to do this first.”

I offered to help and within a couple of hours, BarancleEyes had a fair looking deck. We mostly did things her way. As much as I tried to guide her and ask questions, she felt she knew what she was doing. The only thing left that she wanted to figure out was her mast. It lay on its side on dry ground after she couldn’t figure out how to secure it well enough.

“I’ve had enough,” she said. “That’s all I’m going to do today. How are things with you?”

“Silver,” I said with a big ol’ smile. “I reached silver.”

There was a beat between us. Then BarnacleEyes whooped and hollered with joy. She showered me in strong hugs and chatted non stop on the way home. For every thing she said, she had twice as many questions.

“So now what,” she said at one point.

“I was thinking we could try it. Test it. Make a small loop far out into the woods.”

We made a plan over dinner to camp out in the wilderness. I wanted to test the Mist Hidden attribute beer beyond where we planned to actually put it which meant we’d be at least a couple of weeks away from the cabin.

Between having leveled up Brewer’s Bubble, and everything I had on the ethereal plane, I would be able to keep up with brewing goblin spit beers while away.

So off we went and BarnacleEyes had a fantastic time on our adventure. It was fun to see her exploring different parts of the land. When we passed through the pine, she came out the other side with her hands sticky with resin and sap.

“Hate it,” she said. “Yuck.”

“It’s going to be tough getting that stuff off out,” I said.

By the end of the first week, we passed where I wanted the Mist Hidden barrier to be. We continued on for a few more days until finding a small meadow that beavers had cleared near a stream. BarnacleEyes had tried her best there to scrub the stickiness from her hands.

“This is a good spot to try it,” I said.

We made camp. The next day, I poured libations. I poured 5 times in different spots around the meadow until circling back to the very first libation. I poured the 6th libation in the same place.

A bioluminescent blue mist rose from each spot I’d poured libations at. The mist rose in billowing clouds until it mingled with the canopy of the perimeter trees. It then stretched to connect with mist from either side, forming a complete wall. Though it was day, blue light reflected upon the trees.

BarnacleEyes was in awe. Silent.

We walked around the barrier together and found no opening. When we tried to walk through it, we walked twenty steps in and ended up coming out exactly where we’d entered. The mist was so thick, I could only see my hands when they were nearly up against my eyes.

BarnacleEyes tried sprinting through, but came sprinting back out in a matter of seconds. She scratched her head at that.

“Then how do we get in,” she said.

I handed her the rest of the beer and said, “this is the key beer. Have a sip. Then try.”

BarnacleEyes winced after her sip. Then her features straightened out in surprise.

“Not as bad as your other beers,” she said. Then, “Still not a ptooey beer.”

“Go on then,” I said. “Walk through the mist.”

She walked into the mist while glancing dubiously at me. Several minutes later, she returned.

“It works,” she said. “It really works! Did you hear me? I was calling for you.”

“Interesting,” I said. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“You give it a try,” she said.

I took a sip and nearly rolled my eyes. It was such a simple beer, but by far one of my best. For a moment I was stunned that I was capable of brewing something of this caliber.

I suddenly felt sticky hands push at my back.

“What are you waiting for,” BarancleEyes said, pushing me from behind, “Hurry up!”

I chuckled and walked through the mist and into the small meadow.