Chapter 71

You’re still Bronze. You can’t do it.

I saw Dellia Lucerne on my next venture onto the ethereal plane. She was meditating among the milkweed. Butterflies abounded. She took deep breaths that tugged at the nearby plants. Strands of her hair waved in a gentle breeze. Those strands blended in with the silk of summer spiders. They sheened under the sun in the same manner. Her dress was made from the petals of poppies. The goddess cast no shadow. Our eyes met when I’d come near enough.

“Hawkin,” Dellia said. “Come sit with me.”

I disturbed the butterflies when I sat. Orange and black wings took to the sky and scattered. Perfumes rose from the flowers that bobbed in the wake of the butterflies.

“Dellia,” I said. “How are you?”

“I simply am,” the goddess said. “Congratulations by the way. You’ve broken another quality barrier. It pleases me that you're progressing so fast.”

“Faster than I could in any other circumstance,” I said. “Without the goblins and this plane, I don’t think I’d even be at level fifty.”

“I’m pleased you can see this.”

“Then there are the orcs.”

“Go on,” Dellia said.

I told her at length about the orcs and goblins.

“That’s right,” she said. “You’re fond of your woods. Now that these monsters have settled on the coast, they threaten your peace and solitude.”

“So I’ve got an idea,” I said. “I could brew a beer with the Mist Hidden attribute. Then I could protect my woods by enclosing hundreds of acres behind a wall of mist.”

“Is that your plan?”

“I’d have to travel far to get my hands on the ingredients.”

“Thus, your dilemma.”

“Thus my dilemma, exactly. My only condition for returning to a life of adventure was to do something that fulfills my soul and lets me stay in my woods. I don’t want to leave.”

“Not even for the chance to protect your woodlands?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’d hate to leave, but the way that I look at it, I’d have to leave if orcs and goblins start moving inland.”

“You’re contemplating leaving to search for the ingredients.”

“I am.”

“I know what you’re after. Searching for the root of the cowbell plant isn’t your only obstacle to brewing the Mist Hidden beer. It’s also a silver ranked attribute beer. How do you expect to brew it when you’re still bronze?”

“I’m already at level four hundred ninety five. As long as I can come here and grind my skills, I expect to reach silver before next winter.”

“That’s what I encourage you to do.”

“Now that I can use Brewer’s Bubble, as long as I have all the ingredients, I can start grinding all my skills here, instead of just Brewer’s Harvest.”

“Will you travel? Will you leave your woods in order to brew a silver rank ale?”

That was the question. A question so heavy that our conversation went silent while I thought. I honestly had no idea if I would journey for the cowbell root. I desperately didn’t want to, but I had to.

“If I go,” I said, “I could still brew along the way.”

“You would forfeit your deal with the goblins and orcs,” Dellia said. “You would leave your woods defenseless. What do you think you would come back to?”

“I don’t know.”

“If you choose to travel, you won’t be able to level up as quickly. What took you a few months to do would now take you years. Let’s say you're successful. Let’s say you find your ingredient. You return usncathed. Then what? You’re still bronze. You can’t do it.”

I gazed across the meadows. Dellia readjusted and sat diagonal to me so that we could look into each other’s eyes. She continued.

“I don’t say these things for no reason. They’re not to burden you.”

“I’ve been thinking. I’m at a loss. I have to consider my next step. All I wanted to do was live in solitude and brew the best beer in the world. I feel like I’m jumping through hoops to get there.”

Dellia stood and helped me to my feet. She led me to where the sun bathed the grass. We walked along desire paths and listened to the symphonies of grasshoppers. They leapt upon us and flew haphazardly.

There were places in the meadow where the foliage was short. Serrated green leaves hid red vines.

“This is where the strawberries grow,” Dellia said. “Will you pick some with me?”

The strawberries were larger than the ones in my woods. Ants swarmed those that were too ripe. Old straw crunched beneath our hands and knees as we leisurely picked the fruit. Dellia gave me 1 to eat for every 2 that she gathered. I gave her strawberries too. When our hands were full, we continued our walk, going further than I’d gone before. She ate from the strawberries in my hand. I ate from those in hers.

“I want to show you something,” she said at last. “There’s a river beyond this hill.”

“Water for brewing,” I reasoned.

“You could bring water if you’d like. You could take from the water here.”

“If I brew beer on this plane, I’ll brew too much to be able to carry in my inventory. The weight would crush me. May I leave some barrels here?”

“If you’d like. This plane is inaccessible to anyone else. They’ll be safe here.”

We crested the hill. The sun sparkled across the river. It looked like bronze liquid. We descended the hill to drink from the river with cupped hands.

“That hits the spot,” I said.

We sat together by the water’s edge for some time. The river bank was gorgeous. There were rows of lupine flowers hedged by cardinal flowers. Belts of insects hovered there. Bumble bees lurched to and fro. They crashed from ground to stem to rock and to flower.

Held by the mesmeric abundance of life, I didn’t realize Dellia had left without a word. When I leaned in to say something, all that was left of her was the perfume of honeysuckle, the imprint of her body in the grass, and the rest of her uneaten strawberries. A vague wind twirled around my shoulders and pressed against my cheek. I blushed, but not from the coolness of the wind.

Left alone by the water, I resolved that I would spend the rest of my day on the plane here. I might go for a walk along the river, but I would put off a day of leveling my skills. My day here would be a time off from my quest path. I would simply be Hawkin the woodsman, exploring a new frontier.