Chapter 81

A Howl.

Hawkin

Brewer’s Reputation: 88,197

Dream Cutter Stone Shard Quest: 1/15,000 shards.

Abigail drank from a Wind For Breath attribute ale. The attribute gave her the ability to blow a path through the snow that was nearly to my waist. The snow was so soft and powdery that every one of her breaths made her appear like a snow-breathing creature. We walked 30 feet, and then she’d blow up a small chaos of flurries that crashed into the trees. Hickory trees.

We arrived at our destination where the shaggy bark hickory stood dark and tall. We walked among them, inspecting each one. I picked one out and hefted my forester axe.

“No, no, not this one,” Abigail said. “Look.” She pointed to a height in the branches.

A squirrel’s head was peeking out.

“Good eye,” I said.

Abigail blew the snow away as we navigated the hickory. We came to a large one. Abigail changed beers, drinking an Anti-gravity ale instead. After one sip, she leapt up, parallel to the tree. When she reached the canopy boughs, 2 dozen blue-jays scattered to the sky. Abigail kicked off the tree to give her momentum to return back down.

“This is a good one,” she said. “No nests.”

The bit of my axe sliced halfway through the tree. In another chop, the tree was cut from its base. Shaggy bark crackled as the tree began leaning back. It took 3 whole seconds for it to fall. It took down the branches of other trees on the way down and slapped the snow and earth with a thunderous thud. I felt the vibrations beneath my boots.

I quickly went to work, cutting the trunk into geometry. Abigail and I loaded up our inventory until red warnings told us we were far past our carry capacity. A few sips of Abigail’s Anti-gravity ale fixed that.

We began our journey back home, following our path that was striped with sunlight and the shadows of trees. We stopped halfway when we spotted a flock of turkeys. They spotted us, and they ruffled their feathers and gobbled. The largest one stretched its wings.

Abigail nudged me and handed me one of two bottles. She mimed that I should take a sip. We drank in tandem.

A great hush fell over the world. The powder of snow froze in suspension all around us. The turkeys too had stopped.

“Slow time,” Abigail said.

She led the way. We walked among the turkeys. Their chests looked like large white-crusted pinecones. The males had deep red wattles, like boiled blood with pickled warts. Their heads were a winter blue.

There was something prehistoric in their eyes. Their feet withstood their drooping weight, and elegant were the females—slender and sleek. The young ones had eyes for the world that all young creatures had.

Abigail and I whispered about them as we walked among them. We didn’t touch them. We simply marveled over them, as though we’d never seen wild turkeys before. The Slow Time attribute gave us the wildest opportunity to exist like an invisible eyeball.

We passed the turkeys and continued home. Along the way, the effects of Slow Time wore off suddenly. The world came back to life. I could hear the crinkle of snow and the yawning hush of a lazy wind. When birds flew overhead I could hear their wings flap.

I was almost completely out of mana; Abigail said she didn’t even notice a dip in hers. After another sip of Anti-gravity ale, and another hour of trekking, we finally returned to our Sheltering Bubble. We stacked the hickory logs in piles behind the cabin. All except a few. Those few we used to build a cooking fire in the fire pit.

We shared a lunch of boiled potatoes, steamed green beans, and salted fish.

While Abigail read from a book titled “Gardening Tips from a Fable Rank Florist”, I brewed a billy goat ale using ethereal yeast.

After fermenting the beer, I entered a quick meditation to clear my mind and hone my focus. Then I forged an ethereal label. The label was longer than ever before, and it kept threading into existence. I didn’t stop until it was at least 2 feet long, like half a scarf.

All of a sudden-

[Congratulations! Forge Ethereal Label has reached Silver rank. Level 1001. Ethereal Labels can now be wrapped around to form containers. Level up your Forge Ethereal Labels to increase container size.]

Like manipulating a ribbon, I wrapped the chimerical colored label until it formed the shape of a 750ml bottle. I filled it with the beer I’d just brewed and tucked the end of the ethereal label in as a cork. It sealed itself.

“That’s incredible!” Abigail said, having been watching the whole time. “Can you make barrels with ethereal labels?”

“Maybe?” I said. “If I level it up enough—I’m assuming so.”

“You won’t have to worry about bottles! My god, that would be amazing. You won’t have to spend time coopering anymore. This will free up a lot of your time.”

“I’d like that. I’d like to brew more and focus on ranking up. That and existing in these woods again. Our hike felt nice and I want more of that feeling. Especially since all manner of birds and animals are returning.”

Just then, a howl filled the woods. It was the sound of two saw blades breaking teeth together. It was deep like Thrush’s snoring. The volume was outrageous. It was the type of sound I hadn’t heard since before I met Thrush.

“Sounds like animals aren’t the only ones to return,” Abigail said.