Chapter 5

Change in Terrain

Brewer’s Reputation: 600,724.

I spent time forging my ethereal hop the next morning. In an hour, I was able to achieve 45% progress in forging the hop. I had also been able to level up the skill to level 7. The process was beginning to take less time, less mana, and less of my energy.

When Abigail returned from her own morning stroll, I greeted her warmly.

“Morning,” I said. “How long have you been up?”

Abigail looked at the rising sun. The darkness of the woods was beginning to melt away. “Maybe two hours,” she said. “You were peacefully sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Where’d you go?”

“Up to the aspen. I’ve never seen leaves so yellow.”

“I’d like to use Brewer’s Harvest up there.”

“After breakfast?” She said.

We had a good breakfast. Good for me, at least, and what I was used to. If Abigail didn’t like it, she didn’t say a word about it. I shared salted fish, roasted squash, and potatoes with her. She shared beautifully ripened pears, bread, and crisp apples with me.

“Haven’t had bread in almost a year,” I said.

“Really? Well I suppose that makes sense. But you’ve got barley now. Why not bake yourself some bread? Tell you what—I’ll show you how to bake a simple loaf when we return.”

As amazing as bread sounded, my breakfast was to die for. It was simple, yes, but I hadn’t had pears in years. Juicy apples were also a rarity in these woods. So when breakfast was over, I let out a sigh. We then broke camp and headed up to the aspen.

The aspens were high and we had to scale the slope of a hill on our hands. Along the way, I received a few quests. Two of them involved traveling to eastern cities to trade collectible beers. I declined those quests. The third quest was one to accept.

[New quest: Brew your first Greater Planes Cutter beer. Forge enough ethereal ingredients to brew at least 250ml of a Greater Planes Cutter beer.]

[Reward: Clone Ethereal Beer skill. Forge Ethereal Label skill. 20 silver rank Brewer’s loot chests. 2 gold rank Brewer’s loot chests. 2 Planes Cutter loot chests.]

[Accept quest objective: Y/N?]

Yes, I thought.

As it turned out, Abigail had also received a quest at the same time.

“I’ve got to brew a collaboration ale,” she said. “Would you like to be my collaborator?”

“I’d be delighted to collaborate with you,” I said. Have anything in mind?”

“I’ve been enjoying your squash lately. It’s been making me crave autumn flavors. How about something like a pumpkin ale?”

She did like breakfast!

“I’ve never had a pumpkin ale before,” I said. “What style?”

“I’m thinking: something amber-ish or an imperial stout—but with bottom fermenting yeast.”

“Like a black imperial lager?”

Abigail shrugged and said, “we could use your coolship.”

“For something sour-esque?”

“What do you think?”

While we thought some more about what we wanted to brew together, We each used Brewer’s Harvest among the aspens. Then we brewed a few Brewer’s Portal attribute beers and named them Top With The Aspen.

And it really did feel like we were at the top of the world. The wind challenged us and ripped the golden-yellow leaves from the tall trees. Since the wind was cold, I donned my oversized wool sweater. Abigail threw on a cardigan and we sat to take in the sights below.

“Beautiful,” she said. “Can’t even see your cabin from here. You just blend in.”

“I love it,” I said.

“You never worry about monsters? Animals?”

“I’ve had to fight a few monsters every now and then. A few every year or so. But ever since I met Thrush, I don’t see animals and monsters anymore. Well—besides the orcs and goblins. Even then, I won’t fight them if I don’t need to.”

“A couple of weeks ago… …you mentioned that Thrush is a nightream. Do you realize how impossible that is?”

“Thrush is a unique monster,” I said.

“He can’t possibly be a nightream. Nightreams are ancient. Older than gods. Legend says they’re not of this world.”

“It certainly feels like that sometimes. Dellia is afraid of him. She doesn’t want me to give him access to the ethereal plane.”

“...your goddess is afraid of Thrush?”

“Yea,” I said. “She said he’s a nightream. I see no reason to distrust her.”

We turned our gazes back to the world that was laid out like a valley. In the far distance, I could barely make out a bioluminescent line, the opposite border of the Mist Hidden wall.

“I’m cold,” Abigail said.

I offered a hand to help her to her feet. We brushed the leaves and forest floor from our clothes and began descending back to our trail. We made our way north until coming to a fallen tree that blocked an easy way forward.

“I’m going to clear this,” I said.

It took nearly 20 minutes of chopping to divide the tree into manageable chunks. I put a few chopped logs into my inventory and the rest by the trail. Abigail took some logs as well. She’d been patiently watching the whole time.

“What skills are you using to cut wood so well?” She said.

“I used to be a Lumberjack,” I said. “I gave up the quest path long ago. Disabled my system when I came here.”

“What changed?”

“Beer. Really good beer.”

“It’s a strange circumstance,” Abigail said as we continued along our northern trajectory. “You’re not keen on adventure—at least adventure involving monsters and traveling and the such, and neither are you interested in the Oude Brewer’s Competition. Yet you’ve still managed to reach silver.”

“I’ve got Thrush and Dellia to thank for that.”

“When will the plane be closed to you? Is there an exact date?”

I didn’t have an exact date. I dreaded that day because I loved the ethereal plane between here and the Vale of Ara. I would miss those eternal summer fields and meadows overflowing with ripe flowers. But I always had my wilderness, and our hike along the perimeter of my base was during one of the best times of year.

The white aspen with yellow foliage towered behind us. We lost sight of the ridge of aspen after our transit into the forest of wych elms. The trunks of the wych elm were thicker than Thrush at 300% Satiation. I told Abigail that. She chuckled, but I could tell she didn’t get the joke. The foliage was a yellowing goblin-green. It made the forest appear lighter. Jolly, in a way.

It was in the midst of the forest of wych elm that we decided to make camp. We stopped early, in the middle of the afternoon.

“Is that alright with you?” Abigail said. “If you’re not in a rush, I’d like to explore around here.”

“This is the first time I’ve been here,” I said. “I’d love to explore too. I wouldn’t mind drinking a few mana beers and forging ethereal ingredients either. Now that brewing the Greater Planes Cutter beer is officially a quest, I’d love to spend more time working on it.”

Abigail explored while I sat to continue forging my single ethereal hop.