Chapter 6

Mystic

Brewer’s Reputation: 600,720.

“One of my favorite parts of a beer would have to be the foam,” I told Abigail as we left the forest of wych elm.

I took one look back at the yellowing goblin-green foliage before moving on. Now the broadleaf trees towered above us. The foliage was a mix of bronze, yellow, maroon, and rusting oranges.

“Have you acquired the Foam Cascade skill yet?” Abigail said.

“It’s my lowest leveled Brewer skill.”

“Why don’t you practice the skill as we walk? I’ll brew some Drunk Defiance attribute beers so we can enjoy as much beer as we like and still make good headway.”

Abigail began brewing those Drunk Defiant attribute beers. I watched her mastery of Brewer skills while I mulled over what to brew. I was torn between brewing billy goat ales, and my recipe of an oatmeal crisp ale.

Before long, Abigail brought me out of my thoughts when she presented a bottle of Drunk Defiance.

“Have a taste,” she said. “Have you got a classic shaker pint?”

“I don't,” I said. “I’ve only got a pair of silver boots and a pair of pitcher vases.”

“That’s all the glassware you have? But you’re a Brewer.”

Abigail withdrew a pair of shaker pints from her inventory. She poured each of us a full pint’s worth.

“Cheers,” she said.

We smashed pints and drank.

I had to break through the foam first. It was thick and reminded me of market-bought sugar cookies. It was something to bite through. It even crumbled the way fresh baked sugar cookies crumbled before melting away. But the taste was barely perceptible. I had to pay close attention to taste a hint of cream. Once I could pick out the cream, it made the texture of the foam stand out. I fell in love with it.

Then I tasted the white beer. It was slightly effervescent, silky, and reminded me of milk thistle and cardamom. The malt stood out on its own, the lightly roasted flavor of freshly kilned barley on the stalk.

“Fantastic,” I breathed.

“What did you think of the foam?” Abigail said.

“One of the best foams I’ve ever had.”

“There are so many different ways to mold the foam of a beer to your liking. Are there particular types of foam you’re drawn to?”

“None in particular, no. I know it goes without saying, but I really enjoy the creative foams you tend to get when drinking beers of a higher rank.”

“Brew a beer as we walk. Try and replicate my foam.”

I pulled grains from Silo #43, and used some ethereal harvested hops, water, and yeast from the plane. Using my Fire and Roast skill, I toasted some oats until they were golden brown and fragrant. I kept my focus on the bubble of brewing beer before me as I followed Abigail through the forest. When the ale had nearly finished fermenting, I engaged my Foam Cascade skill.

I guided a building foam. I gestured with my right hand and coaxed the foam to the top of the Brewer’s Bubble. After a few moments of no activity, I halted the skill and bottled the beer.

“Alright,” I said. “I gave it my best shot.”

“What did you brew?” Abigail said.

“The same beer that got me to silver. An oatmeal crisp ale.”

“The crisp style with an adjunct of oats. Interesting. I recommend the crisp stein glass.”

Abigail brought 2 tall V-shaped glasses out. They had no handles. I poured the oatmeal crisp ale until both were filled. Again, we smashed glasses and drank.

“This is probably a three of four level Respectable quality,” Abigail said after her first sip. “Quite an unusual pairing with the toasted oats. Quite wonderful and with lots of potential!”

I poured a drop onto my collector’s journal and found that Abigail was correct.

[Oatmeal Crisp ale.]

[Silver rank. 03/100 Respectable.]

[Brewed with ethereal harvested ingredients, this ale boasts faint flavors of toasted marshmallow. It has a nose of sun dried crisp malt and a silky body. The foam is stark white with graham colored speckles. The foam is slow to grow, thick, and slightly whipped.]

“The foam isn’t anywhere near yours,” I said.

“Which sub skill did you use?” Abigail said.

“I just used Foam Cascade. It’s at level ten.”

“Ah, I see. Once you reach level twenty-five, you’ll start to access different sub skills in Foam Cascade. That’s why you’re so far from replicating mine. I used the sub skill Crumble Cloud to produce this foam. I find it pairs well with Drunk Defiance attribute beers.”

I needed to reach level 25 in Foam Cascade immediately. I began to brew beer after beer as we turned to trek northeastward. My only interruptions were our conversations which I delighted in, maintaining parts of natural trails, creating trails when I needed to, and stopping to camp for another night.

By the time we camped, I’d reached level 13 in my Foam Cascade skill. I put in a lot of hard work. A lot of concentration. A lot of time and mana. Leveling up was still slow going.

Before we tucked in for the night, I made myself comfortable and used my Forge Ethereal Hop skill. In under an hour, I’d finally forged one whole hop cone. It was still a ghostly color, but I could touch it now. It was no longer like the distant light of a star. I marveled at it for a few moments before passing the glowing cone to Abigail.

“This is incredible,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like this. You can see through the whole thing.” It was twilight, and the ghostly light of the hop reflected upon her features. They made her eyes sparkle. “This took you a while to forge.”

“It gets easier the more I level up. Requires less mana. But it’s also a matter of mental focus. I have to give forging my undivided attention. Every time my concentration slips and my mind wanders, there’s no progress.”

“So you’ve got yourself some forged ethereal grains and now a forged ethereal hop cone. What’s next?”

“Forging ethereal water and yeast.”

I went right into it. Forging ethereal water was fairly straight forward. The forging process began with a drop of mystic colored light. It soon grew into a small sloshing sphere of water. After another hour, I was able to bottle around 50ml of ethereal water. Then I was too tired to forge anymore for the night.