Chapter 10

Epic

Brewer’s Reputation: 600,710.

I woke up with the sun. The air was crisp and it was warmer than it had been lately. There was no wind, but the leaves still fell in torrents.

I made fire. Through all the ruckus I made, Abigail did not stir. She was curled up in her bedroll. A pool of disheveled hair was gathered at the opening of her bedroll. Her head was tucked in.

There was no reason to wake her, so I spent a few minutes stretching. Then I sat to meditate and Forge Ethereal. My efforts in forging everyday were paying off. I was slowly but surely leveling up. My Forge Ethereal Grain skill was just under level 20. Forge Ethereal Hops, Water, and Yeast were all above level 10 now.

I had nearly a gallon of ethereal water, a good handful of ethereal yeast, 1lb of ethereal malted barley, and 1 small handful of ethereal hops. Enough to brew 550ml of a light ale. As I leveled up and worked on holding my focus during forging, I was able to earn more ingredients at a faster pace.

Forging was a thought-killing process. My mind was empty when I forged. All I could do was experience the burgeoning existence of the ingredients as their manifestation progressed. The mystic colors, the unearthly colors, the holy colors, and the ghost colors entranced my soul.

Abigail had watched me forge ethereal ingredients before and when we discussed the colors afterwards, we could put no other names to them. Attempting to describe them was a disservice.

Until the day became brighter, the ethereal colors of my forged ingredients glowed sharply. When Abigail at last stirred, then sat up from her bedroll, the day was bright and spokes of the sun searched the forest floor.

Abigail groaned and said, “morning. I slept hard.”

“Morning,” I said. “That’s good. Care for a warm breakfast and-”

“-a breakfast beer,” Abigail said. “Absolutely. Your turn to brew this morning.”

“Awesome. I’ve already got breakfast in the coals. Are you all right with some peas and red squash?”

“Perfect.”

Abigail stayed in her bedroll, but scooted closer to the fire. She brushed her hair while I tended to the squash, deveined the pea pods, and brewed a breakfast beer. I wanted something hearty for the beer. Something that would drink like a meal. I went heavy on the malt and brewed a strong ale. The color of the beer was like oiled leather. The aroma was like sweet cherry and bitter orange. The Foam Cascade sub skill that I used was Greater Classic.

I Poured each of us a silver boot’s worth and passed one to Abigail. She laughed as she reached for the boot.

“You love these boots,” she said.

“It’s either these, two narrow pitchers, or a single mug,” I said. “I like these. They’re easy to hold.”

Abigail took one whiff of the ale and said, “A strong ale. Would be good in a goblet. Cheers!”

We knocked boots and drank. As soon as I took the first sip, I received a notification.

[Congratulations!]

[You have broken the silver rank Respectable quality barrier!]

[Your current quality threshold is Epic!]

[All previously brewed silver rank beers have been updated to level 01/100 Epic quality. Outstanding bronze rank beers will not be affected.]

[Reward: 5 silver rank rare Brewer’s loot chests.]

[You are out of mana.]

“I know that look in your eyes,” Abigail said. “You just leveled up, didn’t you?”

“I just broke into the Epic quality,” I said.

I spilled a drop of my strong ale onto a fresh page of my collector’s journal. The liquid spilled along the span of the page and formed depictions and descriptions of the beer.

[Hawkin’s Strong Ale.]

[Silver rank. Level 01/100 Epic.]

[This young strong ale boasts a strong classic foam that can be easily scraped off with a butter knife. The bubbles of the foam are strong and keep shape when rising from the glass. The foam also boasts a rustic cedar-like color.

The malt is strawberry and caramel colored. Sweet tobacco makes the nose. Dried fruits compose the body. There are notes of aged apricots, dried white figs, and buckwheat honey.]

“Good job,” Abigail said. “This is a wonderful beer.”

We discussed it over breakfast. Then Abigail mentioned she’d like to see what I got in my loot chests.

I opened them up and received 2 tarnished tankards, two coils of hop vines, a bushel of cragajack barley, a dozen skill books on various Brewer’s quest path skills, 5 bottles of various beers, white hops, and 2 bushels of abruzzi rye.

“Looks like you’ve got new grains to work with,” Abigail said. “Those will be exciting to explore, especially if you want to enter the Oude Brewer’s competition.”

“Yea, I’m still not keen on that,” I said.

I was thrilled about the new ingredients. I had my hands on different types of rye, different types of barley, and two more different hops to add to my collection. The hops were the only ingredients not labeled. I would ask Thrush for help with those as well.

“Thank you for breakfast and beer,” Abigail said. “Would you like to forge before we head out?”

“Already forged this morning,” I said. “I’m all set to go.”

We broke camp and headed southwest.

Along the way, Abigail began talking about gardening through the fall and winter. She’d revisited the idea of gardening in the clearing and decided to take me up on the offer. Her plan was to portal to some other cities in search of seeds and ingredients for attribute beers before starting. Then she would start gardening right away.

“I’m curious how you’re going to pull this off through the winter,” I said.

“I’m gold rank,” she said. “It will be a walk in the park.”

Our hike continued southwest for another week. I brewed Brewer’s Portal attribute beers along the way and alternated using Foam Cascade sub skills on each one. After reaching another Mist Hidden libation location, we turned west and headed straight for the coast. We brewed a ton of beer along the way, shared many laughs, and often talked about nothing truly important. I got to listen to Abigail ponder aloud what beer she wanted to enter in the Oude Brewer’s Competition, and once again reaffirmed my disinterest in entering myself.

When we hit the coast, we took our time to enjoy the view. We even went swimming together and Abigail shared a Water Skimmer attribute beer with me. She took me on a stroll atop the sea and it was one of the best experiences of my life.

All that was left was to head north and return home.