Captain Hammermore delegated a series of tasks in quick succession. Halloth was to harvest the last of his bamboo, then bring it to Nazyr and assist the one-eyed shipwright in finishing his final renovations to the ship. From what Rylan understood, the last main things it needed were a couple of large steering fins on the side of the floater that would help with making sharp turns.

Other than that, it could use more rope connecting the floater to the deck, to make sure it didn't tear free, and better rigging along which to climb to the small observation deck at the top.

They would hopefully be using that deck to navigate from sometime soon.

Meanwhile, Yuel and Holly were to do a final inspection of the seams in the tarpaulin that covered the floater, especially along the repaired tears. The less the tarpaulin leaked fog in—and gasified Aetherium out—the longer they would be able to stay afloat.

On the whole, the ship had really slimmed down a lot—as evidenced by the huge pile of broken bamboo and whale bones that lay next to it. Where before there had been a large, almost cubical bulk of rooms hanging beneath a broad deck that stretched out to two massive floaters, there was now a more streamlined, much thinner hull below a modest-sized deck. Only the captain's cabin on top had remained untouched—with the exception of the huge new floater that had been built on top of it, of course.

The white-clothed ovaloid structure loomed far over the front and back of the deck, seeming liable to crush it if it weren't so light-weight.

Rylan just hoped the professor's calculations were right, and that it would be able to lift the new Soggy Shepherd with all of its crew—including the three stragglers the former pirates had picked up.

Tamina quietly excused herself, heading for the tent to catch up on some sleep, leaving Rylan standing there unsure what to do. He felt tired, but also wired. Plus, unlike her, he had slept, even if it had only been a couple of hours. Well, he'd been unconscious, at the very least...

When Captain Hammermore finished discussing something with Yuel, and the blond man hurried away with a spring in his step, Rylan took the opportunity to approach.

Captain Hammermore glanced at him and smiled, a much warmer expression than he'd seen her direct his way over the last couple of days. "You did good, kid," she said without preamble. "You've given my crew a chance, and I won't forget it."

"So we're good?" Rylan asked.

"Hah!" the captain barked. "That we are, son, that we are. Now follow Thar Tamina's example and get some rest, you look like you need it."

Rylan frowned. "But... there's so much that needs to be done still. Are you sure—"

The captain lifted a hand, cutting him off. "Kid, I know better than to let a tired sailor climb the riggings. You're swaying on your legs, so go take a nap. When you're up again, you can help Ezra prepare that wonderful steak you brought. Now shoo."

[She means in the tent, Boss,] Arphin added. [Don't just lie down here; this would be a terrible place for a nap! People are trying to work!]

'Thanks for the clarification, Arphin,' Rylan sent back fondly, as he saluted the captain and turned to follow after Tamina. Finding her already tucked into her own bedroll, still in her armour, he laid down next to her with a sigh, not bothering to take off his clothes either. His worry that he might not actually be able to fall asleep quickly proved unfounded, as he drifted off in seconds.

Rylan woke up feeling refreshed. The light filtering in from outside as he yawned and stretched told him only a couple of hours had passed. Next to him, Tamina was still breathing evenly, looking serene and beautiful, almost like a painting. Catching himself staring, Rylan shook his head and crept out quietly, careful not to disturb her.

When he stepped outside and looked up, he was treated to the sight of Nazyr hanging in the rigging on the side of the floater, muttering swearwords as he tied off a knot on a large fin-like construction made primarily of kelp weave stretched over bamboo.

Overall, it looked like people had been busy, though there was still quite a bit left to do.

"Ah, Thar Rylan," Ezra said, approaching from behind. "Good to see that you're up. I was just looking for you: how did you want to prepare that glorious slab of meat you brought?"

Rylan blinked. "Ehm, I'd kind of hoped you might have an idea of what to do with it..."

Ezra gasped, mechanically bringing his prosthetic right hand up to his chest in a 'dramatic' gesture that he'd clearly been practising. "Me? But milord, I'm but a humble one-armed chef!" Ezra protested, his large beardy grin completely belying his words. "I couldn't possibly take charge on the cooking of your magnificent haul!"

Rylan groaned, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch up despite himself. "You're really going to make me take the lead? I've never cooked anything like this, you know?"

"And I've never gotten to see you cook!" Ezra said jovially, using his good arm to gently turn Rylan around to face the large hide-wrapped piece of meat lying on a nearby wicker cot. "Besides, I'll be with you every step of the way. So, what's the plan?"

Rylan let out a sigh. "All right then. Ehm. Well, it's way too much meat for one meal, even for this band of gluttons... but I guess we better cook it all anyway, or it'll just spoil."

Ezra's eyebrows shot up. "Ambitious! But you're right. We should prepare rations for the coming days—even if it's just in case our trip takes longer than planned. How are we going to heat all that meat, though? It's a little big for the stove, don'tcha think?"

Rylan scratched the side of his head. "Well yeah, it's bigger than the stove, but maybe..."

Stolen story; please report.

He trailed off as Halloth came lumbering over, picked up the solid metal stove like it weighed nothing, nodded at them, and lumbered off again.

Rylan applied his palm to his face. "Aaand the professor needs the firemetal for his putt-putt engine."

Ezra's shoulders started to shake silently, before he let out a full-bellied laugh. "Ah well, that's the life of a chef, isn't it? There's always something."

"I guess the stove was a bad option anyway," Rylan sighed. "We can't afford to use a lot of mana today if we're planning to leave tomorrow..."

"That's a good point," Ezra said, more soberly. "So, time to improvise. We've got no stove, and no bricks of dried mistweed. How are we going to prepare this meat?"

Rylan clicked his tongue, glancing around. Then his eyes widened, and he nudged Ezra.

The red-haired chef turned in the direction Rylan indicated and started to laugh again. "Well, waste not, want not, right?"

"My thoughts exactly," Rylan replied, smiling at the huge pile of broken bamboo next to the renovated ship.

Ezra's enthusiasm for cooking was infectious, and Rylan soon got into the challenge of preparing the massive bulk of meat he'd brought.

It didn't take long for them to decide that preparing all of it the same way would be boring, and moreover a waste of opportunity to experiment.

While there was certainly an air of frantic preparation around the Soggy Shepherd, now that they actually had a way to leave, it was a hopeful, optimistic kind of franticness. The kind born not of a dire need to get the fog out before the dome collapsed, but rather of an enthusiastic wish to get back to civilisation. To see the sky again.

There wasn't an abundance of time, but there was enough to prepare one last proper meal. So, in the end, they settled on three different ways to prepare the meat.

They started by digging a sizable pit lined with flat rocks, in which they started a roaring bamboo fire. As it burned, they cut some thick, fresh rods of green bamboo into foot-long chunks. Then they carved about half the boar sirloin into slabs and stuffed it into the resulting hollow tubes together with some diced spring onion, and topped the mixture off with a broth pulled from gamey leftover scraps. Finally, they sealed the ends of the tubes with bamboo leaves, and when the fire had died down to embers, buried them inside the pit to slow-cook.

Next, they gathered a bunch of young, thin rods of bamboo, which they turned into kebabs, with generous chunks of boar alternating with thin slices of potato, and fresh cuts of bell-pepper.

There were some spots where Rylan had harvested these vegetables before, but he'd never taken all of them, wanting to save some for the future. As they were about to leave, however, he no longer had such compunctions.

They set up a new fire to roast the skewers by, and started work on the third and final method. Dinner time was approaching by now, so they settled for a quicker recipe suggested by Ezra for the last portion of meat; pan-seared boar in a sweet gilderberry-and-bamboo-sap glaze.

As Rylan hadn't eaten since the simple lunch they'd thrown together when the complaints of hungry crewmembers had gotten too distracting, the smell coming off the sizzling boar medallions in his skillet was making his mouth water.

It didn't help when Ezra—who was holding his own pan over the bamboo fire—guided him through the next step. "All right, once the meat's surface is a nice golden brown, it's time to add the glaze," the red-haired chef explained while pouring the syrupy liquid into his own pan. It immediately started to bubble, spreading an amazing smell. "Make sure to cover all of the meat as you pour. Give it a moment to settle, then flip your medallions like so... to get the other side. We want the sugars to caramelise on the meat into a nice, sticky coating."

Rylan mimicked the chef's actions with his utmost concentration, pouring in his own bowl of glaze, then carefully flipping the meat to get it evenly coated.

"Good job!" Ezra praised.

Rylan beamed at him. "Thanks! This is actually pretty f—"

The words died in his mouth as a familiar voice sounded in his head.

《Proficiency requirement met, Attribute requirements met,》Ethereon spoke.《Congratulations. You are eligible to obtain the Skill: Cooking. Do you accept?》

Rylan stared at his pan full of delicious-looking, glazed boar medallions with mixed emotions.

"Ehm, everything all right?" Ezra asked.

Rylan let out a deep sigh. "Yes, I'm fine. Blessed Ethereon... I accept."

《Initiating Skill conversion.》

Rylan glanced up and to the left to watch the pinpoints of blue light come flying over, streaming towards his chest. While he was probably the only one who could see them, he naturally wasn't the only one who noticed, and there was immediate commotion amongst the other Quinthar.

And of course, Arphin noticed as well. [Woah, you got another Skill, Boss? Awesome! Though Knife-Throwing is still your favourite, right?]

'You will always be my favourite, Arphin,' Rylan replied. 'Trust me.'

《Skill conversion successful. 100 Quintessence Credits have been added to your balance. Awarded 1 Free Attribute Point.》

Soren came jogging over, biting his lip as he appeared to trying and failing to contain his laughter. "Rylan, did you just... please tell me you got what I think you got."

"Yes, yes, laugh it up," Rylan replied tersely, rolling his eyes. "I got Cooking."

Ezra looked on in complete bafflement as Soren burst into laughter, actually sinking to his knees so he could slap the ground. "Haaah... this is the best thing that's ever happened to me!"

"What do you mean, to you?!" Rylan demanded indignantly, but it just set Soren off again.

[You want me to get him, Boss? I'll get him for you, just say the word!]

"You're making my knives itch, Soren," Rylan warned. "Don't make me use my new Skill on you. I'll turn you into a kebab!"

Rylan's threats fell on deaf ears, so he ultimately turned away from his irate friend with a huff. "Ethereon, please show me the Cooking Skill Window."

Cooking

Rank 1

Effects

Stamina buff

Improved shelf life

Minor recovery buff

Attribute requirements

Dexterity ≥ 2

Perception ≥ 3

Mind ≥ 1

Huh. So food I make with this Skill will improve people's stamina, won't spoil as fast, and will even have a minor healing effect! It was a pretty interesting combination of effects, though it struck Rylan as being rather... utilitarian. None of what the Skill did seemed to have anything to do with flavour, or even the cooking process itself.

Well, maybe I can focus my Augmentations more in that direction, then. Actually, this is probably a charged Skill, so Overcharge isn't going to be relevant for it, I think. I'll have to ask Soren when he's finished laughing his fogging—

"Ehm, I hate to interrupt, Thar," Ezra said bemusedly, "but I think those are done."

"Oh, fog," Rylan muttered as he hurriedly waved the window away and pulled his skillet from the flames. The glaze had indeed started turning a little dark in places, but the damage thankfully wasn't too bad yet.

Well, he had cooking to do, so the rest could wait. He needed to think about where to put his free Attribute Point anyway.

As he continued searing meat, however, Rylan did start to experiment with his new Skill a little, finding that he could channel it both through a pan, a knife, as well as directly through his hands. The mana from his Skill entered the food he was preparing and seemed to stay there, though what exactly it was doing was unclear to him.

He had to keep his experiments brief, however, as his pool hadn't refilled completely yet after he'd replenished his Mana Shell, and he didn't want to use up too much.

They all needed to be ready for the departure the next morning.

But first, they would feast.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.