Chapter 59: Trying

Author's Note: This one's slightly longer than average chapter. Let me know if you guys prefer longer chapters. No promises but if enough people like them, we'll try to squeeze a bit of extra content into each one.

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“Oh, gods,” Ella said, as soon as she saw Lily’s new outfit. “She looks like a little puffy cloud.”

“Stay away from me!” Lily flapped her padded arms as she raced around the kitchen, trying and failing to get out of Ella’s hugging range. “I don’t want to be cuddled!”

“It’s too late! Look at your little gloves!” Ella squealed, scooping up the little girl up and squeezing her. “Just consider it rent for the month.”

“Let me go!” Lily finally wriggled out of Ella’s arms, landing on her feet and sprinting towards her bedroom. “I’m hiding these until the camping trip! No more hugging!”

“Are we sure she even likes that?” Arthur asked. “Getting hugged, I mean. She sure complains enough about it.”

“Oh, she does. And she needs it, sometimes. She seeks it out herself, sometimes.”

“I’ve never seen her do it.”

“I think she tries not to when you’re here. She wants you to think of her as a grown-up. You're her boss, remember.”

“Ah. Professional dignity.” Arthur started poking around the kitchen looking for ingredients. Soon enough he found the stock of sugar, and after that, a few bars of this world’s equivalent of milk chocolate. He was pretty sure it wasn’t made of the same stuff as Earth’s chocolate, but it was so close to the same product that the system didn’t even bother translating it into a different word. “Do you have gelatin, Ella? Is that a thing here?”

“Gelatin? Sure.” She pulled a bag of powder out of an obscure cupboard somewhere and tossed it over. “What are you up to over there? You have a glint in your eye.”

“You know the camping trip? There’s a snack humans eat during them. It’s one of the big reasons to go camping in the first place. But I have to figure out some of the ingredients first, or we can’t do it.”

“Well, what do you need?”

“So chocolate is just chocolate, right? That’s fine. It just needs to be able to melt, which this stuff does fine.” He put the chocolate off to the side. “After that, I need graham crackers, which are a sort of crunchy dessert crackers. I think.”

“And the gelatin?”

“Oh, that’s the best part. My mom taught me. Watch.”

Arthur was excited to actually know what he was doing for once. His mom had gone through a natural-foods kick when he was a kid, and it had taken them the better part of a week to get the hang of making this particular part of their snacktime essentials. Somehow, all those memories had seared into his eight-year-old brain deep enough they had survived even the aftermath of his transmigration.

Carefully, he heated up the mix of water and sugar, nailing the temperature and consistency on his first try. He had already set out some gelatin to partially hydrate, and whipping the two ingredients together turned out to be much easier with a stat-enhanced body.

“So this is just a sugar delivery system?” Ella asked. “It seems like it’s going to set up pretty solid. You won’t be able to use it as a spreadable that way.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Watch.”

Arthur poured the mixture into a large tray, letting it set up an inch or so thick in the bottom and using a wooden scraper to level it out.

“And now what?”

“That’s it. You let them set up, and then you have little fluffy sweet weirdnesses.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Ella looked gobsmacked. “What on Earth will you use those for?”

“Well, see, that’s the thing. Lots of things. Some people put them in hot milk with melted chocolate, as a comfort drink.”

“On brand for you. Nobody likes putting chunks of things in drinks more than you do.”

“Hah. Yes, but that’s actually not what I want them for here. If I had the crackers, I’d show you. But you put chocolate on the cracker, then roast the marshmallow over the fire, let it caramelize a little and get real hot. Then you put it on the chocolate and cap it with another cracker.”

Ella’s eyes went a little glassy as she tried to imagine it. “I can see the appeal, I guess. Melted chocolate, and I’m guessing it gets pretty gooey. But that’s a lot of sugar.”

“Oh, sure. But think about it. You’re a little kid, you’ve been running around the woods all day. You might’ve eaten dinner, but now it’s night and things are winding down…”

“And several hundred calories wouldn’t hurt. That’s why they eat them on camping trips?” Ella asked.

“I think so. That and it was one of the places you ever saw an open fire in my old world,” Arthur said.

“You should create that melted chocolate drink as well. So long as you are making these… what did you call them?”

“Marshmallows.”

“If you can do two treats with one ingredient on a trip, you might as well make the most of it.”

“Fair enough. Actually, regarding that, what else do people eat on camping trips here? I really haven’t traveled much.”

“On day trips, people bring bread and meat. Sandwiches, that sort of thing. But overnight trips where they decide to cook?” Ella drummed her fingers on the counter a bit. “Stew takes too much water, unless you were camping directly by a source. I’d say sausages. Preserved meats, that sort of thing. Things you can heat up over a fire and have plenty of calories.”

“Makes sense. I’ll put in an order with the butcher. And now, I need some help.”

“With what?”

“Crackers. You know I’ll never figure it out on my own.”

—

The next day was a late start at the shop, partially at Ella’s insistence. She was always there for Arthur in that one occasionally annoying respect, monitoring his work schedule and mom-pushing him into breaks when she felt he needed it.

Today was one of those days, and yet another time he was thankful for the Demon World’s laid-back attitude regarding work hours. He wouldn’t get in the trouble with the customers for not being open for the morning shift, at least that they’d ever mention. Most of them would just try the door, find it locked, shrug, and move on.

Lily had run ahead of him to open up the shop, and by the time he got there, most of what he thought of as his special afternoon group of customers that he had first met during his sprint to level Medicinal Brewer were already there.

“Also, you promised we’d play Archi, remember?” Lily asked.

“Oh, I remember. But take care of everyone first,” Arthur said.

Arthur’s medicinal tea-making was a weak power. He couldn’t do even a small fraction of what an alchemist could, even after the skill was very leveled. But a person could only take so many pills or potions at once before they conflicted with each other and the effects they produced collapsed.

His tea had no such conflicts. For the few people in the city with incurable chronic diseases whose symptoms that potions and blessings couldn’t entirely control, his tea provided an additional layer of relief they couldn’t get anywhere else. For a while, he had been making trips to the church to treat them. Eventually, a certain dove demon had put an end to that by sending the patients to Arthur’s boba shop.

“I thought I’d stop by and check to see how things are going,” Itela said, leaning over the counter as Arthur got to work on the medicinal drinks.

“And?”

“And it’s going just fine. Honestly, even if you didn’t have medicinal tea, I’d be tempted to keep funding this just for the sake of how much they seem to like the shop. Relief comes in different forms, after all.”

“Well, the tea helps too. And hopefully, it’s going to help a little more today.”

Itela’s face took on an interested type of expression.

“New skill?”

“Derived, but yes. I went to see Eito about it and he thinks it will probably juice the results a little bit.”

“Well, then. Don’t let me get in your way.” Itela sat on one of the stools near the counter and folded her hands. “Let’s see what you can do.”

Arthur eyed the eagle from earlier, willing his empathy into movement as he glanced from his patient to his ingredients and back. All of his skills functioned on two key pillars. He needed to pour in his majicka and pick the right ingredients, something that Emphatic Host and Food Scientist helped with.

Today, the two skills joined hands and worked together as this tea-leaf and that variety of fruit volunteered themselves for service.

As he assembled the drink, he called upon his other two skills. Teashop Brewmaster and Medicinal Brewer were both more of the behind-the-scenes type skills, but he could feel them activating wherever he used his majicka to enhance his drinks. He’d keep pushing his mystic resources into a drink until it could take no more, and then move on to the another cup.

Anti-Arthritic Tea (Personalized)

This tea produces a slight-to-moderate effect of joint pain relief. As a personalized drink, it works somewhat better on its intended target.

Digestive Tea (Personalized)

This tea improves digestion a slight-to-moderate amount, encouraging proper function of the body’s digestive systems while maintaining hydration and general health a very slight amount. As a personalized drink, it works somewhat better on its intended target.

Calming Tea (Personalized)

This tea calms the drinker, reducing anxiety and helping them to control their own mood. The effect is very slight to slight. As a personalized drink, it works somewhat better on its intended target.

Luckily, none of the ingredients from Emphatic Host were so off the wall that he couldn’t manage to make sure the beverages still tasted good. Arthur did a mental fist-pump before serving the drinks, then got the rest of his guests set up with their non-medicinal teas. The old and young talked, played games, and told jokes as they drank the boba in the afternoon sun.

“Oh, my. Those do work better, don’t they.” Itela watched the crowd as they became slightly livelier in their interactions. “They don’t even know it yet. I can only see because I’m a cleric. But that’s quite the bump you made in their teas. Did you level from that?”

“I think so.”

Level 19 Teamaster

Stats:

STR 5

VIT 8

DEX 10

PER 17

WIS 25

INT 5

Primary Skills: Teashop Brewmaster (Level 13) Food Scientist (Level 12) Medicinal Brewer (Level 12) Empathic Host (Level 5)

Achievements: Shop Owner, Mass Prep, Buffer Against the Wave

“Don’t get too used to that leveling speed. It’ll slow down. But I think that was a worthy reward for what you did.” Itela reached into her money pouch and passed Arthur a few coins. “And are you sure that I can’t convince you to take more? This is much more than simple tea, Arthur.”

“It might be, but it helps me train. And the ingredients aren’t any more expensive than normal tea. It’s just majicka output, and that’s a renewable resource.”

“Well, bless you, then. Literally, this time.” Itela poked him in the forehead, and Arthur felt a golden-glow sort of feeling as his majicka regeneration kicked up a notch. “And be careful of Zuni. He’s going to absolutely destroy you at Archi.”

The combined forces of both Arthur and Lily weren’t enough to fend off Zuni, though Lily’s skills improved by leaps and bounds and was soon taking the lead on moves they made in Archi. After that, he milled around and checked on everyone, not in terms of their health, but just to make sure they were having a good time. The half-day of work went by quickly, and it was almost closing time when Mizu swept into the room.

“In our histories, we portrayed ourselves as heroes and you as villains, characterizing you as buffoons in our remembrances of you.”

Oh, crap. Mizu had long since moved past using her people’s standardized greetings with Arthur, usually just saying hi or hello rather than the more formal apologies for long-forgotten wars. If she was using one now, something was up.

“Hi, Mizu.”

“Onna is acting suspiciously. You are involved. How?” Mizu’s eyes blazed with determination. She had worked herself up pretty well for this confrontation. “There are secrets, Arthur Teamaster of Earth. Big secrets. Milo comes by in the dead of night. Something is happening and I don’t know. And I’m your… hmm.”

“My girlfriend,” Arthur said. Mizu flushed and Arthur barely kept his focus as he tried to ignore the symphony in blue playing out on her face. “So, it was supposed to be a surprise, but we’re going camping. All of us. And you.”

“Camping? Where are we going?”

“Just camping. For the sake of it. It’s an Earth thing,” Arthur said. “And it will be fun. We can walk around the woods, and eat, and… walk around the woods some more. Look at plants. That kind of thing.”

“Hmm. Will there be rivers? Or a lake?”

“Maybe. People will sleep in tents, and we will eat and play games, probably. Tell stories. I swear to you that this is fun.”

“Well… alright. I suppose I can forgive you for that kind of secret. Even if the camping will make me more behind on my work.”

Arthur breathed an audible sigh of relief. “Good.”

“But, I don’t have a tent. I have a coat, but… for walking around town. Not for hours outside.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. You can use mine.”

“What?!”

As Mizu choked and turned a deep shade of blue, Arthur realized the meaning of what he had said, and kept himself from springing over the countertop as he stammered and tried to correct the mistake.

“I bought you a tent. Of your own. To use. I bought a lot of tents. For people to use. Separately.”

“Oh, I… I understand but I am also leaving. I will talk to Onna about the trip.”

And then Mizu was gone. Arthur hadn’t seen her flee from a conversation like that in months. All this was made slightly harder by the fact that Lily had listened into their conversations. Once the water elemental was out of sight, Lily collapsed to the ground, crying and holding her ribs as she tried to laugh. Arthur eventually had to help her up when she started to turn purple.

“I’m sorry, Arthur. I really am. It’s just that watching you is like watching a snake try to open a jar. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, but gods is he at least trying.”