Chương 330: Epilogue 4. Dream

"-and then just as it starts squiggling like this, you activate the wand, pour on the thimble of spices and down it all in one gulp!" Scythe of Fall couldn't do anything but stare in pure disbelief as Riz - ever colorful and enthusiastic - did just as she herself had instructed, one bright pink and frantically flailing mass disappearing as she swigged the small cup backwards as if taking a shot. One glance at the bar in front of him confirmed that yes, the… thing…

in Scythe's own cup had also started flailing around with small pseudopods after having been deposited in the drink - or was it a sauce? - meaning that it was apparently time for him to do the same. It was just that…

"I… I'm not sure anyone should–" Scythe started, before a clonk resounded from his right as Grain slammed his cup back onto the bar.

"Oh. Oh wow. That's… Sweeter than I'd– Wait! Spicy! Oh dear gods, spicy!" Seated next to his brother, Scythe got to experience the sensations Grain projected through both facial features and aura most vividly, his brother wobbling in his chair for a moment before eventually steadying himself.

"That… That was amazing!" Grain exclaimed once he had gotten himself back under control, many of the runic locals of… Wherever they were… throwing them amused glances.

"I know, right?!" Riz returned, downing a drink of something bright yellow.

"I told you it was a good idea to come along with the magnificent Riz if you mean to expand your portal portfolio. Because when it comes to food and drink, I know all of the best places!" Grain nodded along enthusiastically before noting that neither Scythe nor Fawn had touched their pink, wiggling cups, Grain's wife confirming her role as the sensible one in their relationship according to Scythe.

"Soo… Are you going to…" As one, Scythe and Fawn silently slid their cups to rest in front of him. Grain swore as the arrow zipped above him, clutching his staff ever closer as he ran for all that he was worth while Fawn conjured a wall of ravenous trees behind them to - hopefully - slow down their pursuers somewhat.

"I have no idea what got into them! The last time I was here, these guys were super-friendly!" Riz shouted from beside them as she surfed through the jungle atop a conjured slab of grey stone much at odds with her numerous colorful accessories.

"Funny that you say it, because it didn't feel like they recognized you," Scythe bellowed back before swiftly pivoting to block incoming globules of poison with the help of his shield that was projected outwards as a barrier to shield all of his comrades.

"Now that you say it… I wonder… Was their color really blue the last time…?" Riz mused.

"Because I could swear it was red in how I remembered it. And that they spoke of some kind of enemies - perhaps they were cannibals? - wanting their holy tree that grew those amazingly tasty fruits all for themselves…"

"... We just tried walking up to cannibals… Didn't we?"

"You know, brother," Grain shot back while using his Translocation Gateway to redirect a few more projectiles.

"I… think we did."

"Some crushed burberries."

"Burberries," Scythe echoed, handing his brother the ingredients while Grain stood towering over the wok with an expression as focused as it was excited. Wand in hand, the older brother carefully manipulated the heated metal as well as the flames beneath while activating various runes inscribed into the wok.

"Virlandic tubers– thanks. Fawn, the herbs."

"Here you go, dear."

"Mmm, smells lovely! You really prepared them well. Did I ever say that I have the most wonderful wife?"

"You did. And you are also soon burning this meal if you keep it up."

"Sweet gods!" Grain exclaimed, launching into a flurry of movements to save their dinner. Scythe could only lean back and shake his head. Cooking magic was apparently quite tricky, even when starting out as a silver-ranker. Leaning back against the tree did also provide him with quite the view over the mountains in the distance, a slightly chill breeze blowing down their slopes onto the forests below. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"It's wondrous," Fawn murmured as she sat down beside her brother-in-law to look out over the vista.

"It is. A bit like home, and yet not at all," Scythe agreed.

"It was rather… eventful to travel with Mistress Riz last year, but I must admit that doing these outings of our own from Grain's portal locations are something else."

"At least the food and drink are less… Unique," Fawn said diplomatically, as if Riz could hear them from wherever she was in the world.

"And less dangerous. Good thing that we are silvers," Scythe agreed.

"I'm not sure we would have survived some of them otherwise." Fawn was about to respond when a torrent of flames suddenly bellowed upwards from the wok before Grain managed to throw the lid on top of it, his smile indicating that the show of low grade pyromancy was indeed something intended.

"I believe that dinner is served," Grain said with a smile before guiding the wok onto a small collapsable table set out in their camp. With a flourish followed by a cloud of steam he then removed the lid once more to reveal a stir-fry of reds and golden yellows, the scent of it filling the glade and causing Scythe's body to suddenly ache with hunger.

"This… Feels a lot like home, doesn't it."

"Perhaps," Scythe agreed, looking out from the hill with its lone tree in the sunset.

"If you don't mind the little detail that the grass is red."

"Meh. What is a little color change?"

"And that your wife is not too far away letting her blood-sucking trees devour remnants of monsters."

"I mean… That could happen at home too."

"And the tiny detail of us looking out over an ocean if we turn to the right."

"Okay, fine, fine," Grain eventually sighed, rolling his eyes as he turned to his brother.

"This is only a bit like home. Our old home, that is. The new one is pretty great."

"Even though we haven't really been there that often lately."

"Well, it would be almost a crime not to make use of a certain portal power your brother happens to have during our leaves from guild duty."

"I like guild duty."

"Honestly? Me too," Grain agreed.

"They're good people, most of our fellow members. And even now that Kite is mostly busy as a family man or out on the occasional contract with Gauntlet, his shadow is still long enough for people to be a lot more courteous towards us than they were back then." Silence reigned between them for a while as they looked out over the sunset, ocean spray bringing a slight chill.

"To think I needed to push you up and down a hill like this so many times back then. That chair of yours wasn't really made for going off-road. Or the outdoors in general."

"So the hill is a bit similar then?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yes… Yes I do, dear brother," Grain said wistfully.

"This opportunity really did give me the world, in more ways than one. Being able to walk…" he said, glancing down at his legs.

"Travel." Another glance at the sunset and the exotic surroundings.

"And… My world," Grain finished, glancing down to where Fawn was making her way back towards them, brushing stray strands of dark blue hair away from her freckled face.

"Truly, the opportunity of a lifetime. And fortunately, the delay on my portal has now passed. Let's go home and share the spoils with our dear family, yes?" A burst of mana conjured the hole in the world that was Grain's portal, complete with glowing glyphs around it. The trio stepped through with practiced ease and soon appeared in an empty room where hustle, bustle, voices and laughter could be heard clearly from the other side of the sliding doors.

"Mother, Father! We're home!" Grain called over the din as the trio emerged into the common room of their family inn, now a small compound in its own right on the land owned by Kite's family.

"Sons! And Fawn, my most wonderful, dearest child!" Grain and Scythe's mother called, making her way directly to her daughter-in-law while all but ignoring the two men.

"How was your journey? We have all missed you so!" Plenty of other members of the extended family followed while newer guests looked on curiously even as the regulars only sighed and smiled. This was a common sight, after all; the boys of the innkeeper coming and going, bringing with them recipes, ingredients and tales from all across the world that had helped turn their wayward inn into the budding hub of culinary experiences that could rival most in Hua-Xi.

"Grain! Good! You are back!" their father called, the last to arrive.

"Your grandmother needs your help in the kitchen."

"I assume that was not her words?" Grain smiled in return, his father sighing.

"I try to explain to her that becoming a bronze-ranker does not suddenly turn her into a one-woman army, no matter how spry she's feeling. Give her a hand, please? We have a group of sect elders coming in from the south today, and they have already declared they shall have a feast to prepare for the Queen's tournament next month."

"Of course, Father, of course," Grain smiled, waving to Fawn and Scythe before making his way towards the kitchens where his grandmother was no doubt putting that swift essence of hers to good use. And as Grain saw his family work, talk and generally enjoy their life together, his smile only kept widening as he heard their tales and felt their auras. Back then, before magic, wonders and shimmering dragons suddenly descending from the heavens, Grain had dreamed.

Still did, of course, but then dreams were a lot more plentiful while the days truly living were fewer. Now though? Now things were so vibrant, be they calm or exciting, with no end of sights to see and things to do. But one particular erstwhile dream of Grain's still felt supremely meaningful at that moment, as that was perhaps the one that had been the most fulfilled.

Because Grain of Summer had dreamed not only of the world, after all, but also of bringing parts of said world back to those that mattered the most to him.