Chương 54: Storm Roc Omelet

When I came to, Vaelith was standing over me, smiling widely.

"Rise and shine there, hero," she said. Ugh… I felt like crap. I had a migraine. My eyes burned, my skin itched, and my legs… Oh yeah—I'd broken those. I jumped up, ignoring the raging headache, and stared down at my legs. Both were straight and normal. I tested them by bending my knees and rolling my ankles. Vaelith whistled.

"Oh yeah, those were both shattered when you landed. Still, that fall would've killed most others. You healed soon enough, but we let you sleep it off. Here—" Vaelith handed me a waterskin. I took it like a man who had been wandering through a desert. I drank deeply, the water burning against my parched throat before cooling it." Ah!" I said, wiping water from my mouth.

"How long was I out?"

"About an hour," Sable replied. Sable leaned over and handed me a stick. On the end of said stick was an unidentified piece of meat, blackened around the edges from the contatc of direct fire. Grease clung to its uneven surface, though the smell beneath the char was sour.

"Do I even want to know what this is?"

"Roc meat," Vaelith said.

"It's good. Try it." Sable nodded, though there was a suspicious smirk at the edge of her lips. I bit down, chewed, and swallowed… and nearly vomited. It tasted like it had gone rotten, though I suspected that was the natural taste. Vaelith laughed and slapped her leg.

"I told you I could get him to try it!" Sable flicked a single coin in her direction. Vaelith caught it out of the air and pocketed it. I forced myself to stand on wobbly legs. I felt like a toddler learning to walk.

"Very funny," I said.

"Ha, ha." System Taste Test: Storm Roc No New Discernible Recipes"That's… disappointing."" Hmm?" Sable asked. I waved her away.

"Oh, nothing." I glanced around. The storm had vanished as quickly as it had arrived. Sunlight shone across the wet clearing, and rainwater dripped steadily from the trees and cart. Moolisa stood nearby, chewing grass as though nothing had happened—but someone was missing.

"Where is Darwin?"

"I sent him off," Sable replied.

"Where?"

"To find the storm rocs' nest."

"Why?" Sable adjusted her hat, straightening the feather.

"Your recipe, remember? I saw it when you shared your system screen." I brought up the system and checked the recipe: System Storm Roc Omelet Rarity: Uncommon Type: Monster Core Ingredient: Storm Roc Egg Ingredients: Mushrooms—optional, Peppers—optional, Onion—optional, Milk, Butter, Salt, Black Pepper Preparation: Crack the Storm Roc Egg into a bowl and whisk until the yolk and white become smooth. The mixture will produce small sparks; continue whisking until the electrical charge settles.

Pour a small amount of milk into the bowl for texture. Add butter to a hot pan, then cook any mushrooms, peppers, and/or onions until browned. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook over low heat. Fold the edges toward the middle of the pan to prevent sticking. Fold the omelet in half and continue cooking until faint arcs of electricity travel across its golden surface. Finish with salt and black pepper. Effects: Unknown"Just seems like a regular omelet with special eggs," I said.

"At least it'll be easy to cook." We waited… and waited… and waited some more. It was becoming increasingly clear that Darwin was not coming back. Perhaps he had been lost. Maybe he got easten by a fourth storm roc.

"I'm gonna go find him," I groaned. If I had to guess, the rocs had come from a particularly rocky mountain not far from the field. From here, its gray slope rose beyond the flowers, still glistening with rain. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Oh," Sable said.

"Well, good luck. My hands are for playing, not for climbing."

"And I'm tired," Vaelith replied.

"Unlike you two, I don't have passive healing keeping me going."

"Fine… but if I get eaten by a roc, I'm haunting both of you." I grabbed my backpack and trudged through the field. Glowmoths fluttered away as I approached, leaving trails of silver light between the damp flowers. I didn't bother trying to catch them. We had gathered enough earlier in the day. I soon found myself at the base of the mountain. What had looked like little more than a hill from a distance now loomed above me, its broken stone face slick from the rain.

Thankfully, a fairly easy animal trail led upward, with ledges spaced at uneven intervals along the slope. I jumped. With my enhanced jump height and Dexterity, I easily landed on the first ledge. And so it went. I jumped from ledge to ledge, stopping every once in a while to call out to Darwin. Small stones broke loose beneath my boots and rattled down the mountainside. Eventually, I heard a response.

"Master, Master!" my companion called.

"Look!" I jumped up a few more ledges. There, inside a massive bird's nest made from loose rocks, branches, scraps of hide, and other debris, Darwin stood as happy as could be atop a pile of enormous eggs. Six of them, to be precise.

"Hey, you actually found them," I said.

"Good job." Darwin practically beamed at the compliment. I knelt beside the eggs. Their shells were pale blue, streaked with thin silver lines that occasionally sparked beneath the surface.

"Hmm. I haven't really harvested something without killing it before. A core ingredient that didn't require me to kill anything." I shrugged, then had an idea. I pulled out Moonedge and stared at its shining white form.

"It's supposed to make core ingredients never expire. That makes sense when I'm harvesting something… but these are eggs. What if—" I leaned down and tapped one of the eggs with Moonedge. The shell glowed with the same faint white light as the knife for the briefest moment.

"Shiny, shiny," Darwin said excitedly. Six massive eggs… now the question was, how was I going to get them down? I tried lifting them one by one and managed four, but that was my absolute limit. Any more and I'd drop them all. Two remained. I could simply leave them. Or…

"Hey, Darwin, you worked hard today. Want a treat?" Darwin's eyes lit up like Christmas morning. Nearby, I spotted a long, flat rock that looked perfect. I had seen something like this in a YouTube video before—people cooking food directly on rocks they found while camping. Using several smaller stones, I managed to build a makeshift griddle with the flat rock resting on top. I poured water over its surface to clean away the dirt, then broke down a nearby sapling and stacked the dry inner twigs beneath it.

I had left my fire-starting powder behind, so I aimed my hand forward.

"Please don't Surge, please don't Surge… Wild Firebolt." A flame leapt from my palm and struck the broken wood. The twigs burst alight.

"Fuck yeah!" I said excitedly.

"Fuck yeah, fuck yeah!" Darwin repeated, hopping back and forth. I found another flat stone to use as a spatula. Then I pulled out what I had in my bag: a leftover onion, some Redcap Peppers, butter, salt, black pepper, and, luckily, a small bottle of milk I had taken from Moolisa earlier that day. I had some burned roc meat as well, but I figured that would ruin the dish. I went to work. Using another nearby stone as a cutting surface, I chopped the onion with Moonedge.

The blade slipped through it effortlessly, following each cut with unnatural precision. I sliced off a small piece of butter and placed it on the heated stone. It sputtered and smoked instantly. As soon as it melted, I dropped the onion onto the surface. The pieces sizzled, releasing an amazing smell that mixed with the smoke from the small fire. I found a rock with a deep divot and cracked the storm roc egg into it. The shell split with a faint spark.

I added milk and some of the Redcap Peppers, then stirred until a snap of lightning nearly took off my eyebrows. When the onions were soft and sweating, I poured the egg mixture onto the makeshift skillet. The eggs sputtered as they cooked, gradually turning from clear to white. Other than the occasional sparks of electricity and the small red pepper seeds scattered throughout them, they looked like ordinary eggs. Albeit… A lot larger.

I did my best to fold them into that classic omelet shape, but it wasn't my best work. One side tore slightly, and the center bulged unevenly. Still, I sprinkled salt and pepper over the top unil a familiar glow of magic surrounded the omelet— I had completed it.

"Darwin, we should let this cool off—" My companion's tongue lashed out. He snatched the entire omelet off the stone and swallowed it in one bite. His eyes went wide.

"Hot! Hot, hot, hot!"

"You idiot!" Darwin's tongue hung from his mouth and rested against the stone. I poured water from my waterskin over it while he refused to retract it. Ignoring my companion, I carefully cut myself a small piece of the remaining omelet with Moonedge and brought it to my mouth. A savory explosion of flavor filled my palate. Creamy and buttery, with the slight sweetness of the onion. Then came the heat. Strong at first, but it quickly faded into a pleasant warmth.

I ate the rest before Darwin could get any bright ideas. Then I stomped out the fire and prepared to grab the other four eggs. My companion collapsed.

"Wings," I said.

"Grow some damn wings." I suspected Darwin couldn't hear me while he was in that comatose state. I sat beside him to wait. A system message appeared: System The recipe Storm Roc Omelet has given you these one-time permanent bonuses: STR: 12 DEX: 13 VIT: 22 INT: 20 (+4) WIS: 19 (+4) CHA: 8 LCK: 14 (+2) New Skill Unlocked: Thunderstep Thunderstep: Create a burst of static electricity at your feet that can propel you upward or damage nearby targets.

Cost: 15 MP Cooldown: 15 Seconds New Effects Added: Lightning Resistance: +30% Reaction Speed: +25% Fall Speed Reduced: 50% Duration: 1 Hour Degrades: 12 Hours Small electrical sparks snapped between my fingers. The world seemed slower somehow. A Glowmoth flew past, silver wings flickering in the afternoon light. On a whim, I reached out and snatched it from the air without even damaging it. I held it in my hand for a moment before releasing it back into the wild.

Two buffs ran through me at once, and I felt incredible. Increased Dexterity and Reaction Speed made me feel untouchable. It was then that I heard my companion begin to wake.