Chương 55: Glowmoth Wing Custard

Darwin stood and shook himself off. I glanced over his slightly altered form and narrowed my eyes.

"Really?" I asked.

"That was the best you could do?" Darwin bounded happily from side to side.

"What is it? What is it?" His newly formed talons slipped across the wet stone, and he tumbled onto his side. He quickly recovered and shook himself again.

"Oh!"

"Wings, Darwin! Wings! You could've had wings."

"Sorry, Master," Darwin said, dejected. I shook my head.

"Sorry. It's not your fault. We have no idea what's happening or how it works. Here, hop on my shoulder." Darwin happily obliged.

"While you were sleeping, I've been thinking about how we can get off this rock quickly and keep the eggs intact." Darwin stared up at me questioningly. I cleared my throat.

"You're gonna need to trust me on this."

"Trust, trust," Darwin said, running circles around my neck.

"Ow—watch those damn talons!" Darwin settled. I placed one egg inside my bag and gathered the remaining three against my chest. The shells were warm and faintly humming, thin silver lines flickering beneath their pale-blue surfaces. I stared over the ledge. It was quite the fall. Two or three hundred meters straight down. Far below, the cart looked like a child's toy sitting beside a bright field of flowers. Glowmoths drifted above the petals in loose clouds, their silver wings flashing in the sunlight.

"Master," Darwin asked, clearly anxious.

"What you doing?" I smiled.

"We're going to jump." Before Darwin could protest, I ran forward and, with everything I had, leapt from the rocky cliff. Darwin's newfound talons sank into my shoulder, drawing blood. I barely noticed as wind whipped against my face and tore through my hair, and I couldn't help but laugh as I practically floated over the field. Birds flew nearby, keeping pace for a moment as they watched me with beady, curious eyes. Far below, I saw Vaelith and Sable jumping excitedly.

I hadn't built up enough momentum to reach them, but I had one more trick up my sleeve—Thunderstep! I felt my mana drain as energy crackled beneath my feet. Electricity exploded downward with a sharp boom, propelling me forward at least twice as fast as before. The wind stung my eyes now, and Darwin clung even harder, nearly torn from my shoulder by the sudden force. I overshot the cart. A tree rushed toward me.

My bag caught on a limb, and I swung to a stop, hanging several feet above the ground with the eggs still clutched tightly against my chest. Eventually, Sable and Vaelith made their way over. Vaelith stammered, "That was… That was…"

"Stupid?" Sable offered." Amazing!" Vaelith replied.

"What was that? A new recipe? I want to fly. Make it for me! Make it for me!"

"Maybe help me out of the tree first?" I asked.

"… Please? I'm starting to get lightheaded." With a swing of her axe, Vaelith chopped through the limb holding me up. It only took a single strike. The woman was a beast. I landed on my back, but it didn't hurt. I fell slowly enough that I was practically lowered into the damp grass like a newborn being placed into a crib.

"You were just floating," Sable said.

"That's… kind of freaky."

"Feels weird too," I replied, brushing grass and bits of bark from my clothes. Somehow, despite everything, all four eggs had survived. Lucky! Vaelith's eyes lit up.

"Oh, eggs! It's been a long time since I've had eggs. And storm roc eggs at that? They're a delicacy where I'm from." The woman's appetite was insatiable.

"We should get going so we don't waste the entire day," I suggested. Vaelith frowned.

"But… tonight, there's one more recipe I'd like to try. And I haven't forgotten my promise. It'll be yours to taste first." Vaelith grinned from ear to ear.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. We hitched Moolisa to the cart and traveled back toward the fork in the road. The wheels rolled through damp ruts left by the storm, occasionally splashing muddy water across the grass. Sunlight filtered between the clouds, warming the road and raising a faint earthy smell from the wet ground. During our breaks, Vaelith tested my reaction speed. She had decided we should "slap spar" with each other.

A slap to the face or midsection counted as a point. With my increased Dexterity and Reaction Speed, she hadn't landed a single hit. Tired, she eventually called it.

"This is almost unfair," she complained.

"I even picked up more followers."

"So?" I asked.

"Well, they increase my stats," she explained.

"With each new follower, my stats grow. You didn't think I was doing all this for nothing, did you?" I couldn't argue with her. Having two buffs active at once almost seemed unfair. I thought back to my choice of passives… I could become so much stronger. Yet the idea of leaving Vaelith and Sable behind burned at me. That night, we decided to camp near the fork. The road stretched toward Alderwatch beneath the dimming sky, while the path back to Starpetal Clearing disappeared between the trees.

A few other adventurers passed and warned us about an otherworldly mist south of Alderwatch. Sable began playing her lyre, lost in thought. We bid the adventurers farewell and watched their lanterns disappear along the road. The mood had shifted downward. I figured it was as good a time as any to make a new recipe. The eggs had been a blessing in more ways than one. I had been missing a single ingredient for the Glowmoth Wing Custard… eggs. Now we had plenty.

The best news was that the eggs were so large that I only needed one. I went to Moolisa and milked a single bottle from her udder. The milk was still warm when I sealed the container. With that, I had everything I needed.

"Can you help me start a fire?" I asked Vaelith. She immediately began gathering sticks.

"What do you need me to do?" Sable asked.

"I could go for some music," I replied. She smiled softly and whispered a thank-you before continuing to play. The melody was melancholic, as usual, but that wasn't necessarily bad. Sadness could help you appreciate the good things in your life. I pulled up the recipe again.

System Glowmoth Wing Custard Rarity: Common Type: Monster Core Ingredient: Glowmoth Wings Ingredients: Eggs, Milk, Sugar, Salt, Arrowroot Preparation: Grind the Glowmoth Wings into a fine, luminous powder, taking care not to spill the glowing dust. Warm the milk and sugar over low heat. Do not allow it to boil, or the Glowmoth essence will lose its potency. Whisk the eggs until smooth.

Add the eggs to a lightly heated pan, then slowly temper them with the warmed milk while stirring continuously to avoid fully cooking the eggs. Add the powdered wings and a pinch of salt and arrowroot. Pour the mixture into small cups and allow the custard to cool until its surface develops a pale silver glow. I prepared the ingredients— First, I took the dead Glowmoths and carefully pulled off their wings. The tiny bodies were cool and weightless between my fingers.

I added the wings to a mortar and began grinding them with the pestle. Soon, they became little more than a shimmering silver paste that clung to the stone. Next, I cracked the egg into a bowl and whisked it. Vaelith finished setting up the fire while I worked. Flames licked around the bottom of the pot, snapping softly as sap hissed from the freshly gathered wood. I placed the pot over the fire and added the milk and sugar.

I stirred until steam began curling from the surface, carrying a warm, sweet scent into the evening air. I removed the pot from the heat and set a pan in its place. I poured in the whipped egg, then slowly added the warm milk while whisking continuously. Darwin sat atop my shoulder, staring intently at everything I did. Vaelith stood on the other side of the fire, practically drooling. Finally, I added the ground arrowroot and Glowmoth Wing paste to the mixture, still stirring.

The silver color spread through the custard in shimmering ribbons. My hand began to tremble from the constant effort, but eventually the mixture thickened. I sprinkled salt on the surface. A familiar glow of my magic appeared. I poured the custard into four cups. Usually, custard needed time to cool before it thickened, but my magic had done something to it. The mixture already looked perfect to eat, smooth and firm with a strange silver color. It looked completely different from any custard I'd eaten before.

I added pieces of the fruit we had brought to enhance the flavor. Fruit custard was pretty standard.

"I think this is fine," I said. I handed the cups out, Vaelith first, as promised, and ending with Sable. Darwin sat in front of his, bouncing back and forth as usual, while Vaelith could barely contain herself. The wooden spoon quivered in her eager hand.

"Okay, dig in—" Darwin snapped up the custard with one flick of his tongue. Vaelith was little better, devouring hers in three rapid scoops. Sable and I glanced at each other. Then we looked down at our custard.

"What are you waiting for?" Vaelith asked.

"It's delicious!"

"De-li-cious, de-li-cious," Darwin sung. Sable and I both placed our spoons into the bowls, took a scoop, and tried it. Flavor exploded across my palate. It was sweet, but not too sweet. The different fruits paired perfectly with a faint hint of vanilla. Where the hell had the vanilla flavor come from? I bit into a piece of banana, and the entire custard seemed to shift around it, complementing the fruit in an inexplicable way. Next came a blueberry. Once again, the flavor changed.

Judging by Sable's expression, she found it just as intoxicatingly delicious. She practically whimpered with delight after every bite. Too soon—it was gone far too soon. But to my surprise, there was more left in the pan. Enough for one more cup. All four of us noticed at practically the same moment. We stared at it like duelists in the Old West, waiting for the town clock to strike noon— Then all four of us lunged for it all at once.