Chương 18: The First Harvest

A hundred yards was a short walk in theory. In practice, however, it was more than long enough for Jordan to swim at the edge of a [Doom Spiral]. I can't believe how useless I was during that fight. Well, no, I can believe it. This is Vesselia, after all. And in Vesselia, if you can't cast spells, you ain't shit. He'd survived the encounter thanks to his Lv. 30-inflated HP and a pair of competent party members. It also helped that the Grandelopes were perhaps on the lower tiers of monsters. But if he'd been alone?

If the enemy had instead been, say, a Lv. 12 Greater Roc? Wisdom DC 15: success Shennong:"There you go again, young one. It's all well and good to identify problems, but it seems to me that your biggest problem is that's where you stop. Take the next step. The solution might just be around the corner, but you wouldn't know unless you look for it." Charisma DC 15: failure N üwa: "We're, what, four whole days into being tortured by this lordlet? I for one would've expected some character development by now."

I torture you? Are you sure you don't have it the other way around? But taking the next step was easier than arguing with sanctimonious gods. So, that was what Jordan did. Step by trudging step to the remains of [Grandelope L]. Maybe Shennong was right. Maybe the solution really was just around the corner. Or, in this case, lying in the middle of a salt flat, its life having long drained out through a hole in its neck. Jordan made a face as he knelt beside the carcass.

The thing somehow looked both beautiful and hideous at the same time. Up close (and in no danger of being eaten alive), he could appreciate the Grandelope's glossy fur and the intricate grooves upon its keratinous horns. Yet its permanently frozen expression of pain and surprise—bulging eyes, slack jaw, lolling tongue—brought last night's dinner back up to Jordan's throat. He pushed it down along with his squeamish misgivings.

That gazelle didn't look much different to this, and you were perfectly happy to slurp up its butchered remains. Besides, how bad could this be, really? Canyon had recommended a 'shallow incision'. She'd even given a landmark: something about a 'fourth intercostal space'. Yup. Nothing to it, just a little nick in the—"Hang on," Jordan murmured aloud.

"What even is the fourth intercostal space, and how should I know where it is?" Intelligence DC 14: success Fuxi:"The fourth intercostal space is just that: the space between the fourth and fifth ribs filled in by muscle, nerves, and blood vessels. In the human, you locate it by first palpating the sternal angle, which is adjacent to the second intercostal space. Having found the second, you simply go down two more until you get to the fourth."

Ahh, the intercostal muscles—that's the meaty bit when we eat ribs, isn't it? Great, and how do I find it in the Grandelope? Intelligence DC 18: failure Fuxi:"… There are limits even to my vast knowledge, pupil, and the finer points of monster anatomy happen to be one of them. You'd do better to consult a monstrologist or a professional hunter." Or an experienced Pathfinder. Or even a secretive Chronicler, funnily enough. Both of whom were nowhere within ask-for-advice distance.

Jordan had no choice but to put his head down and bumble his way through the deed. The carcass was already turned on its side, which at least narrowed down the options some. With that said, the task was no less inscrutable. There were of course no markings on the Grandelope's fur to advertise the location of its Gland. Nor did Jordan have the faintest idea how to start 'palpating' its ribs. Don't panic. Just apply some logic. Let's uh… yeah, start by finding the damn thing on myself.

Jordan wasn't familiar with a 'sternal angle' either, but clued into it quickly enough. Using his fingers to push at his own sternum, he found a palpable 'break' of sorts—a distinct line that felt like the joining of two separate bones. Sliding sideways from there, his fingers dropped into a softness between bones—the second intercostal space. From there, it was a simple matter of sliding downward until he found the fourth.

He kept his finger there to 'mark' its location, then tried to relate it to the rest of his anatomy. It seemed to him closely related to the armpit, roughly in line with the swole-est part of the biceps muscle. Was there a world where the same principles applied to Grandelope anatomy? He put the theory to the test. First by rotating the foreleg nearest him until it was in a neutral position.

No small task, given he had just the one arm to work with, on top of the Grandelope's well-developed musculature—much swole-er than Jordan's puny human arms. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. From there, he carefully slid his free hand into the Grandelope's 'armpit', feeling absurdly like some kind of creep. He persisted with the groping until his fingers happened on an obvious depression.

He then moved toward the base of the neck, counting each valley between the bony ridges. One, two, three, four … Okay, that means that first one next to the biceps was the fourth intercostal space. Now I just need to … Lifting the foreleg aside, Jordan lined Foxhill's knife against the newly marked location. Only to hesitate once more. Strength DC 10: success Zhurong:"What halts your blade now, manling? There is no honor in humiliating the dead.

Either take your plunder and be quick about it, or leave the damned thing alone." Asshole bushido bro was right, of course. Jordan first took a deep breath, then took the plunge. Remember, just a shallow cut would do … The knife was sharper than he had any reason to suspect. It cut through skin, fat, and even muscle in one stroke. It would've gone in even deeper if Jordan hadn't pulled back in surprise. The odor hit him first. Pungent, acrid, fetid.

Like if rotten meat had been stuffed into fireworks and shot into the sky. Did all monsters smell like this on the inside?? Next came the… blood? Bile? Just… general muck? A black, foul-smelling liquid poured out of the cut and flooded the butcher's view of Grandelope rib. Not quite as forceful as arterial blood, but not quite languid like venous either. Certainly not what Jordan had expected from a thing that had been dead for a good few minutes at this point.

"What the hell is this?" he cried out loud, then immediately regretted opening his mouth. He caught a whiff of the foul humor, which carried a bit of residual body heat. Yesterday's dinner made its return, this time very nearly shooting up all the way. I can't do this. Jordan shut his eyes and turned away. He would've covered his mouth, if one hand wasn't in a sling and the other holding a knife coated in disgusting black liquid.

Nothing in my life has prepared me for this, and it's okay to admit defeat when I'm out of my depth. Constitution DC 14: success Xihe:"Ill humors blacken the souls of monsters, whether they be man or beast. And yet, perhaps even blacker is the soul of the wretch. Rotting where he stands, even as the world blooms around him." Are you calling me worse than a monster for … what? Giving up on a task halfway through? But Jordan knew what Xihe meant.

Felt a twinge of disgust that had nothing to do with black blood or foul air. Harvesting the Gland of Rushing Steppe has proved a touch more confronting than you would've hoped. Will you… 1) Bail. You gave it a go, and it just isn't your scene. No shame in that. 2) [Constitution DC 12 (Medium)] Push through it. And on the other end of it, learn something new about the world and about yourself. [Favorable: CON modifier (+4). You'd be disgusted with yourself if you gave up here (+2).] [Adverse: [Doom Spiral (Lv. 1)] (-1). You're already plenty disgusted by everything else about the situation (-2).] Jordan took another steadying breath, careful to do much more exhaling than in-. With that, it was time to wade into the unknown. 2) You made the cut. Now, dig in. Constitution DC 12 Roll: 3 Final: 6 Result: failure Nooo! Two 3s in a row—hitting the 0. 25% jackpot in the worst manner imaginable. That [Doom Spiral] was coming on thick and fast. Speaking of 'thick and fast'… Jordan stuck his hand into the fast-pooling blackness.

He was shocked by the lack of give—torn-up tissue sucking him into the soft, dead innards. The sensation was somehow even worse than the smell. It proved to be the straw that broke the camel's gullet. Out came the contents of his stomach, dribbling onto the existing mess to create the true stuff of nightmares. He felt so sorry for himself that he could cry, but he didn't. Instead, he… Pushed. Through. It.

The failed roll had resulted in maybe his most miserable state since his ten-year-old self had peed his pants halfway through an international flight. Which made it all the more impossible to give up now. He couldn't abide if all this suffering amounted to nothing—even though he knew full well that was just life sometimes. And then… he found it. Elbow deep in Grandelope ribs and muck, along the smooth slimy surface of what could only be Grandelope lung, his hand closed upon a bean-shaped object.

He yanked it out, spraying more foul humors out into the world, then fell backward with the momentum. The thing was just as smooth and slimy as the lobe of lung tissue that had housed it in life. It too was covered in the black stuff, which quickly dried and caked in the salt flat's bracing breeze. As Jordan looked up from a supine position, the Gland caught the morning sun just right, splashing its rosy bioluminescence out into the world. It was ugly. It was disgusting.

It was the most beautiful thing Jordan had ever seen. Then came two separate notifications to mark the occasion. One was a sobering look at reality, and the other a celebration of the most trivial of moral victories. Warning: You have failed two consecutive rolls on [Doom Spiral (Lv. 1)]. One more, and the Affliction will escalate to [Doom Spiral (Lv. 2)]. New Feat unlocked. [Xihe's Blessing (Lv. 1)]: Like deadwood in stormy waters, you find a way to land ashore, no matter how far off course you might yet drift.

In recognition of your resilience, you've gained a permanent [1]-point upgrade to Constitution. CON: 19 -> 20 (modifier: +4 → +5) HP: 188/218 -> 190/220