The hour passed quickly. Kevin was up front chatting with Milo and Hari, while the rest of the group had spread out along the caravan. I noticed Crisplet still nestled in Jen’s pocket, for now.

  As the sun began to set, we found ourselves unable to pull off the road due to the rocky terrain. Instead, Milo conjured a structure directly over the road, shaping it into a space large enough to house the horses. It was beginning to resemble a proper stable.

  “Milo, how much mana does it actually cost you to make these?” I asked, watching the structure take form with quiet fascination.

  “This size?” He paused, eyes still focused on his creation. “A decent chunk. Probably ten percent, maybe fifteen once I fill the water troughs and make you an oven.”

  I glanced out across the land behind us, away from the mountain. The terrain was barren. Scattered bushes clung to the rocky soil, but firewood? That was going to be a problem.

  “Where are we going to get firewood?” I asked, scanning the landscape.

  “Well, usually we don’t,” Milo replied. “But with your little flame elemental, we might get lucky. A few dead bushes, maybe. And once he has that, he might be able to control the fire enough to keep it going.”

  “I’ve still got a bit of treant wood,” I offered, hesitant. “Was thinking about using it.”

  Milo didn’t answer right away. When he did, his voice had taken on a more cautious tone.

  “Hmm. It’s worth experimenting. But do it out of sight, yeah? We don’t need word spreading too fast about your abilities—not yet. It’ll be hard enough explaining things once people start seeing Crisplet racing around.”

  I followed his gesture to where the little flame elemental was darting up and down the road, climbing rocks and floating back and forth. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “So I guess no fancy dinner tonight?”

  Milo snorted. “Hey now, I never said that. If you hold back on food, I risk Liane stabbing me in my sleep. Not again.”

  “Wait… she’s stabbed you before? What happened? What did you do?” I asked in an accusatory tone, eager for details.

  “Nope. Forget I said anything!” he said, avoiding my gaze.

  “You can’t leave it like that!” I protested. “Totally unfair. Fine, I’ll ask the others,” I added with a sly smile.

  “Wait! You can’t—look, I’ll tell you, just… not today,” he pleaded.

  “Alright, alright. But I’m holding you to it,” I said with a laugh, heading toward the bushes to collect dead branches if I could find any.

  Crisplet followed at my side as I walked. I used Arcane Foraging; it had been a long while since I last used it, and, as expected, there wasn’t much glowing. The few scattered bushes only had the faintest shimmer. Nothing else stood out.

  I wonder what you’d find up the mountain, if anything?

  Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of dead branches. Nothing substantial, but enough to start a fire. Without Crisplet’s help, though, it would have burned out in minutes.

  When I returned, I saw Milo finishing the second structure, this one big enough to house us all now that the horse shelter was complete.

  “Wow… it looks like the longhouse we just saw,” I said in awe as the walls rose and locked into place.

  Milo chuckled. “I wanted to try something different, and we’ll need the extra space with all the new people.”

  Once the structure was complete, I headed inside, hoping to get the fire started before the others came in. It was easy enough: the moment I set down the branches, Crisplet launched itself into them, igniting them instantly.

  Seeing only Jen and Hari around, I quietly pulled out two small chunks of treant wood from my inventory and pushed them deep into the fire where they wouldn’t be noticed.

  “Crisplet, we don’t have much wood left, really none at all, but we need this fire to last, okay?” I told the little elemental.

  It burst into a shower of sparks in response. The fire glowed strangely, a slightly unnatural orange. I wasn’t sure if it was the wood or Crisplet causing it.

  Heading outside to prepare dinner, I first stopped by the horse shelter. I hadn’t been keeping up with brushing down Sable, so I figured I’d make time tonight.

  Inside, I found Cee and Stewart hard at work grooming the other horses. Cee caught my eye.

  “Don’t worry, Trevor, we already brushed down Sable,” he said in his usual gruff tone. “But you could make us something special as a thank-you,” For the briefest moment, I could’ve sworn I saw a smirk.

  “Will do!” I chuckled. “Thanks for looking after her.”

  Leaving the shelter, I caught Milo before he went inside and got him to build me a table for butchery. Tonight, I decided on two dishes so I could feed everyone: one of the whole boars (if there were leftovers, I could store it) and seven stuffed rabbits—five for the party, two for Cee and Stewart. The rabbits I would infuse.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Getting to work, I skinned and gutted the rabbits while Jen came over to help with the boar.

  For the boar, I simply seasoned it with salt and pepper, as I had already run out of fire salts. In addition, I cooked some whole tubers with their skins on. With a bit of salt and butter, they would be perfect.

  For the rabbits, I stuffed each one with onion, peppers, carrots, and a little garlic I had left, before placing them individually on stone spikes. Satisfied with my preparations, I stored everything away and went inside, noting that the campfire was still glowing an unnatural orange, which I chose to ignore.

  I set up the spit I had stored, and Milo and Jen helped me get the spike through the boar and secure it above the fire. The rabbits, meanwhile, were placed on spikes at the side of the flames.

  “Crisplet, we’re cooking two dishes tonight: the boar’s for everyone, and the rabbits are for our friends,” I said quietly. I knew I shouldn’t show favoritism when cooking, but I couldn’t help it.

  As I watched, Crisplet went to work. I also couldn’t help but notice that the treant wood I had added was burning strangely. It wasn’t behaving like normal wood—cracks ran through it, glowing faintly, with some patches that seemed untouched by the flames. The cracks pulsed with a steady light. Hopefully, no one would pay too much attention to it.

  I settled in to watch the food slowly cook, soon joined by Liane and Milo. Jen remained by the door, and Hari had been gone for a while. After handing Liane my second-to-last smoked leaf-bladed spider, which earned us curious looks from the other party, Hari and Kevin came inside and took seats nearby. They seemed to get along well.

  When Kevin’s eyes passed over the fire, he froze and did a double take.

  “A flame elemental?” Kevin asked, stopping in his tracks.

  “Ah, yes, our support’s companion—it helps with the cooking,” Hari said casually, as if it were an everyday occurrence.

  “You have a support member? And a flame elemental for cooking? Hari, I know it’s been a long time since our paths have crossed, but it seems a lot has changed! You’ve got some explaining to do,” Kevin said with a laugh, taking a seat with the rest of us.

  “Well, let’s start with introductions. Kevin, this is Trevor,” Hari said, gesturing toward me. “Trevor, this is Kevin—we’ve known each other for several years.” I waved, and Kevin gave me a nod before turning back to Hari.

  “You took on a green adventurer? How’d that get approved?” Kevin asked, frowning at Hari.

  “Special circumstances,” Hari replied, offering no further explanation.

  “What? Because of the elemental?” Kevin retorted, glancing back at the fire.

  Hari chuckled. “No, that was a recent addition. But trust me; it’s a special situation.”

  The conversation relaxed after that. As Hari and Kevin caught up, I noticed that Hari skipped any mention of the cat and even glossed over how the second galvonson had died. Kevin either didn’t notice or chose not to ask.

  After an hour and a half, I pulled the rabbits and tubers from the heat once Crisplet’s orange flame had receded from them. The smell was incredible. Since the boar still had another hour to go, I stored the rabbits—I wanted to cut them in half first and infuse them anyway.

  “Milo, could you make me a table off to the side? I need to cut the rabbits and finish preparing them,” I asked, getting up from the ground as Liane shuffled across and took over the duty of rotating the boar.

  Milo nonchalantly created a stone counter off to the side, and I moved to it, placing the rabbits down and removing the spikes from each one, storing the spikes back in my inventory. Then, I used Infuse Flavor on all the rabbits before drawing my knife and cutting them into quarters.

  Realizing I didn’t have a plate large enough, I called out to Milo again. He obliged, forming a massive stone platter from the counter. Magic really was cool.

  Placing the rabbit quarters onto the platter, I pulled out the tubers I’d cooked, cutting them in half and fluffing up the soft white flesh with my knife before adding a pinch of salt and a small pat of butter to each. I arranged them neatly on the platter as well.

  I still had several tubers left for the boar meal, but for now, I laid everything out on the stone platter and stored it. To my surprise, a prompt appeared:

  Would you like to store 1x [Uncommon] Magic Smoked Stuffed Rabbit Platter for 5 mana? Yes/No

  I selected “Yes,” though I couldn’t help but frown. Magic Smoked? I didn’t smoke the rabbits—I roasted them. And come to think of it, the fire hadn’t produced any smoke at all, despite its orange glow. That was… odd.

  I couldn’t really ask Milo about it right now, so I stored the platter away and took my seat next to Liane, who was still tending to the boar.

  Another hour passed before the boar was ready. The fire suddenly shrank, its roaring flames collapsing into smoldering coals. Milo helped me carry the boar—well, “helped” in the sense that he carried it effortlessly with air magic—over to the table that had been set up.

  I removed the spit, placed the boar on another freshly conjured stone platter, and added the remaining tubers, along with enough rolls for everyone plus a few spares. With Milo’s magic, we carried it to a more central location for the whole caravan to enjoy.

  The display earned more than a few raised eyebrows from the new adventurers. Kevin was still deep in conversation with Hari, so I thought nothing of it—foolishly.

  When I finally pulled out the rabbit platter for our group, the aroma immediately drew attention.

  I remembered to take two rabbits’ worth, along with some tubers and a couple of rolls, over to Cee and Stewart, who hadn’t gotten up for any boar yet. I was greeted by a smiling Stewart.

  “Thanks, Trev,” Cee said, taking the offered plate.

  “If you’re still hungry, you can help yourselves to the boar as well,” I added, gesturing to where the others were already eating hungrily.

  “Ha! That’s alright—this is perfect for us. Thanks, lad,” Stewart replied, already reaching for a piece of rabbit.

  Heading back to my seat next to Liane, I happily helped myself to the food. I was pleasantly surprised: though there was no smoke, the rabbit had a rich, smoky flavor. The meat was perfectly cooked and juicy, with a subtle infusion of the vegetables it had been stuffed with. It was, simply put, delicious.

  It took a little while, but due to sitting in the group and chatting with Hari, Kevin was helping himself to the rabbit as well, and when he did, his eyes widened. Before looking around and landing directly on me.

  “What…” Kevin began, but was interrupted by Hari.

  “Special circumstances, friend—this needs to stay quiet,” Hari said in a hushed tone.

  Kevin only nodded, but still looked directly at me. I remembered in the past when I did stuffed roast rabbit, it only provided a very minor dexterity buff. With the look I was getting right now, I suspected that those rabbits were giving far more than one dexterity.

  Liane leant over and whispered, “Fire immunity, three dexterity, and increased earth magic spell potency.”

  Well, damn. Trying to work out how that might have happened, I guessed Crisplet was responsible for the fire immunity, the rabbit was providing the dexterity, and the wood… maybe it was enhancing earth skills?

  If that were the case, something told me Milo was going to be upset that we sold most of the wood.