Chapter 21: Berries and Jerky
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Chapter 21: Berries and Jerky
When lunch was ready, Tala was very excited. Research, as it turned out, was exhausting work.
She tucked her borrowed book, along with her own notebook, into her satchel, made sure her hat was secure, and went to meet the chuckwagon worker on his way to her.
It was Brand.
Hello, Brand. How is the day treating you?
He smiled hesitantly. Well, Mistress. He offered her the cloth-wrapped pasty.
Anything special in todays meal? She could already see the power flickering within the meat, inside the pasty.
He started to shake his head, then stopped, sighed, and nodded. He glanced around, ensuring that no one was in easy listening distance. Another portion of the blade-wing, Mistress. The remainder is being made into jerky.
Her eyebrows rose. Oh? Would it be reasonable for me to ask for some?
He looked mildly uncomfortable, even as he fell into step beside her. We do try to keep it for the guards, as its benefits to them are more He cleared his throat, then continued in a rush. They need the help more than Mages generally do.
She nodded. Thats fair, I suppose. If you have any extra, or are willing to part with some, let me know. Yeah?
Brand stopped walking, and Tala came to a stop herself, a step or two later. Theyd been walking off to one side, so their lack of movement didnt affect anyone elses progress forward.
Tala turned back towards him, head tilted in question. Brand?
YouYou arent going to demand any? He seemed complete unsure of himself, once again.
Why would I do that?
He began walking again, and Tala fell into step once he caught up.
They walked in silence for long enough that Tala decided to begin eating her lunch.
It was delicious and filling. Coupled with the walk, it was exactly what shed needed.
This is great! Thank you, Brand.
He nodded in acknowledgement but didnt say anything.
Finally, Tala decided to change the subject. I want your thoughts on something. She licked the remnants off of her fingers. Are arcanous berries usually safe to eat? I havent had a chance to hunt down that information in your book.
Brand shrugged. About as often as mundane berries. Though, truth be told, even most arcanous plants dont spend any power on their berries. He frowned. Why? Did you find some?
Harvested, but yes.
He was nodding. Saw a bit of magic and snatched the berries? Might be interesting to see what you found.
She grunted. Theyre from an ending tree.
Brand turned to her, eyes wide and mouth open. What?
They are from the ending tree we circumnavigated an hour or so ago. She cocked her head to one side again. Why?
You must be pulling my leg. Everyone knows about ending trees.
She shrugged. Yeah, I know that in our ancient past they were used for creating fertilizers, disposing of waste, andother things, before we moved into the cities.
He shook his head. Havent you heard the stories of ancient warriors shrugging off blows in battles, and taking on arcanous beasts barehanded? He cocked an eyebrow at her, clearly referencing her own escapade.
Yeah, of course. It is actually one reason Ive pursued the avenues that I have. I love those old tales: Galadria, Akmaneous, Heleculies, Krator, Manastous, Synathia, She smiled happily to herself, before she remembered that it had been her father whod told and read those stories to her. The smile faded.
So, you do know.
She sighed, feeling the weight of sadness settling in. No, Brand, and this conversation is becoming exhausting. Can you just tell me?
He grunted. Ending-berries confer resistance to physical damage that usually lasts around an hour after they are eaten. One berry is sufficient for a fully grown man to receive this effect. He was becoming animated. Moreover, legend says that the effect built, and the effects lasted slightly longer each time a berry was used. The greatest of warriors only needed to eat a berry once a day to be considered nearly invincible. He then gave her a sheepish look. If I hadnt seen your spell-lines, myself, I might have assumed that such were the source of your resistance toblades. He looked away. That would, of course, have been foolish.
Tala cocked an eyebrow, then looked back over her shoulder. Then, why didnt we pick that tree bare, as we passed it?
Two reasons that I am aware of: First, the art of harvesting the berries without dying from exposure to the tree has been lost. All I know of whove tried recently were forced to consume all that they picked, just to counteract the trees magic against them, and most still ended up with missing fingers, if not more.
Tala nodded. That made some sense. Even the stems of the berries had radiated the power of dissolution. Then, she frowned. Iron tongs would solve that, so would heavy gloves. I think I remember seeing a type of berry picker that should work, too.
In theory, yes, but the trees move unpredictably, and become more and more agitated the more berries that are picked.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.
Cut down the tree?
Brand paled. The chips and sawdust carry the magic even more effectively than the unharmed tree. Cutting it down would fill the air with death. The same goes for burning the wood.
Im sure Mages could find a way, if they knew the berries were so valuable.
He nodded. And some do, but as the effects even extend to breaking down spell workings in unpredictable ways, it proves dangerous, on top of the cost of using their magics in the first place. I think Ive seen a total of a dozen pounds of the berries sold across various markets since I joined the Order of the Harvest.
You seem awfully knowledgeable about this specific fruit, Brand.
He sighed. It is one of the core examples we, of the Order of the Harvest, learn of. It is a harvestable piece, which humans can eat and get obvious benefit from. If we could safely harvest them, not only would that help pay for our cause, but it would also greatly aid our cause, in a myriad of ways.
She was nodding. So, these berries arent common knowledge? She gave him a bit of a reproachful glance.
Without taking time to consider, she popped the seed into her mouth, sucking off the juice.
A pleasant power buzzed through her, and she felt her enhancing and regenerative spell-lines tingle with an odd resonance. Thankfully, they didnt activate.
Tala took out the seed, carefully dried it off, then rubbed it against the salve bar, quickly coating it. The magic hadnt triggered before she finished the process. Good. No issues. She smiled triumphantly.
One done! She looked up to see Brand much further back. Brand?
WhatWhy? Are you mad? You put the seed in your mouth?
Tala thought she saw Den glance over his shoulder, but the driver didnt interject. There was juice on it. I didnt want that power to go to waste.
I told you that it activated with a pulse of power, and your first reaction is to put in inside your head.
My mouth.
He gave her a look.
She sighed. It was perfectly fine. I could see the magic building, and there wasnt any danger of it activating before I finished. Unless it nicked a tooth, or was otherwise damaged, I suppose.
He seemed somewhat mollified. I guess you are the expert in things of magic
She did not correct him. Yes, good. Believe I am an all-knowing Mage. She smiled slightly.
After a long moment, he seemed to relax. Very well Are you going to do the second one?
She smiled. Of course! The second berry was no more difficult than the first, though its power began building much more quickly, and she guessed that she was only barely fast enough in getting it coated in salve. Different paces for different seeds. Good to know.
She offered the bowl back to Brand, the tingle of the berries magic causing an interesting feeling of rippling tension within her. Brand hesitantly took the bowl. After examining the meat of the berries, he nodded. Alright, then. He held out the small package. Just came out of the smoker an hour or so ago.
Tala frowned. I definitely didnt see any smoke.
Brand waved the objection away. Of course not. We capture it all to ensure we can use it towards properly smoking the meat.
She was pretty sure that wasnt how that worked but didnt press him on it. Fine. She took the package, it felt light, but two pounds wasnt actually that much. A pleasure doing business with you.
Brand grunted. Same to you. As he climbed down to return to his own wagon, Tala clearly heard him muttering to himself. Shell put grey in my hair, sure as the sunll rise, tomorrow. Then, he sighed. I hope this doesnt rusting kill me.
With no further audible complaints, Brand was gone.
Tala tucked the seeds into the pouch with the stems, closed the iron box on the berries, and sighed herself. There we go. All in all, a profitable morning.
* * *
Tala quickly began flipping through Brands book after he departed. With her enhanced senses and perception, she was able to find the section on jerkies quite quickly, even though it was very small.
Cure the jerky within an iron box. The smaller the box in relation to the meat and the smaller and fewer holes in the box, the less loss in power will be experienced. This isnt a recipe book, learn how to make jerky somewhere else.
Tala snorted. It matched the tone of most of the rest of the text, which often seemed to relish belaboring the fact that it was staying on topic.
That found, she began flipping through to find the section on berries. When she did, it was similarly to the point.
Berries, roots, fruits, leaves, etc. taken from arcanous plants are no more or less poisonous than their nearest mundane kin. Thus, if you can identify the core species of plant, which is now filled with power, you will have a good idea of the edibility of the item. That said, the magic in question might, itself, be unhealthy or even lethal if incorporated into the human body, thus analysis of that must be accomplished separately.
The only known universally healthful produce from an arcanous plant is the ending-berry, though extreme caution is advised as any damage to the pit will cause either nullification of the beneficial effects, or death. No consistently viable means of harvesting the ending-berry is known. Benefits: One berry will confer nigh invulnerability towards mundane damage to the consumer, lasting roughly one hour. Nothing short of magic, or a concussion, has been known to harm a man when under the influence of an ending-berry, though things that should have caused great injury seem to reduce the length of time the effect lasts. Legend indicates the long-term consumption of these berries causes each subsequent berrys affect to last longer, but such has not been tested, reliably, by the Order of the Harvest.
That settles it. I need to find a means of harvesting these. The way their use is described is almost identical to my own enhancements. In truth, that wasnt by accident. Tala had grown up hearing of the warriors of old and had sought to mimic them, as a Mage. Though, she hadnt known about the berries.
She did not contemplate that it might have been a subconscious means of reaching out towards those who had abandoned her to debt, a search for happier times.
Other plants are healthful under specific circumstances.
The book went on to detail quite a few varieties of fruits, berries, vegetables, and herbs. One leaf could be chewed to dull extreme pain but would cause permanently mind-altering hallucinations if there were no significant pain to dull. A root would heal a broken bone, if eaten in exactly matching weight to the bone to be healed, otherwise, it would not fully work, or would fuse an amount of cartilage equivalent to the excess. In this case, aiming low was the recommended path.
There were more, but as only the name of the origin species was mentioned, along with a brief description of how the arcanous version differed in appearance, the book was not useful to her in identifying the plants in question. As the book said: This is not an herbiary, nor a picture book. Find your herbology and plant lore elsewhere.
Unfortunately, her work under her father, in the apothecary, had not included foraging for herbs or parts of plants. Theyd had a small garden with well labeled varieties and purchased the remainder of what theyd needed from the local market. She likely would have learned the specifics of identification and prime harvesting, but that opportunity had vanished.
She turned her mind back towards the book and realized that she was starting to like the author, though she knew it was more the universal tone of the Order of the Harvest, as the particular voice of the writing varied widely throughout the book.
A side realization came from that breadth of authors. This has taken more than a few decades to compile. The Order was older than Brand had implied. Or maybe older than he knows?
Those two specific sections found and read, she decided to stretch her legs once more.
Hat atop her head and satchel at her side, she climbed down, greeting Den as she passed, and strode towards the back of the caravan.
Various guards inclined their heads to her, and Guardsman Adam waved. She responded in kind to each. There was no sign of Ashin.
Atrexia smiled and nodded, but didnt otherwise acknowledge her, and it seemed that Trent and Renix were on the other side of the wagons, at the moment.
Tala still felt the buzz of power from sucking the juice off of the ending seeds. Thats odd. Its been, what20 minutes? She knew that she hadnt consumed a third of a berry's worth of juice. Not that I really understand how it works
Perhaps her iron skin was preventing the power from dissipating, or maybe her spell-forms were somehow helping the power be more efficient. Or the amount consumed only affected the power of the defense, not the duration. She really had no way of knowing. Not yet.
It was a curiosity, though, and she was quite focused on the question as she strode past the last wagon and began to turn back to continue her pacing.
Her inward focus likely explained why she didnt register the flare of power, until it was almost too late.
Dimensional magic blossomed less than five feet from her, as something flickered into being in that space.
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Chapter 21: Berries and Jerky
When lunch was ready, Tala was very excited. Research, as it turned out, was exhausting work.
She tucked her borrowed book, along with her own notebook, into her satchel, made sure her hat was secure, and went to meet the chuckwagon worker on his way to her.
It was Brand.
Hello, Brand. How is the day treating you?
He smiled hesitantly. Well, Mistress. He offered her the cloth-wrapped pasty.
Anything special in todays meal? She could already see the power flickering within the meat, inside the pasty.
He started to shake his head, then stopped, sighed, and nodded. He glanced around, ensuring that no one was in easy listening distance. Another portion of the blade-wing, Mistress. The remainder is being made into jerky.
Her eyebrows rose. Oh? Would it be reasonable for me to ask for some?
He looked mildly uncomfortable, even as he fell into step beside her. We do try to keep it for the guards, as its benefits to them are more He cleared his throat, then continued in a rush. They need the help more than Mages generally do.
She nodded. Thats fair, I suppose. If you have any extra, or are willing to part with some, let me know. Yeah?
Brand stopped walking, and Tala came to a stop herself, a step or two later. Theyd been walking off to one side, so their lack of movement didnt affect anyone elses progress forward.
Tala turned back towards him, head tilted in question. Brand?
YouYou arent going to demand any? He seemed complete unsure of himself, once again.
Why would I do that?
He began walking again, and Tala fell into step once he caught up.
They walked in silence for long enough that Tala decided to begin eating her lunch.
It was delicious and filling. Coupled with the walk, it was exactly what shed needed.
This is great! Thank you, Brand.
He nodded in acknowledgement but didnt say anything.
Finally, Tala decided to change the subject. I want your thoughts on something. She licked the remnants off of her fingers. Are arcanous berries usually safe to eat? I havent had a chance to hunt down that information in your book.
Brand shrugged. About as often as mundane berries. Though, truth be told, even most arcanous plants dont spend any power on their berries. He frowned. Why? Did you find some?
Harvested, but yes.
He was nodding. Saw a bit of magic and snatched the berries? Might be interesting to see what you found.
She grunted. Theyre from an ending tree.
Brand turned to her, eyes wide and mouth open. What?
They are from the ending tree we circumnavigated an hour or so ago. She cocked her head to one side again. Why?
You must be pulling my leg. Everyone knows about ending trees.
She shrugged. Yeah, I know that in our ancient past they were used for creating fertilizers, disposing of waste, andother things, before we moved into the cities.
He shook his head. Havent you heard the stories of ancient warriors shrugging off blows in battles, and taking on arcanous beasts barehanded? He cocked an eyebrow at her, clearly referencing her own escapade.
Yeah, of course. It is actually one reason Ive pursued the avenues that I have. I love those old tales: Galadria, Akmaneous, Heleculies, Krator, Manastous, Synathia, She smiled happily to herself, before she remembered that it had been her father whod told and read those stories to her. The smile faded.
So, you do know.
She sighed, feeling the weight of sadness settling in. No, Brand, and this conversation is becoming exhausting. Can you just tell me?
He grunted. Ending-berries confer resistance to physical damage that usually lasts around an hour after they are eaten. One berry is sufficient for a fully grown man to receive this effect. He was becoming animated. Moreover, legend says that the effect built, and the effects lasted slightly longer each time a berry was used. The greatest of warriors only needed to eat a berry once a day to be considered nearly invincible. He then gave her a sheepish look. If I hadnt seen your spell-lines, myself, I might have assumed that such were the source of your resistance toblades. He looked away. That would, of course, have been foolish.
Tala cocked an eyebrow, then looked back over her shoulder. Then, why didnt we pick that tree bare, as we passed it?
Two reasons that I am aware of: First, the art of harvesting the berries without dying from exposure to the tree has been lost. All I know of whove tried recently were forced to consume all that they picked, just to counteract the trees magic against them, and most still ended up with missing fingers, if not more.
Tala nodded. That made some sense. Even the stems of the berries had radiated the power of dissolution. Then, she frowned. Iron tongs would solve that, so would heavy gloves. I think I remember seeing a type of berry picker that should work, too.
In theory, yes, but the trees move unpredictably, and become more and more agitated the more berries that are picked.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.
Cut down the tree?
Brand paled. The chips and sawdust carry the magic even more effectively than the unharmed tree. Cutting it down would fill the air with death. The same goes for burning the wood.
Im sure Mages could find a way, if they knew the berries were so valuable.
He nodded. And some do, but as the effects even extend to breaking down spell workings in unpredictable ways, it proves dangerous, on top of the cost of using their magics in the first place. I think Ive seen a total of a dozen pounds of the berries sold across various markets since I joined the Order of the Harvest.
You seem awfully knowledgeable about this specific fruit, Brand.
He sighed. It is one of the core examples we, of the Order of the Harvest, learn of. It is a harvestable piece, which humans can eat and get obvious benefit from. If we could safely harvest them, not only would that help pay for our cause, but it would also greatly aid our cause, in a myriad of ways.
She was nodding. So, these berries arent common knowledge? She gave him a bit of a reproachful glance.
Without taking time to consider, she popped the seed into her mouth, sucking off the juice.
A pleasant power buzzed through her, and she felt her enhancing and regenerative spell-lines tingle with an odd resonance. Thankfully, they didnt activate.
Tala took out the seed, carefully dried it off, then rubbed it against the salve bar, quickly coating it. The magic hadnt triggered before she finished the process. Good. No issues. She smiled triumphantly.
One done! She looked up to see Brand much further back. Brand?
WhatWhy? Are you mad? You put the seed in your mouth?
Tala thought she saw Den glance over his shoulder, but the driver didnt interject. There was juice on it. I didnt want that power to go to waste.
I told you that it activated with a pulse of power, and your first reaction is to put in inside your head.
My mouth.
He gave her a look.
She sighed. It was perfectly fine. I could see the magic building, and there wasnt any danger of it activating before I finished. Unless it nicked a tooth, or was otherwise damaged, I suppose.
He seemed somewhat mollified. I guess you are the expert in things of magic
She did not correct him. Yes, good. Believe I am an all-knowing Mage. She smiled slightly.
After a long moment, he seemed to relax. Very well Are you going to do the second one?
She smiled. Of course! The second berry was no more difficult than the first, though its power began building much more quickly, and she guessed that she was only barely fast enough in getting it coated in salve. Different paces for different seeds. Good to know.
She offered the bowl back to Brand, the tingle of the berries magic causing an interesting feeling of rippling tension within her. Brand hesitantly took the bowl. After examining the meat of the berries, he nodded. Alright, then. He held out the small package. Just came out of the smoker an hour or so ago.
Tala frowned. I definitely didnt see any smoke.
Brand waved the objection away. Of course not. We capture it all to ensure we can use it towards properly smoking the meat.
She was pretty sure that wasnt how that worked but didnt press him on it. Fine. She took the package, it felt light, but two pounds wasnt actually that much. A pleasure doing business with you.
Brand grunted. Same to you. As he climbed down to return to his own wagon, Tala clearly heard him muttering to himself. Shell put grey in my hair, sure as the sunll rise, tomorrow. Then, he sighed. I hope this doesnt rusting kill me.
With no further audible complaints, Brand was gone.
Tala tucked the seeds into the pouch with the stems, closed the iron box on the berries, and sighed herself. There we go. All in all, a profitable morning.
* * *
Tala quickly began flipping through Brands book after he departed. With her enhanced senses and perception, she was able to find the section on jerkies quite quickly, even though it was very small.
Cure the jerky within an iron box. The smaller the box in relation to the meat and the smaller and fewer holes in the box, the less loss in power will be experienced. This isnt a recipe book, learn how to make jerky somewhere else.
Tala snorted. It matched the tone of most of the rest of the text, which often seemed to relish belaboring the fact that it was staying on topic.
That found, she began flipping through to find the section on berries. When she did, it was similarly to the point.
Berries, roots, fruits, leaves, etc. taken from arcanous plants are no more or less poisonous than their nearest mundane kin. Thus, if you can identify the core species of plant, which is now filled with power, you will have a good idea of the edibility of the item. That said, the magic in question might, itself, be unhealthy or even lethal if incorporated into the human body, thus analysis of that must be accomplished separately.
The only known universally healthful produce from an arcanous plant is the ending-berry, though extreme caution is advised as any damage to the pit will cause either nullification of the beneficial effects, or death. No consistently viable means of harvesting the ending-berry is known. Benefits: One berry will confer nigh invulnerability towards mundane damage to the consumer, lasting roughly one hour. Nothing short of magic, or a concussion, has been known to harm a man when under the influence of an ending-berry, though things that should have caused great injury seem to reduce the length of time the effect lasts. Legend indicates the long-term consumption of these berries causes each subsequent berrys affect to last longer, but such has not been tested, reliably, by the Order of the Harvest.
That settles it. I need to find a means of harvesting these. The way their use is described is almost identical to my own enhancements. In truth, that wasnt by accident. Tala had grown up hearing of the warriors of old and had sought to mimic them, as a Mage. Though, she hadnt known about the berries.
She did not contemplate that it might have been a subconscious means of reaching out towards those who had abandoned her to debt, a search for happier times.
Other plants are healthful under specific circumstances.
The book went on to detail quite a few varieties of fruits, berries, vegetables, and herbs. One leaf could be chewed to dull extreme pain but would cause permanently mind-altering hallucinations if there were no significant pain to dull. A root would heal a broken bone, if eaten in exactly matching weight to the bone to be healed, otherwise, it would not fully work, or would fuse an amount of cartilage equivalent to the excess. In this case, aiming low was the recommended path.
There were more, but as only the name of the origin species was mentioned, along with a brief description of how the arcanous version differed in appearance, the book was not useful to her in identifying the plants in question. As the book said: This is not an herbiary, nor a picture book. Find your herbology and plant lore elsewhere.
Unfortunately, her work under her father, in the apothecary, had not included foraging for herbs or parts of plants. Theyd had a small garden with well labeled varieties and purchased the remainder of what theyd needed from the local market. She likely would have learned the specifics of identification and prime harvesting, but that opportunity had vanished.
She turned her mind back towards the book and realized that she was starting to like the author, though she knew it was more the universal tone of the Order of the Harvest, as the particular voice of the writing varied widely throughout the book.
A side realization came from that breadth of authors. This has taken more than a few decades to compile. The Order was older than Brand had implied. Or maybe older than he knows?
Those two specific sections found and read, she decided to stretch her legs once more.
Hat atop her head and satchel at her side, she climbed down, greeting Den as she passed, and strode towards the back of the caravan.
Various guards inclined their heads to her, and Guardsman Adam waved. She responded in kind to each. There was no sign of Ashin.
Atrexia smiled and nodded, but didnt otherwise acknowledge her, and it seemed that Trent and Renix were on the other side of the wagons, at the moment.
Tala still felt the buzz of power from sucking the juice off of the ending seeds. Thats odd. Its been, what20 minutes? She knew that she hadnt consumed a third of a berry's worth of juice. Not that I really understand how it works
Perhaps her iron skin was preventing the power from dissipating, or maybe her spell-forms were somehow helping the power be more efficient. Or the amount consumed only affected the power of the defense, not the duration. She really had no way of knowing. Not yet.
It was a curiosity, though, and she was quite focused on the question as she strode past the last wagon and began to turn back to continue her pacing.
Her inward focus likely explained why she didnt register the flare of power, until it was almost too late.
Dimensional magic blossomed less than five feet from her, as something flickered into being in that space.
Chapter 21: Berries and JerkyWhen lunch was ready, Tala was very excited. Research, as it turned out, was exhausting work.She tucked her borrowed book, along with her own notebook, into her satchel, made sure her hat was secure, and went to meet the chuckwagon worker on his way to her.It was Brand.Hello, Brand. How is the day treating you?He smiled hesitantly. Well, Mistress. He offered her the cloth-wrapped pasty.Anything special in todays meal? She could already see the power flickering within the meat, inside the pasty.He started to shake his head, then stopped, sighed, and nodded. He glanced around, ensuring that no one was in easy listening distance. Another portion of the blade-wing, Mistress. The remainder is being made into jerky.Her eyebrows rose. Oh? Would it be reasonable for me to ask for some?He looked mildly uncomfortable, even as he fell into step beside her. We do try to keep it for the guards, as its benefits to them are more He cleared his throat, then continued in a rush. They need the help more than Mages generally do.She nodded. Thats fair, I suppose. If you have any extra, or are willing to part with some, let me know. Yeah?Brand stopped walking, and Tala came to a stop herself, a step or two later. Theyd been walking off to one side, so their lack of movement didnt affect anyone elses progress forward.Tala turned back towards him, head tilted in question. Brand?YouYou arent going to demand any? He seemed complete unsure of himself, once again.Why would I do that?He began walking again, and Tala fell into step once he caught up.They walked in silence for long enough that Tala decided to begin eating her lunch.It was delicious and filling. Coupled with the walk, it was exactly what shed needed.This is great! Thank you, Brand.He nodded in acknowledgement but didnt say anything.Finally, Tala decided to change the subject. I want your thoughts on something. She licked the remnants off of her fingers. Are arcanous berries usually safe to eat? I havent had a chance to hunt down that information in your book.Brand shrugged. About as often as mundane berries. Though, truth be told, even most arcanous plants dont spend any power on their berries. He frowned. Why? Did you find some?Harvested, but yes.He was nodding. Saw a bit of magic and snatched the berries? Might be interesting to see what you found.She grunted. Theyre from an ending tree.Brand turned to her, eyes wide and mouth open. What?They are from the ending tree we circumnavigated an hour or so ago. She cocked her head to one side again. Why?You must be pulling my leg. Everyone knows about ending trees.She shrugged. Yeah, I know that in our ancient past they were used for creating fertilizers, disposing of waste, andother things, before we moved into the cities.He shook his head. Havent you heard the stories of ancient warriors shrugging off blows in battles, and taking on arcanous beasts barehanded? He cocked an eyebrow at her, clearly referencing her own escapade.Yeah, of course. It is actually one reason Ive pursued the avenues that I have. I love those old tales: Galadria, Akmaneous, Heleculies, Krator, Manastous, Synathia, She smiled happily to herself, before she remembered that it had been her father whod told and read those stories to her. The smile faded.So, you do know.She sighed, feeling the weight of sadness settling in. No, Brand, and this conversation is becoming exhausting. Can you just tell me?He grunted. Ending-berries confer resistance to physical damage that usually lasts around an hour after they are eaten. One berry is sufficient for a fully grown man to receive this effect. He was becoming animated. Moreover, legend says that the effect built, and the effects lasted slightly longer each time a berry was used. The greatest of warriors only needed to eat a berry once a day to be considered nearly invincible. He then gave her a sheepish look. If I hadnt seen your spell-lines, myself, I might have assumed that such were the source of your resistance toblades. He looked away. That would, of course, have been foolish.Tala cocked an eyebrow, then looked back over her shoulder. Then, why didnt we pick that tree bare, as we passed it?Two reasons that I am aware of: First, the art of harvesting the berries without dying from exposure to the tree has been lost. All I know of whove tried recently were forced to consume all that they picked, just to counteract the trees magic against them, and most still ended up with missing fingers, if not more.Tala nodded. That made some sense. Even the stems of the berries had radiated the power of dissolution. Then, she frowned. Iron tongs would solve that, so would heavy gloves. I think I remember seeing a type of berry picker that should work, too.In theory, yes, but the trees move unpredictably, and become more and more agitated the more berries that are picked.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.Cut down the tree?Brand paled. The chips and sawdust carry the magic even more effectively than the unharmed tree. Cutting it down would fill the air with death. The same goes for burning the wood.Im sure Mages could find a way, if they knew the berries were so valuable.He nodded. And some do, but as the effects even extend to breaking down spell workings in unpredictable ways, it proves dangerous, on top of the cost of using their magics in the first place. I think Ive seen a total of a dozen pounds of the berries sold across various markets since I joined the Order of the Harvest.You seem awfully knowledgeable about this specific fruit, Brand.He sighed. It is one of the core examples we, of the Order of the Harvest, learn of. It is a harvestable piece, which humans can eat and get obvious benefit from. If we could safely harvest them, not only would that help pay for our cause, but it would also greatly aid our cause, in a myriad of ways.She was nodding. So, these berries arent common knowledge? She gave him a bit of a reproachful glance.Without taking time to consider, she popped the seed into her mouth, sucking off the juice.A pleasant power buzzed through her, and she felt her enhancing and regenerative spell-lines tingle with an odd resonance. Thankfully, they didnt activate.Tala took out the seed, carefully dried it off, then rubbed it against the salve bar, quickly coating it. The magic hadnt triggered before she finished the process. Good. No issues. She smiled triumphantly.One done! She looked up to see Brand much further back. Brand?WhatWhy? Are you mad? You put the seed in your mouth?Tala thought she saw Den glance over his shoulder, but the driver didnt interject. There was juice on it. I didnt want that power to go to waste.I told you that it activated with a pulse of power, and your first reaction is to put in inside your head.My mouth.He gave her a look.She sighed. It was perfectly fine. I could see the magic building, and there wasnt any danger of it activating before I finished. Unless it nicked a tooth, or was otherwise damaged, I suppose.He seemed somewhat mollified. I guess you are the expert in things of magicShe did not correct him. Yes, good. Believe I am an all-knowing Mage. She smiled slightly.After a long moment, he seemed to relax. Very well Are you going to do the second one?She smiled. Of course! The second berry was no more difficult than the first, though its power began building much more quickly, and she guessed that she was only barely fast enough in getting it coated in salve. Different paces for different seeds. Good to know.She offered the bowl back to Brand, the tingle of the berries magic causing an interesting feeling of rippling tension within her. Brand hesitantly took the bowl. After examining the meat of the berries, he nodded. Alright, then. He held out the small package. Just came out of the smoker an hour or so ago.Tala frowned. I definitely didnt see any smoke.Brand waved the objection away. Of course not. We capture it all to ensure we can use it towards properly smoking the meat.She was pretty sure that wasnt how that worked but didnt press him on it. Fine. She took the package, it felt light, but two pounds wasnt actually that much. A pleasure doing business with you.Brand grunted. Same to you. As he climbed down to return to his own wagon, Tala clearly heard him muttering to himself. Shell put grey in my hair, sure as the sunll rise, tomorrow. Then, he sighed. I hope this doesnt rusting kill me.With no further audible complaints, Brand was gone.Tala tucked the seeds into the pouch with the stems, closed the iron box on the berries, and sighed herself. There we go. All in all, a profitable morning.* * *Tala quickly began flipping through Brands book after he departed. With her enhanced senses and perception, she was able to find the section on jerkies quite quickly, even though it was very small.Cure the jerky within an iron box. The smaller the box in relation to the meat and the smaller and fewer holes in the box, the less loss in power will be experienced. This isnt a recipe book, learn how to make jerky somewhere else. Tala snorted. It matched the tone of most of the rest of the text, which often seemed to relish belaboring the fact that it was staying on topic.That found, she began flipping through to find the section on berries. When she did, it was similarly to the point.Berries, roots, fruits, leaves, etc. taken from arcanous plants are no more or less poisonous than their nearest mundane kin. Thus, if you can identify the core species of plant, which is now filled with power, you will have a good idea of the edibility of the item. That said, the magic in question might, itself, be unhealthy or even lethal if incorporated into the human body, thus analysis of that must be accomplished separately.The only known universally healthful produce from an arcanous plant is the ending-berry, though extreme caution is advised as any damage to the pit will cause either nullification of the beneficial effects, or death. No consistently viable means of harvesting the ending-berry is known. Benefits: One berry will confer nigh invulnerability towards mundane damage to the consumer, lasting roughly one hour. Nothing short of magic, or a concussion, has been known to harm a man when under the influence of an ending-berry, though things that should have caused great injury seem to reduce the length of time the effect lasts. Legend indicates the long-term consumption of these berries causes each subsequent berrys affect to last longer, but such has not been tested, reliably, by the Order of the Harvest.That settles it. I need to find a means of harvesting these. The way their use is described is almost identical to my own enhancements. In truth, that wasnt by accident. Tala had grown up hearing of the warriors of old and had sought to mimic them, as a Mage. Though, she hadnt known about the berries.She did not contemplate that it might have been a subconscious means of reaching out towards those who had abandoned her to debt, a search for happier times.Other plants are healthful under specific circumstances.The book went on to detail quite a few varieties of fruits, berries, vegetables, and herbs. One leaf could be chewed to dull extreme pain but would cause permanently mind-altering hallucinations if there were no significant pain to dull. A root would heal a broken bone, if eaten in exactly matching weight to the bone to be healed, otherwise, it would not fully work, or would fuse an amount of cartilage equivalent to the excess. In this case, aiming low was the recommended path.There were more, but as only the name of the origin species was mentioned, along with a brief description of how the arcanous version differed in appearance, the book was not useful to her in identifying the plants in question. As the book said: This is not an herbiary, nor a picture book. Find your herbology and plant lore elsewhere.Unfortunately, her work under her father, in the apothecary, had not included foraging for herbs or parts of plants. Theyd had a small garden with well labeled varieties and purchased the remainder of what theyd needed from the local market. She likely would have learned the specifics of identification and prime harvesting, but that opportunity had vanished.She turned her mind back towards the book and realized that she was starting to like the author, though she knew it was more the universal tone of the Order of the Harvest, as the particular voice of the writing varied widely throughout the book.A side realization came from that breadth of authors. This has taken more than a few decades to compile. The Order was older than Brand had implied. Or maybe older than he knows?Those two specific sections found and read, she decided to stretch her legs once more.Hat atop her head and satchel at her side, she climbed down, greeting Den as she passed, and strode towards the back of the caravan.Various guards inclined their heads to her, and Guardsman Adam waved. She responded in kind to each. There was no sign of Ashin.Atrexia smiled and nodded, but didnt otherwise acknowledge her, and it seemed that Trent and Renix were on the other side of the wagons, at the moment.Tala still felt the buzz of power from sucking the juice off of the ending seeds. Thats odd. Its been, what20 minutes? She knew that she hadnt consumed a third of a berry's worth of juice. Not that I really understand how it worksPerhaps her iron skin was preventing the power from dissipating, or maybe her spell-forms were somehow helping the power be more efficient. Or the amount consumed only affected the power of the defense, not the duration. She really had no way of knowing. Not yet.It was a curiosity, though, and she was quite focused on the question as she strode past the last wagon and began to turn back to continue her pacing.Her inward focus likely explained why she didnt register the flare of power, until it was almost too late.Dimensional magic blossomed less than five feet from her, as something flickered into being in that space.
