Dungeon Life-Chapter Four-Hundred Forty-Three

Pul

“Hyah!” he shouts as he brings his cleaver down, right at the base of the basilisk’s skull, and finishing the fight. Pul and his friends breathe heavily from the fight, and relax slightly as they get the experience for the encounter.

They don’t relax fully, though. Thedeim’s lava labyrinth is in many ways more dangerous than the forest of four seasons. The consensus around the guild is that, since everyone knows to pack fire protection, Thedeim lets the denizens cut a bit more loose than usual in there.

Either way, the fights are tough, yet rewarding, and Pul steps around the dead basilisk to let Freddie start trying to peel the hide off it as Rezlar speaks up.

“The new cleaver seems to be working well,” the elf comments, his rapier flicking as he mists the party with a bit of water to help keep them all cool.

“It’s working even better than I expected, yeah. Your smith knows what he’s doing.”

“He actually said it was an interesting challenge. He’s used to rapiers and lighter weapons. A cleaver is hardly a greatsword, but it’s still designed for heavy blows, and he wanted to make it equally useful in battle as in work. Have you had a chance to butcher much with it?”

Pul shakes his head. “Only these basilisks, and it’s not really suited to remove the tongues for the aranea quest. If you guys want to take a break, though, I’ll see if I can’t get the loin out of this one.”

“Sounds good to me!” pipes up Rhonda, with Freddie nodding as he focuses on the hide. “Are the rings working well for you guys, too?”

Pul nods. “So far, yeah. It’s not too much extra capacity yet, and I haven’t tried the boost either, but I think it’s fine?”

Rezlar nods his agreement. “I think they’ll definitely help us in the upcoming raid, Rhonda. And once you get the runes finalized, I’m sure you’ll have more orders than you and Old Staiven will know what to do with!”

Rhonda beams at the praise. “Do you think I should show it to the antkin, see if they can make any improvements?”

“Maybe if they’ll trade you the formula for the anti-lifedrinking. I think your new rings are going to be lucrative, Rhonda,” speaks up Freddie, still focused, but past the hardest part of getting the skinning going.

“Do you think they’d be willing to trade that?”

Pul nods. “I think they would. You’ve seen how little they try to delve, since they don’t make mana for him. But I bet if they had your rings on boost mode, they’d become comparable to an ordinary adventurer.”

Rezlar chuckles. “They’d definitely want to be able to delve Lord Thedeim regularly, instead of only doing small excursions so they don’t drain Him. I’d say I’m surprised Thing hasn’t come to pester you about the prototypes, but all of the scions are busy for the raid.”

“All yours, Pul,” declares Freddie as he lays out the hide, stepping back and laying it out to dry a bit and giving Pul all the room he needs to do a bit of butchery.

“Have you started learning to cook yet?” he asks the paladin as he starts working through the ribs. Ordinarily, he’d need to disembowel and drain it, but he’s only after one cut. He can let it drain on its own later.

“Some, but I think we’d be best off bringing it back to Karn and seeing if he can cook it for us.”

“I still think you should ask him for pointers, Freddie,” insists Rhonda, with Lucas nodding from atop her wide hat.

The young orc waves her off. “He’s the guild leader, he’s got better things to do than teach me culinary skill.”

“I dunno,” speaks Pul as he carefully opens the torso of the basilisk. “I think he sometimes looks pretty bored back there, wiping up nothing to try to pass the time.” He carefully slides the offal out of the way, letting him get at the long loins, right along the spine. He’s pretty sure it’s the same muscle all the way down the thick tail of the monster, but the portion inside the torso should still be the most tender.

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Freddie looks thoughtful, clearly thinking back to the times he’s seen the guildmaster at the bar. “Maybe,” he finally admits. “But he hasn’t looked bored in a while. I’ll keep an eye out, maybe things will quiet down after the raid.”

“Do you think anyone will have found the last key yet?” asks Rezlar asks, keeping his eye on the surroundings so they don’t get surprised by anything wandering around.

“Gerlfi and Vnarl’s groups have been practically sleeping in the tree trying to find it. After the Calm Seas got a second one, everyone’s been trying to get the last one and keep it even,” states Rhonda before she pulls out her notebook to scribble in.

“Hopefully one of us gets it, yeah. I mean, not us, since we’re not in the forest, but you know,” says Pul as he finally finds the loins, and starts carefully slicing them free. “How much should I get, guys? Just enough for us, or some extra for Karn to maybe sell at the guild?”

Rhonda and Freddie both shrug, but Rezlar is willing to share his opinion. “If Rhonda doesn’t mind chilling it, and Freddie doesn’t mind carrying it, we might as well get as much as we can, right? I’ve never had basilisk tenderloin, but it sounds interesting.”

Pul looks up to see the other two nodding, so he decides to get as much as he can out of the torso. “Alright… here’s the first, Rhonda,” he says after a minute more of work, and the goblin accepts the large piece of meat without complaint as she starts cooling it, creating a small fireball as she does so. By the time she has it cooled, Pul hands her the second, and she hands the first off to Freddie to store. Before too long, they have it all stored, along with the hide and the tongue.

“That should be the last one we need. Let’s go turn in the tongues and see if Karn’s available? If you think it’s a good enough cut to bother him with, Pul?” asks Freddie, and Pul nods.

“I think so. It looks a lot like a beef loin. There’s not much marbling to be had in it, but it should still be good and tender if handled properly.” Everyone agrees to head out, all curious to see if they can actually get a good meal out of one of the tougher denizens Thedeim has.

At the guild, it’s rather quiet, with most people out delving at the moment. Karn waves at them as they enter. “Hey, you’re back early! Everything alright? I don’t see anything broken.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

They all take seats at the bar as Pul explains, Freddie digging into his pack to get the meat. “We got some basilisk loin, and we were hoping you knew how to cook it?”

Karn’s eyes widen as the large cut of meat is set on his bar, and he examines it with a critical eye as the other joins it. “I think I can work with this, yeah. I’ve never cooked basilisk specifically, but I don’t think there’s going to be anything too difficult with it.”

“Can I help?” asks Freddie, earring a curious eyebrow from Karn, which in turn makes Freddie elaborate. “I want to learn to cook to provide buffs, and everyone says you can cook…”

Karn smirks and nods. “I know, yeah. I may be slight, but I still like food. Alright Freddie, I have a spare apron. Come around the bar and I’ll show you a few techniques. We’ll need the skillet and the heavy pot. I’ll cook up enough for you lot out of this one, and keep the rest of it as payment, and I’ll pay for the other one, too. It’s been too long since I really cut loose making something…” he finishes thoughtfully, turning to dig through the cabinets to gather what else he needs.

Pul watches, along with Rhonda and Rezlar, as the two orcs get to cooking. Karn gives the meat a generous rub of salt and seasoning, before searing the pieces in the skillet, then sets them into the heavy pot to cook more slowly, giving him and Freddie time to make a nice gravy in the pan.

The smell has even Lucas and Fiona stopping their running around to watch and drool, well before the meal is ready.

“Doneness is the hardest thing to get consistent, especially if you’re working at a campfire. I’d probably cut it thin and make small steaks, instead of the nice thick ones we’re doing here, when you’re out in the field,” Karn explains as he opens the pot and fishes out one of the thick steaks. He gives it a poke and smiles.

“These should be just about perfect. You have the plates ready? Good. Pour the sauce over them after I get the steak down.” Freddie does as asked, and soon everyone has a beautiful plate before them, just begging to be devoured.

Everyone takes a bite, and the sounds of happy tongues fill the guildhall. There’s a bit of gameyness to it, but also a wonderful smokiness that plays well with it. Karn smiles around his own bite. “That’s the stuff! I think I’ll add a bit of honey to the sauce next time, and give it a gentler sear, but I think it came out pretty good! You did great helping, Freddie. If you want to learn more, just say the word.”

Freddie eagerly nods around his own mouthful, but before he can voice his agreement, the door bursts open with Vnarl’s group, looking proud, with the troll triumphantly holding up a key. “We got it!” he declares, much to the applause of the few that are in the guild at the moment.

“Congrats, guys! Pull up a stool and I’ll make you a celebration meal! And in a few days, we’ll finally get to see what Thedeim has cooked up for his raid!”

“If it’s anything like this, I can’t wait,” comments Pul, to the immediate agreement of his friends. They’ve all been preparing, and now the raid is almost upon them. Getting to fight alongside the experienced delvers of the Slim Chance and the Calm Seas is sure to be an experience at least as rewarding as this meal.