Silver rank brewer a lit.., p.1
Silver Rank Brewer: A LitRPG fantasy adventure, page 1
Copyright © 2023 James Ghoul
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 9781234567890
ISBN-10: 1477123456
Cover design by: CAP
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Chapter 133
Chapter 134
Chapter 135
Chapter 136
Chapter 137
Chapter 138
Chapter 139
Chapter 140
Chapter 141
Chapter 142
Chapter 143
Chapter 144
Chapter 145
Chapter 146
Chapter 147
Chapter 148
Chapter 149
Chapter 150
Chapter 151
Chapter 152
Chapter 153
Chapter 154
Chapter 155
Chapter 156
Chapter 157
Previously in Hawkin’s Magic Beers:
After leaving civilization and living an isolated life in the northern woods for 10 years, Hawkin met Thrush, a nightream monster, who is literally what he eats; and the Sons of Ara, a trio of monks. After tasting the magic beer that the brothers shared with him, all that Hawkin wanted was to brew the best beer he could—on the condition that he wouldn’t have to travel too far from home. After he acquired the Brewer quest path, he brewed a variety of beers. At first, those beers were disgusting; his first batch tasted like dirt which Thrush seemed to love. But Hawkin wasn’t discouraged, he just kept brewing, and to his delight his beers were eventually given the silver rank Respectable quality rating.
Before this accomplishment, Hawkin had many unwelcome visitors to ward off. To protect his woods from the encroaching goblins who bought his ptooey beer, a type of goblin spit beer, he had to figure out how to install a Mist Hidden barrier by brewing the ale with that particular fortification attribute. Searching for cowbell roots, the necessary ingredient, would have meant traveling far from home, but Thrush decided to make the journey himself. After all, Hawkin taught him how to smoke fish, and according to Thrush, learning how to do it himself was one of the greatest things to have happened in the monster’s very long life.
Even though the monster went on the hunt for the crucial ingredient, Hawkin still had to grind his way up to silver rank before he could brew the beer that was able to create the Mist Hidden barrier. On an ethereal plane, Hawkin found the time that he didn’t have on his earthly plane to brew even more beer. Dellia Lucerne, the Planes Cutter goddess assigned to his quest path, warned him that the ethereal plane he used would one day close. Hawkin would then have to create his own ethereal planes.
Along the way, Hawkin and Thrush met Barnacle-eyes, a lively goblin with a big heart. She left the goblin freebooters because she felt more valued around Hawkin and Thrush. Yet, she still yearned for her own ship and a crew. Thanks to a gift from Thrush, Barnacle-eyes acquired the Admiral quest path, and she built herself a sloop.
Boggo, the blue bestie, also found his way into Hawkin’s cabin, and helped Thrush level his Merchant skills, which of course were essential for having an inventory large enough to store unfathomable amounts of smoked fish. Through their friendship, Boggo felt a strong desire for adventure. The sea called to him, and he struggled to master his bravery.
Abigail, a gold rank brewer, arrived at Hawkin’s camp. Potere, the god of drink, wanted to know what could have possibly made Hawkin destined to be one of the greatest Brewers the world had ever seen, and sent Abigail to find out. After stealing the key beer from Barnacle-eyes, Abigail was able to come through the barrier that Hawkin created after leveling up to silver rank.
It’s with all these new companions that Hawkin finds himself where Bronze Rank Brewer ends, and the story of Silver Rank Brewer begins.
Other notable characters:
Margaux was a diamond rank brewer, who became violently jealous after learning that Potere chose Abigail over her to find Hawkin.
Ethan Hiccough, who goes by the nickname, Hiccup, was an old friend of Abigail’s who resided in Lavenfauvish. He grieved his late fiancé.
Gloom-glower was king of the goblin freebooter fleet that was anchored on the coast beside Hawkin’s camp. After striking a deal with Hawkin, he buys beer from the human brewer.
Ogo was the commander orc who saw an opportunity for wealth by establishing a sea trade route.
Slime-tooth worked for Gloom-glower by managing the ptooey which went straight to Hawkin. He was a father figure to Barnacle-eyes.
Eileen was a bronze rank hunter. She specialized in hunting elodons, a creature with the tastiest ribs, and she ran into Abigail after crossing Thrush’s path of destruction.
Chapter 1
Greater
Hawkin
Brewer’s Reputation: 600,730.
“You caught that?” Barnacle-eyes said.
Through chuckling, I said, “yes. Imagine that.”
The goblin and I had been watching the leaves fall. 3 or 4 would fall every few minutes or so. All of them were orange and came from one of the maples at the edge of the clearing. There were a couple of bronze-brown leaves that fell too, but the orange were striking. From our seats at the fire pit, I caught an orange leaf.
“I want to catch one!” Barnacle-eyes said.
Then she was on her feet, chasing falling leaves. She left her tin cup of gob lin spit beer precariously over the edge of the log she’d been sitting on. I shifted her tin cup so the wind wouldn’t take it down. It looked like she had a few sips left.
Since I was at the end of a silver boot’s worth of an old ale of mine, I decided to brew another beer and visit the ethereal plane.
I engaged my silver rank Brewer skills, along with a few bronze rank Brewer skills I’d recently acquired.
[Brewer’s Harvest. Level 1020.]
[Fire and Roast. Level 210.]
[Brewer’s Bubble. Level 1005.]
[Mash Master. Level 1000.]
[Hop Wallop. Level 450.]
[Brewer’s Chill. Level 1000.]
[Alchemical Control. Level 1002.]
[Kiss of Yeast. Level 1001.]
[Flash Ferment. Level 1005.]
[Foam Cascade. Level 10.]
[Forced Carbonation. Level 670.]
I cast barley seeds onto the ground around me. Those seeds became sprouts, and then grew to bear kernels in the blink of an eye. The kernels popped up from the grass and streamed toward me in a thin line. They germinated and malted as they crossed the distance.
The use of my Fire and Roast skill helped me add a touch of color and aroma to the grains. Brewer’s Bubble took it from there, and fresh ethereal river water flew out from a gourd in my inventory to collect into a wobbling sphere in midair. The malted roasted barley grains soared straight into the large bubble. That’s where I activated Mash Master to steep the grains at a stable temperature.
Color filled the bubble; the color of glinting brass, or a golden wheat field that held the lounging body of sunlight. When the mash was sufficient, taking a fraction of the time to brew with my Brewer quest path skills, I withdrew the wort from the grains and let them drop into the fire pit.
Hop Wallop drew from my inventory fresh green hops harvested from the ethereal realm. With a guiding gesture, I slammed those hops into the floating Brewer’s Bubble. Steam rose. Sufficiently steeped, I strained the hops out as well.
Brewer’s Chill quickly brought the beer to a fermentable temperature. I threw in a Lesser Planes Cutter shard and used Alchemical Control with the magic shard to imbue the beer with the Lesser Planes Cutter attribute.
I afterwards engaged the Kiss of Yeast and Flash Ferment skills. Then Forced Carbonation. All that was left was Foam Cascade. And since Foam Cascade was a relatively new skill, therefore still bronze at level 10, it required more mana and took the longest of all the skills to use. The tricky part was to focus on the head that I wanted the beer to have. I knew little about the skill, but focused on imagining a bubbly head. I wanted the autumn wind to steal little bubbles like it does to summer dandelion seeds.
Finished, I continued using Brewer’s Bubble to guide the fermented beer into a waterskin. I poured a drop onto my Collector’s Journal.
[Lesser Planes Cutter Crisp Ale.]
[Silver rank. 01/100 Respectable.]
[Brewed by Hawkin.]
[Brewed using a mix of ethereal harvested ingredients and isolated yeast from the northern wilderness. Light, effervescent, crisp and clean. Tastes of fresh baked biscuits. Has aromas of dried straw and freshly clipped hay.]
[Special attribute: Lesser Planes Cutter. One sip of this attribute ale will transport the user to the ethereal realm between the northern wilderness and the eastern Vale of Ara. The user will have 24 hours on the plane before they return to the exact same moment they drank from this beer.]
Without further ado I sipped the ale.
In the blink of an eye, I found myself standing on the ethereal plane where the honeysuckle was ripe with pollen. It was partly cloudy this time—a first.
Sun rays came down in shafts like arms. As though the sun had hands, it gathered the dew from the honeysuckle.
Fragrances of ripe goldenrods streamed like currents of wind through the plane. That honey-esque aroma relaxed some part of my spirit. I enjoyed spending my time there amid the curly dock, the flowering brown knapweed, the poppies, the multitude of flowering life. These things were wonderful to be around. Almost as wonderful to be around as the woman who approached me now.
Her hair began where the lilacs bloomed. Her dress was made of sunflower petals. Her eyes were the color of poppies. All the poppies.
“Hawkin,” Dellia Lucerne said. “So good to see you.”
“Good to see you,” I said. “Would you like to sit or walk?”
“I don’t often have legs to walk with. Let us walk together. Take my arm.”
I took her arm and we ambled.
A halo of peaceful monarchs hovered above her hair that was made of lilacs. When my eyes followed the length of her hair, all I saw was a distance of earth. Of rows of more lilacs. Of queen anne’s lace.
“Hawkin,” Dellia said.
My eyes followed the land back to where I stood, where cosmos flowers were bursting with volume. They were thickly clustered together and formed a new dress for the goddess. In the moment where I tried to see where the plane ended and she began, she’d changed her appearance. Her dress was made of daisy petals now. And I still could not determine where she ended and the plane began.
When she laughed, I didn’t care to know anymore. Her gentle tug on my arm brought me out of my thoughts and we continued to amble.
“I apologize,” I said. “I’m still not used to your company.”
“How are things with you?”
“I’ve been forging ethereal grains. I have five ethereal barley grains now. I’ve still got to forge ethereal water, yeast, and hops.”
“Tell me about Thrush,” she said.
Thrush had been busy hunting game, so there wasn’t much to say about him. He’d reached silver rank in his Merchant quest path. Dellia raised her eyebrows and nodded at that. Otherwise, he’d been smoking fish or red meat.
“He’s also been spending a lot of time with Boggo lately.”
“Boggo?”
“The blue bestie.”
I told her about Abigail, Barnacle-eyes’ sloop, and our ongoing schedule for brewing goblin-spit beer for the orcs and goblins.
“A lot is happening in your part of the world,” she said. I smiled at that. “It’s a wonder you still have time for forging.”
“Forging ethereal ingredients is time consuming,” I said. “Difficult. It requires more mana than all my other skills combined.”
“I’m happy to see that you're spending time on those skills. You’ll be using them shortly because I will no longer be creating Lesser Planes Cutter shards. Your time on this ethereal plane is coming to an end.”
We stopped. I looked at her, at her eyes that were made of the juices of berries.
“It’s time?” I said.
“You knew this day would come,” she said. She gave another gentle tug to my arm and we ambled once more. “I will withdraw Lesser Planes Cutter shards from your world indefinitely. As a reminder, I made this plane for you. I’m taking it back. You will forge your own Planes Cutter ingredients. You will use your Planes Cutter Master skill to brew Greater Planes Cutter attribute beers with forged ethereal ingredients.”
“What’s the difference between the Lesser Planes Cutter beers I’d been brewing, and Greater Planes Cutter beers?”
“Greater Planes Cutter beers will transport you in real time. When you spend a day on the ethereal plane, it will equal a day in your world.”
“Why can’t I continue to use the Lesser Planes Cutter attributes?”
“You can for the meantime, but as soon as you can brew a Greater Planes Cutter beer, I will close off this realm to you. Understand, Hawkin, that this plane has been a gift to you. It takes extraordinary amounts of…the complexities of a goddess…to maintain.”
“Will I be able to return here? Even with a Greater Planes Cutter ale?”
“No. You will have to build your own planes as you see fit.”
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“I can sense that,” she said.
Then she was gone. Her arm was no longer in mine. Instead, I found myself leaning against a lilac with my arm around the trunk.
I ambled the plane for hours, thinking. When I found myself at the river, I turned back to look across the summer fields.
I can’t believe my time here is coming to an end. I wonder what the other ethereal planes will hold in store for me.
Shame I can’t show Thrush this place.
Chapter 2
Alchemical Control
Brewer’s Reputation: 600,729.
Forester axe. Bedroll. Food. Water. Sweater. A few other necessities.
