Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Cool Knife Shit

Nay fluttered in and out of consciousness, the glowing ice imp core rolling next to her face. The flashing red alarm on her HUD felt like an ice pick going into her brain.

She moaned and managed to grab the ice imp core. She pulled it towards her and held against her chest, the light vapors dancing across her face.

Nay summoned all of her remaining strength and willpower and used it to focus on her breathing. She would fall into the Spirit Song technique or she would pass out trying.

The spirit veins appeared in her mind and they were writhing, starved. The song drifted out of her at a low volume and she crushed the ice imp core into her chest.

She absorbed it and her spirit veins straightened and expanded, accepting the vigor and jumpstarting the cycling process.

Consuming the core hit her with dopamine and pulled her from the edge of Vigor Sickness.

She crawled to two other cores, consuming them, refilling her reserves. The error message on her interface went away and she stabilized.

She was still weak and bleeding, but she was still conscious.

She sat up and collected the remaining ice imp cores. But she stopped herself from absorbing them. She was struck with an idea.

She put the ice imp cores in her inventory.

---

[Delicacy Detected]

---

She observed the Icescythe carcass, the blinking golden dot on her mini-map overlayed across her vision.

Her open True Eye rendered this section of the Icescythe translucent and she got a glimpse of the Delicacy itself, a gland the size of a peach pit connected to the underside of the skin, next to a cluster of nodes and connected to a system of nerves.

/////////

She worked fast, in front of the grotto entrance, underneath the green light of the rippling aurora.

She wished she had a set of butcher knives for this job.

Thorn was good for fighting and slaughter, but it was no paring, boning or carving knife.

The Icescythe was like no creature she had ever butchered before, and technically she was only cutting in to remove a gland, but she had no frame of reference for working on such a monster.

It seemed part reptile, part insect and part ice elemental.

She supposed the closest thing would be butchering an alligator, but that still wouldn’t come close.

She had cut through the scaly reptilian skin and was removing chunks of flesh to make her way to the Delicacy. Gold motes began to drift out of the wound and she found the gland.

It was neon yellow and looked like a cluster of grapes congealed together in one mass. She cut through a membrane casing and then sliced it away from the nerves and some blue-hued organ she didn’t recognize in the abdomen.

She freed it from the carcass and held the Delicacy in her hand, illuminating her face in neon yellow.

---

[Quest Complete!]

[Separate the Delicacy from Icescythe Completed!]

[You have been rewarded with Bladegland of Icescythe]

[You have been rewarded with Vigor Points]

---

Golden vigama flew down from the aurora and entered into her veins, slamming her with dopamine. Then another prompt appeared.

---

[Delicacy Discovered!]

[Delicacy: Bladegland of Icescythe]

[Delicacies Unlocked 1/3]

[Would you like to Consume Delicacy Y/N?]

---

She closed the text menu and stored the Delicacy in her inventory. She began to leave the grotto when she stopped to look at the corpse of the Icescythe one more time.

Her eyes drifted to the arm-scythes.

She knelt and examined the appendage. The bone and ice elemental aspect of the physiology made it a sturdy and deadly weapon. Maybe not as good as forged steel, but good enough to do some rather unique damage.

She thought for a moment, then she grabbed the other arm-scythe and crossed it over, manipulating the limb. She turned it so she could use the spines on the back of it like a saw.

She wasn’t sure if it would work but it was worth trying.

Nay used the spine of one arm to saw at the other, towards the end of the scythe. It grinded into the limb and matter began to flake away.

It was working. It was cutting through the bone and elemental ice.

It took her longer than expected, because the scythe was so dense, but after a half hour so she had removed the ice scythe to have a weapon that was slightly longer than Thorn.

It was curved, ending in the deadly tip.

She stored the ice scythe in her inventory and hurried back to her hollowed out pillar.

/////////

Back inside her Chef’s Thermometer-made chamber, Nay split produced a pan from her inventory, along with the Marrow of the Caraxian Crab.

It was huge and took up most of the space inside the chamber.

“Too much,” she said. She used the skullcrusher on Thorn to crack off the end of the lower pincer.

She set it inside the pan and put the rest of the Marrow back in her inventory.

She produced a pot from her inventory and filled it with water from her waterskin.

Then Nay took out the Delicacy from her inventory and placed it in the pot to soak in the water. This would remove any grit. She wished she could let it soak for a whole day, but she figured she only had a few hours until Ilyawraith would be returning to the island.

She waited, slipping into Spirit Song to cycle her vigor until she lost patience.

Nay used her Chef’s Thermometer ability to conjure two heat rings, one for the pan, one for the pot.

She was essentially grilling the Marrow portion of crab pincer. She would have preferred to boil it, but she hadn’t been able to find a suitable container.

She removed the Delicacy from the pot and gingerly shook it dry. Then she took it a step further and used a popular method called ‘pressing’ usually used to remove excess water from sweetbreads, or thymus glands, before cooking.

Nay took out Thorn and her ice scythe from the inventory. She set the Delicacy on the wide end of the scythe on the flat part. She used Thorn to press down on the bladegland, squeezing out the moisture.

In the cooking kit in her inventory, she used some of the herbs she had stored in jars. Some mint, some tarragon and some rosemary. She sprinkled and rubbed them over the gland along with some sea salt.

She took a glob of butter from her inventory and placed it on the hot scallop shell. She wished she had time to make some clarified butter, and perhaps she could have taken the extra time, but she was in a hurry.

She placed the bladegland Delicacy down in the pan with the melting butter and it began to sizzle.

As it seared, she used Thorn to spoon the melted butter and bathe the Delicacy as it cooked.

This was not the ideal way she had wanted to prepare a Delicacy and a Marrow, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She had to work with what she had. Some chefs liked to use flour as a breading for sweetbreads, but Nay found it unnecessary.

As long as the gland was dry, then searing it with butter would make it crispy enough.

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It was the equivalent of being on one of those ridiculous cooking shows where the contestants were given weird or limited resources to create a meal under a ticking clock that would impress some judges.

Except her judge was life or death.

She looked over at the other shell where the Marrow was grilling. She used Thornto flip the portion of crab pincer over to ensure even cooking.

Then she turned over the Delicacy and bathed it in more melted butter. Golden motes began to fill the chamber, filling her little abode in neon light.

The bladegland had a nice crisp to it, and even with its bright coloration, it looked like a piece of fried liver or even a fried chicken chicken nugget. She was surprised to find that there was no musty smell about it, which is usually the case with some organ meat.

Instead, to her surprise, it reminded her of the smell of fried treats at county fairs. It smelled a lot like a combination between funnel cake and fried chicken.

When it was almost done cooking, she pulled a biscuit with a Recovery Buff out of her inventory and ripped it in half. She set each half in the pan with the Delicacy, toasting it in the hot butter.

Nay de-conjured the heat rings and cycled more vigor for a moment. Readying herself for experience of consuming a Delicacy.

She placed the cooked Delicacy on one half of the biscuit and admired what a little heat, seasoning, herbs and butter could do. To think that this was a gland inside of the Icescythe just a short time ago. Now it was transformed into an appetizing meal.

“Bon appétit.”

She took the first bite and was hit with a burst of flavor. The Delicacy was so powerful it revived her sleeping taste buds.

The bladegland was at first crunchy, but then gave way to a tender creaminess that was straight euphoric.

The Delicacy carried her to a rapture. A sun was birthing in her stomach and its light spread through her body, filling her veins with pure nirvana.

After another bite, she had to lie down.

Her vision filled with the celestial firmament and she was flying through a galaxy. Text prompts floated into her vision, the words of some heaven. They burst into existence over her flight through space.

---

[Delicacy Unlocked!]

[Bladegland Delicacy Unlocked!]

[2/3 Delicacies]

---

Then another prompt appeared.

---

[Marrow Ability Path Unlocked]

[Prerequisite: Yes]

[Marrow of the Bladegland]

[Rank: Base 75%]

[0/12 Ability Slots in this Tree]

---

Congratulations, you have unlocked a Delicacy [2/3] and have activated a second skill tree of Marrow Abilities. You may now consume Marrow to awaken Abilities [0/12] within the Marrow of the Bladegland Ability Tree.

To give your blades an extra little something for your enemies to remember you by, you’ve been granted the Passive Ability of Rupture.

Rupture allows you to store Kinetic Points and release them with Finishers to enhance your damage.

You’ve also unlocked Dire Knife, Rank 1.

Dire Knife is a Weapon Imbue that amplifies your blade attacks and each successful delivery rewards you with one Kinetic Point.

You’ve also unlocked Gore, Rank 1.

Gore is a Finisher that requires Kinetic Points to activate. Once activated, causes wounds inflicted upon enemy by your blades to burst, delivering more damage. (Note: Watch out! Could get messier than the front row of a Gallagher show!)

Nay’s speculation was right. The Delicacy had unlocked a combat skill tree.

Her vision returned to normal but she felt weightless, as if she were still floating through a galaxy.

“Thank you,” Nay said. She wasn’t sure who it was directed to, maybe it was just the universe, but she wanted to express gratitude. She felt some anxiety disappear now that she had some combat abilities.

Knowing she had it made the thought of facing Caraxus again a little more bearable.

“Now, time for the Marrow.”

She tapped the cooked shell with Thorn’s skullcrusher, cracking the shell and exposing the off-white crab meat. It was the color off clotted cream.

She grabbed some old bay seasoning from her inventory and sprinkled it on the Marrow. She grabbed a portion with her fingers. It was tender and easily separated.

It was also still hot.

She plucked the Marrow in her mouth and kept it open, blowing out steam and juggling it with her tongue until it cooled. She bit into it, releasing the sweet, marine flavor over her tongue.

Strangely, there was a temperature effect, where it felt like a spritz of frost hit her in the back of the throat. It must have had something to do with the freezing waters of the Caraxe Strait. It was a welcome complexity of experience, a contrast to the hot meat.

---

[Marrow Consumed!]

[Crab Claw Marrow of the Caraxian Crab]

[Would you like to unlock Marrow Ability for Tongue of the Hierophant]

[OR]

[Bladegland of Icescythe]

[Choose one]

---

She chose the Bladegland.

---

[Opening Delicacy Tree]

[Marrow Abilities 0/12]

Opening Ability Tree for the Delicacy: Bladegland of Icescythe.

---

As with the other Marrows, she was met with a view of a human digestive system. There were cubes rotating next to the organs, indicating open ability slots.

You have twelve open slots in this Ability Tree. You have consumed Crab Claw of the Caraxian Crab. It has syncretized into the Decapitate ability. Would you like to use slot for Decapitate [Y/N]?

She accessed the description for the ability.

Decapitate. Much like the Caraxian Crab’s favorite attack, this ability allows you to summon a spirit pincer attack. A successful hit has the chance to multiply your damage threefold and has a chance to decapitate target. Note: Cooldown is 1 Day.

Goddamn, Nay thought. She hit ‘Yes’ and her stomach began to burn and her body temperature rose.

As the effect of the Marrow Ability activating did the three-hundred and sixty degree thing to her vision, she happily lied on the floor and let it happen.

I can do cool knife shit.

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