A startling reaction
It took Jay some seconds to adjust himself after the Gryphon he was riding, jumped down from the city walls. After it's failed attempt to hack at his hand that was holding the reins, it seemed to have gotten pissed off.
Only feet before they would crash on the water surface unter the city wall, it spread its wings and shot skywards.
The speed accelerated even more after it flapped it's wings a few times and the wind force robbed Jay of his sight.
As he could see clear again, the capital lay in quite a bit of distance behind them.
It was a sight to behold with the nearly white walls towering over the trees in front of them. Behind them Jay could see the blue roofs of the trade district.
It was something he had learned some time ago but never really noticed it before.
That district was the only one with blue roofs, while the old town had red ones.
All other districts had no regulations for building color, resulting in the typical mixture one could see often.
Gaining altitude and distance, Jay had the chance to look over the whole city.
...at least for a second.
The Gryphon started to buckle and roll to the side.
Jay had such a hard time staying in the saddle, he was sure he would have been a goner if it wasn't for the belt he had fastened. Pulling on the reins with all his might while pressing his knees together, the feisty creature finally calmed down.
Gliding back down and flying about fifty yards over the treetops with a acceptable speed, Jay was glad he had some experience in riding and had a hunch as what to do.
He finally found fun in his first flight in this world and his very first in this type of flight.
Some minutes later the treeline broke and a big lake came into view. It was the silver lake he had visited before.
The size from up in the air was even more astonishing than on the ground.
It was simply massive.
Turning to the right, the Gryphon flew over the forest again. The small path Jay spotted from high above was the road towards Arathor he had taken a few times until now.
In the distance he was sure to have seen smoke rising up. Judging by the direction slightly to his left, Jay bet it was either the small smithy or the garrison in Gold Creek. But his eyes quickly shifted to the sight that opened before him.
Another lake came into view and the Gryphon steered directly over it.
That one was way smaller than the silver lake but still quite big. Lowering his altitude the monster slightly touched the water surface before quickly gaining height.
On the shore they flew towards Jay saw a small house with what looked like a flower garden.
Just as his mount turned towards the south again, he saw movement at the house. Jay wasn't sure, but he had the feeling he saw something small and green moving inside.
But the Gryphon was too fast and had reached the southern shore before Jay could see anything clearly. Even his boosted vision couldn't penetrate the treetops that blocked his view after they flew atop them.
A little upset that he couldn't look at the house a second longer, Jay thought about what he might have seen.
He was still unsure, but what he had seen looked a little like the small hobgoblin he had seen days ago...
Dismissing this thought as he closed in on the Garrison, Jay decided to ask Tharynn about the house. It could have either been something completely different or even someone of the same race he had seen there.
Descending nearly as fast as it started the flight, the Gryphon landed away from the garrison, directly on the crossroad in Gold Creek.
The few soldiers on guard duty looked alarmed towards the intruder but didn't attack instantly. Gryphons landing there seemed to be pretty rare but not totally out of possibilities.
The moment it touched the ground, Jay loosened the belt, let go of the reins and jumped off.
It was that moment the creature had apparently been waiting for. Turning around fast, its beak shot for Jay's hand.
And it got it.
But not the way it had thought.
Jay had prepared and waited for the feisty beast to attack. The moment it turned around, he held out his left hand to lure it and slapped it with his right hand.
The combination of his untypical stats and the unarmed activation of slash resulted in the eagle-head crashing down on the ground.
Due to Jay slapping it with the open palm, the Gryphon took no real damage, but it must have hurt.
Still stepping back in fear of a retaliation, Jay watched the strange creature.
As it stood back up it simply shook its big head and looked a little startled at Jay. Squeaking louder than ever before it simply jumped up and took to the air after it threw Jay a last angry look.
In seconds it was out of sight, probably on its way back to Arathor.
As it was getting dark already, Jay decided to postpone his report for the next day. There was something more urgent on his heart. Or someone...
Walking the short distance from the crossroad to Mia's Inn, Jay passed the dining hall and even the bar as he didn't spot the woman he was looking for.
He finally found her in the kitchen, cutting vegetables and helping Marcus prepare dinner.
Jay ignored the latter and directly went to the busty half elf, grabbing her waist and pulling her in as she looked up and saw him.
It surprised her a little but she didn't resist.
Not in the least.
She leaned in as well and Jay used the moment to plant a deep, emotional kiss on her lips.
Jay had not said a single word until then as he couldn't find the adequate ones. Somehow he felt thankful, overwhelmed, glad, regretful and horny at the same time.
Thankful for her thoughtfulness giving him the coin to gain power.
Overwhelmed because it didn't seem to bother her what he would be doing through that.
Glad he was back and held her in his arms.
Regretful because he had and will always have other women besides her.
And horny because... well, because she was a immensely busty, slender and beautiful half elf.
"I missed you!" J.
"Dummie, it's been what, four days? But I missed you as well..." M.
Just as she leaned in again and placed him another kiss, the door to the kitchen swung open. The little Ellie had kicked it open with a full tablet in her arms.
At that moment it went dead silent in the Kitchen.
Only the stuttered "W-what? W-with M-Mia?" from the small Girl broke the silence.
After another few seconds in silence, Jay and Mia had let got of each other like some forbidden teenage lovers that got found out, Marcus started laughing out loud. He was laughing so hard that he had to hold his belly, and Mia and Jay joined in a few seconds later.
Only Ellie didn't get what the whole situation was about.
Checking if Marcus would be alright alone for a few minutes, Mia took Jay to their table in the dining hall and had him sit down.
"You know, I think our little Ellie had a crush on you..." M.
"You're joking, right?" J.
"Nope, you just broke her little fragile heart!" M.
"Wha...?" J.
"I'm just kidding... well, on the breaking heart part, that is. So, what was that for? Not that I didn't like it..." M.
"Oh, I guess my emotions took over. Thank you!" J.
"For what?" M.
"For everything. The Coin, your feelings, your care... simply everything. I have no other words." J.
"Hehe... so, you used it, right? How was it?" M.
"Y-Yes,... you don't want me to tell what exactly happened, right?" J.
"No, though I wouldn't mind some stories, I thinks it's not the right environment. I was talking about the skills. Got anything good from it? What was the reaction?" M.
"First of all, I was shocked. Even more so when I noticed that it is no onetime use and that you gave it to me knowing all that..." J.
"You only then noticed I was really consent with this kind of relationship?" M.
"..Yes..." J.
"...Then what about the skills?" M.
"Oh, yes. I got cooking! But I had no chance to test it until now. May I help in the kitchen later?" J.
"Of course. Why would I keep you from helping?" M.
"Then, why did you ask for the skills?" J.
"Oh, that... I have a theory for your ability to integrate skills. Alexis and me were talking about it before she left. After I witnessed it myself I thought about the theory behind it..." M.
"So, what is it?" J.
"I'll tell you when I'm sure. Until then you should gather as many skills as you can." M.
"What!?!" J.
To his loud outburst after Mia's comment, all heads turned towards Jay and he went silent. The lovely woman sitting opposite had just stated something he would have never thought of her.
Not that he wasn't going to do that anyways, but to get an approval was something completely different.
After narrating what else happened in the Capital and telling Mia of his plans for tomorrow and his oncoming travel, Jay had one last thing that kept bothering him.
Jay had thought about the story Mia told him days ago, about the prince and his group, and about the things Jay found in the cave after he arrived in this world.
Asking her to come with him to the yard before he would go helping in the kitchen, the two of them walked there around the Inn. The reason for the detour was of course the little girl still inside the kitchen.
Arriving at the yard, Jay closed the gate so they wouldn't get spied on. Stepping forward away from Mia, he took something out of his Inventory.
Illuminating the whole yard with a dim, light blue glow, Mia gasped at the sight as the big ice cube got revealed.
The beautiful woman inside still looked like she was awake, but as Jay had been able to store the block of ice inside his inventory, that couldn't be the case.
He had found out living organisms couldn't be stored even in his special storage as he tried to put some Oysters inside when he had been to Arathor's harbor. Though he thought them as food, the still living shellfish couldn't be put in the inventory.
Why plants could be stored inside was something Jay didn't get. His guess was the required oxigen, but he had no way to check it out at that moment.
Dismissing his wandering thoughts as Mia had collected herself and was about to touch the block of ice, Jay jumped in and held her back.
She looked at him a little flabbergasted as he warned her she would freeze on touching the ice.
"This is another thing I found with the Items I showed to you. My hope was you'd know something about this ice or may be the woman inside." J.
"...So I was right! This block should be made by
"You can tell? Wait, you said what, not who..." J.
"Yes. Even if their opponent had once been humanoid, it had turned into a Lich at that time. At least this spell had only been possible to cast by those monsters until now..." M.
"...wait, why are you looking at me this way?" J.
"You touched it, right?" M.
"...Yes?" J.
"And you froze? Did you try again?" M.
"I started to freeze and instantly retracted my hand. I only touched it and got a prompt to store it in my inventory, so it was really only for the fraction of a second. Why?" J.
"In that case, try again please. If you start freezing, return it to your inventory." M.
Doing as she told him, Jay walked towards the block of ice.
The cold permeated his body even in the distance of some steps. Stretching out his arm he touched the surface with his fingertips.
Contrary to last time, the freezing was way slower, but at the same time Jay's mana decreased at an alarming rate.
Deciding to stop this test, Jay stored the block back to his inventory and healed his hand. The frostburn receded and it was back to normal in seconds.
"So, what was this about?" J.
"The spell you touched is a combination of shadow- and frost-magic. Latter is one of the different paths you can take on the water-magic route.
...Something you'll learn later for sure. With your enhanced shadow resistance you could touch it much longer, right?" M.
"Y-Yes. How did you...?" J.
"That doesn't matter right now. All I can tell you is that you'll probably be able to cast and release the spell at some point in the future. Until then, keep the block inside your inventory until I say otherwise, okay?" M.
"As you wish, my lady..." J.
"Stupid... as for the girl inside the ice, I think I know her." J.
"You look displeased..." J.
"Well, my bet is she was the one rejecting me to join the party.
If I'm right, she had always been with the prince. Whenever he was with some other girls, she jumped in between... clearly had a crush on Andorin." M.
"Are you sure it's her?" J.
"Well, it's been centuries, so no. But those eyes are not something seen that often, and as far as I know, the girl went missing with the prince.
...I think I have an idea as to who might know about her, so I'll ask for you." M.
Pulling her in, Jay kissed the beautiful woman that helped him out with whatever he brought to her.
She really had turned into one of the most important persons to him.
Returning to the kitchen, this time through the back door, Jay explained Marcus that he wanted to help in the kitchen. Mia went to talk with Ellie as the two females worked together in the dining hall.
While Jay was preparing food and learned from the chef how to cook Westfield-stew, he got told that Ellie really came to like him. Marcus though had told her that Jay would always see her more like a younger sister. It was a little heartbreaking, even for Jay, but it was also true.
He liked the two who had been around him the most time since he came to this world and they felt like family, even if it had not been that long.
A window popped up as the first pot of stew got ready for dinner.
***
Recipe:
learned
***
For the next two pots, Jay no longer had to think about what he was doing and the cooking went way faster and smoother. During the third pot Ellie came to the kitchen and inquired what they had done that most of the customers wanted seconds.
Glad the cooking skill did it's job, Jay and Marcus left the kitchen after two hours.
They had prepared some food for the next day as well, since Jay had fun and it would make life for everyone in the Inn easier, if only a little and for a day.
Back in the dining hall, Jay ate a portion himself an was surprised by the taste. It really was delicious, though it only consisted of different meat, okra, some flour and spices.
After another hour helping in the Inn and with everyone gone home or to bed, Jay and Mia climbed the stairs together.
They didn't need to talk about where Jay would spend the night.
Only as they stood in Mia's room did she suddenly blush. As she was stuttering and searching for words, Jay came over and pulled her in his arms, stroking her soft and silky hair.
"You know... I'm...my menstruation..." M.
"What, for real? You're stammering around for that?" J.
Kissing her forehead and then her lips, the two went to bed.
This night they only cuddled together, but it was just the right thing for both.
A night without much activity was something Jay really could use after his trip, as that had been something he had enough in the capital.