Aspects of the Murder Crow

"So what you'll be having dearie?" Miss Gloria asked. "Should I get you your usual?"

"You know what Miss Gloria? Why don't you surprise me this time?" Eidiri suggested, wanting to switch things up a bit.

"Alright then, I'll bring your food out in just a jiffy. Anything else you want?" said Miss Gloria.

"Yes actually, I came upon this weird monster on my adventures outside, and I was wondering if the carcass could be used in any way," Eidiri then said.

"Well, lemme take a look at it and we'll see. I don't mean to brag or anything, but I'm pretty experienced in this field," Miss Gloria said.

After receiving Miss Gloria's confirmation, Eidiri hauled chunks of the Murder Crow from his bag, presenting them to her.

"Alright, and do you know what kind of monster it is? If you know then I'll be able to do a much more accurate analysis and all that," Miss Gloria asked.

Eidiri's cheeks flushed a light red. He coughed, clearing his throat a little, "Yep, sorry 'bout that, forget to mention it. According to a spirit I met, this guy here's a Murder Crow."

Miss Gloria's lips slightly pursed, threatening to break into a smirk.

"You're telling me this a Murder Crow. Death creature and all that. You're a funny kid. But really what is it? I can't stand here all day, got work to do," Miss Gloria said humorously.

"But I really was a Murder Crow!" Eidiri insisted, "Just take a look at it if you're unconvinced," he rummaged in his bag, "Here, I even kept some of its feathers."

The feathers were still smooth and shiny, a radiant black.

Miss Gloria took these feathers, twisting and turning them in her hands, examining them closely.

After a good 2 or so minutes, she placed the feathers to the side, turning to examine the meat of the Murder Crow instead.

The Murder Crow's meat didn't contain much fat, being extremely lean.

Following the example of its real-world counterpart, the poultry wasn't fatty at all.

Turning the meat over, she gently slapped it, a thunk of the meaty flesh getting hit with her hand reverberated.

Then she turned to face Eidiri again, pausing before saying, "You sly kid. You actually nabbed yourself a god-for-darned Murder Crow..."

"Since you clearly don't understand the situation you're in right now, I'll be nice and explain it to you."

"The Murder Crow is a special sort of monster. There are many of these kinds of monsters actually, it's just that it's quite difficult for us to defeat them."

"The carcass you got right here would fetch a hefty price, not anything light either. You're talking about enough money to buy yourself your own little shop from a lord," Miss Gloria went on to explain.

"The body of these special kinds of monsters contain certain properties, these things can feats such as increasing your strength, level of talent, comprehension of a skill, and so on."

"You're telling me that this thing I got here, can strengthen me infinitely in a situation where I had an infinite supply of these?" Eidiri asked incredulously.

"Of course not sweetie," Miss Gloria said with a slightly patronizing smile, "These sort of things only work to a certain extent. Like all things moderation. Too much of it and the effectiveness slowly winds down until it becomes a waste to even consume it."

Slightly abashed, Eidiri nodded his head in understanding before Miss Gloria continued on.

"I can make you a dish out of it. I'm a certified Head Chef, so I can handle the meat nicely. Rest assured that you won't get poisoned by the latent death energy. If you're willing, I should be able to create something here that'll be able to boost your magical abilities up a notch if you would please."

"Can we have the dish boost something else?" Eidiri asked, he wasn't familiar with magic in the slightest, as such he was hesitant to boost something he had no experience with.

"I mean... I can do it. But the impact will be significantly reduced. It'll be a boost by such a small margin, you may as well have just done a bit of training."

"It's fine then," Eidiri said, waving her to go right on ahead, "matter of fact just let this be the dish I'll have."

"Sure dearie. It'll be quite a bit though if you're willing to wait here. Thanks for this by the way," Miss Gloria said.

"What do you mean?" Eidiri asked confused, "Did I do something that warranted your thanks?"

"You don't know?" Miss Gloria asked, "Ah adventurers these days are so clueless. Let me just explain again," Miss Gloria sighed.

Professionals can develop their skills through experience and practice, however, working on higher-level materials is much faster than, say cheap common stuff.

This Murder Crow here will significantly boost my progress to higher levels. As such, I'm thanking you for it," Miss Gloria, yet again, explained.

"Really now? Interesting. Well, there's no need for your thanks, your cooking alone will be enough," EIdiri said.

"Right then, I'm off to cook your meal now, but I'll be a bit before it's ready. Gotta prepare the meat and all that now. In the meanwhile, why don't you do something about those feathers you got there?"

"They're not good for arrows, far too supple they say, perfect for things like cloaks though if you want," Miss Gloria suggested.

"Oh no, thank you, but I've already figured something to do with the feathers. I'll be back by dinner time if that's alright," Eidiiri said.

"Sure, your meal will be prepped by then, I'll be off to work now. Goodbye sweetie," Miss Gloria said cheerfully, eager to get to work.

With that unexpected matter settled, Eidiri now derailed from his course of consulting Master Jarid bout the tome, went to go the seamstress to inquire about cloth.

Swinging the door open, he entered the inside.

The interior was rather fashionable, not too packed with clothing racks as he had expected.

A shop clerk went up to greet him, "Hello and welcome to Clementine's Cloths, and for what purpose are you here?" they asked.

Eidiri then went on to ask about custom orders, going into an impromptu round of charades in which he tried to describe what a pillow was to the clerk, the annoyance of both parties growing as the conversation continued.