Chapter 134: Talk

He patted her head and turned back to the tree. "How do you plant this?"

"Just like ordinary trees, there’s nothing special about the method."

Good. Ethan picked several more Flame Fruits and tucked them into his pack, he would extract the seeds once they got back.

Just as he turned to leave, the Phoenix couldn’t resist. "The pie you mentioned — when can I eat it?"

"Tonight." He had enough Flame Fruits already, he could start the moment they returned.

The Phoenix laughed in satisfaction. "Then I shall eagerly await it."

"I promise I won’t disappoint you."

Zharok and Pearl had been pacing back and forth outside the canyon entrance the entire time, wearing matching expressions of barely contained anxiety, when Ethan and Liora emerged carrying a full basket of Flame Fruits, trailed by a swarm of Fire Bees, they finally exhaled.

"I haven’t seen this fruit in a long time," Zharok said.

"You’ve seen it before?"

"A long time ago, there were many Flame Fruit Trees in the Great Forest, meow, but then a plague struck, and they all withered, now they’re very hard to find, meow~"

’Perhaps Flame Canyon’s fire protected them from the plague.’ Ethan glanced at the Phoenix, but it stayed silent.

"Since we’ve found them, let’s plant some near the cabin," Ethan said, transferring the Fire Bees into a new bee box.

Zharok picked up a Flame Fruit and bit into it.

"Save the seeds for me," Ethan said quickly.

"Hmm? What?"

"After you eat the flesh, spit out the seeds."

"Ah, almost forgot." Zharok spat them out and handed them over, Pearl finished her fruit and returned her seeds as well.

Ethan looked up at the Phoenix circling overhead. "See you tonight."

"Yes, I am looking forward to it." The Phoenix turned and flew back into the canyon.

Zharok and Pearl blinked at Ethan.

"I promised it Flame Fruit pie."

"Then I’m looking forward to it too."

"Pie, I haven’t had pie before, meow~" Pearl wagged her tail so hard her entire back half swung with it, even Liora, usually expressionless, perked up at the word.

Since everyone was this excited, they should hurry home, Ethan loaded everything onto the handcart. "Let’s go."

Back at the cabin, he set to work immediately, pie crust was different from regular bread dough.

He cut butter into small cubes, dropped them into a bowl, and added flour, he mixed the two with a scraper until the butter was broken into pea-sized lumps — not too fine, or the crust would lose its flakiness, then he added water and salt and kneaded the dough quickly, handling it as little as possible.

"You’re kneading faster than usual today, meow~"

"Speed matters when making pie crust." Ethan smiled, it had been a long time since he last made a pie, and he was looking forward to it himself.

Just as he focused on the dough, Walter arrived. "Oh my, it seems I’ve come at a bad time?"

"You’ve come at the perfect time."

Walter strolled in, Zharok, done chopping wood, sat at the table, Walter took the seat opposite and picked up a chess piece.

"I came to mooch some drinks, but it looks like you’re busy today."

"Once I finish the dough, I’ll make some drinks." Ethan divided the dough in two and placed both portions in the refrigerator to chill.

While they chilled, he started on the filling. When he brought out the Flame Fruits, Walter’s eyes widened. "Are these... Flame Fruits? It’s been ages since I’ve seen them."

"I heard there used to be many in the Great Forest?"

"That’s right, a tree plague wiped most of them out, they’re very rare now."

"I found them in Flame Canyon."

"I see..." Walter looked at the Flame Fruits, eyes full of nostalgia.

Ethan began peeling and dicing.

Walter smiled. "Let me help."

He activated his magic, and blood-red blades neatly peeled the skin from each fruit, then diced the flesh and dropped the pieces into a bowl, he even picked out the seeds and set them aside.

"If you want to eat, you have to put in the work," he said with a grin.

"You also get to taste my pie for free," Ethan shot back.

He added lemon juice, cinnamon powder, and honey to the diced flesh and mixed it evenly, next he melted butter, stirred in flour, then added water, salt, and sugar and kept stirring until it thickened. He poured the mixture over the fruit.

The filling was ready.

"Just the smell alone is enough to make one’s mouth water."

"Want a taste?" Ethan scooped up a few spoonfuls and passed them around, Pearl purred the moment the filling hit her tongue, Zharok licked his lips and reached for more. Liora closed her eyes, savoring the sweetness and spice, even Walter, who rarely showed excitement over food, nodded with quiet approval.

"It’ll taste even better once it’s baked." He took the chilled dough from the refrigerator, rolled it into a thin sheet, and pressed it into a mold, he poured in the filling, wove a lattice of dough strips over the top, and slid the Flame Fruit pie into the oven.

"Now we wait."

"Then we eat."

"While the pie bakes, let’s go plant the Flame Fruit Trees, Zharok, could you clear those trees over there?" Ethan planned to carve out a small Flame Fruit plantation near the cabin.

Zharok and Walter pushed back from the table and got to their feet without hesitation, Zharok’s claws made short work of the nearby trees — a few swipes and they crashed down, Walter used his magic to wrench out the stumps.

A clearing opened up in minutes.

Ethan scattered fertilizer across the bare soil and tilled it with the hoe.

"Are you going to use your ability, meow?"

"Yeah, trees take a long time to grow, so it’s better to speed things up." Outdoors, without the greenhouse effect, his abilities would save weeks of waiting.

He planted the Flame Fruit seeds in the soil and activated Soil Fortification and Growth Acceleration, as he channeled his power, the seeds began to sprout, tender green shoots stretching upward, within moments, small saplings stood where bare earth had been.

"Truly miraculous."

"It’s practically the power to control time..."

Just as Zharok and Walter were marveling, Pearl shouted, "Look, meow~"

’What’s wrong?’ Ethan stopped channeling and looked where Pearl pointed, the next second, he froze.

"The World Tree...?" Liora’s body was radiating a faint glow, it started as a thin shimmer around her outline, like morning dew catching the sun, then steadily intensified.

’What is going on?’ The light grew brighter and brighter, white-gold and warm, illuminating the clearing as if it were broad daylight. Pearl squinted, Zharok shielded his eyes, even Walter took a half-step back, then, just as suddenly, the glow began to dim, fading back into Liora’s skin until she looked the same as before.

Ethan and Pearl rushed over. "Are you alright, meow?"

"I... I’m fine."

Ethan knew next to nothing about the World Tree’s biology and had no way to judge her condition, everyone was so preoccupied with worry that not a single one of them noticed the obvious, Liora had just answered Pearl’s question, out loud, in plain words.