Chapter 113. Rewards for Later

Cosmic did not take the black fragment immediately. His eyes roamed around Carlos’s body, and then he looked at Carlos’s bandaged arm first.

"You got injured again." he spoke with a tired tone.

"Not too badly though."

"Those words have stopped having any meaning when they come from you, bro. At least be honest with me."

"I am not kidding. My injuries are almost nonexistent these days."

Carlos pushed the fragment closer.

"Look at this first."

Cosmic accepted it with both hands.

The broken square remained dark. No system panel appeared for him.

"It belongs to you," Cosmic said. "Show me its panel again."

Carlos used Inspect.

--

[Blackstone Road Authority Fragment]

[Origin: Hellbound Conquest Level 5]

[Bound owner: Carlos Goldwin]

[Type: Route Marker Enhancement Material]

[Function: Adds Blackstone road authority to a compatible Road Marker Blueprint]

[Compatible item detected: Uncommon Reinforced Road Marker Blueprint]

[Possible result: Rare Blackstone Route Marker]

--

"Take out the blueprint too," Cosmic said. "Let me see what each one says."

Carlos summoned the Reinforced Road Marker Blueprint.

He used Inspect on it separately.

--

[Uncommon Reinforced Road Marker Blueprint]

[Type: Construction Blueprint]

[Function: Constructs a marker that designates one completed road inside the owner’s territory as a Reinforced Route]

[Compatible enhancement detected: Blackstone Road Authority Fragment]

[Enhanced result: Rare Blackstone Route Marker]

--

Cosmic read both panels.

"You already made system road markings between the buildings," he said.

"Yes, but they are still at a very early stage."

"And none of them needs a special route marker yet. You have no regular heavy transport and no distant storage point. If you use this now, it will just stand somewhere doing nothing."

Carlos looked from the blueprint to the fragment. Combining two rewards simply because he could was not a good enough reason.

"So I keep them," he said.

"Until Ironroot gives you a reason to use them."

Carlos stored both items separately.

Cosmic finally looked past him. The four captured wagons stood between the residences and the western wall.

He became quiet.

"Carlos."

"What?"

"Why are there four military supply wagons in the middle of your territory?"

"They were taking up too much inventory space. I had to keep them outside."

Cosmic walked toward them and both Lizardmen followed while looking beneath the wagons for threats.

Cosmic inspected the black iron around the nearest wheel. He checked the empty cargo bed, the supporting frame and the connection where a pulling beast should have been attached.

"These are better than the carts people are selling. Most of those are wooden and normal quality," he said.

Cosmic climbed onto the front step of the nearest wagon and opened its panel.

--

[Captured Blackstone Supply Wagon]

[Uncommon Grade]

[Cargo capacity: 200 standard inventory units]

[Reinforced frame]

[Suitable pulling force required]

[Current pulling force: None]

[Current registered route: None]

--

"Two hundred units in each wagon means eight hundred units of cargo space altogether. Not bad," Cosmic said.

It was a large amount, but Ironroot had nothing that needed to be transported that way. It had no pulling animals and no regular shipments moving across the territory.

"Are they worth keeping?" Carlos asked.

"Yes," Cosmic said. "They could be very useful later. Right now, unfortunately, they are four good wagons with nothing to do."

Carlos nodded. He did not need to find an immediate use for every reward.

The daily summon panel tried to appear when he thought about troops. He closed it without looking at the available list.

Cosmic noticed, frowned and could not help asking.

"Are you okay, bro?"

"Ironroot and Cedric’s group use 99 meals every day. The agreements with the other Lords take another eighty, and the Slimes need twelve Slime Cores. Mira wants seven days stored for our own people before I add anyone else."

"Mira wants that?"

"I decided it."

Cosmic looked at him for several seconds.

"The conquest hit you harder than the bandages show. You seem more mature."

Carlos did not argue with that, even after winning this conquest, there was a bitter after taste in his mouth.

He marked the area as temporary storage. They could remain there until Ironroot had a real use for them.

When they returned to the kitchen, Mira had cleared the smaller preparation table.

The Emberhorn Meat, Hellfire Peppers, Mana-binding Salt and Water-affinity Silverwood Fruit were placed separately across it.

Both Hearthkeepers waited behind her.

"I am ready for the small tests," Mira said.

Carlos looked at the limited ingredients.

"Not the full meal? You know you can waste some ingredients, it is okay."

"No its not. Not until I know what the salt binds and what the fruit does to the heat. If I use it all, then I will have nothing to practice with."

"But what if, by using the full ingredients, it comes out perfect the first try?" Carlos spoke with a smile making Mira groan.

"You are like a demon on my shoulder, Carlos"

Cosmic stayed near the doorway.

"Is this for the Lord with three high-grade troops?"

"Yes," Carlos answered.

Mira cut an ordinary piece of meat first. She divided it into three smaller pieces and placed each one on the Blackstone Cooking Slab.

The slab remained cold until she placed it over the kitchen fire. Heat spread across its surface evenly instead of gathering at the centre.

Mira added ordinary salt to the first piece, then added a few grains of Mana-binding Salt to the second.

The third received the same salt and one drop of juice from the Water-affinity fruit.

Blue and red light appeared above the final piece.

The colours pressed against each other without mixing.

A system panel appeared.

--

[Advanced ingredient test detected]

[Mana-binding Salt has retained both compatible and conflicting properties]

[Water affinity is limiting destructive heat expansion]

[Ingredient balance remains unstable]

[A qualified Hearthkeeper may continue controlled testing]

--

Mira read every line. Then she looked at the remaining Emberhorn Meat.

"Kughhhh!! This is getting exciting now!" She spoke with her hands in the air.

And at the same time, Carlos was doing his best to not take a bit off the samples. The aroma was so intense that his mouth salivated a couple times.

But he controlled himself, he did not want the tag of a glutton.