Chapter 96: Winter

’Forget it, I’ll think about it later.’

Just then, snowflakes began to drift from the sky, a biting wind cut through the clearing. Winter had arrived in the central region at last.

Ethan shivered, walked over to the warm furnace, and smiled. "For now, let’s focus on winter preparations."

"Preparing for winter..."

"We need a large supply of Sun Stones for the greenhouses."

"Then I need to make more Candied Honey Sweet Potatoes."

...

Ever since Chaos descended upon the mortal realm, monsters appeared alongside it.

Some said they spawned at random, most believed they poured from dungeons, pockets of Chaos that sprouted like infections across the land, for the elves, who held Order as sacred, clearing those dungeons was a duty above all others, their mission was to eradicate Chaos and maintain the world’s balance.

Since ancient times, the elves had fought this fight, but Chaos was stubborn, dungeons kept forming, monsters kept pouring out in an endless stream, the war had no end.

"Hah... Hah..."

Clearing a dungeon was never easy, endless monster hordes, hidden traps, labyrinthine corridors, these obstacles stood between the elves and victory at every turn.

But they never gave up, their faith in Order was unshakable.

"Are you alright?"

Among the elves was a young man named Roland, he harbored a near-fanatical hatred for Chaos, one he had carried since childhood, upon reaching adulthood, he had joined a dungeon-clearing party without hesitation, to date, he had cleared over a hundred dungeons, earning the title of hero.

Yet he never stopped moving forward, always deeper, always further, while others celebrated their victories, Roland was already planning the next expedition, rest was for after the last dungeon fell.

But spend enough time walking along the river’s edge, and eventually your shoes get wet, Roland had a sinking feeling this dungeon was the one that would prove it.

"I’m fine, what about the others?"

He wiped the blood from a shallow cut on his arm and looked around, his companions sat slumped against the walls of the stone corridor, breathing hard, their armor was scratched and dented, their weapons dulled from overuse, a healer was patching a wound on another warrior’s leg with trembling hands.

There were too many monsters in here, so many it felt like three dungeons had merged into one.

Roland and his companions were spent, he was exhausted too, but what gnawed at him worst was the hunger, three days without food, their supplies had run out long ago, if they hadn’t choked down some monster meat earlier, they would have collapsed, now even that was gone.

This dungeon seemed to hold a personal grudge against them every monster that appeared was the inedible kind.

"We can’t go on like this, we need to pull back."

"...We have no choice." They needed rest, food, time to regroup, staying here was throwing their lives away, but the real problem was simpler than that: they barely had the strength to walk out.

Roland scanned the ceiling, fighting the hunger that blurred his vision.

’If only we could find a treasure chest...’

Treasure chests appeared in dungeons from time to time, they contained potions for restoring stamina and healing wounds, right now, what Roland’s party needed most wasn’t gold or jewels, just one bottle of stamina potion.

His eyes caught a crack in the ceiling.

’Could it be...’

A ceiling crack meant one of two things, a trap, touch it and die, or a treasure chest, no guarantees about the contents, but they were out of options.

Roland steadied himself. "Step back."

"But, Roland..."

"Trust me." His face was pale, his voice thin, his companions stepped back.

He tapped the crack gently with the tip of his longsword, there was no reaction, flash, or any mechanism, a trap would have triggered, hope flickered in his chest.

"Let me see..." He activated his magic, a faint glow surrounded his body as he floated off the ground and rose toward the ceiling, he reached his hand into the crack, groping blindly in the dark crevice, his fingers brushed something hard and solid.

"It’s a treasure chest!"

"Really?! Make way!" An elven warrior with a giant hammer stepped forward and smashed the ceiling open in one blow. A massive chest tumbled free.

"What’s inside?"

"Please let there be potions..." They stared at the chest with desperate hope, right now, a single stamina potion meant more than all the gold in the world.

Roland lifted the lid.

"...Hm?"

Inside sat a huge plate, on the plate lay golden-brown Candied Honey Sweet Potatoes, their syrupy surfaces gleaming under the dungeon’s pale light.

Nobody moved.

They had never seen this food before, but the sweet aroma hit them like a wall, and every throat in the group bobbed at the same time.

"T-this isn’t poisonous, is it?"

"I’ll taste it first." The leader’s job.

Roland swallowed hard, picked up a piece, and held it to the light, a layer of crystal-clear syrup coated the surface, it looked similar to sweet potatoes he had eaten at the Elven Royal Palace, those had been sweet and fragrant, he wondered what this candied version tasted like.

He opened his mouth and took a small bite.

Gulp.

His companions watched, rigid with tension, but Roland could no longer hear them.

The sweet, rich flavor filled his mouth and flooded every exhausted corner of his body, hunger vanished, and fatigue melted, energy surged through his limbs like someone had lit a fire inside his chest.

"This... this... is too delicious..." One thought occupied his entire mind.

"Roland?!"

"What’s wrong?!"

"Is it edible?!" Seeing him freeze, his companions panicked, they feared the sweet potato was poisonous, or worse.

Roland snapped back to reality, words failed him. All he wanted was another bite.

"Is it edible?! Is it edible?!"

"It’s edible!"

That was all they needed, exhaustion, starvation, and every shred of elven elegance went out the window. They scrambled for the plate, grabbed the Candied Honey Sweet Potatoes with both hands, and crammed them into their mouths, then they experienced the most delicious food in the world.

"Ah... ahhhh..."

"Wuu-ahhh..." Some groaned, others wept openly.

The food was warm and impossibly good, strength poured back into their bodies with every bite, the rush of relief, the fullness, the taste, the sheer unexpected kindness of the world, left them unable to do anything but eat and cry.

"Oh, Gods..." A priest clutched a half-eaten sweet potato to his chest and sobbed.