Too Stubborn to Die

Spotting ominous clouds creeping across the horizon, Aaron had taken to the sky for a better look.

“And just when I thought I was going to go on a relaxing cruise.”

The crude goblins did and said many questionable things, but Aaron had enjoyed sitting back and letting them do all the work. After all, most of the time he was nonstop trying to get stronger. And now, his chest sank. Thanks to his inhuman perception, he could see the lurching undead even as they were far on the horizon, hundreds of kilometers away.

Bloody fantastic. I’m not getting a break any time soon, am I?

It wasn’t just undead, though. There were many constructs among them, including the biggest he’d ever seen.

“That is one big bastard.”

That said, despite the massive size of the colossal construct, none of Darius’ minions had proven too difficult for him so far. Scanning the army, he could tell that while it was stronger than the previous one he had seen them fight, it was only marginally so, and with their new suits of armor, they would face such a threat much more easily than before.

However, the undead would still be good experience for the defenders of the city, and Aaron was starting to feel like their world needed stronger combatants after the dungeon.

Also, he knew there were more stages of the multiverse tournament that pitted the greatest against one another. And seeing what Darius had achieved while he and the other top rankers had been gone made him realize they needed to help lesser talents improve.

I better go check in with those goblins.

“Hey! Gork, Mork, you two got that armor of yours finished for the Alliance, right?”

“Of course we did!” The two popped out from their preparations. “We wouldn’t be leaving if we hadn’t!”

“Yeah, humy!” Gork agreed. “Now was that it?”

“First bit of good news… And no. It looks like more undead are on their way. We had better make sure the Alliance can defend themselves before heading off.”

“We’s already dropped the armor off. That’s why we’s loaded!”

“Yes, like Mork says! The breeders will find us irresistible with all the credits we got!”

“I thought you weren’t coming to Dober to look for breeders,” Aaron said as he narrowed his gaze on the two lying goblins.

Mork and Gork glanced at each other as they traced circles in the ground with their feet.

“Oh, whatever,” Aaron groaned. “Just give me a moment.”

He wondered how many credits the goblins had earned off of the Alliance for making that armor, considering how much he had helped. Perhaps he should have asked more questions before helping them.

Not that Aaron was particularly driven by wealth. He could seize an entire city if he wanted to, after all.

The armor should balance the two sides. But that undead force does look menacingly powerful. Best make sure that they’ve got everything they need to overcome it.

To be extra sure that his decisions wouldn’t lead to unnecessary deaths, he also checked in with Ernest, who seemed to think they were more than capable of doing it themselves.

“What, the guards? You’re worried that they’re going soft? Heh. Don’t worry too much about that. They’re stronger than they look. Besides, field tests have verified that the new armor works well.”

If Ernest was happy, so was Aaron. But he still wanted to help from the sidelines if at all possible.

Aaron wanted to make sure that the Alliance could defend themselves, which meant coming up with a way to help them without doing it all himself. One day, the barriers would come down, and Superearth needed to defend itself without elite rankers like himself hanging around.

Well, I could cook, I suppose… But what?

As his mind spun with ideas, Aaron shot out from the city. Knowing that the army was quickly approaching, he went out into the destroyed lands where they had been fighting previously. The ground was absolutely soaked with the corrupted aether, and while he had already cleansed it through the obelisks, anything that had been growing in the foul soil had been well and truly infected by the corruption, and it gave Aaron an idea.

Speeding across the war-battered landscape, Aaron snatched up any vegetation he could find. Weeds, skeletal remains of trees, and random roots. Whatever, it didn’t matter. None of it looked edible, but that just inspired his creativity further.

“Where are you going?” The headmaster asked as Aaron marched through the front gates.

“I thought I could use the academy?”

“You can. But what have you got planned?”

“A cook-up.”

“A cook-up?” The headmaster said, following Aaron through the courtyard.

“Yeah. I’m probably going to be releasing all kinds of mana and aether while I do it.

“You will?”

“Yeah, mate. Pretty much sure of it.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so? Go right ahead. Mi casa tu casa, or however you say it.”

Reaching the kitchen, Aaron started pulling out all of his ingredients and going over them.

Even from a glance, he could tell that the undead horde would be great for leveling. He just needed to give them a bit of a hand so that opportunity wouldn’t turn into body bags.

“Okay, something to help the troops. Something to warm their souls, and fight back the corruption.”

First, he got to work cleaning and cleansing the tainted veg. This meal was supposed to help the troops, not hurt them, and he couldn’t risk making them sick, even if the ingredients had been cleansed already.

As he got to work, he sent out a call for ingredients. Most people felt indebted to him, and so, all kinds of meat and vegetables were forthcoming. People were eagerly arriving at the academy with all kinds of food to donate. Especially since news of the new horde had already reached the city, and no doubt the denizens were hoping Aaron would help them once again.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The barely edible vegetation he had looted was fit for normal use in the kitchen. But with some bones, vegetables, additional herbs, and spices, it could make a decent stock, he reasoned.

Meanwhile, as the stock bubbled away, he started to barbecue several different kinds of meat over a smoky flame, pasting it with a sweet and tangy marinade as it cooked.

Aaron sniffed it in and groaned. The smell was a delight, and watching over the academy courtyard, he was fairly certain he wasn’t the only one feeling it, as several students were clutching at their stomachs.

But all wasn’t perfect. The moment he tasted the stock, he knew something was wrong. His taste buds were not full ogre anymore, and as he evolved, they were becoming a mix of human and ogre, and he knew this wasn’t right.

It was too rich, and too earthy. It was almost chalk-like in his mouth, and quite unpleasant. The stock wasn’t everything, but the corrupted taint was what would help protect and heal the souls of the defenders, and so he wanted to incorporate it without ruining the food. After all, he had turned a new leaf, and rather enjoyed people enjoying his food.

Also, he could always make some grotesque ogre feast when nobody was around.

Roasting a wide array of vegetables and spices over the flame, he then took them and blended them up with a destructive whirlwind of aether, infusing the power into the soup.

“Okay, now that tastes good. Hopefully the stock doesn’t ruin you.”

Aaron added the stock and blended again. But still, the chalky, earthy flavor came through, and he knew he’d have to take it a bit further to mask that unpleasantness.

“Okay, let’s push this up a notch.”

He fiddled with the flavor a bit, but it was already too rich, and watering it down would weaken the power of the corrupted ingredients, lessening their effects.

Instead, he decided to create a green sauce. It was a simple blend of herbs, oil, and a bit of salt and lemon. He used the sole of his foot to grind up the herbs, pulsing mana through his anchors as he did it, and adding aether with his spirit hands. Aaron took his time balancing it and tasting it in between.

“Now that is the flavor of fresh. Delicious.”

Plating it up, he poured the soup base down, and layered meat atop it, then drizzled the green sauce over the top.

First serve was for himself, and Aaron took a bit of everything as he tried the layered dish.

“Now that is good stuff. Smoky rich meat, strange, but nice soup, and that fresh sauce just brings it all together. I’m getting pretty damn good at this if I do say so myself.”

Defenders

“Where is he?” One of the guards said as they watched the menacing undead army approach from the walls.

“I’d like to know,” another grumbled.

“Is he coming or not?”

“Doesn’t look like it. Those bastards in the council probably expect us to just deal with this. They think some new armor is going to change it all? A whole lot of bullshit, I say!”

“Well, to be fair, if the armor stops the corruption, then we should be able to handle them, no?”

“Bah! You want to die out here? Look, if this Aaron Dober can just crush the entire army himself, why doesn’t he?”

“What, are we just going to remain weak?” Another guard said. “You want to spend your whole life hiding behind walls?”

“He’s got a point. I want to level up and hit C-grade and who knows, maybe beyond. I hear you live longer, too. Not to mention my jaw gets sharper every evolution.”

“Fuck that. I’ll happily be an ugly runt if it means I get to survive this bullshit.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“We all know you just want to evolve because you’re a furry, George. Stop acting heroic.”

“Hey, that’s not true! Who said that? I’m not a furry!”

“Well, what’s with the cat ears and the tail? Your girlfriend looks like a dog, too.”

“Hey! It was for the Stats!”

“As if. No point lying to us, George. We know.”

“Like you can talk! You’ve got elf ears!”

“Look, I’m not taking sides. But between elf ears and furry… Well, actually, I am taking sides.”

“Hey, you lot, shut up. Look, the enemy! They’re getting close.”

The guards looked over the parapet at the incoming horde. “Sound the second alarm! They’ve reached the outer markers!”

Alarms sounded across the walls, and any guards not already at their stations rushed to them. Within seconds, the first volleys of fireballs and cannons shot out, slamming across the enemy ranks. The attacks were powerful, but did little to dissuade their march, and soon the turrets joined the fray, opening fire the moment they marched into range.

“Hold your positions! The city depends on it!” The sergeant shouted as siege machines neared.

Rolling towers burst into flames, and flying undead screeched over the walls, shot down by various spellcasters and rangers. A bat-like man landed between the guards, but was cut down a second later as they all attacked.

One of the guards inhaled over the corpse. “Smell that? Corrupted aura. But I feel fine.”

“This armor really does work,” Another said as he activated a Skill and fired a crossbow over the wall. “That shit ain’t doing nothing.”

More undead flew over as the siege machines exploded into flames, and one of the constructs was taken down by concentrated fire.

“Shoot ‘em down!” The sergeant commanded as his man activated all kinds of Skills.

“Got another! Haha. Not so tough anymore, are ya?” One guard said as he summoned a grenade into his hand and threw it over the wall. A moment later, an explosion rippled out, taking a dozen undead with it. “HAHA! Eat shit, assholes!”

“It’s working! It’s really working,” another shouted. “I don’t feel any corruption! I could do this all day!”

“Alright, enough talking, you dipshits. Focus on fighting! We’ve almost pushed them back. We got this!”

The undead near the wall were already thinning as countless attacks landed upon them, and they were punished back bit by bit. Normally, the corruption would have started weakening the defenders by now, and undead reinforcements could press the attack. But with that debuff no longer working, it had turned into a death bit for the monsters.

And the defenders didn’t slow, throwing everything at their enemies until they were basically broken, and fled back out of range where the massive construct had been waiting back.

The sergeant looked over everything. When he was happy that the wave had been beaten back, he sighed and looked back at his men.

“You fought well. Time for rotation. I’ll get somebody in to replace us. You can all rest easy tonight.”

The guards were elated as they walked wearily through town. This was so much better than just letting someone win the fight for them. And while they had to be grateful for the armor, the battle was all them, and they started singing songs of victory.

“Fuck those guys, huh? We sure taught them a thing or two. Only thing better would be a cold beer to celebrate.”

“Hey, it’s not a beer, but I heard Aaron is cooking up some restorative feast for anybody involved in the defense.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea! His food might even make us stronger.”

“You wanted to hide away just before you, coward. Now you want to get stronger?”

That was then. I forgot how much of a badass I am.”

“Like hell, you coward.”

When the guards reached the academy, they found a massive crowd outside. Beside it was the headmaster, greedily rubbing his hands together.

“Remember, if you like the food, sign up to join our academy!” The headmaster roared. “We train all kinds of skills. Don’t have a Profession yet? Drop in, and we’ll help you unlock one! Then you can cook like the great hero!”

“What a rort,” one of the guards said, pointing to the line of people signing up for the academy. “Like they can teach you to cook like Aaron.”

The guards shuffled in and took their seats, and were served by academy students.

“Damn, this is warming,” one of the guards said as he took a bite. “I feel better already.”

“I don’t just feel better, I feel like I could take down that damn construct myself!”

“Tell me about it. Maybe I’ll become a top ranker after this.”

“Meow!”

“BABAHA! Did you just say meow?”

“Wait, what was that about you not being a furry?”

“That was an accident!”

“Sure, sure. I think this is another point for Team Elf!”