Chapter 26 – Carrionbird Spice and System Quirks
The sun was low on the horizon, casting a muted orange glow over the village. It was one of those rare afternoons where the winter chill held off, and the air seemed almost spring-like. Axel had finished his morning tasks—preparing the day's meals for the village, checking traps for wild game, and making sure his little garden was still alive. The heat from the hearth had long since simmered down, but the shadows within his kitchen felt warm and familiar.
Today, however, there was something on his mind that had nothing to do with the comforts of the hearth. He needed to gather more ingredients. More specifically, he needed to head to the slum market—an area where merchants peddled things that were harder to find in the more civilized sections of the village. Odd cuts of meat, wild herbs, unusual spices—if you had the stomach for it, you could find a lot of things there.
Axel's fingers twitched as he thought about the dish he planned to make: Spice-Crusted Carrionbird Leg. He hadn't cooked it before, but the recipe was simple enough, though the main ingredient—a leg of carrionbird—wasn't something you'd usually find in a high-end kitchen. Carrionbirds were scavengers, and their meat wasn't exactly prized, though it did have a certain... rugged appeal. He'd only ever heard of it being prepared in the poorest districts, where people didn't mind eating scavenged beasts. It was said to be tough, gamey, and full of flavors that needed bold spices to make it edible.
The slum market was only a short walk from his home. As Axel made his way toward it, his mind wandered, and he couldn't help but think about the system.
The system had been glitchy lately, and Axel didn't quite understand why. For months now, it had given him a steady stream of quests—simple things: forage for this, catch that, cook this dish with a certain ingredient. But recently, things had slowed down. The last quest he'd received had been so vague it almost felt like a malfunction.
System Alert:
"Quest: Unspecified. Investigate."
That had been the entire message. No guidance, no direction. He had cooked a meal based on his instincts, as he often did, but the quest had given him nothing in return except a brief flicker of notification that left him wondering if the system even knew what it was doing.
"Maybe it's just me," Axel muttered to himself. "Maybe I'm too focused on it."
As he reached the edge of the market, the scene before him felt familiar in a way that soothed his unease. People moved about in the cluttered stalls, the air thick with the smell of unwashed bodies, livestock, and overripe fruit. It wasn't pretty, but it was real. There was something raw here—something Axel appreciated. The people who shopped here, traded here, they didn't have the luxury of fuss. They ate what they could, worked with what they were given. They knew how to survive.
And here, in this chaos, Axel would find the perfect Carrionbird leg.
He wove through the crowd, nodding at familiar faces, exchanging a few words with the butcher at the far corner. There were the usual stalls—oddly shaped fruits, gnarly roots, sour-smelling fish. But then, tucked away behind a rickety table, he found the stall he was looking for.
A woman stood behind the table, the air around her thick with spices. Her skin was dark, her eyes a sharp, intelligent shade of green, and her long braids glistened with beads that jingled when she moved. It was her stall that always caught Axel's eye—filled with jars of things you couldn't find anywhere else: exotic spices, dried herbs, and, oddly enough, the most tender cuts of carrionbird he'd ever seen.
She was working with a large chunk of meat, slicing it into sections with swift, sure movements. When she saw Axel approach, she straightened up and gave him a knowing smile.
"Looking for something unusual today?" she asked, wiping her hands on her apron.
Axel grinned. "You always have what I need, Alira. I'm after a Carrionbird leg today. Got one?"
Alira raised an eyebrow. "Carrionbird, huh? It's a tough one, but I've got just the thing. Don't see too many folks asking for that anymore."
She reached under the table and pulled out a large, meaty leg wrapped in a cloth. Axel took it in his hands, inspecting the color and texture. The meat was dark, with streaks of fat running through it. Not the most appetizing sight, but he knew it would work well with the right spices. Carrionbirds were scavengers, but they had a certain resilience to them, a hardiness that could be coaxed out through careful preparation.
"I'll take it," Axel said, his mind already thinking about the flavors he would infuse into it.
Alira nodded and pulled out a few jars of spices. "If you're doing the spice-crust, you'll need a good mix of heat and earthiness. Got just the right stuff for that too."
Axel took the jars and sniffed them one by one. A blend of chili pepper, cumin, and a handful of other things he couldn't quite place. She was good at what she did. There was something about her spices that added depth to any dish. Her prices were fair, too—almost too fair for a market like this, which made Axel wonder what she was getting in return.
"I'll take the whole mix," he said, pocketing the jars. "And I'll throw in a little extra for the leg."
Alira smiled and waved him off. "No need. You're a regular. Just keep doing what you do with my spices, and we're square."
Axel nodded, tipping his hat in thanks before turning to leave. He made his way back to his cottage, the Carrionbird leg in one hand, and the precious spices in the other.
That night, Axel set to work. He placed the Carrionbird leg on the butcher's block, examining it with a mix of curiosity and respect. There was a story in this meat, in every streak of fat and tendon that ran through it. The spices would bring it to life—turn it from something almost unpalatable into something deeply satisfying, something that could nourish body and soul.
His hands moved like they always did when he cooked, steady, precise. He coated the leg in the spice mixture—letting the heat from the chili and the richness of the cumin take over—and then set it to roast. The air around him soon grew thick with the scent of sizzling meat and spices, a fragrance that tugged at the corners of his mind, sparking memories of other meals, other times. As he worked, he couldn't help but think about the system. It was as if it were waiting for something, a sign from him, perhaps—something he hadn't quite figured out yet.
The system had given him the recipe for this dish, but not as a quest. Not as an alert. It was all too subconscious, too natural.
As the leg finished roasting, Axel let it rest for a moment before slicing into it. He could feel the heat rising from the meat, almost a physical force. The spices had settled into the fibers of the meat, and the scent was intoxicating.
He stood up and called for Elyria, who had been resting by the hearth, her eyes closed in meditation. She had been a frequent visitor to his cottage, always interested in tasting whatever he cooked up. Elyria's sharp senses often caught the finer details of his dishes—things Axel himself might miss in the rush of preparation.
"Elyria," Axel said, walking over with the dish. "I've got something I think you'll like. Spice-Crusted Carrionbird Leg."
Elyria opened her eyes and took a deep breath, her nostrils flaring slightly. She glanced at the dish with a mixture of curiosity and caution.
"I've never had Carrionbird before," she said, her voice warm but careful. "Are you sure it's safe?"
Axel nodded, smiling. "It's perfectly fine. I've made sure to tenderize it and use the right spices. It should be… flavorful."
Elyria raised an eyebrow but didn't hesitate. She picked up the leg and took a bite. Her face shifted almost immediately, her eyes widening. Her breathing deepened, and Axel could see a faint glow begin to form around her—heat radiating from her like she was a furnace. It wasn't an ordinary reaction.
"I think I… might have gone a little overboard with the heat," Axel muttered to himself, watching as Elyria's face flushed red.
Elyria swallowed, then paused, breathing heavily. "Axel… I think you might have created something too spicy. I can almost breathe fire!"
Axel chuckled, but a part of him felt a twinge of concern. The system had given him no warning about the spice's intensity. He glanced at his menu to check if the food's effects had been properly calculated, but instead, something caught his eye.
System Alert:
"Glitched. The system follows personal drive. Food-based quests are subconscious. Auto-track disabled. System Admin unavailable."
Axel frowned. "So that's it… The system isn't working properly again?"
He sighed, leaning back against the counter. The realization was slow in coming, but now that it had hit, it seemed