The Man from Nag Hamadi: A Cyberpunk LitRPG (Slumrat Rising Book 2) by Warby Picus

Author:Warby Picus [Picus, Warby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Published: 2024-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

“What fresh hell is this?” Truth looked in horror at the “dessert” in front of them. Each table had one to share. This was supposed to be a temple. Free of abomination and corruption. Truly, God had abandoned Siphios if his most dedicated servants would serve such a thing.

“It’s a Delightful Cloud. Invented by a famous chef for a dancer of the same name, actually.” Jember grinned. Then frowned when he remembered his portion was lost. He eyed Etenesh, who was looking a little smug. Then sighed again.

“It’s the cushion from a carriage seat with the cover stripped off and jam dumped on top. Not even … done jam; it’s still mostly big chunks of fruit.” Merkovah was doing his best not to laugh. The other diners at the table had their hands over their mouths and their shoulders shaking.

“It’s a meringue. Cooked egg whites. With fruit in syrup on top.” Jember defended it. He might not be able to eat it, but he would save it from slander.

“If it was meant to be edible, why’d they make it look like shiny white foam? They even screwed up cooking it—look, it’s kind of burnt on top.”

“Crunchy. It’s meant to be crunchy on top. You monster.” Jember looked over at Merkovah, who suddenly found his water glass fascinating. “Teacher, we will have to rely on you for moral instruction here.”

“I firmly believe in experiential learning. We have admired the dessert, some of us, and now, let’s eat.” Merkovah lifted the cake slice and started divvying up portions. Truth looked at his with deep suspicion.

“It has exploded. Why do you look like it is supposed to look this way?”

“Crunchy exterior, soft, fluffy, melting interior. Look, just eat it. You’ll see.”

“You like it, don’t you? You like this dessert … thing.”

“It has been my favorite since I was a kid. You savage. This poor, innocent, maligned Cloud.”

Truth gingerly stuck a spoon in. The exterior was, in fact, crunchy. The interior was, in fact, light, soft, fluffy. Lightly sweet, and scented with … something. He couldn’t place it.

“What’s that smell?” he asked. Jember looked ready to cry.

“The scent. The lovely, delicate, aroma comes from specially treated orchids. You have had something similar made from processing trees called vanillin. This is the real thing. It takes excruciating effort to make.” Jember turned from grief to wrath. “You cannot claim to walk the path of the foodie without appreciating the origins of the food. To do so would reduce a path to mere gluttony!”

Truth was rocked. His mind was still at the level of training away his poverty tastebuds. But here was Jember, opening up a whole new world. “I had never thought about that.”

“I can tell.” Jember sniffed. Etenesh was eating her dessert with obvious relish, deliberately and pointedly ignoring the miserable-looking Jember. Truth sighed. It was honestly pretty tasty, for all that it looked like an industrial accident.

“You are buying the drinks for our next sparring session.” Truth slid Jember’s dessert back over to him.

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