Hunger was the enemy.
The new Believers worked hard, but they were weak. Jinx and Pip fainted twice before noon. Kael's hands shook as he hammered.
Elara knelt before the altar. "Lord Architect, we have no food. The Elder controls the grain. We cannot eat iron."
Zephyr looked at his Faith Points. [Current FP: 42]
He could buy 4 loaves of bread. That would feed them for a meal. Then they would starve again.
Inefficient.
"Teach a man to fish," Zephyr quoted to himself. "But we don't have a lake."
He scanned the immediate environment.
[Flora: Ironwood, Whispering Moss, Red-Cap Mushrooms]
[Fauna: Forest Hare, Wild Boar (Aggressive), Iron-Tooth Wolf (Pack)]
The System in Theos had a crafting mechanic called *[Wild Cooking]. Players used it to buff themselves before raids.
"System Query: Can 'Red-Cap Mushrooms' be consumed?"
[System: Toxic. Causes paralysis.]
"Can they be processed?"
[System: Boiling with 'Whispering Moss' neutralizes toxins. Result: Nutrient Paste (High Calorie).]
Zephyr zoomed in on the moss growing on the shrine walls. It was everywhere. And the mushrooms were abundant in the damp crypt below.
They were sitting on a calorie goldmine, but they didn't have the Knowledge to unlock it.
"Elara," Zephyr projected. "Go to the crypt. Gather the red mushrooms."
Elara paled. "Red-Caps? They are death, Lord! One bite stops the heart!"
"Fear is ignorance," Zephyr replied. "Gather them. And scrape the moss from the east wall."
She hesitated, then obeyed.
Ten minutes later, a pile of deadly mushrooms sat next to the moss.
"Kael. Bring the cauldron."
Kael dragged a rusted iron pot over the fire.
"Water. Boil it." Zephyr spent 2 FP guiding the precise ratios. "Add the moss first. Wait until the water turns blue."
They watched, terrified.
"Now the mushrooms."
The red caps hissed as they hit the blue water. The steam turned purple.
Elara covered her mouth. "It's poison magic..."
"Wait."
Zephyr watched the timer in his Status Window.
Reaction Time: 300 seconds.
"...Now."
The purple steam vanished. The sludge in the pot turned a dull, harmless brown.
[System Notification]
[Achievement: Bio-Alchemist.]
You have converted lethal biomass into sustenance.
[New Domain Unlocked: The Domain of Purification (Fragment)]
Passive Effect Acquired: [Cleanse]
Description: Followers gain +15% resistance to disease and toxins.
"Eat," Zephyr commanded.
Silence. No one moved.
"I said Eat."
Elara dipped a wooden spoon into the sludge. She looked at the floating golden eyes of her god. If he wanted her dead, he could have let the wolves take her.
She took a bite.
It tasted like earth and old socks.
But then... warmth.
[Status Effect: Satiated]
[Buff: Cleanse (Active)]
Her eyes widened. "It... it's warm. It feels like... meat."
"There is no meat," Kael grumbled, sniffing the pot. "Just fungus and weed."
"Trust the Architect," Elara said, spooning more. "It works."
The orphans dug in with their hands. Color returned to their faces. The shaking stopped.
Zephyr watched the [Satisfaction] meter climb.
[Satisfaction: 65% (Stable)]
[Faith Generated: +10 FP]
"Logistics secured," Zephyr noted. "Now, we scale."
He taught them to build **[Snare Traps]** using the strong vines. Not the simple loops the villagers used, but complex tension-traps that triggered with 90% success rates.
By evening, they had three fat hares.
He taught Kael to mix [Clay and Ash] to create a makeshift mortar that hardened like rock. They patched the shrine walls.
He taught Jinx and Pip to identify **[Medicinal Roots]** that grew like weeds.
Knowledge.
It was the most expensive commodity in the world, and Zephyr was giving it away for free.
Or rather, for Faith.
[Current FP: 51]
"I need more," Zephyr calculated. "With the Elder's scouts watching from the tree line, I'm going to need a miracle."
He looked at the forest. He could feel eyes on them.
The Elder knew.
And the Elder was afraid.
"Sleep well tonight, my builders," Zephyr whispered, dimming his light. "Tomorrow, we don't just survive. We welcome guests."