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Then it struck. The bunny shot forward with speed that left after images as it lunged at Kline. I tried to scream, but it wasn’t fast enough. Suddenly, Kline blinked out of existence, leaving the reiga stunned. The next moment, an invisible force slammed into its back, making it cry out in pain.

"What just… happened?" I asked, seeing red lines beading up on the rabbit. It was phantom claws. "When did—"

The rabbit struck, shooting backward at Kline. Kline dodged narrowly, but the reiga pivoted and attacked again. But before it hit, Kline disappeared, warp stepping out of the way. I blinked, and then Kline was suddenly on the beast’s back, fangs stuck in its spinal cord, clamping down.

The reiga started screeching as it thrashed about, but Kline sent his claws into the creature’s throat, cutting it off as it rode it like a bronco. The bucking lasted for three agonizing minutes, proving that Kline had the magic and tactics to kill it—but not the power.

But he did it. He actually did it. This little guy took out a beast described as a coked-out grizzly on rollerskates.

I wanted to pet him once it was all over, but when Kline finally got off the creature and turned to me, he was drenched in blood like that scene from Carrie—and he looked far more horrifying than the creature. It made me chuckle nervously, and that annoyed Kline. He huffed and turned away, snapping at the thing’s pelt—trying to drag it away. But it was the size of a small dog, so he kept pulling it to no avail.

"I got it," I said gently, picking it up. I slouched from the weight, and Kline laughed at me.

Little shit.

"Well, we’ve got dinner, too," I said. "Let’s go eat."

That’s what we did. I carried the coked-out grizzly bear back to an area within a few hundred yards from the safe zone and pulled out the small pot I had in the pan, along with my small Coleman grill, a small bottle of vegetable oil, salt, and pepper. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for backpacking.

I then chopped up a marestia, a red mushroom that looked similar to a chanterelle in its broken bell shape, but it was red and had curved caps around it, creating a weird illusion of mushrooms growing out of the mushrooms. Once I finished, I put it in the pan to saute.

While I was doing this, Kline was cutting up the reiga. I tried, but I was afraid that just trying to skin the creature would bend my knife and accomplish nothing.

The Slash Master spell suddenly felt more appealing.

That said, I still needed a core—so it wouldn’t help.

So I did the next best thing. I had Kline cut it into strips with his phantom claws. It wasn’t perfect. Every slice had fur and bone but screw it. We were roughin’ it out in this forest, and I wouldn’t mind as long as I ate well. So I just watched him until the mushrooms were done and took a bite—

And oh dear God….

It was fucking delicious. It had the nutty flavor of chanterelles as well, but with the meatiness of boletes, and one bite filled me with vitality.

"Try this," I said enthusiastically, holding a steaming piece out for Kline. He took two steps forward, sniffed it, and said, Nah, fuck that and walked away. I looked at the bloody carcass of the reiga mockingly, but I could hardly do that. Cats were obligate carnivores, meaning that they had to eat meat, and while they could eat cooked mushrooms, it could create gastrointestinal issues. So we were just eating what we loved.

Ten minutes later, Kline laid on the ground with a satisfied expression, rolling over slightly with a large smile on his face.

"Come on…" I said.

It took a few minutes, but he got up and shook his fur. Then he finished slicing the meat and brought me this caveman chunk of meat that was probably three different cuts of meat in a small package. I took as much fur off as I could, but my knife wouldn’t cut it, so I just washed it with some water and seared the meat. The moment it started sizzling, I felt like I was high. There was energy coming right out of the meat, and it left me shaking.

"What the hell is this?" I asked. It felt like I was doing drugs. I checked the information again and didn’t find any drug-like properties in the meat or even warnings. It was edible and designated as "tasty." So I just cooked it as fast as possible—but it still took two hours.

Two.

Hours.

It just wouldn’t cook! I had it on the highest heat possible and it didn’t brown for thirty minutes. But I couldn’t even cut the meat with my knife raw, so I waited and waited and waited, wondering if I should just start a fire and turn the thing to charcoal. But once it was done, I seasoned it with salt and pepper, gave half to Kline who accepted it with glee and took a bite.

That’s when I collapsed.

I gasped as I hit the grass. It felt like someone took my organs and dipped them into a deep fat fryer, and my mind exploded in pain. New pathways that felt like veins jutted through my limbs, and I could feel mana like I did when I held Nymbrel for the first time. And while I wanted to scream—I couldn’t. Waves of pleasure and pain crashed through me like I was experiencing a deep tissue massage that hurt so good.

Then it was over.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Kline meowing at me. "I’m okay," I said. I ran my fingers through the grass I was lying on and pushed myself up. Once I sat down, I picked up the meat I had dropped and groaned when I saw it was dirty.

A pop-up stacked on top of the meat.

—---

You have eaten soul meat for the first time. It has expanded your mana channels and strengthened your soul. Continue to eat soul meat to obtain power.

—---

"Oh, hell yeah," I smiled weakly, looking at Kline, who was shrugging it off. He had already eaten the meat—which is why he laid down and buzzed on the ground. I understood now.

I then looked at the meat. It was time to eat.

2.

While Mira was eating the soul meat, Aiden had finished up healing Elionis’s shoulder. The bite that fox left in his shoulder was far worse than he thought and his skill in healing was extremely crude. He had to chant the mantra in his mind repeatedly as he did it, but he was having a hard time working with him. Luckily, Elionis enjoyed the feeling of healing, so he laid down as Aiden worked over a six hour period.

"I’m sorry it took so long," Aiden said.

Nonsense. You’ve learned magic rather quickly.

"Thanks." He looked up at the setting sun. "I think we should go back for the night." There were still two days left.

Then we shall pick it up then.

Aiden climbed onto the liscan’s back and started packing back to the conservatory barracks. He rode for about a half hour when he got a sudden announcement.

—---

Domain Quest Announcement!

Platinum to Epic requests are currently pending in Areswood Forest. Due to the difficulty and legality of fulfilling these quests, it is being declared in advance to allow you to prepare. As a reminder, hindering a domain quest through legal means will result in penalties for legal and political classes.

This quest is available to all individuals within the First Domain. More information on these requests will be available if/when they are requested.

—---

He furrowed his brows and patted Elionis. "Did you get this announcement?"

Of the Domain Quest?

"Yeah."

I did. What of it?

"It’s just… aren’t we in the Areswood Forest?"

Hah! Elionis shook his mossy fur, laughing and mocking him. No, human. Such a reward speaks of the Fourth Ring. It’s likely that a Black Harvest survivor has received a reward that’s allowing them to come home.

"I see… so do you think they’ll ask us?"

Impossible. Only an avian can pass the gate before the harvest, and most get eaten by larger avians within minutes. Only wyverns and cursed beasts can safely pass the gate.

I scanned the forest, listening to the bugs and feeling the cool breeze. The sun was setting, and the light was ambient. All of it seemed unsettling after the conversation he was having.

"Cursed… that word keeps coming up. What is a curse?"

There are networks of magical arrays that separate the weak and the strong. If someone with high soul force enters a lower domain, their power is suppressed. That is a curse. But once they reenter a stronger domain, the curse disappears.

"So you’re saying that you’d need a bird that’s too powerful to be here, so when it passes the wall, it regains its power and can survive. Is that it?"

Yes. It’s doubtful one will be used. There are large mounts and talented riders in this domain. Many will doubtlessly answer the call—regardless of their strength.

"I see…"

Elionis snorted. It doesn’t sound like "you see."

"No… I get it. It’s just… do we even have cursed animals here?"

We do.

That was all Elionis said on the subject. Aiden guessed it was because he didn’t want to give him any funny ideas—but the damage was already done. He wanted to meet such a creature. It was calling out to him.

3.

Kline finished eating his fill and then returned to ripping apart the reiga’s spine.

"Stop it," I said. "You’re making me nervous."

He looked up and then went right back into it.

He’s not normally like this, I thought, watching him carefully. The little guy became more frantic as he chomped on the spine. It was strange—something I imagined a dog would do. But Kline didn’t do that.

"What is it?" I asked.

Suddenly, there was a sickening snap. A moment later, Kline lifted his head and spat out something.

I furrowed my brow and walked up to the object. It was glistening. "A gemstone…?" It looked like a light green emerald stone. I turned to Kline. "What is this?"

He shrugged and then started grooming himself.

Did he just shrug at me?

I didn’t get an answer, so I did the next best thing. I put the stone in my pocket, picked up the meat, and headed back to the temporary shelter.

I cannot express how happy I was to get back into the shelter. I was exhausted and sticky and smelly, and I just wanted a goddamn bath. So that’s the first thing I did after I plopped raw, bloody meat onto the floor. I stripped off my clothes, had Kline activate the circles, and then forced him into the bath with me. For the first time, he didn’t actually mind. The shenai fruit was still stuck to the back of his head, and it was making him miserable.

Once I got out of the bath, it was pink from the blood on Kline’s fur, so I drained it, filled it up again, and washed my clothes, placing the stone into my backpack. Then I checked around and found a fireplace in the room behind a slide-out area. It even had a rack for cooking, proving that this shelter was a full survival prize.

I glanced at the magic array in it, which said fire array. "This should start it… just need wood." I threw on my one boot (have I reminded you recently I only had one?) and said, "I’ll be back," as I went on a firewood trip. When I returned, Kline was sitting next to the fireplace, orange light flickering off his fur.

"Wait… how did you…?" I walked up to the fireplace and saw that the array was working on its own—no wood necessary. "You gotta be kidding me."

Kline meowed as he stared at the fire. Then he looked at me with a straight face. We stared off for a moment, and he looked back at the fire.

"You little shit," I said, dropping the wood.

Kline yowled and hopped out of the way, running away from me. I chased him around until he let me capture him (as if he couldn’t teleport away from me) and then proceeded to yowl and howl about how much he hated my cuddles, but he didn’t fight it too much.

He was my favorite.

After some cuddles, I took the meat and started cooking it on the rack in the fireplace. Only then did I open up The Guide again.

Let’s checkout equipment, I thought, opening Rewards and going into Equipment. Once I did, I got a warning.