Chapter 12: Meat Makes a Body Strong
Chapter 12:
Meat Makes a Body Strong
WHEN EMMA’S KNEES stopped shaking, we set about harvesting the large hare’s horns as proof that we had completed the job.
“Hey, Noir, I hear this monster’s meat is really tasty.”
“Really? I’d like to give it a try, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to get it home.”
“Ah, yeah, probably not.”
“Actually, hang on.”
There were plenty of storage-related skills in the world. I distinctly remembered reading about one called Pocket Dimension, so I looked into it with Get Creative. It turned out it came in grades C through S, and each cost a different amount of LP:
Pocket Dimension (C-Grade) — 400 LP
Pocket Dimension (B-Grade) — 1,000 LP
Pocket Dimension (A-Grade) — 1,500 LP
Pocket Dimension (S-Grade) — 3,000 LP
When I checked the descriptions, apparently even the C-Grade iteration could store a small room’s worth of items, which would then deteriorate more slowly than normal. The higher the grade, the more storage space and more effective the dimension’s preservation effects. The S-Grade variant was crazy—the space was absolutely massive and anything inside was preserved perfectly. For now, I decided I could happily settle for C-Grade.
“Emma, I have a favor to ask. Would you give me one of our special friendship ‘greetings’ today?”
“Sure.”
She bounced over to give me a hug and kiss me. I didn’t get a huge amount of LP from it, but the effect seemed to reset every twenty-four hours, so it made sense to do it once daily. With the additional LP in hand, I set about making a Pocket Dimension for myself. Then I touched the large hare’s corpse. In a flash, the hare’s massive body vanished.
“Wow!”
“I made the skill Pocket Dimension. Now we can bring it home to butcher and eat it. I want you to be able to eat as much of your favorite meat as you like, Emma.”
“You’re the best, Noir!” Emma cheerfully wrapped her arms around mine. She was so happy she even rubbed her cheek against my shoulder.
We were about to head out of the plains, but there was one problem I couldn’t overlook—somehow there was another large hare, right between us and the way home.
“I guess it must’ve brought a friend,” I said.
“Let me redeem myself on this one,” Emma declared.
“Just be careful.”
Emma was a quick learner, and she wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. She probably wanted to test out her newly improved skill too.
The fight this time was entirely one-sided. The general flow of events wasn’t all that different from the previous battle—Emma dodged the hare’s horns and slashed it to pieces at every opportunity. Her hits still didn’t do much damage to the prior creature’s flesh, but things were different this time around. Each slice made a devastating cut, and the monster’s movements grew more and more sluggish. Emma delivered the final blow with ease, securing her victory.
“I guess that skill really helped,” she said, barely out of breath. “It was super easy this time.”
“Yeah, I really think you got better.”
“Well, I have you to thank for that.”
“I can keep giving you skills and making you stronger, but in exchange…”
“O-oh, I-I mean, I know. You want, like, kisses and stuff, right?”
“Yeah, kisses and stuff,” I teased. “The more risqué the act, the more LP I earn.”
Emma mumbled something about not touching her ears again while I chuckled and stored the second large hare away in my Pocket Dimension.
Once we returned to the guild hall, Lola greeted us with a big smile. “I’ve been awaiting your return. How’d it go?”
“Here’s our proof. We found a second one and took that out while we were at it.”
Well, less “we” and more Emma.
“So it had already brought others to the area?” asked Lola. “I’ll be sure to inform the guild master, there may be an additional reward.”
After the formalities were settled, I told Lola about the meat we’d harvested from the large hare.
She nodded. “We have a butcher under contract here, so we could have it prepared for you. You might even get the work for free in exchange for part of the creature.”
“All right, if you could get that taken care of?” I asked.
“Where is it?” Lola asked with a puzzled look on her face.
I decided it’d be faster to show her rather than explain, so I opened the pocket dimension. An extremely dead large hare appeared on the floor.
“Whaaaa?! A Pocket Dimension?”
“Something like that. You can handle it, right?”
“Uh, of course.”
Lola wasn’t the only one who was surprised. I’d attracted the attention of all the adventurers in the hall.
“You have a Pocket Dimension? You oughta join my party!”
“Wow, I’m impressed a coupla newbies took out a large hare!”
The guild was suddenly brimming with excitement—large hare meat had to be especially tasty. Though, they also probably wanted to butter up us newcomers.
“Actually, we have two of them,” I said. “Would you all like to share the meat with us?”
“Are you sure?!” they all shouted.
“Of course. You’ll each just have to owe us a favor in the future.”
“Yeaaaaaah! Start preparing for a feast, everyone! Lola, babe, call the butcher!”
Just like that, my fellow guild members swept the large hares out into the yard and started preparing for a barbecue. People even brought out condiments. Soon, the butcher arrived and took the beast apart. It wasn’t long before the meat, seasoned with just the right amount of salt, was sizzling on a heated grill.
“You should take the first bite, boss,” said one of my colleagues.
“Oh, stop,” I said. “But, well, I’m not going to say no to that.”
I took a big bite of the offered piece. My eyes went wide. It was absolutely delicious! It vaguely resembled chicken, though a little lighter in color and with more chew. It tasted weirdly refined and delicate, and could easily be addictive. Everyone laughed heartily as I smacked my lips and dug back in.
“H-hey, that piece is mine!”
Emma tucked in with some of the other adventurers. It was a full-on barbecue battle, starring the one and only Emma Brightness.
After about thirty pieces, my belly was so round I almost looked pregnant. But the food was delicious and it would definitely net me some sweet LP, so I was in an excellent mood. The only thing I could possibly have wanted in that moment was dessert. Just as the idea crossed my mind, another adventurer approached.
“Hey, wanna taste of this?”
“Wait, those aren’t what I think they are, right?”
“Oh, but they are. They’re the hare’s eyeballs.”
Two inky black balls that looked almost like candy plopped down onto my plate. When I recoiled, he smirked and tossed one into his own mouth. “Mmmm! I can’t get enough!”
I couldn’t believe it. How could those possibly taste good? Dubious as I was, I didn’t think the adventurer was putting on a show or trying to prank me.
“I thought I’d let you have it,” he said, “since you’re the reason we even have this meat. But if you’re not gonna eat it, I’ll definitely take it.”
“I’m…gonna eat it.”
“Hell yeah!”
Thinking hard about what my master had told me of how delicious-but-unusual food earned more LP, I steeled myself and popped the inky eyeball into my mouth.
My teeth sank into it with ease. It had been gently cooked, long and slow. It was still warm, and much softer than I expected. Juice gushed out and filled my mouth. “O-ooh! It’s like, sweet and savory?!”
The adventurer grinned. “Good, right?”
“Yeah, it’s way better than I could have possibly imagined!”
“There’s a lot of stuff that looks gross, but is actually great, if you give it a shot. Makes the girls scream, though.”
“Thanks for telling me about it.”
“Happy to help.”
I felt like a whole new world had opened up to me. The swell of LP I got seemed to confirm it. While I’d earned favors for a gift of meat, I really owed the adventurers of Odin a debt of gratitude.
Current LP: 2,200
***
The next day, I took a break from adventuring and went straight to the hidden dungeon. I hunted several golden slimes on the first floor to level up, then headed down to visit my master.
The second I stepped into the room, my master’s extremely excited voice boomed in my head.
<Hey! The hell you think you’re doin’, Noir?!>
“Why are you yelling at me all of a sudden? And what’s with the weird accent?”
<It’s what you deserve for leaving me all alone here!>
“All right already, I apologize. I was busy joining Odin and becoming an adventurer.”
<Oh, did you know that was my guild back in the day? Ah, that really takes me back.>
“Apparently you left quite an impression.”
<Oh, I just did my part, nothing special.>
I had my doubts about that. Indeed, when I asked exactly what she did for them, I got a lengthy story about how she rebuilt the guild from the ground up after it was nearly destroyed, and how she saved the town from monsters, and even punished despots. I was starting to think my master would make a good queen.
<By the way, feel like doing some more dungeon exploration today?>
“Yeah, I think so. What I’d really like is to get stronger and find some treasure.”
If I could do it without trying too hard, of course.
<What have you got next? The fourth floor? Why don’t you try making the skill Dungeon Elevator? Once you set foot on a level, you’ll be able to access it immediately. It only works in the hidden dungeon, though.>
“There’s already a skill like that? Why don’t I make one that lets me go to any floor, even ones I haven’t been to yet?”
<Sure, you could, but it costs so much LP it’s practically impossible.>
I guess I should’ve expected that. It’d be too easy to jump to the last level otherwise. But that other skill she mentioned did sound useful.
Dungeon Elevator — 600 LP
The price seemed reasonable, so I decided to go for it. “This way if I get to the fourth floor today, it’ll be a piece of cake to get back there next time.”
<There are only dead reapers on the third floor. Easy peasy.>
“Maybe for you, but that fight last time cost me 200 LP!” Of course, with that feast yesterday, I had more than enough LP to manage, but still.
<Aw, did you have a hard time with it? You should just make Holy Flame, you can one-shot ’em with that.>
“Holy Flame?”
<It’s a pretty useful fire spell for how little LP it costs. It’s fire with a holy elemental modifier, and dead reapers are weak to that. Also, if you happen to run into especially high-level ones, you can just Bestow it with some skill that’s even weaker against holy and roast ’em with Holy Flame.>
She really knew what she was talking about. I figured Holy Flame should be more than enough.
Holy Flame — 800 LP
I had 800 left after I’d acquired the skill.
<Good luck!>
I stood in front of her and used Dungeon Elevator, focusing on my desire to go to the third floor. I was shocked when a hole opened up in front of me. I was always a bit of a chicken, so I was hesitant to jump right in. I mean, what if it was really deep? What if I got hurt?
<Ah ha ha ha, I knew you’d be a big scaredy cat. Relax, just jump.>
“I’m trusting you on this one.”
I steeled myself, made a small jump, and fell through the hole. For an instant, the world seemed to spin and whirl around me. Then I felt my feet touch the floor. I was glad for the soft landing, not to mention the fact that I happened to touch down right next to a set of stairs. It worked! The spell had already proved its worth.