CH7: With Feelings (Patreon)

Fire was hard as balls to start, no matter how much practice he had. Connection to higher planes or not getting a spark on some timber while bugs bit him under the hot suns was difficult. He wiped the sweat from his eyes and worked the dry sticks together.

Joshua showed up and saw his fish and Zack struggling to get a spark; the older man chuckled and shook his head before returning to the house. Zack ground his teeth and rejected the skills offered out of principle. He had a build already. Why would he want to compromise that? Besides, he would eventually acquire a fire trait, and some of his plants would have fire skills.

Primordial World (seed)

Level: 1/9999

Rank: G

Range: 1.009 meters square

The size of his demi-plane was growing. All he had to do was add some fish guts to help fertilize the soil. With enough time, he might get a proper field to farm in his demi-plane.

He saw flies buzzing around the fish and cursed under his breath. Then he heard hooves and turned to see Thistle in a white cotton shirt, her massive breasts barely held back by a bra. She stared between him and his fish while his attention was on her chest.

“I have some flint in my saddle bag if you want to share,” Thistle said.

“Deal,” He rose and tripped on the mud, falling face first on the bank, too tired to catch himself. He punched the ground and grabbed Root to haul him back to his feet.

Thistle giggled. “My stallion. I can see all the mares presenting for your attention.”

“Was that centaur slang for cool?” Zack asked.

“Stallions buck and geldings lost their nuts. What does cool mean.”

“Generally good, I guess.”

“Wash your muddy hands. I’m not cleaning my saddle bag because you’re impatient,” Thistle said.

“Fine,” Zack said, pushing his hands into the pond and rubbing the clingy, dry dirt off them. She let him reach into her saddle bag, where he found a piece of flint and steel. He struck his tinder repeatedly and blew on the nest he made until he had a flame. Then, he covered it with twigs as it started to grow. He slowly built it up as it grew before turning his attention to the massive fish and the snake trying to swallow its hole.

He struck out with his whip as Thistle spun around and trotted away. “Snake,” she yelled before hiding behind a line of trees before poking her head through them to watch.

Zack wouldn’t mind doing the same. It was at least 8ft of grey scales and venomous fangs. It had already swallowed the tail and stared on in surprise. The reptile tried backing away and taking the fish with it. No, that wasn’t happening.

He snapped out with his new vine that glowed with an electrical charge. The snake vibrated when the blow struck. The vine quickly wrapped around it and pierced the monster’s flesh with thorns or tried to. The snake’s scales were puncture-resistant.

The snake hissed and shot forward, ready to strike. Zack poured the last of his recovered mana into his veins, aiming for the snake’s mouth. They grew rapidly, feasting on his mana and expanding in the snake’s mouth. It vibrated from the shock as thorns ripped through its insides.

He glared at the reptile as it shook in the mud, mouth wide open and overloaded with thorny vines. The reptile went through its death throws and then passed away.

Zack grabbed the fish by the bottom lip and opened it before spying on the half-juiced berry in its mouth. He pulled it free and tossed it in the water. Hopefully, the juices will evaporate over the cookfire.

“Is it dead?” Thistle asked.

Zack smiled. “Yep, I killed it. Want to add it to the menu too?”

“Yeah, buck snakes,” Thistle said.

“Such harsh language.”

“They deserve it,” Thistle said.

Zack had to borrow a knife from Thistle to start cleaning the fish and snake. As a YouTube video had once shown him, he was careful to get the venom sac out.

“Are you going to the dungeon when it opens?” Thistle asked.

“What dungeon?” Zack asked.

“Oh yeah, you don’t go to taverns or have a life.” Zack glared at the smiling girl. “There is a dungeon outside of town, attracting all kinds of adventurers. People are looting monsters for real steel armor and weapons and having Smiths rework them. I’m thinking of going when it opens to the public next month. Would you like to join my party? After what you did to that snake, I think you would make a great addition to the team.”

“What else can we expect to get from a dungeon?”

“Well, slap my rump. It sounds like you're interested. Alright, a mana stone can be used to recharge enchanted items. If you find enough of it, you are set for life. Lower floors have enchanted weapons and rare skill scrolls. I heard in some dungeons, you can find a skill-deleting token. If that’s not enough, skills level faster in dungeons than anywhere else.” Thistle said.

“I’m in,” Zack said.

“Dungeons are dangerous. A lot of people who enter them don’t leave,” Thistle said.

He had to go. Not if he wanted to get closer to his target, but making a name for himself in a dungeon was important. It was just out of the way enough to be viable. He needed to get stronger, too. A dungeon was the place to do that.

Zack ignored the offer for a butcher and cutting skills while using rocks to make an impromptu grill. He bit his cheek before purchasing some Cajun seasoning in a mason jar. He removed it from his pocket and sprinkled it over the fish on both sides before moving them to the rocks, where they sat like islands in flames.

“What kind of enemies are there?” Zack asked.

“That smells so good. Are you trying to court me, Zack?”

“Yes, you silly centaur. Now tell me what enemies we can expect.”

“Canids, boars, and maybe some low-rank demons. Oh, I heard there are some vicious chimeras, too. We’ll stick to the first few floors for the first week to get a handle on it. The popular adventurers will challenge the depths and clear out the best treasures before moving to the next new dungeon. If we stay in our lane and don’t go for the good stuff, we can rake in a lot of silver.”

Zack used a pair of sticks like chopsticks to flip the fish filet. He ripped a large leaf from a nearby tree before giving it mana to grow a new one. It was good practice and helped his regeneration and mana improve together.

Using mana seemed to improve mana, and regenerating anything seemed to help regeneration. Of course, regeneration needed something to work with.

With that in mind, he handed Thistle her fish cut and took his piece. She swallowed it quickly, licking her fingers and staring at the fish still cooking and the massive fish and snake to go.

“Zack, that was the best meat I’ve ever tasted. That seasoning is spicy and salty, and it goes great with mud cat.”

“Oh, is that what you call them here.” She nodded while staring at the next piece of fish nearly finished sizzling on a rock.

“Yes, and what will you do with that snakeskin?” Zack shrugged. “I could have it made into some boots for you. You might need them, and I’ll cover the cost if you feed me like this.” Thistle said.

It felt like Zack was becoming a housewife, and Thistle promised to care for him. This world was wild.

“Why were you so scared of that snake?”

“Snakes are dangerous. One bite and I could be sick for weeks. It happened to my sister.” Zack stared at what remained of his bank account and purchased a 15$ jar of lemon pepper. “She didn’t make it, and it was my fault.”

Zack leaned in close to her and placed a hand on her flank. Her ears lowered, and she gazed at him with large green eyes wet with tears. He felt like a donkey. What could he do to make it up to her that he was terrible with girls? He rubbed her back and didn’t know what else to do.

“I was the bastard daughter of our herd’s chief, and he died to a stray arrow shortly after my sister was born to his wife. Roselyn always hated me. Her family ran off my mother shortly after I was weened, and they took me in as a servant. My father helped me get an education, but he was always busy leading, and my sister was more important to his power. Younger men were always prepared to take his place, and it was hard growing up with them. Then my father died, and a snake bit my sister. While the others were hunting, Roselyn told me to go to a nearby goblin village with a sack of coins for the antidote, but I returned too late, and the goblins claimed my coins were fake. It was near here where they chased me away from the herd. I paid off my debt to the goblins by plowing fields more evenly and faster than any oxen. We’re going to be adventurers, and I’m eating tasty food. I think my life has turned out pretty good.” Thistle said.

He plucked a piece of fish from a rock and fed her. “I’m sorry that happened to you,” Zack said.

Maybe he could take her with him back to Earth. Wouldn’t that be nice?

They may need to confront Thistle’s herd to put her past behind her. If that’s the case, he needed to figure out where they were without Thistle finding out. Well, that could wait. There was a lot to do before that.

Should he get the Grilling skill? Maybe a greater cooking skill would be good to have. It would be great if he could use it to bring out the best from his ingredients. But there was the danger of having too many unrelated skills. Then again, were they unrelated? Growing crops and farming animals and then cooking them seemed somewhat related.

His hand hovered over the button, and he couldn’t figure out why he shouldn’t take it other than it would make things more complicated for him.

He chose yes, and it appeared.

Grilling: Bring out the best in your ingredients with primitive cooking.

Level: 1/9

Rank: G

Ok, it was an easy skill to level. He ignored the therapy skill and stared at another skill.

Do you want to learn the skill of Listening?

Y/N

He rejected it, but it was interesting. Thistle had daddy issues, and he couldn’t be sure her father was dead. Roselyn could have orchestrated to get rid of her. Tell Thistle her father is dead, give her a task to fail, and then run her out of the herd. It would make a child feel like she deserved to be abandoned.

The worst part of it was Zack would feel scummy if he tried to make a move on her in her current state. So, he would shove meat into her, chat, and then think about plowing a field with his bare hands.

“So what are you going to buy with all your new money from the dungeon,” Zack asked.

“Could you get a rag from my saddlebag? I have something in my eyes?”

Thistle cleaned herself up while Zack tried not to pay too close attention. “You’re nicer to me than anyone else. Why is that?”

“I want to pound your centaur pussy every night for the rest of our lives,” Zack said.

Thistle laughed at that. “Buck, that’s good. I can’t believe you said that with a straight face. You know the only children we would have would be centaurs. The laws forbid us from owning land in the human kingdoms, much less around Duke Janus’s territory.”

That made some sense. People from foreign lands couldn’t own land in countries they weren’t citizens of. Zack assumed that multiple wives weren’t a thing among centaurs. He would still get his harem. All he had to do was prove that he could provide enough girls to make it worth it for them to stay with him. Also, he needed to get strong enough to tweak his nose at any laws that forbid it. Then again, he had his private demi-plane. Once that got going, he could move there with his girls.

It was his dream retirement with the girls he cared about, and he only left when he needed the next Kingdom Hearts game. KH4 was going to be awesome. Zack took a big bite out of another piece of fish, which was better than before. Both sides were perfectly cooked, and the seasoning wasn’t too overpowering. It seemed that his grilling skill was already coming in handy.

Stone Scale Snake fillet: Increase Strength and Body gains by 15% and increase Strength Potential by 0.1%

Zack froze and stared at the permanent increase. He picked up a fillet of raw snake meat, which only read as an ingredient. After he cooked it, that changed. It reminded him of the potion book Circe gave him. He needed to look into it, but could he gain ultimate power by being a glutton?