Day 2 part 5

Breathing heavily, I finally reach the scene of the battle, Isadora trailing behind me, Biana carried casually over her shoulder as though she weighs nothing. "Hey, are you all okay!" I pant, wiping a bead of sweat off my brow. "We heard a bunch of noises and came running as fast as we could!" Hahaha, my acting skills are impeccable, I wonder if any of them realized we were just watching them.

Isadora, as expressionless as ever, simply walks past me. With no warning, she drops Biana onto the ground. Biana lets out a yelp of pain. "Hehe, Good job, she deserved that" I praise her, but she just blinks at me, seemingly unfazed by my words. Typical Isadora, I wonder if I'll ever manage to make her smile.

"We're all fine, thankfully we were the ones that found it," Aira replies, dusting off her clothes. "Although it wasn't that dangerous, it had a tough durability."

Rai chimes in, "It was a piece of cake," while Flora adds, "It was so big, but thanks to Isabella, we killed it without too many issues."

"Hmph, that was such a weak beast. What a waste of time," Isabella mutters, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

Sighing, I walk towards the fallen Boex. Oliver is already inspecting the horns. "Woooah, This is incredible! The two can be used to stabilize so many things!" he exclaims, to no one in particular.

"Alright Oliver," I interrupt, patting the beast's massive flank, "I'll give you the horns. But you and the rest of the group should head to the river while I gut it."

"You're going to gut it right now? Wouldn't it be better to do it later?" Oliver quickly backs away from the carcass.

"I want to do it before sunset," I reply, pulling out my knife.

Aira grimaces and says, "Alright, we'll let you deal with this... Sorry we can't help, you know it's kinda... disgusting."

With a wave of dismissal, I send them on their way. When I look up, I notice that Isadora hasn't followed the group. Instead, she's sitting a little distance away next to the snoozing Biana, munching on another coconut. She doesn't even look at the battle scene anymore. Is that... coconut number eleven? I chuckle at the absurdity, but it feels good to laugh, I wonder if she'll get a stomach ache from all those coconuts.

With a heavy sigh, I turn to face the fallen Boex. Its enormous form lies still, the once fearsome creature now a 30-feet long carcass. First things first, the husks and horns need to be removed. Having only gutted something of this size once before, my experience is lacking, and it shows.

I carefully position myself by the beast's massive head. With one hand on my knife and the other steadying myself against the creature's rough hide, I start the laborious process. The first cut goes too deep, nearly ruining one of the husks. Cursing under my breath, I adjust my angle. The second mistake is not paying attention to the tension; a swift release of pressure almost sends me sprawling backward.

Finally, after much struggle and quite a bit of swearing, I manage to remove the husks entirely. They're enormous, around 3.5 meters in length. I gaze at them, my mind already spinning with possibilities. Pausing the gutting process, I decide to carve these first.

A few hours of meticulous work later, I'm holding a beautifully crafted horn sword and four semi-long daggers. The sight of them brings a sense of pride bubbling up. They're not perfect, but they're functional and actually quite deadly looking.

Strolling over to Isadora, who is now out of coconuts, I see Biana still asleep next to her. Grinning, I use the flat side of the sword to smack her in the head. "Wake up, sleeping beauty~"

Biana leaps to her feet, rubbing her forehead and glaring at me. "Goddammit, dude, couldn't you just wake me up normally?"

Tossing the horn sword and daggers at her feet, I retort, "You don't have your pillows. How the hell are you sleeping so much?"

Biana dramatically runs her hand through her hair and sighs. "It's a skill. A skill I've mastered. It's not something normal mortals would under—"

Interrupting her with a thrown rock, I chime in, "Yea~ you don't say? Well, use that skill of yours to carve some runes on these weapons. Isadora, please smack her in the head if she tries to fall asleep."

Isadora doesn't say anything, just looking at the carved husk sword with her usual blank expression. I shake my head and chuckle.

After that entertaining interlude, I head back to the Boex carcass.

With another sigh, I stare at the dead Boex, its hulking carcass still an imposing sight. Thoughts rumble through my mind as I consider what to do next. Its body is massive, and I know I won't have the time to properly extract the bones before some scavengers come sniffing around. Food should be the priority now.

Looking over the behemoth's corpse, I can't help but grimace. Cooking for the whole group is out of the question; the preparation alone would take ages. The next best thing? Jerky. High in protein, easy to carry, and doesn't spoil as easily.

I yell over to Isadora, who's still next to the coconut shells, "Hey, could you bring me Isabella, please!" She nods and takes off towards the camp without a word. Meanwhile, I get to work on the Boex.

Starting at the shoulder, I slide my knife into the thick flesh. The blade encounters little resistance as it slices through muscle and sinew. Blood oozes from the incisions, staining the ground beneath. With a bit of struggle, I manage to separate a significant chunk of meat from the carcass. I continue this process, methodically slicing away until I have a substantial heap of edible meat.

Next, I slice the chunks of meat into thinner strips, suitable for drying. It's monotonous work but necessary. By the time Isabella finally arrives, I'm almost done with the meat preparation.

"Yo, what took so long?" I ask, standing up to stretch my aching back.

As she gets closer, she takes in the sight of the gutted Boex and promptly vomits. I can't help but chuckle, "Woah, woah, it's not even that bad."

"You truly are barbaric. How can that not be disgusting?" she retorts, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

With a sigh, I wave her over, "Ok, come with me." I lead her to where I've placed the strips of meat.

"What the hell are you showing me this for?" she asks, clearly disgruntled.

"Isabella, I won't be cooking, so I'm going to need your help with something," I say, pointing to the strips of meat.

"You want me to cook this... this..." she trails off, her face turning green. Her cook? What sort of joke is that?

"No," I chuckle, "No cooking. We're making jerky."

"Jerky?"

"Yes. It's a preservation method, which will give us a long-lasting food source. And it's pretty simple. Let me explain."

I go on to explain the process in detail. "Normally, we need to treat the meat with a mixture of salt and spices. Salt helps to draw out the moisture and preserves the meat, while the spices add flavor. However, because we don't have spices we will have to do it without them. Then we hang it up to air dry. The goal here is to let the moisture in the meat evaporate, which prevents bacteria from growing."

I catch her skeptical look and continue. "I know it sounds a bit gross, but this is the best viable option, that is unless you prefer to starve. You'll know it's done when the meat is dry to the touch, but still pliable."

Isabella seems less than thrilled. "You expect me to touch that?" she moans, looking at the meat with disgust.

"If you prefer, you could try using your magic," I suggest, knowing full well this would touch on her pride. "Speed up the drying process perhaps? Of course, if it's too difficult for you..." Hahaha, this girl is too easy to deal with.

"I can do it," she cuts me off, straightening her back and glaring at me. "Just...just keep explaining."

You'll hang the meat strips somewhere where they can get good air circulation, but out of direct sunlight. Now, can you use your magic to mimic that environment? Perhaps you could create a miniature wind or something to accelerate the drying process?"

She looks at me, her brows furrowed as she processes the information. For a moment, I think she might refuse. But then, to my surprise, she moves towards the meat, a determined look on her face.

Isabella stretches out her hand, a soft glow enveloping it, and a light breeze picks up, swirling around the strips of meat. I watch in awe as, in just a minute, the meat changes color, drying out faster than naturally possible. Hahaha, I knew she could do it, she truly is a talented Mage, now if only her attitude improved she would be more approachable.

"That's... perfect," I say, a hint of admiration in my voice. "It seems like you got the hang of it."

Isabella scoffs, pulling back her hand and watching the wind around the meat strips fade. "Tsk, of course it's perfect, My magic is always perfect," she says, a smirk playing on her lips. She turns around, nose crinkled. "I'm out of here, I can't stand that dead beast," she announces, striding off into the underbrush.

With a sigh, I watch her go. Her attitude could use some work, but I have to admit, her magic really is impressive. Now it's time to finish up here.

Looking at the piles of jerky now spread out on the ground, I can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. It's not gourmet, but it's about 70 pounds of edible, long-lasting food. This should keep us from starving.

I gather the jerky, packing it carefully into a hide backpack I crafted from the Boex's hide. With the sun beginning to set, I hoist the heavy bag onto my back and start my journey back to where Isadora and Biana are.

Reaching the makeshift camp, I spot Biana, her hands covered in what I presume to be magical inscriptions. She's scribbling away on the weapons, her focus apparent.

"Nice job, Biana. It looks like you finished. The sword is quite nice," I comment, picking up the carved horn sword. The runes etched into it glow faintly, pulsating with an energy that feels strong, secure.

Biana grins, looking proud. "Well, of course, I wouldn't give you anything less than the best," she retorts.

Isadora is nearby, watching quietly. Noticing her gaze, I turn towards her. "Here," I say, offering the sword to her, "it was going to be for you to begin with."

She takes it, her face impassive as always, but I see a flash of surprise in her eyes. It's quickly replaced by a solemn nod.

As I pack up the rest of the daggers, I hoist Biana up onto my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She yelps in surprise but doesn't fight, in fact, she falls asleep right away. "Alright, let's head back to the group. The day is not over yet," I say, leading the way back, Isadora silently following behind.