17 Diary 17: The Journey Goes On

The young explorer runs through the plains, chasing the rabbit he spots endlessly. The moment he got the momentum, the rabbit somewhat slips his grasp. Min Soo sighs as the rabbit keeps making its escape toward the opposite direction, sweats engulfs the Idol's clothes. The man can't bear to see the rabbit gets hurt.

However, Min Soo knows that he has to catch the rabbit for their breakfast. Seeing their cuteness made the Idol despairs whether he should kill the rabbit. He approaches the rabbit on the grass plains curiously, his bronze eyes latched on the rabbit's eyes, he then hums a song to the rabbit.

"Mr. Rabbit, please come home to me" Min Soo smiles as he hums.

All of the sudden the rabbit approach Min Soo on its own, as if entranced by the Idol's voice. It snuggles in his grasp, and at that moment Min Soo grabs its neck strongly to asphyxiate the rabbit. However, the rabbit pays no mind as Min Soo claws into its neck; as if the creature lost its will to live.

Min Soo is flustered; his bronze eyes waver as he sees the painful expression on the rabbit grow more apparent. The Idol closes his eyes as his hands slowly letting go of the pained rabbit. Letting the rabbit free from his grasp; the Idol needs to find a way to get their breakfast without hurting the rabbit.

Thankfully, he purchased an adventurer guide book before they set on a journey. Apparently,

according to the guide book, there are some edible monsters in the wild. These are including slimes that he encounters the other day. There's a recipe book for monster food, Condensed cake slime, Slime soup, and several other easy recipes.

The cake slime needs an oven, but the soup only requires mint and several plants and herbs. Min Soo decides to hunt for slimes instead, since killing animals is not the field of his expertise and it's not like he had the guts to kill them. Although, the Idol is somewhat curious about the reason why these monsters coexist with regular animals.

There must be some sort of lore behind the birth of the monster, but that is another question to ask David. For now, he has to focus on getting their meals instead of pondering the slimes' birth. He looks at the bushes for any sign of slimes, the guide book specifically said that Firos, Chrystal, and Aquos slimes can be used for food ingredients.

However, other types of slimes are either off-limits or hard to cook with. As the young man ponders what he's going to do; a red slime appears before him.

"Good timing!" Min Soo whispers to himself.

He casts the usual spell to silence the fire slimes for good, the water burst that comes out from the book is enormous. The fire slime immediately burnt down, after all, water has always been fire elements' weakness. After the slime is weakened, Min Soo catches the weakened slime and kills it.

Quite to be honest, despite his determination to kill the monsters; Min Soo still had soft hearts against creatures of all kinds. So his decision to kill the slimes still hurts him a bit. Min Soo carries the slime ingredients in a box, preserving it for long-lasting utility. As soon as he arrives at the tent, David is already there waiting for him.

He's still sleepy but he tries to be as assertive as usual, David yawns as the man look toward the wooden box. David takes the wooden box from the exhausted young explorer, he looks at the guidebook the Idol purchased before.

A slight smile appears in his sour look, the man inserts the gooey substances into a boiling hot pot David already prepared beforehand.

David boils the substances in the boiling pot, David surprisingly had the spices to make the flavorful dishes of the fire slime. The spiciness from the fire slime smeared through the soup, the fiery colors from the soup make the food looks tasty to eat. Adding more flowers and plant spices, the soup is now done after several tweaking from David.

The pro explorer pours the soup into the bowls he neatly prepared beforehand. He's always ready with supplies and equipment for the long run. The bowls are kept inside the suitcase as well, what a blackhole suitcase David has. He chuckles when he sees Min Soo who widens his eyes toward the sudden appearances of bowls from the suitcases.

"It's a magic suitcase that can keep everything in, but again the prices depend on how many things you can store in the bag" David explains. "Plus it comes in different sizes, styles, and models! Mine just happened to be a suitcase".

Despite his adventure looks, the man had a luxurious taste in bags. As the two of them smell the delicious soups, the two then feasts on the soup deliciously. The spiciness and the colorful flavor of the soup made the Idol sweats more. The two of them share a quiet moment, slurping the soup to fill their empty belly.

"You're getting the hang of it, you can even kill a slime" David smiles. "That's an amazing feat".

"Not really" Min Soo blushes as the princely explorer complimented him.

After eating the feast, David urges the young Idol to pack up since they're going to continue their journey. The young Idol does not hesitate in obliging David's orders. As they continue their arduous journey toward the Nadhmill, the clear sky shows that there won't be any bad weather for today.

David tells the young Idol about ethics and what to do when he's on a quest, first thing first is to secure a place with clean water to resupply. If the sky is starting to get dark, the next thing the Idol needs to do is to set a tent and a magic barrier surrounding the tent. After that, some places are areas prohibited animal hunting or monster hunting for preservation purpose.

It is the ethic of an explorer, not to hunt for endangered species; but when it comes to demons it's different. Demons are dangerous creatures, they're attracted to the smell of humans more than other living creatures. They feed on human negativity and boost human negativity as well; to the point that they can take over someone else mind.

However, demons only occupy specific areas, thus a newbie explorer wouldn't find these dangerous creatures loitering everywhere. Even the areas with demons are guarded by barriers and bodyguards.

"If you encounter any demons, please don't hesitate to ask for my help," David tells the Idol as they walk to their destination. "In fact, please don't fight them".

"Why's that?" Min Soo asks.

"You'll know if you meet one" David sighs as he continues moving forward.