Monster meat for days

"Ukyo, come back. You've picked enough already; you need to rest."

"Just a little more, Master."

"Fine, but your food will get cold."

Master knew how to get me because I ran back to him as soon as he mentioned food.

"Food? Where?"

"Sit down; it's almost ready."

Master was looking after a pot of soup from some of the edible monsters I had defeated. It looked a little yucky, but Master had made it, so I wanted to try it.

What have I been doing? Well, I was collecting herbs for Master Ryoga. The last time I did so, we managed to sell them to a botanic shop for a better profit. Ever since then, I have been picking up lots of these medicinal herbs.

Thanks to my hard work, we have some money now. Master told me we could finally upgrade my equipment, which is why I was so excited.

"Okay, it's ready, here you go."

I was about to speculate when the food would be ready, but of course, Master interrupted that with a bowl of hot soup.

"Thank you, Master!"

"Oh, it's nothing."

I couldn't tell for sure, but I swear I saw him smile after he said that. 

Lately, Master has been opening up about his feelings with me. He was getting comfortable around me, and it made me happy. It had been a whole week already, but it felt like it had been longer.

During the week, I killed monsters and picked up medicinal herbs alongside Ryoga. He always looked out for me and even saved me from sticky situations whenever I got into one. I still don't know the full range of his abilities, but he has some really cool ones. 

For instance, he can use the hook and line to pull me out of the way or to make me dodge an attack. It feels weird when you get hooked by it, but besides that, it's safe as long as you're in his party.

I have also seen him use his power to immobilize opponents in mid-air so I can easily kill them. The fact that he had no other party members but me was strange.

Why would no one else want to team up with him? Wasn't he the most incredible adventurer? Puff, whatever, if no one wants to join his party, then fine! I will have to do it alone! 

What was I on about again? I got carried away there. Oh yeah, the soup. It was as good as it looked, low-tier. It was no gourmet food, but it wouldn't kill me either. Still, if I could, I would never eat it again.

It was definitely something you would eat out of necessity like I was. "How is it?" "It's delicious!" I lied. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I ate up. My stomach was protesting against me; it was screaming to stop shoving poison down to it.

"Hey, mouth! Stop swallowing poison! This is not food!" 

I could feel my stomach getting upset already.

"You want some more?"

"Uh? No, no, thank you, I'm full!"

I cleaned my mouth after finishing the laxative meal. Master ate the poison, too, but he didn't look as concerned as I did. Maybe his weapon gave him some cheating skill or something, I thought. It was a legendary piece of equipment, after all.

"Come on, let's go before the shop closes."

"uh? Yes, sir!"

Master was ready to go, so I stood up and followed him. He walked so fast that I had to occasionally sprint behind him so I could keep up.

We barely made it back in time, but we got to sell off our day's loot to the botanic shop. We got paid 10 pieces of silver for my work, which is okay for picking up weeds. It was already a massive upgrade from the 2 silver pieces from skins, which took more energy, too.

"Ukyo, how is your knife doing?"

I pulled my knife out of its sheath and showed it to him. It had only been a week, but I had used it so much that it was highly chipped now.

"I think we have enough to upgrade you; your knife is about to break, so I think that's what we will buy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you're doing almost all the work, so you've earned it; let's go."

Soon, we were in the old man's shop.

"Hey, kid. How can I help you today?"

"We need a new weapon for Ukyo. Her knife is basically falling apart already."

"Oh good, well, I told you it was the cheapest one you could get, so it's only natural it won't last as long."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just get her something new, and hey, keep it under 30 pieces of silver."

"You got it, kid."

The owner looked at me and then at the wall behind him. Soon, he handed me a shiny short sword.

"Try this one out; it should be small enough for you."

I held the blade up and tried to wield it to no avail. I had never used a sword, so I looked like a total noob.

"Kid, you know how to use a sword, right?"

"Did you forget, old man? I can only use my legendary weapon; I know nothing about swordsmanship."

"You're unbelievable, kid, fine. I will teach Ukyo the basics, but you owe me a drink at the bar sometime for my troubles, you got it?"

*sight* "Sure, but keep your tab under 5 silver pieces."

"Alright, follow me outside Ukyo." 

The owner showed me how to properly grab and hold a sword along with how to wield it so I didn't drop it every time I swung it. I picked up his lesson relatively fast.

He was a good teacher, and his advice made me much better with the sword in no time. We returned once the owner was satisfied with my newfound confidence.

"That should be all you need to know. The rest is all about practice and time. You'll develop your own style once you use your sword more often."

"Thank you so much!"

"So, how much is the sword?"

"It usually goes for 35 pieces of silver, but I'll give you a generous discount; just give me 30." 

Ryoga paid the old man up, and we left right after.

"Well, we used all our money, so there will be no restaurant food like I promised, sorry."

"It's okay, Master. We can eat whatever I catch for dinner!"

Master looked happy as I said it, and I even got patted for it. Naturally, I had to run to the fields to look for more edible monsters.

Our diets were Monster meat for today, monster meat for tomorrow, Monster meat for breakfast, and for lunch and later dinner. It was gross meat, but it was what it was. Between eating poison and starving to death, the choice was obvious. 

Monster encyclopedia

- Cocogoat -

Name: nameless

Age: 1 year old

HP: 300/300

SP: 150/150

MP: 100/100

Strength: 120/120

Damage output: Null

Defense: 50/75 (low)

Speed: 75

Skills: None.

Information: The cocogoat is known for its tasty flesh and milk. It lives near plane fields and is hardly a challenge; however, when encountered in large numbers, they become a problem as they will band up against you until they trample you to death. Adventurers are still willing to run the risk because of the flavor. The danger level for a single cocogoat is D, but it jumps to an A in a herd.