Chapter 64: Bonfire Party

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Bonfire Party

As night fell, a bonfire was lit in the central clearing of Shixi Village.

The orange-red flames danced, dispelling the autumn night’s chill and illuminating the tired yet relaxed faces of the surrounding villagers and Adventurers.

Cleaning the battlefield and processing the spoils had taken a great deal of time, and it was already afternoon by the time they finished.

It was clearly too late to make it back to Rose Town today.

After a discussion, the group decided to rest for the night in Shixi Village and set off on their return journey first thing in the morning.

Upon hearing this, the old village chief, Oliver, enthusiastically arranged for a clean and spacious village house for them.

Although it was just a common room with simple furnishings, it was far better than sleeping out in the wild.

The village couldn’t scrounge up any good wine, but the Adventurers were never short on spoils.

A few small boars that couldn’t be sold were skewered over the fire, their fat dripping and making a SIZZLING sound.

A few of the bolder village children, drawn by the aroma, gathered around to watch, their eyes fixed longingly on the chunks of meat sizzling with grease on the spit.

Since there was no way they could eat it all anyway, the group was happy to share, and Belte generously tore off a few pieces of meat for them.

However, while the boar legs on the bonfire were roasted to a crispy, glistening golden-brown and looked quite tempting, actually eating them was another matter entirely.

To be honest, Hesia had always romanticized the idea of "roast suckling pig."

But this thing before him and the delicacy from his memories were practically two different species.

The meat of these Thorny Wild Boars was as tough as tanned leather; one had to laboriously cut it into small pieces with a knife and then engage every muscle in their jaw just to manage to swallow it.

After swallowing, a strong, gamy odor mixed with a coarse, smoky flavor rushed up into his sinuses.

It would then stubbornly linger in his mouth and nose, refusing to dissipate.

What Hesia found even more unbearable was that, aside from the coarse salt they had gotten from the villagers, there were almost no other seasonings to suppress the wild flavor.

He forced down two bites before silently putting down his knife.

Fortunately, he wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

Beside him, Laila took just one bite before spitting it out with a "Ptooey!"

"Gods, this is like chewing on a piece of rotten wood soaked in sweat! Who on earth suggested roasting this damn thing?"

The one who had suggested it, Belte, was currently eating with great relish, his mouth glistening with grease.

As he forcefully tore at a large chunk of meat, he praised it indistinctly, "Hah! You just don’t know how to appreciate it! This is real meat! Food fit for a man! Savor it... This rugged, earthy aroma! This wild, nutty fragrance! And this... this unique, musk-like flavor!"

Laila rolled her eyes so hard they nearly disappeared into her head. "Charming musk? More like a stinking reek! Don’t you dare sleep next to me tonight!

You smell like you’re related to these boars!

Oh, right, you and the captain are a perfect match. I think you two should sleep together tonight. Since you’re both enjoying it so much, you can stink together!"

With that, she moved away from Belte with a disgusted look on her face, sidling up to the quietly seated Zoya until she was almost pressed against her. Her tone instantly softened. "I’ll just sleep next to Zoya tonight. She always smells so nice and comforting."

Zoya hadn’t eaten a single bite of meat, nor had she spoken. She just sat there quietly, hugging her knees and staring blankly into the bonfire, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Hulk, who had been silently gnawing on the roasted meat, heard this, and his face instantly darkened.

"Wait! Laila, I don’t want to sleep next to him," he said, waving his hands in exasperation. His tone was helpless. "It’s not that I mind the smell... It’s mainly Belte’s snoring. You all know what it’s like, right? I barely got a few hours of sleep on watch last night. I spent almost the entire second half listening to his snores."

"Please, spare me tonight."

He picked up the piece of tough, roasted meat in his hand and examined it closely.

"Actually, boar meat, especially from a mature boar like this, does have a strong taste. The gamy flavor mainly comes from glands that weren’t properly removed.

The villagers are smart. They know the meat from younger pigs is better, especially young sows, but they picked those out and bought them all long ago. What’s left is naturally this ’tough stuff.’"

"If you want to make this stuff taste good, you need a very particular preparation method."

A hint of nostalgia appeared in Hulk’s eyes.

"You have to bleed it out completely first, then carefully remove the glands that cause the bad smell. After that, you marinate it for a long time in lots of herbs and wine! The best way to cook it isn’t roasting, but slow-stewing it in a clay pot or a heavy-bottomed pan over a low fire for the better part of a day, until the meat is tender and flavorful."

"Back when I was hunting giant snow boars in the Northern Territory, the Barbarian Race Hunters there were experts at preparing all kinds of wild game. They had an ancestral method..."

Hulk began to reminisce about his past adventures, while Hesia’s consciousness sank into the ball of light in his mind.

[Name: Hesia Atmesia]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 10]

[Profession: None]

[Physique: 12+3]

[Power: 8]

[Agility: 7]

[Wisdom: 12]

[Will: 10]

[Charm: 16]

[Skills:

Earth Spike Technique Level 2 (18/20)

Light Technique]

[Status:

Salamakis’s Contract: Your Bloodline Power will be extracted in 4 hours and 22 minutes.

Mora’s Blessing: You have received the blessing of a Rock Vein Speaker, permanently increasing your Physique by +4. This buff ignores any curse or debuff.

Benefit from Thorny Wild Boar Meat: Physique +3. Remaining duration of this buff: 5 hours and 47 minutes.]

[Equipped Traits: Earth Affinity, Primordial Feast, Wild Charge, Thick Hide]

[Available Traits: Territory Odor Mark, Blushing Trait, Refined Gold Gastrointestinal Tract, Bloodline Solidification]

The reason he had steeled himself to take a few bites, even knowing the meat tasted wrong, was, of course, to test the effect of [Primordial Feast].

’Three points of Physique...’ Hesia calculated silently. ’Although it’s one less total Attribute point than the two Physique and two Power from the Fissure-Hoof Ox, a pure Physique bonus is actually better for me.’

Power isn’t very useful for a Mage like him, but Physique is a different story.

For a Mage, the "tankier," the better! In the future, even if he couldn’t match others in magical power, he could just wear them down with his high HP.

Beyond that, he also noticed another change.

Under the temporary Physique boost provided by [Primordial Feast], his total level had temporarily risen to 10!

He remembered what Annis had explained before about the new leveling system defined by the [Assessment Skill].

In this system, every 10 levels was a major threshold: before Level 10, you were an "apprentice"; from Level 10 to 20, you were at the "Entry Level"; and only at Level 20 and above were you considered to have truly stepped into the realm of a "Professional."

At that point, one could choose a more specialized path of development based on their own circumstances.

Of course, since the buff from [Primordial Feast] was temporary, he would drop back down to Level 9 in about six hours.

But right now, he had gotten an early glimpse of a key change that came with reaching Level 10.