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[Calculating EXP earned…]
[Bonus EXP has been accumulated]
[You earned 2400 EXP]
[Level: 7 / 10] [EXP: 25780 / 60000]
[Skill Proficiency has reached the required amount: 20000/20000]
[You learned the [Command: Lv1] Skill!]
Command?
Just as we decided to take a break from hunting by using what the Imps hunted and their bonfire to make some grilled horned rabbit meat and a wolf meat and bones stew with potatoes and carrots I brought, I suddenly saw I gained some EXlso… a Command Skill. Such a skill was not present in the Skill Library where I can exchange them for Skill Points at all. In fact, such skills are very limited so I didn’t know what else was available for me to learn.
I decided to check the Skill description before making further and pointless conclusions, it is always better to simply check the Skill than anything else.
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[Commanding: Lv1]
Skill Proficiency: 0/10000
A Skill granted to those who have learned how to command, teach, and guide others. Their ability to guide and make others stronger is of such a great level that they begin developing innate abilities to further enhance such power. When commanding others, commanded troops receive a +10% bonus to all their stats. Passively, their stats, skills, and levels can grow at a rapid level.
—–
Oh, I see how it is. A brand new and interesting Skill, it might be a nice Skill that could help my allies grow stronger rapidly, although the bonus it is currently giving is nothing that much, it seems to have the potential to grow further and become even more insane in that regard. That +10% Bonus to all Stats seems like a great thing, to be honest. Does this means that by merely ordering Erika, Chris, and Eric to fight, they’ll suddenly receive a temporary bonus to all their capabilities? Incredible… The power of this world’s Skills is still surprising me even now. Just how many of these Skills are out there? I feel like I am further developing an obsession with acquiring as many as I possibly can.
But for now, it was better to leave it aside and concentrate in the present. I looked at the stew, which was boiling, the wolf meat jerky was good to make stew, and in a few minutes it should be done, whenever the potatoes are fully cooked.
“How is the butchering?” I asked, as I saw the three kids using knives to open up the chests of the Imps, they were just learning the basics about butchering, and were all blooded and covered in entrails, they were doing a terrible job.
“Good!” Erika cheerfully said, taking out a bright red Demon Core with her bare hands out of the chest of an Imp she defeated.
“Uegh…” Chris muttered, containing his impulse to vomit. “C-Can’t we do something less disgusting?”
“It is part of being an Adventurer to know how to dismantle the beasts you defeat, Chris. We are not going to just kill monsters and bring them complete into the town or something, right?” I asked. “You need to know what to cut, what can be eaten, and what’s valuable about them. It is common sense. Your father is a Hunter and I was really hoping he could have imparted such wisdom on you, but it seems that you’ve been rather spoiled by your family if he had yet to teach you anything.”
“T-That’s not true! I am not a spoiled child…” Said Chris while angrily groaning. “Father has taught me many things… But he never went into details about butchering. He did taught me how to cut boar’s body parts and their meat but demons are a new territory altogether…”
“Well, think about them as humans, maybe that can help? Butchering Imps is like butchering humans, they got some areas that are very thin and lack meat, but their entrails, mostly their torso, is filled with all the oozy things that might be valuable.” As I said that, all three of my friends stared at me in silence.
“What?” I asked.
“N-Nothing…” Said Chris.
“Blake did you ever butchered a person?” Asked Eric while tilting his head in confusion.
“It is scary how much you know!” Said Erika.
“Well… No, but that’s how I think about it.” I said. “I’ve butchered an Oni, which are taller and even more human-like demons, so they’re like people… That’s all, don’t get the wrong idea.”
As I said those words, they quickly dropped their questions and I then called them to eat stew. I washed their hands from the blood and used the Clean spell to clean their faces and clothes so they wouldn’t smell terrible while we ate. After that, we sat down around the bonfire to enjoy some quick meal. It was still early in the day, not even 3 PM yet, so we had a lot of hunting to do next, but a small break to recover energies is never a bad thing, especially because I’ve become rather fond of cooking.
Not because I am a corny human that enjoys cooking or something, but it is because I’ve realized there might be some power within me awakening that can enhance meals. I had already seen it with the knights back then, and since then I’ve been helping my mother cook for the whole family every day, multiple times a day. And since then, I’ve discovered that if I use mana while cooking, the meals end up tastier and even grant special bonuses to those that eat them, temporarily making them stronger and more revitalized.
Chris and Eric quickly began to enjoy the stew, dipping pieces of hard bread below the warm soup and wolfing it down afterwards. The Gray Wolf jerky meat in the stew had been hydrated and became chewy and tasty, and the potatoes and carrots could fill their bellies quickly as well. Erika, however, rushed to my left side and sat down to eat at my side, resting her head in my shoulder. Chris and Eric were glaring me down with a bored expression… What do they even want me to do? To throw her to the side? I would do it if it wasn’t because she’s my childhood friend.
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