Feast

Jason continued cooking the rabbit meat. The first line of meat that he cooked was ready and he held in one hand, trying to figure out what to do with it. It wasn't heavy but it was a pain to hold and he couldn't let the meat touch the floor otherwise it would be ruined.

The alpha wolf saw Jason's small predicament and barked an order. 3 of the wolves ran to the forest, a few minutes later they returned with large leaves suitable for Jason to place the skewer of rabbit meat on. He pulled out the metal spike and placed it into his inventory.

The wolves were staring at the finished plat of meat with hungry eyes when Jason looked at them they quickly turned to pleading eyes while whimpering softly. Jason ha already saw their true mischievous selves when he watched them play but he almost gave in to giving the meat they so desired. He was going to give them the meat when he had enough for all of them. He didn't want to play favorites, and the possibility of starting strife in the pack was always fresh on his mind.

The second batch took less time than the first, just by smelling the first batch and comparing it to the second he could realize the power of seasoning. He needed to redo the first batch it wasn't as good as the second one and he wanted all of the wolves to be as happy as they could be.

The 3 come out, then the fourth and finally the fifth. The wolves had retrieved leafs large enough for all of the rabbit meat to be placed on and they were still warm.

[cooking level up!]

[cooking level 2]

Jason quickly cleaned the metal spikes and looked at the alpha wolf that was in the very back. Jason gave the alpha wolf a nod of confirmation and the alpha wolf nodded in reply and gave off a sharp bark. All of the wolves ran as one to the 5 leaf plates that were stacked with rabbit meat. They each grabbed one fat juicy piece of meat and walked away to eat it.

Some went with friends others went along. The meat quickly disappeared until only one piece of meat was left.

The alpha wolf walked up to the leaf plate. He had waited for the rest of the wolves to get their food before he went up. He walked slowly up under the watch of Jason, he sniffed the last seasoned rabbit meat and the sniffed the other rabbit that Jason didn't season. The alpha wolf walked to the seasoned rabbit meat and carefully dragged the leaf it was on to Jason. The wolf gave Jason a small bark that Jason interpreted as "eat" and left the leaf next to Jason with the meat, the alpha wolf then walked to one of the plain rabbit meats and walked away with it in his mouth.

Jason thought to himself

"maybe he likes the plain one"

to which Boops replied

'figure it out yourself'

Jason grabbed the meat with his hand and took a big bite. It was delicious the meat was tough but juicy and full of flavor, Jason was worried that it might be too dry but it was cooked well. The meat juice flowed down his chin as he ate it. Jason could hear the wolves feasting on the meat.

The sun was setting already Jason was still stuck in the forest. He had been stuck in the forest for about 3-4 days, but he kinda enjoyed the last few days, her earned a ton of gold, gotten lots of EXP became friendly with the wolves, he wanted to keep on doing this for a while, he could train when he got back to the training center. For now, though he would enjoy hunting goblins and petting wolves.

Jason started talking to Boops again

"hey, Boops how come I don't see any more goblin leaders when we raid the camps?"

'Yeah, I was researching that, basically, leaders of any species are born when there is a large amount of that monster or animal. Leaders are usually much stronger than the rest of the group. They are also adept at controlling the group. Sometimes the leader can be made through fighting, like say a person kills his way to the top of that group and kills the leader when he is at the top he gets an upgrade because he is the leader and killed the old one.'

"can it be obtained through peaceful means?"

'Yeah that's how most of the civilized creatures do it, they make a vote or decision. The created then gets a bonus but he/she may not be the strongest in the camp then.'

"What happens if there are multiple goblin leaders born then?"

Boops hmphed in approval

'your asking the right questions Jason, basically, an even stronger leader is born out from them. And the leaders go under that creature, that leader gets an even bigger upgrade and is more sentient and the monster group would probably get larger because of the leader's protection.'

"so basically the more creatures there are the better chances a leader will appear"

'yup, basically"

Jason wanted to ask another question about leveling up but one of the wolfs ran up to him and forced his head under Jason's hand. Jason pet him without another thought and the two lay down and watched as the stars started to appear.

Jason then noticed that he had gotten a large number of points from the wolves

[+40 points (thankfulness, happiness) (grey wolves)]

Turns out the wolves gave him points this time before the goblin leader raid he didn't get any points, perhaps it was because they were about to fight for their revenge but even when he pet them and gave them food he didn't get anything. It was only when he saved them that he actually started to get points from them, now it seems they were much more open to him and he was able to get more points. Which reminded him that he should probably go to school sometime soon to get more.

Jason watched the stars and the wolfs playing in the river next to the camp. With the fire next to him slowly burning and the wolves grey fur glinting in soft light along with the river which reflected the light of the stars. Everything seemed peaceful and calm.

Jason's eyes started to drop and that was when Boops told him he should log out and get some sleep. He heeded Boops's word and logged out. Climbing out of the capsule he could see Peruses and Arjuna making food through the kitchen door. Perseus was laughing as he hit Arjuna a bit too many times with the celery and Arjuna was trying to make food but snapped trying to deal with his twin and chased him around with a potato.

Jason watched everything with a smile on his face. He was reminded of his and his sibling's antics when he watched the two prepare food. Suddenly he wasn't tired and walked out to help the twins. The twins surprised when they heard Jason's voice asking if he could help. They both jumped up simultaneously and freaked out a bit holding out the foods they had like weapons.

Jason watched as Perseus held the celery like a rapier and Arjuna held the potato with his right hand in a throwing position like he was intending to lob it into the attacker's face. When they noticed it was him they lowered their "weapons"

Arjuna sighed

"master don't scare us like that next time"

Perseus added

"in exchange you can help us peel the potatoes"

Jason smiled at the twins exchange he looked at the 5 potatoes

"alright ill get them done"

Jason walked to them grabbing a knife along the way, and with the skills that he had been taught by his mother since young started peeling them at a quick speed. The twins watched with wide-open mouths. Jason finished peeling the potatoes at record time perhaps it was the effect of the cooking skill. Jason turned around to see the twins still in shock. He then noticed the various remains of potatoes and broken knives in the kitchen.

[the twins loyalty has increased]

"really?"

Boops started to get annoyed in Jason's head

'DA FUHHHH THAT SHOULDN'T BE THAT EASY WHAT THEY HECK IM FINE IF HE SAVES THEIR LIVES OR SOMETHING BUT PEELING POTATOES, THATS IT WHYYYYYY AHHHHHH'

While Boops was going a bit crazy Jason set off to teach the twins the art of potato peeling perhaps only the twins and Boops knew but currently they looked like a family a happy one.