A piercing howl reached across the forest. To the point that even the villagers quite a distance away had heard.
They were frightened as they didn't know what became of the group who went after the boars. A few old ladies were worried as they had noticed the little girls with the group.
They couldn't help but worry about the situation.
The howl was the last thing they heard and everybody continued what they were doing but they would look in the direction of the forest, the group had left in. Elder Viridian was nearby as well alongside Lady Floca. This was a worrisome time for them. The Elder was quite sure of the outcome because of the confidence from Penta but now he was wondering whether he made an error in judgment.
However, his doubts lasted very little time as in the distance you could see a young man running.
As he got closer, they noticed he looked exhausted and in tatters. They left him a moment to grab his breath and expected the worst.
"Huff...huff.... We wanted to... we...." Faren literally out of breath from getting forced to run here under the overlord's orders was still having a hard time breathing.
The elders saw this and had to intervene. Lady Floca took out a small vial which Faren immediately ingested as it was something commonly referred to as a minor stamina potion.
"Thank you. That helped me a lot. We wanted to invite everyone in the village to the borders of the forest. They are already setting up the barbecue but hurry otherwise that glutton will finish everything!" Faren yelled the last part with realization before running back. He didn't care about his burning body as the thought of delicious barbecued boar meat was enough to drive him on.
The Elder and Lady looked stunned for a moment and only when Faren was a little way in the distance did everything come together. They had the most relieved smiles and immediately started shouting at everyone to get ready for a feast.
----
As the whole village was in an expectant mood they all reached the hill that wasn't too far from the village but what was below seemed too surreal.
A mountain of boars lay beside a young man who was carving and skinning the meat. Another was cutting all the fresh meat into different parts and two little girls were handling a barbecue and the sight seemed straight out of a folktale.
"My tribulations! These young'uns took out that whole mob in a day!?" Someone finally cried out before everyone suddenly looked at the pile of meat with fanaticism in their eyes. The boar meat was excellent nutritionally and normally they split the amount evenly with the villagers whenever they could get their hands on something of this quality. Yet seeing so many they were all extremely impressed and thankful to this group of six.
As everyone started gathering around, one of the older men yelled out loud.
"Oh, little girls, whose making you man the grill at such tender age! Hand that over and let me show you what kind of skills this Ol'man's got!" He abruptly arrived near the girls but the girls didn't panic.
You would assume trauma from their recent past would come back but the security blanket that Penta was, to be frank, was immense to the girls. He almost reached a godly level of admiration but remained down to earth due to his simple and straightforward way of being.
He joked more than he should, made drama when there wasn't, and is oddly amazing at how he does things but the real facts were that the man was simply planning ahead. One must notice that planning ahead can save all manner of hassles.
Simply put the way to grow when not an apex level existence is to plan your steps accordingly. Not just jump from the hardest hurdle to the even bigger one. At least without preparations.
Penta was simply not having the thought of aggressively and with extreme risk, charge forward against the higher level shamans. the world's finest beasts and beyond the skies to the unforgivable crackhead in the sky that condemned his sorry roach butt.
"But my roachyness will never stop," Penta mumbled as he suddenly shook his head when a nice old lady was staring his way and looked at him oddly because of his words.
It was evening by the time, people actually started eating. Or to better compliment the time, they had waited for a little over an hour before they started eating.
The villagers went and got some simple outside benches made and started serving the food.
It was truly a little blissful moment, the sweet taste of fresh meat after victory. It makes any man's blood quiver in joy at their accomplishment.
The people weren't actually in the fight but being able to enjoy the spoils made them feel as though they were. The usual habits of people of strength were never to share and enjoy a meal with strangers. It was their constant pursuit that sometimes left out such activities.
The villagers were simply reminded of how young the apprentices were and couldn't help but sigh at their strength. They unanimously thought they were good kids. Who would think that to the six that were being so well-wished, this was a common occurrence, and eating such ridiculous amounts was nothing but a drop in the vast expanse that is the Roach emperor's gut.
As night approached, the villagers all couldn't help but be in a cheerful mood, it almost felt like today was a parade or festival.
They had not believed that their dreary morning would turn into such a beautiful night.
"Little ones, if I may say. You are all fine men and women from the new era. It was my honor to share a meal with you and offer the hospitality of our village so that you may stay the night. Now I know that it's a shabby village but I promise you that we would hope you would honor it with your presence tonight as our appreciation for this great service." Elder Viridian stated after finishing his delicious meal.
Many of the villagers started clapping and cheering at this speech and at the group of six.
It was a first for the girls and everyone else there. Even Griss and Faren were simply used to nobility parties, getting false flattery and hidden threats were the usual.
They had never received a reception of such genuine applause, simply from their actions.
As they stood there, Penta finally snapped out in a second and smiled. He picked up the girls, one on each shoulder, and grinned his trademark grin for BS.
"Of course but I must say something first!" Penta said as he smiled and looked at the crowd. The girls were in shock as getting picked up and stared at made them get embarrassed. Well, just Kaya as Sana loved the attention she got from her brother. You could tell who was the outgoing one versus the introverted one.
As the crowd was silenced, he continued with a smile.
"If it weren't for these incredibly cute sisters of mine, you think we could have achieved this great feat? Look at these three!" He yelled again and pointed at Griss, Faren, and Karu who got shocked by being put on the spot. The head of every villager moved in their direction as they scrutinized them trying to understand where Penta was going.
'The bastard' the trio realized as they felt a hit coming.
"How could they possibly have done this without these two precious gems!" He boasted again making Kaya visibly blush, and curl into a ball. Little Sana just started giggling and actually took the praise in.
The villagers simply started laughing as they finally put his words together in that short span of a few seconds.
Villagers were usually very weary with people of strength, especially from tribes.
Any Tribe that held a vicious person who could ruin their future days was always a fear they held. It wasn't unfounded after all. Any world with a system of power held good and bad people.
A story full of only good things, usually made one suspicious. The world keeps its balance of good and bad regardless of time immemorial. Ying and Yang, isn't it an apt description of what those words mean?
Penta and his group looked to be decent people, they turned into kind people after the meal and beyond that, they had suddenly turned into likable kids everyone wanted to befriend just because of that final little act. However, only after the respect, they gave for their strength.
The barbecue that lasted a few hours ended in a serene manner. Everyone was overloaded with the great energy from the food.
Some ate so much they already passed out and there was still meat left.
Penta didn't devour everything as he saw that there was plenty for the villagers. It's not like he needed to hoard every piece of meat here. He had the ability to hunt for himself while as they didn't.
"Feed a man fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Che-huhu" Penta admonished himself mentally for bringing out such an old and cliche saying.
He couldn't help it. He really was much stronger than he ever was in the past. His previous life, though fulfilling to him due to his various "dealings", he still couldn't help but compare the strength he posses now.
It was never something he had. He was a slightly above average person. He had great ambitions but could never stand on his own so legitimately.
The strength that was your very own was an intoxicating feeling after all. Especially as it grew.
As they all settled down in the village.
Penta and the siblings alongside the trio were welcomed hospitably into an Inn and all got their own rooms. It was a simple but nice gesture as their meals were included for the next day.
As they all bathed and returned to their rooms, everyone wished each other goodnight.
The night was upon them and everyone felt tired after the experiences of the day.
They couldn't wait to go to sleep and revitalize themselves. However, Penta who had just entered his own room couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.
He had kept his purple pouch on him at all times after the attacks were over. He had collected a very, very sizeable amount of loot. All the boar tusks were his as he simply gave up on the hides. The main reason Penta gave up on the hides was that he simply had so many uses for these horns instead.
Penta immediately put his bag on the table causing it to creak. The weight of it was about to snap the table legs so Penta had to sigh and sit on the floor and even a spot that had the beams as support as he couldn't keep his energy active at all times to lighten the weight.
Finally, after a whole ten minutes of fumbling a way to rest in the Inn's second floor, he got to business as a serious countenance came over him.
"I can finally practice making basic mana totems on them...hehehehe." A burst of wicked laughter erupted. Having over two hundred boar tusks and some free time ahead of him. He couldn't help but squirm in glee for a second at how cool this felt to try his new skill.
"Relax, Penta. Concentrate." He mumbled some encouraging words before silently meditating for ten minutes.
He immediately opened his eyes and carefully took the first tusk into his hands. The tusk in his hands was about a meter long. It held a tip that was dark and a body that had the glow of bone, carefully inspecting it for anything interesting, he studied the tusk.
After carefully assessing the tusk. He started floating his little knowledge crystal and only half sunk his mind into it as he needed the visual presence of the tusk in order to effectively learn.
Seeing the method of using basic mana creation while simultaneously imagining himself creating it was something he decided on before actually handling the material. Considering the energy it contained. Some of them were peak apprentice grade tusks, especially from that last boar.
He decided that the only way to get better was to use this.
In his seated position, a bluish glow was beaming, trying to carve into the horn. Penta had the urge to get sunglasses out but decided against it as his energy ever so unnoticeably strengthened around and on his eyes.
"Aren't I a smart boy?" Penta mumbled as he smiled and continued genuinely learning to use this basic step that was one of the prerequisites to achieving this technique.