"You saw that!?"
Rant Valo stood up and asked her with a flustered face. His face was blushing till his ears. He couldn't help but grabbed at the pendant hanging on his chest.
"Hehehe, I didn't look at your little brother. I just saw your horny face"
Floriana Sabina said with a teasing smile. She can't wait to see his face when she shows him that she collected some of it.
"Are you a pervert!?"
Rant Valo was fuming. He embarrassed himself in front of a child like this. His reputation will take a nosedive if others hear this. Wait, he doesn't have any good reputation to begin with. Nevermind.
"You should look at your reflection in the river waters and ask that question again"
Floriana Sabina was laughing so hard that she was hugging her stomach. She still kept the fish over the fire though.
"Grrr. You cheeky brat!"
Rant Valo had enough of it and pinched her cheeks. He was shocked at how elastic it was. It was like he was squishing tofu.
"Stop! I'm not a brattt!",
Floriana Sabina pulled his hands away and pushed him down. She sat on top of him and her hands were touching the ground.
"Peh, lies. No matter how I look at you. You still look like a 9-year-old brat"
Rant Valo spat at the side and looked down at her mockingly. He pushed her aside and stood up.
"Hmph! I'm still older than you by many times over!"
Floriana Sabina dusted her hands and checked if the fish were dirtied. She managed to keep the fish away from the ground even when she pushed Rant Valo down earlier.
"Then how old are you!?"
Rant Valo asked her aggressively. He wanted to expose her and embarrass her.
"Y-you idiot! You don't just ask that!!"
Floriana Sabina was startled by his question and got angry. She slapped Rant Valo in the face. Rant Valo flew several meters and embraced the ground.
"What a strong brat..."
Rant Valo lost consciousness. His head was shaken so much today that he wonders if he already has brain damage.
"Hmph!"
Floriana Sabina snorted and continued grilling her fish.
...
The next day, Rant Valo woke up from the chirping of the birds. He looked around and saw that he was lying on pieces of leaves.
There were 2 overcooked fishes beside him. The sticks were planted on the ground forming a scene of a fish standing.
"Really?"
Rant Valo couldn't help but be disappointed by the state of the fishes. His hunger almost disappeared seeing their horrible appearance.
"Whatever, food is food"
Rant Valo ate the food slowly and tried to not taste the bitter burnt parts. He stood up slowly to wash his face by the river. His body ached all over and he walked bit by bit.
After splashing his face with the cold river water, he approached the campfire. He saw Floriana Sabina meditating on a floor of leaves.
She opened her eyes as if sensing his presence. Rant Valo couldn't help but twitch his face when he remembered that there were clearly 7 pieces of fish that he gutted yesterday and he only got to eat two.
"Thanks"
Rant Valo's words were oozing with sarcasm as he thanked the now awake Floriana Sabina.
"Hmph! It's not like I cooked it for you because I felt bad, okay?"
As usual, Floriana Sabina snorted and went back to meditating. What she was actually doing is cultivating.
Cultivators enter meditation to cultivate. Cultivating improves a cultivator's strength and advances their stages.
"Okay"
Rant Valo was annoyed just seeing her face and walked beside the river. He grabbed a long sharp branch and waited for fish to swim beside the river.
Rant Valo had experience with spearfishing. A river passed beside their river and he learned to spearfish there. It was something he had to get good at quickly so he could eat. That is why he is good at it now. He is confident he can do it even with his aching body.
He waited for a bit before seeing a slow white fish move with the river current. He stabbed forward and pulled back. When he looked at the tip, the white fish was struggling on it.
Rant Valo slammed the fish with a rock to kill it. He didn't want it to jump back into the river after catching it. Fish are actually tenacious when their life is on the line. Even if they'll eventually die of blood loss, they'll still try to get back into the water.
He waited for another fish to come and this time it was a red one. He stabbed forward and pulled back. When he looked at the tip there was no fish. He looked down at the river and saw the fish swimming calmly.
Rant Valo tried to catch it several more times but it was too fast for him to catch. He stopped after trying 5 times and getting nothing but tiredness out of it.
Rant Valo caught several silver fishes and a few white ones. He didn't know what the difference between these three fishes are but the white ones are few in numbers and the red ones are rare but fast and hard to catch.
Rant Valo came back to the camp after gutting all the fishes. He saw the dead fire and couldn't help but facepalm himself. At their current state, asking her to start the fire would only embarrass him.
Floriana Sabina opened her eyes and saw the fishes in Rant Valo's hand and her eyes glowed brightly. She snapped her fingers and a white ember flew and started the fire. She even controlled some branches and twigs to fly toward the fire.
Rant Valo was amazed at her gluttony. She did everything without him even asking when she saw the fishes.
"Disciple, what are you waiting for? Cook them quick!"
Floriana Sabina couldn't just say that she burnt one fish and overcooked the rest to him could she? If Rant Valo was that good at gutting fishes then she believes that he can cook it well too.