'Eating hearts raw is fine, but any other meat should be cooked.'
The reason for this is because of some in-game lore. Since monsters have lots of mana in their hearts, most diseases or parasites can't survive there and the heart can be safely consumed.
"Ugh, I guess I need to make it the old-fashioned way." 'Is it weird how the only survival skill I know is how to make a campfire?'
He then left and collected some wood from the broken gate, making sure it was dry enough to use.
'I probably need to cut down some trees in advance and let them dry out in case I need them later, just like back home when I had to cut firewood with an axe.'
In order to eat the dried goblin meat, he proceeded to collect some decent-sized rocks, meticulously arranging them to form a protective circle around the area. With skilled precision, he used his dagger to dig a hole in the ground just outside his modest cave-like hideout.
Taking care to preserve his resources, he carefully severed a lock of his own hair, securing it as tinder alongside the small wood shavings he had gathered.
With great deliberation, he placed the meticulously arranged wood and kindling within the newly formed hole. Afterward, he selected a sturdy stick and a generously sized piece of wood, ensuring they were dry and suitable for ignition purposes. Understanding that the success of a roaring fire relied on technique and patience, he leaned close, struck the stick against the chunk of wood, and diligently worked to ignite the spark that would soon transform into a dancing flame.
Moments later, he had a nice campfire.
"... Yeah, I still think it's weird. How the hell is the only survival skill I know from my childhood growing up in that tiny-ass town?"
He then put some meat on a stick and used the fire to cook it, and it didn't have a smell like it did last time he made some.
'Seriously, all the stuff I learned in school was mostly forgotten, but somehow I still remember how to make a fire and cut and dry wood, but I can't remember a person's name that well.'
'Whatever, let's eat.'
He takes a bite of the now-cooked, dried goblin meat.
'I mean, it's not inedible. It still has a bad and sour taste, but I can eat this without wanting to vomit.'
He took a few more bites and finished eating shortly after.
'It could use some salt and pepper, and maybe some spicy peppers as well. That would go well with it, I think.'
'Okay, let's dry out the rest of my food and the bag that has lots of blood in it, and then practice breathing.'
After putting his stuff on the slimes, he then prepared for the Magic Technique by breathing in deep through his nose and exhaling out his mouth, trying to get used to holding his breath for 30 seconds as he tried to hold onto the mana that entered his lungs, as external mana doesn't like to get converted into a human's internal mana.
'Back home, I could hold my breath for a few minutes, but because of the mana in the air, it makes that harder to do,' he thought as he inhaled and exhaled, trying to get used to the feeling of mana in his lungs.
'God, this feels weird. It's like trying to hold back a sneeze that wants to come out.'
He then let out the air, repeated it a few times, coughed a few times, and sneezed once. He spent the rest of the day training.
As it got dark, he ate, then made sure the fire doesn't go out too quickly and covered himself with a small blanket he took from the inn.
'Hmm... Even though I practiced all day, I don't feel it. I think the king guy said it will be painful when training with this technique, but I feel fine.'
'How long are these things gonna stay here?' Also, the slimes really seem to like him, as they have stayed next to him the whole time he was training.
'Maybe I should name them...' he thought as he drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, he woke up lying on the ground, where he was leaning on the wall when he fell asleep last night.
'Is it morning already?' he thought sluggishly.
'I want to sleep a bit more, but sadly I can't.' He then tried to get up but realized he couldn't move.
"..."
"..."
'Well, this is a problem. It seems I'm unable to move at all,' he thought as he looked around the room to see if there was a reason for it, but only saw the slimes laying on his chest. ._.
'Huh, why can't I move? It's not the slimes, is it... No, that can't be the reason. Slimes are too weak and can only eat dead things.'
He was stuck there, unable to move.
'Welp, I guess I'm done for... Wait, could it be because of the Magic Technique?'
'But shouldn't I be in pain and not paralyzed?'
'... God damn it, I dont know enough about this kind of stuff to figure this kind of shit out...'
He ended up lying there for a few days.
'God, I'm bored,' he complained internally, as he hasn't been able to move. At least the slimes are keeping him company.
'... This sucks. Not only am I hungry and thirsty, but I really need to shit. Luckily, the slimes eat liquids, so peeing's not a problem. As gross as that is.'
'Welp, the sun is high in the sky. Let's see if I can move again. Yesterday, I was able to move a little, so I should be able to move more today.'
He was able to move a bit, only enough to sit up against the cave wall.
'Well, at least I can move, but killing a goblin in this state is impossible.'
The only good thing to come out of this is he was able to practice the Magic Technique out of boredom.
'I can feel my mana much better than a few days ago. This Magic Technique is amazing...wish i could remember the name of it.'
'If I meet my friends here, I'll teach it to them,' he thought with a smile as he was trying to pet the slimes.
...
..
.
'I think I'll name you Squishy, and that one on my knee will be Wobbly... I probably won't remember anyway, and they all look the same.'
'Anyway, let's get some water.' He weakly grabbed his Water staff and aimed above him into the ceiling of the cave as best as he could.
'Right there should work.'
'[Water Bullet]'
The tip of the staff launched off and hit the ceiling. He then fired a few more times.
The water he fired came back down in drops, so he opened his mouth to catch them.
'It's not much, but better than dying of thirst. If I didn't care about blowing a hole in my head, I would have put it in my mouth.'
The skill Water Bullet is a beginner skill that shoots a part of his elemental weapon about as fast as a handgun bullet, maybe a little slower. This is strong enough to kill a rank 0 monster but only annoy a rank 1 monster and take out their eyes.
He managed to dig a hole and relieve his bowels, and covered it with the dirt and slimes. Over the next few days, as his body recovered, all he could do was drink water.
'Really wish I had the higher-ranked skills right now. I would have water to drink and easy food to catch.'
Eventually, he was able to stand up and walk around, albeit weakly, and cooked the dried meat and ate it. He eventually recovered enough to move normally.
"Fuck, that was terrible. I honestly thought I was gonna die. But it took me about one week to recover enough to move and two more to recover fully. And even if I'm not full
y recovered, I can just eat a goblin heart," he said to himself as he stretched and moved his body a lot.
'The good thing is my mana control improved a lot, and now I can somewhat increase my strength. It's not by a lot, but if I had to put a number to it, I'd say it increases by about 0.5%? I'm not an expert, so I could be wrong.'
He left the cave and went out to hunt more goblins, in hopes of ranking up his weapon and getting stronger.