It was nighttime and the forest was pitch-black dark. Various strange sounds and cries of unknown beasts rose and fell around the cave that Zed and Alan had chosen to take refuge in for the night, forming a cackle of disharmonious din.
Deep within the cave, Zed sat perched atop Alan's shoulder as he stared intently at the stick of skewered python meat roasting above the fire. The smoke from the fire drifted sideways, funneling out of the cave in an orderly manner.
Naturally, this was Zed's doing. When Alan started the fire in the beginning, he made an amateur mistake of setting the fire in the middle of the cave. The smoke had filled the entire cave, causing the two of them to choke and run out of the cave in a panic. As this was Alan's first time traveling in the wild, he didn't know any basic survival skills.
Zed had to direct all the smoke out of the cave with his telekinesis ability before they could go back inside.
He didn't mind it, of course, since it was a new and fun experience. Also, this simple manipulation of his mental energy did not cost him much effort.
Instead, he was more concerned about the sizzling meat sitting above the fire.
The heavenly fragrance of roasted meat filled the entire cave, causing Zed's tongue to salivate uncontrollably.
This was a completely new smell previously alien to Zed. His olfactory senses were peaked to the maximum, causing his brain to go into overdrive.
"How can there be such a heavenly smell in the world!" He gasped aloud. A dollop of drool dripped from his mouth as he spoke, adding to the wet patch on Alan's shoulder.
Alan: "..."
Were the nutritional pellets really that bad? Even for a mouse that had never left the lab before, it seemed a little too enthusiastic!
He felt like his bones were about to be soaked through with saliva.
"Is it ready yet?" Zed asked for the umpteenth time.
"It should be cooked soon..." Alan turned the skewer over the fire, evening out the roast across the other side of the meat. As a foody, he was quite confident in his cooking skills. This ample figure of his had not developed overnight. He had roasted countless skewers in his life, and was naturally very proficient in it. But, he'd never worked with mutated beast meat before. It was quite an expensive ingredient because of the difficulty involved in obtaining them. In fact, he'd never even tasted mutated beast meat himself, so he wasn't quite sure of how to cook them.
He simply treated the Obsidian Coil meat like normal meat and roasted it over the fire directly.
"If only I had some spices to work with..." Alan mumbled.
"Spices! I want some spices!" Zed cheered enthusiastically. He didn't know what spices were, but it sounded tasty.
Alan ignored him and continued turning the skewer in a slow but controlled manner. Finally, he raised the skewer to his mouth and took a small bite.
"AHH! Delicious!" His eyes widened with pleasure. He had never tasted anything like this before!
The python meat was roasted to tender perfection. The outside of the meat was slightly burned and crispy, and under it, the meat seemed to melt upon contact with his mouth while retaining a nice chewy texture. The instant that he bit into it, a rich oily taste of umami exploded on his tongue, elevating the senses on his taste buds to a new high.
As the meat traveled down his throat, a faint aftertaste of sweetness continued to linger on his tongue, slowly spreading to every corner of his mouth.
Letting out a satisfied sigh, Alan dropped all reservations as he took another large bite. A look of pure bliss hung on his face as he chewed.
Zed didn't lose any time as he joined in and started devouring the meat voraciously.
"Amazing! This is so good!" Zed exclaimed between mouthfuls. As he ate, he manipulated his mental energy to pull more meat from the gigantic python. Then, the meat flew across the cave and hovered atop the fire. Zed mimicked Alan's method and made the meat rotate slowly over the blaze. Soon, another surge of fragrance burst out, adding to the thick smell of roasted meat in the cave.
In the blink of an eye, the first skewer of meat was gone. Zed licked his oily paws and cleaned his whiskers in a methodical manner.
"I've decided! When I go to the human city, I'll change my name to World Taster! Then, I'm going to explore this world with my tongue. I'll taste the entire world!"
"Zed..." Alan picked up Zed and placed him on his palm. He stared at the little mouse and said in a serious tone, "Please take me with you!"
Zed looked at him and blinked cutely.
"Pfft! Hahahaha! HAHAHAHA!!!"
The two suddenly burst into joyous laughter.
"I'll taste the entire world!!!" Alan mimicked Zed's squeaky voice and lumbered around the cave with a menacing expression on his face.
Zed ran circles around him joyously. "Put me down! I'm so afraid of heights!" He screamed theatrically as he puffed up his body like a fat mouse and fell to the ground.
More laughter rang out into the night.
In the sky above the cave, a large eagle flew right into the plume of smoke, distracted by the ridiculous laughter below. It burst out of the cloud of smoke with ashes on its face, coughing and cursing. "F*cking lunatics!" It spat and squawked in anger. Then, it veered around and released a sizable dollop of fresh excrement which landed at the entrance of the cave.
Outside, the few small animals who had ventured over because of the fragrance, jumped up in fright and scampered away upon hearing the sudden burst of noise.
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Zed and Alan fell into a deep slumber after filling their bellies with food. The night was extremely peaceful because of the presence of the menacing Obsidian Coil's head which was placed right inside the mouth of the cave.
When they woke up, the sun was already sitting high in the sky.
"Zed, help me retrieve the horns from this guy's head. We can sell these for a small fortune in the stronghold."
"Okay!" With a light leap, Zed landed atop the Obsidian Coil's head. Then, the tip of his tail turned black and he swiped it towards the base of the two horns.
The horns that were said to be exceedingly tough and durable were detached with ease. Zed controlled them to float to the grown gently. This was the most valuable part of the snake, even exceeding the value of its heart and gallbladder.
As Alan held the detached horns in his hands, he could feel the smooth, rough texture of the blackened surface. There were intricate curves and patterns running along its sides like grooves, giving it an exotic appearance. The surface of the horns was slightly cool to the touch, but not unpleasantly so. They felt surprisingly light, considering their size and density. Running his fingers along the curved edges, he could feel a keen sharpness slicing against his skin. He could easily imagine the horns being crafted into a pair of short scimitars.
In addition, the horns also have other unique attributes that make them even more valuable. The horns can be grinded into powder and used to concoct medicine, among other things. They were very highly sought after.
Since the Obsidian Coil's heart and gallbladder were quite large and he didn't have anything to store them in, he could only bring the horns back.
After Alan stuffed the mutated python horns into his bag, the two set off again. They had already come quite close to the stronghold, and would arrive in a few more hours.
As the sun rose higher into the sky, Alan finally stepped out of the forest, his breath ragged and his face flushed with exhaustion. His body was completely soaked in sweat, and he looked as if he'd just climbed out of a pool, fully clothed.
This was a flat plain with tall grasses reaching to the knees. About 400 meters ahead, was the main road that led to Stronghold 51.
"Let's dig over there..." Alan took a moment to catch his breath before pointing to a tree not far away.
"F*ck, I wish I had my hoverbike!" He complained as he trudged through the tall grass. Alan had not forgotten about his hoverbike. He'd spent all his money on it, but after only enjoying it for a few days, it was thrown away in the desert. It was his very first vehicle, and naturally, his heart ached whenever he thought about it. But for some reason, he had never considered going back to retrieve it. Perhaps the mental trauma was too great, and subconsciously, it wasn't even an option for him to return to that place.
"Don't be sad, I'll bring it back for you later." Zed patted him on the head and assured him with a confident smile. In his opinion, the desert was really quite close to their current location. It would only take him a few minutes to go back and forth even if he flew slowly.
"Really?! Thank you, Zed!" Alan's spirits perked up in an instant. "Let's start digging first. I'm dying to go home and take a bath!"
"Okay." Zed nodded and laid down on the grass.
"Eh? Aren't you going to help me?" Alan asked with a confused expression.
"You need the exercise..." Zed replied with a yawn and closed his eyes. The warm rays of the midday sun felt especially nice on his underbelly, and there was also a sweet scent of grass all around him. It was so comfortable.
"Ah! I love the outside world!"
Alan: "..."