Both girls were bringing the wood for the whole day creating a big pile of it and now they were tired.
-That's more than enough.
Paul said when they wanted to go and bring more.
Both girls stopped and looked at him as he waved for them to come near the fire and rest.
They both were a little afraid of him but they still did as he said and sat on the ground next to the fire.
Paul was impressed by their work and he had given them the roasted rabbit legs that he had promised them as payment for the wood.
The moment they received their food both girls started to eat, almost burning their mouths on the hot meat.
They were both hungry and tired from all the work that they had done during the day.
Paul watched them eat their food like they were starving and he also started his meal as thanks to them showing up in the morning he forgot to eat breakfast.
They ate in silence sitting on the opposite sides of the bonfire.
Only the younger of the sisters looked at him from time to time with a bit of fear as she was still afraid of him since he almost killed her.
But seeing that he was also eating without moving from his spot she continued to fill her belly.
The older of the girls also was on guard but she was certain that if he wanted to do something to them then they could escape quite easily since he really couldn't walk.
The little girl ate her fill and with a full belly and how tired she was she hugged her sister and fell asleep immediately.
The older girl moved her in a way that the little girl's head was lying on her tights and caressed her head as she slept.
Paul was in a deep thought right now as he was trying to decide if he should ask the girls to stay here and help him in exchange for food and protection as the clanless goblin females usually didn't end well and mixed bloods had it even worse from what he had read in his previous life.
If they managed to find another goblin clan that was willing to accept them then they would at best become servants that liven just a little better than slaves but if the clan did not accept them then they would be used for producing offspring to all the males in the clan and nothing more so it was risky for them to attempt to join another clan.
On the other hand without a clan they were almost certain to be killed or captured by some bandits or slave traders and sold off to live for the rest of their lives as slaves.
For some reason that he didn't even know himself he didn't want them to end up like that.
-Do you want to stay here and help me with work?
He finally decided to ask.
The older girl was stunned by the sudden question.
She never suspected that this human would ask them to stay here and work for him.
-Why you ask?
She asked, not understanding why he would want them to stay.
-As you can see I can't walk so moving around is hard for me.
He answered her question.
-If you will stay and help me then it would be easier for me and you would have food to eat and a place to rest.
She thought for a while and it was a good deal for the sisters as they wouldn't have to worry about hunger and they could have a place to sleep with fire to warm them up in the cold nights.
What's more,she knew that their fate was looking grim no matter if they were accepted by another clan or not.
On the other hand this man kept his word when they brought the wood he did feed them and the amount of meat that he had given them would last them at least another day and two if they ate less.
-You want we serve you?
She asked just to be sure.
-I want you to help me and in exchange for your help I will feed you and give you a place to sleep.
He explained.
-So you not master,we not slaves?
She asked, not understanding what he meant.
For her,the only way she knew how this kind of thing worked was a master and servant or a slave way.
-You will not be slaves and if you want to leave then you can do that at any time.
Paul said patiently.
He knew that she was intelligent but being raised by the goblins she only knew what she had experienced in her clan.
This was a new concept for the girl and she had a hard time understanding how exactly this would work.
Bringing wood in exchange for food was like a trade between the clans so she understood that but staying and working for longer was something that was new to her.
After thinking it over for a while she decided to accept this proposition,mostly because they would have food and she didn't want her younger sister to be hungry again if she could help it.
-We stay,we work, you give food.
She finally said, nodding her head.
-Good then you can use the shelter as i wont be sleeping in it tonight.
Paul said pointing at his primitive lodging.
The girl nodded once more then took her sister and went inside to get some sleep.
Paul still wasn't sure if he had made the right choice but now that he had asked her and she accepted the terms he would honor the agreement.
After some time he heard that both girls' breaths were slow and stable indicating that they were both asleep.
The sun had already hidden over the horizon and he decided that it was time to cultivate
For some reason he always preferred to cultivate at night and he was curious why that was but soon he had stripped his clothes and started to cultivate as always.
The hours went by one after the other and his cultivation went up steadily. He had reached the twentieth level of the body cleansing stage quite fast as he was already near to the breakthrough.
For now the cultivation progressed quite fast but these were just the beginning levels of the first stages in both Qi and Mana cultivation later on it would take him days or even weeks to go up a single level.
Around midnight he managed to break through to twenty first level and he decided to stop there as the stench from the impurities was getting worse with each level.
After bathing in the river again he got back to the fire and started cultivating Mana.
This time however he didn't stop cultivating until it was dawn as he wanted to reach the highest level that he could and he managed to reach eighteenth level and he came close to achieving nineteenth but he was too tired to attempt another breakthrough.
The more he cultivated his Qi the longer he could cultivate his mana as Qi strengthened his body and it could withstand more power being channeled through it at the same time the more mana he had the stronger his mind had become loving him to accelerate the conversion process of gathered Qi which required a lot of focus especially as he purified it at the same time reducing the absorbed amount but increasing its power.
When he opened his eyes he saw that both girls were sitting on the opposite side of the bonfire and eating the meat from the rabbit legs they earned the day before.
Seeing that his shelter was empty now he told the girls to gather some more fire wood and keep the fire from going out.
After they both nodded he crawled into his shelter and fell asleep.