"Alright, what happened?" Victor asked. Xylus began to retell the events. He had taken a walk to figure out what Victor meant and ended up coming across a bunny that was running for it's life. He told the tale and when he ended, Victor simply nodded.

  "That was very dangerous." Victor told the child. "Your reaction needs work but at least you came out of that fight alive." He let out a sigh of relief next to the kid. "So where's the bunny and the wolf then? You said you had the wolf earlier but I don't see it."

  "Wolf and bunny, out." Xylus commanded. The wolf and bunny bodies appeared next to him. Victor raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  "How did you do that?" Victor asked.

  "Well, I can store it in this thing called Inventory."

  "Inventory?"

  "Mmmhm."

  "Hmm, it's like the glyph I used earlier, right?"

  "Yeah like that." Xylus nodded. Victor crossed his arms and nodded.

  "Alright, I guess that explanation will have to do. What else do you have in your Inventory then?" Victor asked.

  "My daggers."

  "Alright. Well, we have a wolf and a bunny. We could cut this up and eat them. Go find wood for the fire. We're near water so we should be fine. I have flasks we can scoop the water with." Victor told him.

  "Alright. Firewood. Got it." Xylus stood up and put pressure on his healed leg. He giggled in amusement before turning around and heading into the forest. It didn't take him long to find sticks. He chopped them up with his dagger, amused his dagger could easily cut through wood.

  "I should probably try not to chop wood with my daggers…" Xylus mentally noted as he carried a large stack of sticks back towards Victor.

  By the time he got back, Victor had already skinned the wolf and bunny, deboning the wolf meat and leaving them in fattier slabs while keeping the bunny in smaller chunks. There was a pot and pan with a couple of crystals sitting next to him.

  "You've got quite a lot on you." Victor commented as Xylus set it down.

  "We're gonna eat wolf and bunny meat?" Xylus asked, curious.

  "Mmmhm. I'm gonna make a stew with the bunny and probably mess around with wolf meat since I don't eat it often." Victor split the sticks in half and centered the sticks around the crystals. "Wanna see something cool?" Victor looked at Xylus. Xylus nodded, squatting down to look at the crystals. "These crystals are Fire crystals. They're really good for starting a fire. Every home comes with larger crystals that sit in the kitchen. To activate them you say, 'Igni.'"

  Xylus watched as the crystals lit up and flames started to erupt.

  "Now we just gotta set some stones around the flames so the fire doesn't spread." Victor reached into thin air, a white familiar glyph started to glow as his arm went through. He grabbed a bunch of rocks and started to set them on the ground. "Could you surround the sticks with those rocks?"

  "Okay." Xylus nodded and began to move the rocks. As soon as he finished circling one of the campfires with rocks, the rocks all glowed a red color and the fire intensified. "Woah!"

  "Ah, I forgot to tell you that those rocks increase the heat of the flame while containing the flame." Victor chuckled. He set the last rock in place and grabbed the pan and set it on top of one of the flames. "Could you scoop some stream water and put it in the pot for me?"

  Victor handed him the pot and Xylus stood up and went to the stream. He squatted and scooped water into the pot.

  "That should be enough." Xylus nodded, satisfied. He stood up and carefully brought the pot of water over. It was heavier than he thought it'd be, so his arms felt like they were gonna be pulled down with the pot.

  "Oh, give it here." Victor motioned. Xylus moved over towards Victor, who grabbed the pot. Xylus released his grip and pulled his hands out of Victor's grasp as Victor moved the pot and set it on the fire.

  [Quest Completed! New Quest: Training with Victor, Part 2!

  XP Gained: 30!

  Current XP: 85/200]

  "Alright, now let's get to the next part. We're gonna teach you some necessary skills you'll need to learn while you're with me." Victor told him.

  "What's that?" Xylus asked, sitting down next to his teacher.

  "Cooking!" Victor exclaimed. "I'll show you how to make rabbit stew and we'll fry some wolf meat with a combination of ingredients I have in my storage."

  [Chain Quest has been updated! Training with Victor, Part 3!

  Cooking! You're old enough to learn how to cook, right?

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Learn how to cook!

  Reward: 30 XP!]

  'Woah, it gave me a quest just like that? I wonder if it's because Mr. Cross is my teacher.' Xylus wondered.

  "Do you know how to cut vegetables?" Victor asked, pulling out a cutting board and knife. He handed it off to Xylus who set it on the ground as Victor pulled out some carrots and potatoes. He gave them off to Xylus who set them on the cutting board. Victor glanced inside the storage glyph and pulled out some small containers and set them off to his right.

  "Alright, that's about it. Give me the cutting board and I'll show you how to peel the carrots and potatoes. I'll cut one each and you try them." Victor told him. Xylus handed the stuff over and Victor moved himself to face Xylus. He began to peel the carrot and potato with the knife. "After that, you're gonna cut them like this." He shredded the carrot into tiny pieces before cutting them into bite sized pieces.

  "What about those?" Xylus pointed at the scraps.

  "Just make them bite size." Victor told him. He pointed the base of the knife at Xylus and motioned for him to grab it. "Now you cut."

  Xylus struggled to peel and cut the potatoes and carrots. It took him a while but under Victor's guidance, he did a decent job. Victor had cooked the chunks of rabbit meat and then dumped them into the pot of boiling water. He threw in some stuff and watched the liquid slowly start to thicken.

  "Dump the carrots and potatoes in after you're done." Victor instructed. Xylus dumped them in and Victor handed him a wooden spoon. "You watch that while I deal with the wolf meat." The sun had moved further towards the west by the time they were done making the food. The stew looked good and the wolf meat smelled amazing with whatever ingredients Victor had put in there.

  "Alright, now to eat." Victor grabbed two bowls and plates with utensils. He scooped a hearty amount of stew and dumped it into the bowl. He handed it over to Xylus, who took it and stared at the food he had helped makee.

  "Woah. It looks so good." Xylus commented.

  "Here, our experiment." Victor gave him a slab of cooked wolf meat. It had been rubbed with some dry spices and herbs Victor had put to the side earlier. Xylus set the stew to the side and thanked Victor for the food as he grabbed the plate. "Now we eat!" Victor told him. Xylus spooned some potatoes, carrots and rabbit into his mouth and verbally cooed in delight.

  "Wow this is good!" Xylus said, spooning another bite into his mouth.

  [Quest Completed! Training with Victor, Part 3!

  Rewarded 30 XP!

  Current XP: 115/200]

  "Mm, the steak wolf meat tastes pretty gamey." Victor frowned. "I guess I need to put more ingredients into it to make it taste better…" He forced himself to eat the wolf meat, spooning delightful stew in between bites. Xylus tried the wolf meat. He understood what Victor meant by 'gamey' after he bit into it. It had a funky smell and tasted kinda weird. The different flavors weren't meshing well and he wanted to spit it out, but forced himself to eat it for the sake of his teacher going through the hassle of experimenting with spices.

  They finished their food with loud sighs of relief. Xylus liked the rabbit stew but didn't think he would want to try wolf meat ever again.

  "We'll have to try harder with the rest of the wolf meat next time." Victor said aloud. "For now, they'll just have to come back with us." He took a sip from the flask he had pulled out while they were eating and drank the water from it. Xylus grabbed his flask and gulped the water down, emptying the flask.

  "Well, clean up and we'll head back home for today." Victor stood up. "Tomorrow will be more running and more hunting for you."

  "Oh, is that it?" Xylus asked.

  "Mmm, for now. Until you have more stamina and can keep up with me at a closer distance, we'll continue doing this." Victor answered. "Plus, you can practice fighting amongst the small game around here."

  "Small game?" Xylus asked, standing to follow Victor to the stream with his dirty dishes and utensils.

  "Mmm, they shouldn't pose too much of a threat but they should also challenge you. I'm surprised you even got a kill on the wolf." Victor told him, squatting next to the stream and washing his dishes in the water.

  "I don't know how to fight, Mr. Victor." Xylus told him.

  "Hmmm, but you did well with no training. I guess I could teach you a couple things. Fine, we'll run and build stamina and you'll train in the art of wielding those daggers with me. You and I will switch off hunting until then."