Frostfire Legacy

Around a small, circular, folding table, three chairs were set. Aster, Cassy, and Kali were all sitting around it, looking at the food that was prepared with as much care as possible.

Aster and Cassy both had one slice of steak, together with a full serving of noodle soup. Kali, on the other hand, had a small bowl of soup with two servings of steak, the best cuts that Aster got from the wolf.

"What are you waiting for?" Aster asked, smiling wryly. "Dig in before it gets cold."

Aster's seal's passive was a little weird at times. Usually, it returns all temperatures around a meter of Aster to room temperature. But when he was cooking, neither the fire nor the item being cooked were affected.

When plated, however, the passive would get applied once again after a few seconds of delay, returning the temperature to the median. As such, he had to move quickly to not let the soup or steak lose their warmth!

'Is it perhaps affected by what I'm doing or what I'm thinking?' He started to guess but decided to postpone it. 'First, we should eat.'

"Then I'll go first!"

Cassy, who had already been hungry since earlier, started to dig in. Using her fork, she picked up a strand of noodle and placed it between her lips, slurping it in one go with soup droplets flying from her lips.

"Phew...! Phew...!"

But it seemed that it was still too hot, as she started blowing smoke out of her mouth while gradually chewing. After a while, her expression changed from slight discomfort to definite bliss.

"Mmm~! This is good, Star! I wouldn't think you only had salty jerky as a base from just tasting it!" She commented before picking up the bowl and eating as if in a rush.

As if getting envious of Cassy eating her noodles deliciously, Kali turned to the small soup on her side, lifted it to her lips, and took a small sip.

"...!"

Her eyes opened wide in surprise as the complex flavors of salt, meat, and vegetables mixed. Honestly, she wasn't expecting much, but after tasting Aster's cooking firsthand, she started expecting more from her steak too!

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Lifting her knife and fork, Kali took a small slice and brought it to her mouth. The meat was still hot, but not too scalding, even to her, who had a cat's tongue, literally.

"This is...!" She exclaimed unconsciously. "So fucking good! Is this really wolf meat? Why does it taste better than the steak in my usual restaurant?!"

Although there was still a little gamey taste and smell, the tenderized meat was easy to chew. The flavor of the marinade and the butter mixing added a parade of flavors to her palate. It had a complex flavor despite being cooked in under half an hour!

"...?"

Aster was confused, however. He didn't do anything in particular, and the food should still taste as the ingredients do: a salty mix of meat and vegetables. However, when he tried the food himself, he was shocked.

'Why did the taste change?' He wondered.

He had a sip of the soup before he took it out of the flames, so he was aware that the flavor wasn't that good but still edible. However, right now, it felt as if he was eating noodle soup from a three-star restaurant instead!

"..."

But although he was bewildered, he decided to let the mystery slide for now. It's not like the food tasted bad after the change, but rather got upgraded, so he had not much qualms with it!

With their meal getting an upgrade for whatever reason, the three ate with gusto. In just under ten minutes, they all finished their serving and were thinking of touching the serving that was set aside for tomorrow morning.

"... No. We can't. We should restrain ourselves, or else we wouldn't have food tomorrow!" But Aster's words stopped the other two.

They didn't bring much food, as they were only assuming an overnight stay. As such, there's no way they can eat the portion that was for tomorrow. They can't try out wolf meat again, either, as they don't have enough condiments anymore.

"Understood..." Kali nodded with a sad expression before returning to her usual frown a moment later. "Then, first, let's discuss our guard rotation."

They are sleeping in a danger zone, so they can't all sleep at the same time. Someone had to keep watch while the others slept!

"Stupid Rabbit, you're the first watch. After two hours, wake me up. Aster will be last."

As if it were the most natural thing to do, Kali took on the most troublesome shift, the middle one. It was problematic as you couldn't sleep in one go, needing to interrupt it midway.

If you're not used to it, then you won't be getting any rest and will feel even more tired instead.

"Alright! Leave it to me!" Cassy exclaimed while flexing her nonexistent biceps. "I won't let a single monster come close!"

"Good. Then I'll go to sleep first. If you doubt you can handle a situation even a little, wake me up."

Kali didn't linger, however, and quickly moved to the tent on the right. They only had two tents, so Aster moved to the other one after wishing Cassy good luck.

The tent wasn't big enough to sleep with one's leg stretched fully, as expected of the cheapest selection. Still, it should be bearable if you bend your knees and sleep sideways.

Aster took off his scarf and windbreaker, using them as pillows and sheets, respectively. He took a deep breath before closing his eyes and going to sleep.

"Aster? Wake up."

And after an unknown amount of time, he was stirred awake by Kali's soft voice. "It's your turn to watch the camp." She added.

"... Oh. Alright."

Although still sleepy, he stood up and left the tent. To show a little appreciation for Kali's "sacrifice," he left his scarf and windbreaker for her to use. She could use them as a pillow, blanket, or bed to have a more restful sleep than sleeping on the hard, prickly ground.

"Hnnngh!"

After a short stretch, he looked around, only to see a pile of dead wolves forming a small tower by the side. Seeing half of them had their necks bending in weird angles and others had no head or a bloody, gaping hole in their necks and bodies, he could tell who killed which.

Aster pulled a chair toward the campfire, sitting down in front of it while staring at the gently waving flames.

"We're almost halfway there... We should make it before the day ends at our pace." He mused while letting out a short yawn.

Their first overnight in the dungeon was about to end.