Returning To The Classics
Edrick found himself sitting in a pond once again. He had stopped using the heating of the water by the sun to coordinate himself, though. Before he had even reached the Great Plains again, he noticed the temperature ramping up as the sun proved bright and hardly obstructed by clouds.
The sun was rising early and setting late as well. It was as though Eltysia had suddenly entered summer. However, from what Anoteros had learned by discussing with Underwood Elves, there was no true seasonal cycle in this realm.
The seasonal cycle was already a bit odd outside the realm, but here, it was completely random. It was nice and sunny most of the time, but out of the blue, periods of summer-like heat, powerful downpours, or even snowfall could manifest and last for up to a month straight.
It seemed like the first of those 'seasons' had begun, leading Edrick to not be alone in the pond. The Grass Buffalo herd he had ‘tamed’ had decided to dip in as well. Not that he minded. They knew not to disturb him, and it led to some watery activities once the cultivation period for Guardian Hippopotamus Physique ended.
The scion felt that he had made good progress with this technique since the start... But he had noticed a sharp decline in results recently. It seemed like he had approached a bottleneck of sorts.
‘I should probably reduce the training time with it for now to put more focus on other things…’
He saw no good way to overcome that bottleneck in a timely manner. Therefore, it was best to leave it at that for now and instead pour more effort into cultivating Twisted Weapon Encyclopedia, Beast Lord’s Authority, and Five-Legged Devil Goat Physique. The last one also allowed him to make progress toward acquiring boons.
Boons were basically free, as acquiring them only required Edrick to indulge in things he wanted to partake in anyway. As such, the freed time in his schedule allowed for a daily orgy with the bestial bovids… Or would it count as a reverse Lagneiefest? Edrick was the center of all attention after all…
In any case, the Grass Buffaloes were very pleased with such an arrangement. Each and every one of them would get to enjoy special attention from Anoteros in such a scenario, and they loved every second of it. His nourishing elixir was a wonderful delight that felt far more nourishing than anything else they could get their hooves on.
The only thing that seemed to bum them out a little bit was the fact that their beloved master’s seed could not take root within the females. They wanted nothing more than to carry his strong, noble-blooded descendants. Alas, it was not possible.
Edrick could only cross-breed with sasquatches and with species already compatible with humans. He did not have any bloodline of anything even remotely close to them.
Following the group activities, the scion would move on to practice his weapon cultivation technique. It was proving to be capable of progressing surprisingly quickly. Edrick was now able to summon and unsummon the Arm Of Depravity at an acceptable speed. It also worked with other weapons he had used for a little while as well.
Though he could only store one weapon at a time at the moment–The honour naturally went to the Arm Of Depravity. It was by far the strongest weapon in his possession.
Today, he did not go hunting, as he had accumulated a fair amount of meat already. Instead, he settled down in his camp.
It had grown to an admirable degree. He had erected short, spiked walls using wood from trees he had chopped down and processed. He also made good use of the fact that he had picked a spot beneath a tree with a large, weeping canopy, making a simple but effective roof above his head using the branches and leaves that were already present.
...Coupled with a spacious tent that he had made from the ground up with his own two hands and filled with blankets made from beast fur, he could easily get through both heat and cold without a problem.
He had even gone as far as to make the tent large enough to easily accommodate him, Oswulf, and Ansbach. So if the snowfall he had been told about were to come, he would have no problem dealing with it whatsoever.
For now, though, night was still far away...
Using a pan shaped like a Wok from his previous world, he was cooking some still-fresh Wood-Antler Deer meat alongside some local herbs, using spices that Linmin had insisted should be brought along.
The campfire crackled pleasantly.
Edrick would not pretend to be a master cook. He was pretty good at it, but there was a reason why he let Linmin handle it when at the residence. Though cooking with his second wife from time to time was always nice.
Anoteros had probably gotten better at cooking thanks to Linmin.
The final result was a bit soup-like as the meat had been cooked in a hefty amount of the beast’s blood. With several eyes just floating upon its surface, it was a bit reminiscent of that one dish served in a popular adventure movie, in a scene that was supposed to not so subtly clue in the viewer that the locals of the area might not be good fellows.
When Edrick had seen that movie–And quite liked it–He had actually felt that this particular dinner scene was actually quite effective in making him hungry. Had he been in the position of the main characters, he would have been quite pleased with the meal.
Oswulf and Ansbach seemed to agree with his culinary preferences, but perhaps sharing the same tastes as wolves was not something to be particularly proud of… In any case, they were quick to sit or lie down next to him to receive some food for themselves, and also for a chance to lick the pan clean at the end.
“Well… What are you doing all the way over here? Come closer”
The scion tapped the ground with his palm, prompting the Mountain Sasquatch to come closer.
Mountain Sasquatches were omnivorous, but their antisocial tendencies made them eat mostly leaves and other forms of vegetation. Meat was often scavenged for them, but it was important that they got some every so often, as they would develop deficiencies otherwise.
Having been attempting to eat a bird when he found her, she was naturally quite content with eating so much meat since he brought her here. She was still a bit shy and intimidated by his lordly presence, but since she had not tried to leave, it was a sign that her instincts were telling her to stay.
Or, in other words, being in close proximity to a sasquatch lord who treated her well was causing her to spontaneously want to be ‘claimed’, triggering heat outside of the season.
Anoteros popped an eyeball into his mouth. It burst with blood that seeped down his chin. The blood was quickly licked by Oswulf directly on his face… Though her tongue clearly lingered against his lips longer than they should have.
“Mmh… Getting eager for it, aren't we?”
He put his arm under her throat, petting her mane as he pulled her head closer and kissed her muzzle.
“I’ll take good care of you when we get back to the residence, alright? My chambers should have been properly extended to link up to your own little rest area… I’ll help inaugurate it”
Oswulf rubbed against him in approval. Albeit a bit impatient to receive some special affection, she was quite happy to have a specific time to look forward to at least. Also… It was rather pleasant to be treated so nicely. She would have settled with being claimed out in the wild and open, but it seemed that Anoteros wanted to do things more privately with her, as a special thought for one of his bestial companions.
Regardless of the crest, Oswulf did hold a special spot in the household, after all.
Edrick glanced at the Mountain Sasquatch.
Once he was done eating, she would be the next one on the menu…