Damian smiled at the Monkey Beast and stroked its soft fur before eating the slab of cooked beast meat that it handed to him.

The Moose Beast Meat tasted heavenly despite being seasoned only with salt and cooked basically as it melted in Damian's mouth and he felt the energy stored within the meat of the Moose Beast be absorbed into his body.

Assisting the recovery of his body and injuries along with his Internal Energy, Damian was enjoying the delicious meat of the Moose Beast and was slowly beginning to recover.

Damian and the intelligent and understanding Monkey Beast kept swapping between cooking the beast meat and eating, which was efficient and fair, and both were enjoying the company of each other.

The Monkey Beast was very hyper and wanting to spar and play with Damian, but seeing how injured and fatigued he was, it stayed calm and sat calmly beside Damian when it was its turn to eat.

It leant against Damian and he was unsure why the beast saved him and was so attached to him, while also comfortable with him, but Damian appreciated it and was slowly also liking the beast.

All the meat that Damian had carved from the body of the Moose Beast, which was enough to feed an entire village, was eaten by Damian and the Monkey Beast.

Damian was able to eat so much because of the fatigued and injured state that he was in, while the Monkey Beast seemed to be able to eat so much because its stomach was a bottomless pit.

"Come, we will go up to the top of the tree and we will sleep there. I need to rest to recover and although beasts will be attracted by the smell of cooked beast meat, I can't travel in the state I am in and it is probably safest if we stay in the territory of the Moose Beast" stated Damian.

He was unsure whether he completely trusted the unusual and unpredictable Monkey Beast, but he had no choice but to trust it in his current situation and so far, it hadn't shown any signs of hostility.

"For now, you are my companion and as long as you help me, I will give you as many beast cores and beast meat as you can eat," said Damian as he threw over a rank 2 beast core that he had in his bag.

As long as the Monkey Beast cooperated with him, Damian was willing to pay it with beast meat and beast cores that he couldn't carry and didn't have much use for anyway.

In return, he would have a powerful companion and also a fun companion that would keep his company and make his time in the beast woods and hunting other beasts less boring.

The Monkey Beast had a wide smile on its face as it began jumping onto and around Damian who had regained some strength.

Despite regaining some strength, it seemed unlikely that he would be able to climb up to the top of the tree and his body was still in quite a lot of pain and fatigued even after all the beast meat that he consumed.

His body still needed time to rest and digest all of the energy that he had consumed through the meat of the Moose Beast and even after sleeping, Damian would need to circulate his energy and cultivate for at least a few hours to aid his recovery and be able to unleash his full power safely.

The Monkey Beast, seeing that Damian was still in pain and had a hesitant expression as they approached the tree, understood what he was thinking.

Damian went towards the tree and was about to begin climbing despite the strain he was feeling, knowing that it was his best and only current option for a place to rest, while he left the bag for the Moneky Beast to carry up.

However behind him, he sensed something unusual, but it was only a faint feeling and he was unsure what it was as he turned around to find the Monkey Beast had changed to its adult form.

Damian was unsure what form was its original form and whether the Monkey Beast's ability was to switch between forms or shrink itself, but either way, it was an incredible ability to observe.

It went against all theories of mass and energy that Damian had been taught and he couldn't understand how such an ability was possible, while he was also curious as to what the limits and capabilities of such an unusual ability were.

He was amazed and dazed for a moment, but in that instant, he was swooped up by the Monkey Beast that in that form was much larger than him, and yet it was surprisingly still very nimble and agile.

Within a second, it easily climbed up to the top of the tree that was dozens of metres tall, as it placed Damian on the large branch before climbing back down.

Bringing up the large bag with ease, it placed it in front of Damian before closing its eyes.

With its bright orange eyes closed, it suddenly focused and Damian sensed that same weird feeling that was coming from the Monkey Beast as it shrunk back to its smaller, cuter form.

It looked at Damian's impressed and amazed expression as it smiled proudly and its emotional awareness, although not on the level of a normal human, was incredible to see in a beast.

"I am going to sleep now and you should leave" stated Damian as although he liked the beast that had helped him a lot and could still be a help, he was unsure whether it would be dangerous for it to rest near him.

The Monkey Beast seemed to understand what Damian said, but it shook its head before diving into his arms and snuggling up beside him.

Damian had Utsusu in his mind telling him not to trust the beast, but for the first time since integrating with Utsusu, he acted against his advice as he smiled at the cute Monkey Beast that lay in his arm.