*Whoosh*

I return back to the village square and see my lizard brothers waiting with anticipation.

“Big Brother!”

“Teacher!”

“Yo”

I give them a silent wave and head towards them. Looking round I see that none of the girls are here yet.

“Ok, so results so far; Zzoid, you’re doing good, you even went all chivalrous suicide for her.

However me and you may have to have a talk about some of the things you say”

“I look forward to our alone time”

*Twitch*

I really don’t believe that he doesn’t notice what he says…

“Moving on, Zzand…I have nothing to say”

“Big brotherrr” He whines

“Zzard, you’re not much better”

“I know teacher…it’s just strange to talk to women” Him and Zzand nod at that. Those two need some serious training

“hmm…I’ll give you all couple of pointers and goals for the rest of tonight ok?”

“Ok!”

“So let’s begin with aggressive tactics”

…

…

*Whoosh*

“Pinky” Zzand runs up to the pillar of light that is the well endowed minor.

He gives her a hug and she looks slightly bewildered but I see that she writes it off as nothing much…

“Good to see you too Zzand” She returns the hug and I see Zzand’s tail waggle vigorously.

Plan 1, success.

Zzand stops the hug quickly after and looks down sadly

“It’s a shame we didn’t kill the thing…I was really hungry for Octopus”

“Don’t worry; we will get it this time. We’ll kill it for sure!” Zzard walks up and pats Zzand’s

downtrodden head

“Ok!” he gives a bright smile and I see Zzard subtly putting a hand on her PinkyS’ shoulder while sighing in relief…

She accepts or doesn’t notice his hand but she looks happy that Zzand is happy.

So that’s one bridge built…just need to maintain it now.

*Whoosh*

“My loli-princess, this lizard is unworthy of your presence” Zzoid kneels down towards her

All good so far

“Oh you” She blushes slightly “…I don’t believe you’re unworthy”

“I believe I am unworthy of you, so allow me to prove my worth by guarding you”

“…Ok, I’ll allow your ‘unworthy’ self to guard me” She adopts a royal pose and offers her hand.

Heh, although she looks like a kid, she’s still an adult…she probably knows what’s going on…

“Yes, my loliness” He takes her hand and gives it a light kiss.

*Cough cough*

“Can we stop the atmosphere please” I whine towards them all.

Everyone blushes upon me pointing it out so bluntly. Perfect, that kind of atmosphere can't stay up for too long in this stage of the relationship.

“Just because Baila isn’t here, are you jealous?” Zzoid sticks a forked tongue at me.

Hey this wasn’t in the plan!

*Twitch*

“Let’s go find her”

*Whistles*

A chorus of wolf whistles comes from the others as I turn around to walk out the village. Damnit Zzoid, stop making life difficult for me.

Feeling a bit hot around the ears, I quickly rush out of the village, with the party in tow.

“Wait a second, where is Baila?” Zzand points out, finally noticing

“She’s waiting with a present”

“Oh…so that’s why you were smiling so much earlier, Teacher”

Zzoid and the girls don’t say anything but grin widely…they already figured it out it seems…

They stop their whistling as we head towards the walking rabbits. Ah, time to get grinding again

…

…

(Baila’s POV)

*Yawwwn*

If only I had more strength…I wouldn’t have to wait here bored as hell.

About 30 minutes ago, everyone died and Joat just sent me a message saying they’re just finishing off their grinding.

30 minutes…there was not much to do in the aftermath of the battle: I collected all the dropped lilies of everyone, which amounted to a little over 300.

The Kraken finally died when I punched its puffy head. And I got the worst blood shower I could imagine. At least it wasn’t as bad as ‘that’ time…

However, I didn’t even bother trying to move the Kraken, because no way in hell, am I even going to budge it an inch. Furthermore, the things fell back down into the pond, destroying whatever remaining lilies there were…

Good thing we picked the herbs beforehand.

The recollecting took a couple of minutes and I found a large squashed, hairy patch…Apexus?

What was he doing here? Well whatever, not like I’m going to see him again. Cheapskate doesn’t have anything on him.

*Rustle*

“I swear it was around he-”

…

..

.

“YOU!”

…

…

(Joat’s POV)

“Big brother! I see a large spot of stumps up ahead”

“Perfect, we’re here then”

We walk into the stumpy land.

*Whistle*

“Damn, no wonder you got killed, looks like an earthquake happened”

Thanks for the insight Zzoid

“Yeah, but dying was totally worth it”

They raise their eyebrows at me questioning my sanity

I ignore them and move towards the small, squished, hairy mass.

Picking it up for the party to see, there’s a couple of second delay before they get it.

“Hahahah! Oh, that poor Apeshit”

The lizard brothers and I chuckle at the misfortune that had befallen Apexus. But the girls look a bit unsure as whether to feel pity or laugh…

“Can we get moving? Because I’m getting hungry for Octopus” PJ rubs her hands in anticipation

We continue through the stumpy land and quickly find ourselves next to the lake

…

..

.

“How the hell are we going to get it out of there?”

Everyone looks dumbfounded on that idea; the entire Kraken, although a tiny bit deflated, is in the pond, with its tentacles hanging out the edge. What a lovely view.

“Get your back into it you worthless Ape!”

We look up from the dead Kraken

…

..

.

Apeshit? And Baila?

I can see Apeshit dragging a cut tentacle onto the grassland by the pond. Baila is behind him ordering him around like a drill sergeant.

I sit down and spawn a forest berry I picked as we grinded.

Eating my makeshift popcorn I watch the show. The lizard trio do the same and the girls half-reluctantly follow.

Apeshit leaves the tentacle on the grassland and runs to the pond. He jumps onto the Kraken, causing a slight quiver, and then he starts cutting away at the end of another tentacle.

Baila gives him various colorful descriptions of his worthlessness and as she does so, she spots us and gives us a little wave.

We watch the show of Apeshit repeatedly bringing the tentacles out, till only 3 were left.

At this point, the Kraken slid further into the pond due to lack of support…

*BOOM*

It fell a couple of metres…well this isn’t good…for Apeshit! Hahaha.

Though…I feel like I should help

…

..

.

Nah.

Apeshit slides down the side of the waterless pond and after cutting the tentacle off…he looks at Baila for help, since he’s stuck…

“Don’t worry Apexus, I’ll get someone to help you”

She then looks at us and motions for us to help

Guess we have to work if we want to eat some octopus.

The men go towards the hole and it’s the best sight to see Apeshit’s hopeful face crumble in fear.

I mean we did skin him…even at 20% pain, that’s pretty brutal.

He tries his best to scramble up the opposite side of the pond, but scrambling up a couple of metres of an almost vertical dirt wall, isn’t that easy.

“Don’t worry Apeshit, we’re not here to kill you. We’re here to help with the tentacles”

“I DON’T WANT YOU GUYS CLOSE TO ME”

Understandable

“Apexus, I promise that as long as I’m here, they won’t kill you” Baila offers him some comforting words, while swallowing her own vomit it seems. Oh yeah, she didn’t like him at all didn’t she.

Must’ve been difficult to say that.

“…you promise?”

“Promise”

He calms down somewhat and stops clambering up the dirt wall.

Me and the guys head down into the pond and quickly feel the almost rubbery skin of the Kraken under our feet

We saunter up to the half-cowering Apeshit and grab the cut tentacle. Ah, it feels good to see that bastard cowering towards us.

Dragging it to the edge of the pit…jesus that thing is heavy and huge! It’s longer than all 5 of us laying down head to toe!

Pushing it up the wall somewhat, we see the girls grab it at the tip and pull at it.

With the combined effort of 8, we get the tentacle out of the pond.

The remaining two tentacles go the same way, without any problems.

Climbing out the pond, with much effort, we walk towards the girls.

I stop and turn to Apeshit, who is a decent way behind us, for precaution?

“You’re free to go…for now” I dismiss him with a little threat; it wouldn’t do to just let him think he’s not my enemy anymore. I am grateful for his small bit of work though.

“T-t-tthank you!” He is almost in tears as he sprints back into the forest and out of sight.

Hmm, I don’t know whether that was tears of joy or tears from losing all semblance of pride and masculinity…Probably both?

Nevermind him though, I have more delicious things to do.

I turn back to the party, who are busy punching down a tree

“So how big is our campfire going to be?”

“Huuuge!” PJ and Zzand shout out

“Yep! We have to cook an entire tentacle so it’s got to be big!” Zzoid puts it in logical sense

“Great…so does anyone know how to cook Kraken?”

…

..

.

Right, no one thought of that did they…

“I can cook, somewhat?” Baila, you don’t sound very confident of your own cooking skills.

“I’ve never cooked Kraken before, but I can cook” PinkyS states with a bit more confidence

“I CAN COOK LIKE A BEAST!” I shout, brimming with confidence…

Everyone looks surprised, except Baila and Zzoid…maybe, no they definitely know what I’m up to

“Really?” PJ voices the general atmosphere

“Don’t be so surprised PJ, how do you think I have this great body?”

“Character creation”

Well you’re a bit blunt aren’t you?

“…” Everyone’s holding in their chuckles. You better.

“Anyways, the matter stands, I can cook”

“Ok, ok master chef. How about you ask for a real cook on the friends list while you dazzle us with your skills” Baila, you’ve got a little something dripping from your mouth…oh it’s just your

sarcasm.

“OK, fine” I open up my friends list and send a message to everyone:

Cook wanted! If you can cook, please contact me.

Since it’s almost dawn, almost everyone is online. Hopefully at least 1 person can cook.

However, while we wait; I get cooking!

While I take the knife that

…

..

.

Where’s the knife?

…

...

(Apexus’ POV)

*Huff huff*

Ok, I think I’m far enough away now. God, to meet them again. I just want to get as far away as possible from those monsters…But at least we’re not enemies anymore

-1

Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I get a cut…What?

I bring my hand down to see a small sharp knife still in my hand

…

..

.

Shit

…

…

(Joat’s POV)

“Dammit dammit dammit!”

“What is it Joat?” Baila looks a little concerned as I stomp the ground

“Apeshit took our knife”

*Crack*

The lizard brothers immediately crack their knuckles…guess they were just waiting for a reason to Pk him again. I mean we’re not evil, just a little vengeful.

Baila notices the potential Ape-hunt and moves to stop us

“Come on guys, it’s just a knife...it’s his payment for helping out so much”

…

..

.

“Ok” We all sigh a little, damn really wanted to Pk him…but I guess that’s fairish payment.

“So how are we going to cut the tentacles now?”

“Easy, we can do the cutting” Zzoid flashes his claws. Ok that should work.

I go to punch a tree into smaller bits, which upon finishing; I pile up into a small bonfire.

…

Within a good 30 minutes, the brothers have cut up 5 of the tentacles into chunks about the size of my head

The girls have gotten a fire going and I have finished taking all the useful(?) things from the dead Kraken.

I collected both its eyes and ripped out 999 teeth (quite easy and quite small too). Thankfully it only took up a total of 2 slots in my inventory.

Oddly enough:

ITEM:Kraken's Eye x2 (Poor Quality)The eye of a Kraken

ITEM:Kraken's Teeth x999 (Poor Quality)The teeth of a Kraken

…

..

.

Soo they’re ingredients? I’m going to have to ask Nathan about those when I get back.

Also its mouth was really nasty; like a hole full of spikes.

Funny enough…I found a couple of berry stacks there…Guess I found where the ladies went the first time…Nasty. No wonder they were so set on eating the Kraken; revenge is a brutal thing.

PinkyS hands out a branch to everyone and we all impale a chunk of tentacle.

Roasting it over the fire like a marshmallow, we all sniff at the smell of roasting Kraken.

Zzoid came up with this idea so that everyone has the chance of getting the cooking skill (he didn’t say that, he just mentioned doing a campfire group cooking). Also no one responded with a ‘we can cook’ on the friends list...I'm worried for the village population

“Ah, it feels so relaxing to cook Kraken” Baila lets out a large sigh of relief

“mhm” we all agree.

“Anybody bring the guitar?”

Shaking their heads, everyone focuses on cooking their Kraken juuust right.

Baila finally finishes hers and takes a great bit out of it

…

..

.

“It…tastes like octopus”

“Wohoo!” PJ jumps up in excitement, taking her Kraken out the fire and devours it

Everyone quickly takes a nice bite off their Kraken and sure enough it does taste like octopus.

Damn, that’s good. But I wish we had some oil…

For eating Roast Kraken you gain: 10% water resistance and 10% swim speed. Duration: 3 hours

Damn, I really should be eating more!

We devour the first piece and quickly go for a second. Then a third and then a fourth…

After the fifth piece, we’ve finished off an entire tentacle…my god we were hungry. I guess dying and grinding really makes a person hungry, also revenge may have had something to do with it

Congratulations! Through repeatedly cooking an exquisite dish, you have gained a new skill:

SKILL:Cooking, Beginner [lvl1] 0% (Active)Cooking is the skill to turn raw meat into a more delicious tasting plate+1% chance to successfully cook a dishCost: None, Duration: None, Cooldown: NoneRecipes known:

Roast Kraken

xp increases by 5%

Full to bursting, I lay flat on the grass. Ah I’m happy in so many ways. Luckily roast Kraken wasn’t hard to cook, so most of what we cooked wasn’t ruined.

“So, what are we going to do with the rest?” PinkyS asks sounding a bit concerned at the possible waste of food

“Cut it up, drag it back to town and sell it or keep it?” Zzoid answers from the floor

“mhm” Sounds like a good idea.

We all lie on the grass nursing our almost bursting stomachs, (ate waaay too much) until the sun starts peeking from behind the trees.

Ah, morning, a great and terrible time.

Reluctantly, I stand up and everyone has the same idea too.

“Damn, night goes by so quickly” Zzoid grimaces

“I know, but it doesn’t mean the fun has ended. You’re free to party with us anytime” I grab his arm and give him a pat-hug.

“I’ll gladly party with my brother in harm and my loliness; but first, we have to get a little stronger” The trio all nod at that

“I’ll be waiting for you to protect me, my knight”

“Don’t worry about becoming stronger, just don’t die ok” PinkyS being so motherly towards the other two makes them blush a little

“I’ll miss you guys; all we have left now is Dumbass”

“Hey!”

*Chuckling*

“Big brother!” Zzand looks up at me

“Don’t worry, we’ll party again soon, just work on what you can. Same for you Zzard”

“Yes Teacher!”

Everyone does their little goodbye hugs (Heh, my teachings are rubbing off on them already) and with that, PJ leaves their party and rejoins mine.

We split the tentacle to 1 a person)what remains of them anyway) and I whisper “I’ll get it done for when we party up once more” to Zzoid on the last hug.

Grins turn to grimaces as we turn our backs on each-other and walk our respective ways.

Short chapter today

-True NORRRRRRD!

Also...reviews please!