The silence was soothing but also deafening. The blood splatters were easily cleaned with {Purify} combined that with Jeremiah's wood magic, he repaired the damaged furniture and floor. My healing was taking longer than expected, likely because of the internal bleeding happening inside. I didn't complain, and Jeremiah didn't offer to heal me. I accepted the pain for what it is and allowed it to run its course. Once we were done, the apartment was back to normal, including myself.

"Hope you're hungry; we're having a feast tonight. I killed some boars today. Enough for five full-course meals. Don't know if it was explained to you or not. But as you increase in strength, the hungrier you'll get eventually, small fry shit like this won't satisfy you. There are workarounds like with everything but for right now. I want some meat".

A smile appeared on his face as he spoke, forced but a smile nonetheless. I couldn't do that not for a while. I still felt the phantom pain of the beating and misery in my heart. Humiliation was the first word that popped into my mind. I need more strength, so this could never happen again. Embarrassed and humiliated, I let those emotions run their course and lifting my head up high. I couldn't let Emily see me down and out.

As Jeremiah left and went to fetch the two girls, I roared into the empty house. "NO MORE!" I released every negative emotion out in those words. Right now, all I could do is wait and grow. I'm playing their game by their rules. Soon enough, I'll be able to fight back and show them who Jack Talbot is.

Jeremiah brought back the two girls. I brought a smile to my face, not to have them worry. Right now, what I need to do is relax, have a good meal and wait for tomorrow to come, not to spoil the already sour mood. Emily was the first to speak to my surprise...

Hey, Jack, are you staying for dinner? Mom said you were staying. What took you so long to come see us? Mom went to the guild to go see you, but you weren't there. Did you go kill some more monsters? You didn't eat them like before, did you?

Before Emily could bombard me with more questions, Emilia stepped in. "Emily, where're your manners? You can at least let him answer first before bombarding him with questions."

Emily was shocked by the scolding, "Sorry Jack."

"It's okay, Emily. I got to see your happy face so something good came out of coming here." I squatted down as I said those words. Forcing a smile to show her all meant well. As I looked up towards Emilia, I could see her face grimace as she knew what happened. Between Jeremiah and me, I could only smile and say out loud, "Everything is gonna be okay". Emily was slightly confused by the statement, but I know Emilia understood my comment.

"Enough talking; it's time to eat!" Jeremiah spoke those words with vigor. He went over to the living room and deposited 5 full-grown boars into the middle of the room. "With our 5 five-star chef, Emilia, we have nothing to worry about, isn't that right."

With a smirk, she replied, "Since coming here, I've been the cook. If I left it to you, we'll all be eating burnt meat."

"Yeah, mom, last time Uncle Jeremiah tried making dinner, he almost started a fire."

"Hey, I already told you that was my first time cooking that meal. I tried to be special for you guys."

"Yeah Yeah, Jeremiah, let's get this done. I'm starving. Bring out the table."

I was dumbfounded are they about to butcher all these boars in the middle of the house. "Wait!, what about the blood you're just gonna cut everything up in the house?"

Jeremiah answered, "Jack, remember we have {Purify}. It'll clean up the mess for us afterward, and anything solid we'll put in our spatial ring and dispose of later. I forgot how new you are, greenhorn."

Again I was dumbfounded. It's not that they didn't care about sanitation, they just had an answer to all of this beforehand.

With that, Jeremiah sucked up all the furniture in one go and put them in his spatial ring. Afterward, a giant metal table with a thin underside appeared. He pulled up a seat from the kitchen table and sat down.

"Pull a seat up, Jack, the show is about to start" Emily went over to her uncle and sat on his lap. Even she urged me to hurry up. "Come on, Jack, sit, sit." What was I in for?

Using psy similar to Artek, she lifted all five of the boars and suspended them mid-air in front of her. In her hands, two knives appeared. With a deftness I didn't believe possible, she sliced through the beasts' skin and arteries and started the process of draining the blood. No splatter of any type was noticeable on the wall. As it drained, she gathered the ingredients Jeremiah and Emily brought back from their shopping spree. Throwing them into the air, they started to float. Dicing, chopping, and mincing all of them to perfection. Not a single movement was wasted.

"Emily dear, can you open the drain on the table."

"Okay mom" She casually walked over the pools of blood, not minding it one bit. Bending over, she opened an underside drain, and as she did that, all the blood drained straight to the floor. I couldn't hide my shock, and with that, Jeremiah slapped my back.

"Squeamish Jacky-boy haha, I'll clean it all up for you" Using {Purify} he cleaned the surrounding area, removing all the blood and bits soaking the floor.

Looking back to Emilia, she placed her hand under the table and started a flame. With both instances of her creating flames, no smoke was created, just radiant heat and the dazzling fire dancing to its own rhythm. This is where the cooking got fun. With both hands, she spun them. Making a qi construct on all sides of her to stop the excess blood from splattering. With such precision and deftness, I could only imagine her build compared to my jack of all trades. The meat fell on the hot table and started sizzling. Emitting a sweet honey smell, then she did something I never would have thought of. The smoke from meat was sucked up and formed a sphere around the chopped vegetables.

"What is she doing?" I could only look in surprise as I couldn't think of a possible answer.

"She's cooking the vegetables, Jack, making sure they absorb the flavor of the meat," Jeremiah answered as if he was a savant his damn self. With disbelief and starry eyes, child curiosity, I could take his words to heart.

Emilia said nothing of the entire process, just as Artek's illusions at his shop. This was an expert at their craft. Watching the chef work her magic for what could only be an hour or so as she perfected the meal was a sight to be seen. Just as Jeremiah stated, this was a show.

"It's ready!" Emilia shouted those words with a bright smile on her face. She was radiating pride in her creation. In the middle of the dining table was a platter of meat and cooked vegetables. Perfectly cooked with a golden brown coloring and such an amazing aroma. I was almost visible drooling in anticipation.

"Hungry Jacky-boy," Jeremiah teased me, seeing my face. Having to wipe my face with my sleeve. I had no answer to his surprise.

"Jack, where are your table manners? You know drooling is impolite," Emily playfully scolded, with her and Jeremiah having a boastful laugh at my expense.

Emilia stepped in and stopped the two, trying her best to hide her own laugh at Emily's joke.

"Before we eat, we must bless the food."

Sourcee, we thank you for this meal, for the opportunity for renewal and rebirth. For our gods have abandoned us. Your love knows no bounds. For that, we thank you."

A small light raised from the tips of her hands and popped over the food. With that, a small burst of warmth moved throughout my body. Emilia, what's the buffs to this blessing? I felt a small surge of something give me a slight boost.

"For the next 24hrs everyone eating this meal would gain a 10% exp gain. You can't stack it, so don't try. 'The greedy earn less than the beggar'"

"What does the 'The greedy earn less than the beggar' even mean. I've never heard a statement like that before."

To my surprise, it was Emily that answered my question. "TheSourcee doesn't mind when you take from the world or from it, but with everything, there's a give and take. The greedy are punished with misfortune for they take more than can be replenished."

"Well done, Emily, you remembered your schooling." Emily had a big smile on her face from the small praise Emilia gave her.

"Enough talking about the Source laws, LETS EAT!" Jeremiah interrupted and dug in, not wasting any time to enjoy the feast in front of him.

Following suit, we all dug in. Lesson time was over, and the feast was upon us.