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[Day 39]

Day 39 and I am still somehow kicking. Okay, let's stop saying that word ever again.

Anyways, after yesterday's visit to the Wolves Lair, we ended up sleeping over there.

Benladann loved to be snuggled by all the wolves and the adorable pups, which were all warm and soft, although I could clearly see many fleas jumping around them…

I wonder if fleas have Mana Cores?

I ate some, and no, they don't.

Perhaps only Monsters have them, and normal animals, such as a mere flea, lack it.

How mysterious, from where did monsters originate then?

Perhaps animals come from the realm of humans where everything was "plain and simple" while all the other realms were more fantastical and filled with magic, so maybe monsters emerged from there.

Ice Wolves still act and are quite like wolves, they just have greater abilities.

Perhaps normal animals have been pushed into near-extinction due to the monsters taking over the new and reformed world.

Though I do remember Benladann saying that her tribe had something similar to cows and pigs, they were… well, gigantic, to fit the size and needs of the ice giants.

She also said there were giant hens with sharp beaks that could tear down flesh easily, so people had to handle them with gauntlets made of hardened leather.

I guess they are just using monsters that they had been slowly making into cattle.

I can't deny that I would like to taste a nice fried egg from those giant hens…

Anyways, I decided to stand up and go outside for a bit, as duty called, and I needed to go to the bathroom.

After I came back, I used this opportunity to catch three Ice Rabbits I saw eating grass and walked back to the pack, Benladann had woken up already and she was playing around with the young wolf pups.

"Alright Benladann, time to go home," I said.

"Eeh? Already?" she asked.

"You can come back later, let's go have breakfast, I caught some meat," I said, showing her the three corpses of the Ice Rabbits. Any normal person would feel pity for them, but Benladann was not a normal person, she began to drool immediately, perhaps based on the thought of eating juicy meat once more.

"Okay!" she said, petting and kissing the little wolf pups the last time as she ran towards me ad quickly climbed my back, sitting near my neck and hugging it.

"Let's go!" she commanded.

"Sigh… Who are you commanding here?" I sighed, as we began to walk away.

The little pups had become rather attached to Benladann, as they barked at her and tried to follow us.

However, Frost barked at them, and they quickly obeyed their father, running back to the pack.

Maybe I should let Benladann pick one as a pet… Would she like one? No, I think she would like all of them…

Ugh… Well, the whole pack is mine too, so I guess all of these could be her pets, there's no need to force her to pick one.

We will also eventually move out of here, after all, we want to explore this new world, she had been living here for years, but had barely explored it…

And I am pretty sure she wants to go back to her tribe, now that she is free from the mold parasitizing her… but she needs to first learn how to tame the one she can produce through magic, which is also her true mold to an extent.

I fear that if she doesn't master it enough, if she ever uses it near people, the vicious black ooze might try to parasitize people, and that would be a pain in the ass to deal with.

For now, I will work around with her, I have to teach her how to use her Mana, how to Cultivate with it, and we'll learn together how to control the Mold. Maybe soon enough she might even be able to create Spells with it.

The Mold seems to be a powerful type of magic, it has many possibilities and capabilities, but it is incredibly hard to tame, and its sole wielder is also mentally unstable.

However, I cannot imagine how strong Benladann could become if she were to truly master the Mold…

When we finally reached the cave, we found Yuki inside, sleeping over Benladann's bed, cozily resting below the warm leather bedsheets… Well, I suppose she had a good night.

We ignored her, letting her sleep as much as she wanted, as Benladann quickly decided to cook something.

"I have been waiting for this day! How about we make a hotpot? Hmm… Though, with only rabbit it will just be rabbit soup…" said Benladann, as she used the Ice Knives I had created some days ago, butchering the rabbits and leaving the Mana Cores aside.

"Hm… I would also like it if it had something else… Like Mushrooms or Potatoes… or salt, but all those things are hard to find. I am pretty sure we could find salt inside a mountain maybe if we look hard enough…" I thought.

Benladann glanced at the snow which had already melted inside the special ice pot, and it had become water, which had begun to slowly boil by the warmth produced by the fire set below the ice pot.

"Hmm… I think I remember that there were mushrooms that mother always prepared with food… They looked brown with a sparkle of blue…" said Benladann, putting the butchered pieces of the ice rabbits into the water and closing the pot.

"Mushrooms? I am pretty observative, I haven't found any around…" I said.

"Oh, that's because they don't grow in the bark of trees, they actually grow over their roots, below the snow! Mommy always went with me, and we dug a bunch of mushrooms together," said Benladann, remembering her mother made her happy.

Wait… so there can be mushrooms?!

"And in which… trees they grew?" I asked.

"Oh, the only there is, the pine trees! These mushrooms are pretty aromatic- Eh? Drake?"

Benladann saw me rush like a storm towards the forest, reaching to the nearest pine tree and using my gigantic claws to dig into it!

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

A pile of snow flew away, as I found the dirt below.

The dirt below the snow had a strange smell, something I wasn't able to discern before… wait, this is…?

I used my claws with greater speed and energy, unleashing all of my strength to move the dirt away, a pile of dirt and snow piled up at my side quite quickly, as I suddenly found something hard down below.

I cleaned the dirt and snow with my tail, and found roots down below!

"It's… true…"

And there they were… dozens of brown-colored mushroom caps with blue dots growing all around… it was a massive colony, all growing in the roots of this pine tree…

And this is only in one?! Imagine all these all around!

"Draaaake! You ran away before I could finish talking…" sighed Benladann, as she ran towards me.

"Look! I found them," I said.

"Eh?! So fast?! It takes some time to dig so deep… You're fast!" said Benladann, smiling adorably as she began to pick up the mushrooms with her large and dexterous hands.

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