Thud~
Sliding out from below the mist forest purple boar just before it collapsed on top of him, Verdell silently let out a sigh of relief at his past decision to focus on increasing his dexterity second instead of vitality like many other mages did for the increase lifespan. If not for his decently high dexterity, there would have been no way for him to have outmaneuvered the boar with the assistance of his movement enhancing spell.
Nonetheless, his current state was far from optimal, as his body had already been covered in several bloody wounds from the early hit by the boar that had sent him crashing into the rocky ground followed by the painful slide he had just carried out across said rocky ground. Even if he wasn’t in any immediate danger given how Scaly was handling the remaining three boars that had already turned into two during his own short battle, he still decided to pull out one of the few healing potions he had on him. Swallow the viscous liquid in a single gulp. Knowing that there was little chance of him convincing Scaly to rest for a week or two until his bloody wounds recovered on their own.
Sizzle~
"I can never get used to these bloody healing potions..." And as the healing potion began working, Verdell couldn’t help cursing said potion as his entire body suddenly began trembling as he felt like thousands of ants crawling beneath his skin. Not painful so to say, but an incredibly uncomfortable experience even for a senior adventure like himself who had long since grown used to using healing potions.
Nevertheless, the results spoke for themselves, as the wound all over his body began slowly closing on their own before disappearing entirely like they had never been there in the first place. Showcasing just how powerful this healing potion was, but at the same time also making it very clear to any observers that Verdell wasn’t exactly in a state to fight during the healing process.
Luckily for him, he didn’t need to worry about fighting after he finished off the mist forest purple boar that had ambushed him and could instead focus on watching the one sided slaughter playing out not too far away, as the three boars ambushing Scaly had been reduced to a single pitiful boar that was barely holding on before it was cut down a few seconds after the healing potion finished working its magic.
Allowing Verdell to get up on his feet and put on the image of having successfully killed off the boar that had ambushed him without suffering any serious injuries. The blood on him looked more so like it had come from the dead boar over him due to his uninjured state, something that did earn a surprised and profound look of respect from Scaly. Not because it was impressive to kill the boar, but instead because she was fully aware of the fact that Verdell was someone focused entirely on magic.
For someone entirely focused on magic to still kill an enemy at that level without the assistance of magic was impressive in her eyes. After all, not everyone could be like her where they were focused on magic but also powerful when it came to combat without magic.
But aside from feeling a bit impressed by Verdell, she was far more interested in the now dead boars at her and Verdel’s feet. Not because she intended to eat them- or- well, she did intend to eat them, but different from the past, she planned on having Verdell cook these delicious looking boars and make them even more delicious. Feeling a sense of anticipation looking at the size of these four boars, as they were simply incomparable to the small piece of meat Verdell had cooked for her earlier.
Feeling this very deliberate look from Scaly, Verdell could not help rolling his eyes in annoyance knowing that this dragon had no clue just how long it would take to prepare these boars properly.
Be it skinning, gutting and butchering them, everything put together would take at least half a day if he used his magic to shorten the process. Not to mention, if he wanted to remove the somewhat gamey taste and improve the tenderness to a level compared to what he had served earlier, boars of that size would need at least a few days of aging.
Magic to hasten the aging process did exist, but it wasn’t something a mage would normally be proficient in and generally only existed in the hands of hunters, rangers and other similar classes. The only reason he knew a bit of specialized magic when it came to skinning, gutting and butchering had to do with him being a lone adventure who sometime needed to procure food on his own when he ran out.
Of course, the boars could still be properly prepared and eaten without aging, but he felt a bit worried Scaly might get a bad impression of him if he ended up getting her to wait for hours only to serve something mediocre.
"I know what you want to ask, but..." In the end, under the expectant stare of Scaly, he quickly explained the situation to her. Hoping she would either lower her expectations or give up-
Rooar~
But contrary to his expectations, Scaly eagerly signaled for him to get started before directly plopping down on the ground. Giving him a stare that left him shivering. Knowing that he had to do everything in his power to get those four boars prepared as fast as possible... And maybe because of the encouragement from a certain someone, a task that would normally have taken him anywhere between five and seven hours under normal circumstances was successfully completed in only half an hour.
Though one important reason also had to do with his increased strength after reaching the S Rank that allowed him to work faster and more precisely than normal. Completing everything at a far faster pace than he would ever have been capable of in the past.
In the end, after reminding Scaly of the potentially affected taste of the meat because he didn’t have the time to properly age it, he began cooking the recently prepared meat with his fire magic. Feeling graceful that the terrifying magic immunity of these boars had disappeared after their death, as it would truly have been a difficult task to properly cook those four towering monster boars without the assistance of his dragon fire magic.
However, with fire magic and more than enough seasonings on hand, Verdell managed to mask the gamey flavor to the best of his abilities before serving the mist forest purple boars to Scaly one by one.
Chomp~ Chomp~ Chomp~
Watching with a sense of relief on his face as she eagerly chomped down on the boars with a happy expression on her face. A look that made it clear that the boars had turned out great in the end even if they weren’t up to par in his eyes due to the lack of proper aging and the still somewhat gamey flavor that he had failed to mask completely with the different seasonings or spices added to the meat while it was roasted.
Then again, bad as the boar meat was in Verdell’s eyes, it was still considered a magical work of the gods in eyes of someone who was used to eating everything raw without the slightest bit of seasoning and spices added.
By the time the last of the boars disappeared into Scaly’s stomach, she felt a sense of fullness she hadn’t felt in a long time and felt completely satisfied by the meat Verdell had roasted for her this time and made her start seriously considering if it was worth it to drag along this little dwarf once she left the swirling sands dungeon in the future.
After all, though he was weaker than her and didn’t serve much of a combat role, if he could cook for her all the time, it might truly be worth it to drag him along.
"That should be everything... Now... We should get going and maybe search that passage for other members of the Eternal Life Sanctum who might know of a way back up and out of the dungeon..." Unaware of the fact that his future as a personal chef was being considered by the dragon he had just finished feeding, Verdell began seriously considering what their next steps would be now that they ended up taking another short break and would need to get moving again.
On one side, they could continue exploring this floor and increase their strength along the way or they could head back to the passage leading downwards towards the next floor where other members of the Eternal Life Sanctum might be lurking, a path he was favoring, as only those fellows from the Eternal Life Sanctum would have a clue on how to get out of the dungeon in its current state.