Chapter 32: The Young Minotaur Twins
"Nice to meet you! My name is Asterion! I will be on your care from now on, I hope that we can all get along well!" said a young minotaur boy, seemingly on his twelves.
He already had the body of a bodybuilder, packed with tight muscles on his nude and hairy torso, on his lower half he wore some leather pants, and starting from his knees he had the strong and thick legs of a bull.
His head was also that of a bull, contrasting a bit with the rest of his humanoid body. Although he had the head of a bull, it was that of a young one, and it was still rather adorable to look at. His horns were still developing and were quite small, not surpassing two centimeters.
"(He really has the head of a bull…)" thought Frank as he gave Asterion a gentle smile. He was not disgusted by Asterion's appearance but a bit surprised, he had promised Gwendolyn to be tolerant of such features in beast-kin, and as the holder of the Divine Protection of their father, he tried to be as gentle as possible.
"A-And I am H-Hilvera… N-Nice to meet you all…" muttered a Minotaur girl, in the same age as Asterion but seemingly smaller in size and physique. Unlike her brother she had the head of a human and not a bull, making her less resemble him despite both of them seemingly being twins…
She had a petite body and unlike her mother had a long way to develop her hips and chest. Nonetheless, she still held some muscle in her body, which Frank assumed was the natural talent to all Minotaur, even those that looked like a frail girl might be capable of crushing rocks with their bare hands. Hilvera had short white hair and emerald eyes, while Asterion had black eyes and the fur on his head was brown as well as the one that covered the rest of his body.
"(She's adorable, but I wonder if she can crush stones with her bare hands through the Minotaur's strength…)" thought Frank… for some odd reason, he wanted to see if she could crush stones with her fists.
"It is nice to meet you two, I am Frank, I am new here too, I just came yesterday… After a lot of things happened, I ended up working here… The fields are immense, so I am glad to get some more help from you two whenever you feel like doing so, but you're young so please don't push yourselves hard" said Frank with an amicable tone in his voice.
"Sure! But I am gonna work hard too! Mother said that we earn our bread like that, Frank! I hope you can teach me the ways around!" said Asterion with an excited smile.
"I-I think the same… I am counting on you, F-Frank-kun" said Hilvera.
"Aren't my two little angels the most beautiful Minotaur in this whole world? Hehe, I hope all of you get along!" said Cathyl with a bright smile.
"Yeah! Finally, another girl!" said Annabelle.
"It seems that the two are getting along quite well, we are lucky to also be a pair, so we can also always do boy stuff!" said Asterion.
"Boy stuff…? (Right, this kid is twelve years old… It is hard to keep that in mind when he looks like a bodybuilder…)" asked Frank.
"Yeah! Do you like to fight? We can practice some Unarmed Fighting! Or we can practice the sword or the axe. I am rather good with an axe though, and you?" asked Asterion.
"(He's so young and he's being taught how to use lethal weapons…) I am quite good with a spear, I hope you go easy on me, Asterion," said Frank.
"Hehe! I don't know how to go easy!" laughed Asterion.
After the introductions, lunch was served, and just like yesterday, there was a horned rabbit hotpot, which was now accompanied with mashed potatoes instead of them being boiled into the hotpot. There was also fresh lettuce and tomato salad, which the minotaur kids ate voraciously.
"Fuumooo! This hotpot and the salad are the best! Miss Gwendolyn, you're such a nice chef, unlike mom!" said Asterion.
"Eh?! I am a good chef! Take that back!" said Cathyl with a blush.
"I don't think you could call yourself a good chef after you burn that soup…" muttered Hilvera.
"E-Even you, my daughter?! Sigh… Maybe Gwendolyn-san can teach me some whenever I got free time…" said Cathyl with puppy eyes. Gwendolyn sighed as she gave in to her simple persuasion.
"Sure, sure, I can teach you a few things," said Gwendolyn with a smile.
"Talking about it, Frank hunted a ton of Horned Rabbits yesterday with her pet lizard, did you two saw the little thing? She's named Ruby!" said Cathyl.
"Yeah! It looked strong! Does its breath fire?" asked Asterion.
"Yep, so don't try to be too brute with her or she might spit you some flames… Ah, well, if that happens you don't have to worry, I can heal you with my magic," said Frank.
"Oooh! You got magic, Frank!? You're even more awesome now!" said Asterion.
"Awesome…? Do you think so? Haha, well thanks" said Frank.
"Healing Magic? T-That is a very rare type of magic…! I wish I could awaken my Mana Core…" muttered Hilvera.
"We can help you do so soon, little Hilvera. Asterion too, it is better to awaken your Mana Core even if you're planning to become a warrior one day," said Gwendolyn.
"I don't know about magic but if it can help me out with the axe, fine!" said Asterion.
"Indeed, even if you are not planning on using magic, it is better to awaken it instead of leaving it to dry out like your mommy! Now I am all old and all I want is to conjure magic!" said Cathyl.
"I didn't mention it… b-but it is very impressive that Frank-kun hunted ten-horned rabbits…" said Hilvera.
"Oh yeah! Even with the little lizard help, that's pretty good! Can we go hunt together later?" asked Asterion to Cathyl and Gwendolyn.
"Sure, you can, after Frank is done in the fields… Don't feel forced to do the work, Asterion, you're still very young," said Gwendolyn.
"Nah, I'm gonna help him out so we can go hunt quickly!" said Asterion.
"I-I also want to join!" said Hilvera.
"Well, if you two are going then me as well!" said Annabelle.
"(Did I become a babysitter now…?)" wondered Frank as he drank orange juice.
The day went by, as usual, Frank worked in the fields with the new addition of the strong Asterion and Hilvera. Their strength was incredible, and that of Cathyl even more. With that three help, most of the hard work only became a matter of time and repeated labor.
When it was around six pm, the work for the day had finally ended and Frank's Ability to use Farming Techniques seemed to have become stronger.
Ding!
[Due to continuous use of farming tools, the level of the [Farming Technique: Level 1] Skill has increased!]
Now that things were done, it was time to go hunt, and Frank now had a whole party of kids to take care of.
"You can go grab the Magic Spear again, boy. Make sure to not scratch it though! It cost a fortune… every scratch is another discount in your salary," said Gwendolyn.
"…Eh? And how am I supposed to use it then…" muttered Frank as he walked out of the house.
"You're way too slow, Frank, let's get going!" said Asterion as he carried around a rusty steel axe that seemed to lack any magical properties, Hilvera carried a short sword and Annabelle a small wand given to her by her mother.
Annabelle was still a magician in training, but her Mana Core was already awakened, and she knew a basic Fire Attribute Spell named 'Fire Tongue'. Although it was a weak spell, when it was enhanced by the wand, it became strong enough to kill a horned rabbit if it were to get hit by it. There was also Ruby here to support everyone.
"Grawr! Grawr!"
As Frank and the party entered the forest, Frank acquired a similar quest than yesterday, asking him to slay ten monsters of any kind inside the forest, the rewards were 20 App Points, a bit of EXP and a strengthened relationship with the three kids.
"(At least the System is helping me grow my relationship with them…)" thought Frank as he explored the forest with his party.
Asterion seemed incredibly strong but rather clumsy and slow, and although he had the strength to slice a horned rabbit in half with his axe, he lacked technique and grace, often scaring the bunnies before he could do any lethal hit… however, Frank caught most of the Horned Rabbits, while Hilvera caught one through the use of her knife and her throwing technique, which she had been practicing for a few months.
Annabelle was supposed to be the mage, but she was just as clumsy, and never caught any horned rabbit… she was rather frustrated at the end of their adventure, but Frank cheered everyone up by sharing the horned rabbits' corpses after having extracted their Mana Cores. Ruby had caught three herself too and ate two in the way, Frank let her eat the Mana Cores as well.
They had encountered two Walking Mushrooms, but these monsters were weak and slow, and their strongest attack was simply a foul smell, they had sharp jaws but were too slow to even manage to bite anyone, the most that were killed were Horned Rabbits, going up to fifteen, Frank was a bit worried about the population of these monsters… but after remembering that they seemingly spawned almost endlessly in a nearby dungeon, he calmed down.
Having claimed the 20 App Points and a bit more exp (which was not enough to level up yet) after completing the monster-slaying quest, Frank moved back home with the party of young adventurers. On a side note, Ruby was now Level 4.
Now that Frank had collected over twenty Mana Cores, he decided to finally form his own after dinner, when he had some privacy inside his room.
Oh, and tonight, dinner was yet again a horned rabbit hotpot…
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[Name: Frank James
[Race: Human, (???)
[Titles: World Traveler.
[Gender: Male.
[App Points: 120
[Job: Farmer.
[Job History: None.
[Level: 5
[Health Points: 30/30 (+10)
[Mana Points: 18/18
[Strength: 21 (+5)
[Defense: 21 (+5)
[Magic: 13
[Resistance: 13 (+5)
[Agility: 13 (+5)
[Passive Skills: [World's Traveler Body: Level -], [Gift of Life: Level 2], [Curse Resistance: Level 1], [Hypnosis Resistance: Level 1], [Divine Brand of the Monk Family of Tokyo: Level -], [Mana Control: Level 2], [Fire and Burn Resistance: Level 1], [Abraddon's Divine Protection: Level -], [Abraddon's Champion Divine Crest: Level -]
[Equipment: [Farmer's Jeans (F)], [Leather Gloves (F)], [Leather Boots (F)], [Farmer Shirt (F)], [Straw Hat (F)], [Simple Shirt (Cosmetic Item)]
[Active Skills: [Farming Technique: Level 2] (Level Up!), [Spear Technique: Level 2] (Level up!)
[Relationships: [Matsuo Family (Tokyo Shrine Clan)]
[Tamed Monsters: [Rank 1: Lesser Flame Salamander: Ruby]
[Worlds Visited: Earth, Terra (Farm Town App).
[APP Special Functions: Inventory, World's Gate, Quest Board, Monster Pet Nursery, APP Gacha (Locked), APP Shop (Locked).
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[Name: Ruby.
[Race: Lesser Flame Salamander
[Titles: Tamed Monster.
[Gender: Female.
[Types: Reptile/Fire
[Rank: 1
[Level: 4
[Health Points: 45/45 > 55/55
[Mana Points: 17/17 > 18/18
[Strength: 20 > 25
[Defense: 25 > 30
[Magic: 16 > 19
[Resistance: 18 > 21
[Agility: 16 > 19
[Passive Skills: [Iron Scales: Level 1], [Fire and Burn Resistance: Level 1]
[Active Skills: [Fire Breath: Level 2], [Licking Wounds: Level 1], [Bite: Level 2] (Level up!)
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Author's Note: If you like the story please give any powerstone you could spare, if we reach a nice number there will be bonus chapters at the end of the week, it all depends on you!
Thank you very much for reading!
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