Chapter 13: "Not enough salt..."
"Three down..."
Leo smiled as he moved on to the spoons. Two small replicas of the stirring spoon,that took him less than half an hour to complete.
System Alert: You have crafted a rudimentary spoon.
System Alert: You have received fifty experience points.
"Let’s go make some supper..."
Leo said to the boy,as he carried his craft with him,towards the fire pit.
With a cooking bowl and stirring spoon ready,he was now fully equipped with everything needed for him to change his diet,from just roasted meat and baked potatoes,to a hot mushroom soup and vegetables.
Leo took out all the mushrooms he had gathered.
System Alert: You have activated Inspect..
Inspect
Target: Mushroom
Rank: Common
Edible
"Boy,you should take note of this as I expect you to make tomorrow’s soup for us..."
Leo informed the boy.
In the large cooking bowl,he poured in a full small jar of water and used it to clean the mushrooms. He laid them on the makeshift stone table to dry,as he cleaned some vegetables he had come along.
System Alert: You have activated Inspect..
Inspect
Target: Kale
Rank: Common
Edible
System Alert: You have activated Inspect..
Inspect
Target: Onion
Rank: Common
Edible
System Alert: You have activated Inspect..
Inspect
Target: Tomatoes
Rank: Common
Edible
System Alert: You have activated Inspect..
Inspect
Target: Carrot
Rank: Common
Edible
These had been stored in the ordinary chest. He chopped there big onions and six tomatoes, putting them each in a small bowl.
"Boy,can you use your ability...?"
Leo asked,as he discovered two bowls were not enough.
"Yes,but it has a two hour cool down time..."
The boy informed Leo.
"Now I get it..."
From his earlier observation and the boy’s explanation,Leo understood that the boy’s ability was not as overrated as he had imagined. For one,it took a great toll on the boy,and secondly,it was limited to the rank of the boy and had a cool down time. Something that did not apply to his two abilities.
"But it has been more than two hours since your last use..."
Leo pointed out.
"Here..."
He handed the boy the big cooking bowl and pointed at a large stone amongst the piled stones he had gathered.
"Just this one and we will have some soup..."
Leo warmly said to the boy.
"You can have seconds..."
That was all the boy needed to hear,as his eyes had lit up. He left with the cooking bowl in hand,and minutes later,he returned . Exhausted and about to lose conscious.
Leo took the two cooking bowls,and handed the boy some bananas and red berries.
"Eat these..."
As the boy ate,Leo used the stone knife to dice five big carrots into cubes,and chopped the kales.
With everything prepared,he dug two smaller fire pits for cooking,as the earlier one was too big,and he needed it burning bright for lighting.
With the two fire pit burning,Leo placed one cooking bowl over the fire,and retrieved the half a pound of animal fat from his inventory.
He scooped some of it and three it in the now hot stone bowl.
The fat quickly sizzled.
In followed two thirds of the chopped onions,that Leo let cook till golden brown, filling the lair with a sweet aroma,that made their stomachs rumble and they mouth salivate.
Half of the chopped tomatoes followed. Leo let them cook for a minute,before dropping in all the mushrooms.
He stirred for a minute,as to ensure the tomato juice sipped into the mushrooms,before dropping in two bunches of crushed purple berries.
The boy followed each step keenly.
As the mushrooms cooked,Leo scooped some more animal fat and used the second small fire pit to cook the kales.
He dropped the remaining chopped onions into the sizzling fat,let it cook till it softened before adding a bunch of purple berries.
After crushing the berries in the cooking bowl,he added the kales and stirred them.
Five minutes later,he added the remaining chopped tomatoes to the kales.
By then,the mushrooms we’re almost ready.
Leo took out two small jars of water. He added the water to the mushrooms and threw in the diced carrots.
"Now we just have to wait for it to boil..."
Leo said to the boy as he dropped in another bunch of purple berries into the soup.
"I really do need to find some salt..."
Leo sighed. Though the purple berries had a sour salty taste to them,it was not the same as having some salt.
The kales were the first to cook,Leo did not extinguish the fire,rather he buried ten sweet potatoes under the hot charcoals and ash to bake. These would be their breakfast and lunch for tomorrow.
"It’s ready..."
Leo informed the boy whose stomach had been rumbling constantly.
"He served the mushroom soup into the two small bowls. He also took out a piece of roasted meat,cut it into pieces and placed them over a broad leaf on the makeshift stone table.
The large bowl of kale took the center place at the makeshift stone table.
"Dig in..."
Leo said to the boy. The two were seated on logs, opposite each other at the makeshift stone table.
For about an hour,the two cared of nothing but the meal before them.
"Not enough salt..."
Leo thought as he tasted the soup.
"Uuurgh...!"
The boy belched,not once,but twice,as he put his spoon down.
"Gemini...!"
Leo said as if he had received some divine epiphany.
"Your name will be Gemini..."
Gemini was Greek for two or rather twin. And since the boy had the ability to turn into two,Leo felt that the name Gemini suited him the most.
System Alert: Congratulations on naming your first subordinate.
System Alert: You have received ten thousand experience points.
System Alert: Your subordinate has received one thousand experience points.
System Alert: Your subordinate has leveled up.
System Alert: Level 1 (900/500)
System Alert: Your subordinate has leveled up.
System Alert: Level 2 (400/2,500)
"Wow...!"
Leo exclaimed. He had not expected that naming the boy would not only grant him so many experience points,but also help the boy level up,twice for that matter.
