『Emerald Eyed Heart Eater』

With a sterile environment thanks to the flames of Megumin's explosion, Jack had a rather clean site to do his work. Skinned, gutted and sorted he had used his intuition over Yang magic to refine the pelts into usable raw material capable of making quality items. Then he used Yin magic techniques in order to preserve them, slowing their overall decay and increasing their quality.

It had taken hours to get all this work done and it seemed not only was the wolf sleeping, but Megumin had begun dozing off too. A small chuckle had left his lips considering how much power she had put into doing those explosion spells.

He also found it rather adorable she used those long-winded chants in preparation for the spell's charging time. Jack somewhat figured it wasn't needed, or it was more of an exaggeration than needed. Of course, he hadn't necessarily used an explosion before, but he could use most magics without speaking a word due to his prestige class of ArchMage.

"I wonder how she'd look in a change of costume..." his eyes trailed over to Megumin's patchwork dress, with the golden designs on a red surface. Sure it was cute, but there was a lot more than she could wear.

The young Oni grew curious about what other belongings she possibly had, or if that was really all she had. His eyes narrowed on her small petite frame, the longer he looked at her, the more he saw someone else.

"Hm.. Whatever..." Jack's gaze turned towards the pieces of the bear that now laid out on thick sheets of fat and muscle. There was a lot of meat to go through and it made him sigh.

Looking over the heart though of the Bear, he grinned lightly. He was aware that the uncooked meat of a bear in the world prior was toxic to humans when undercooked or entirely raw. That and the probability of obtaining parasites was rather high considering their environment and dietary nature. Walking over to the heart which he had laying on top of the lungs and kidneys, he shoveled the enlarged vital organ into his hand and smelled it.

With his Oni heritage, he was far more capable of eating such things raw and based on the high-quality ingredients. It was worth quite a lot. "To eat the heart of your enemy and gain their powers..." He uttered under his breath as his lips parted, revealing his sharp incisors as he went for a bite.

"Jack?" A familiar voice popped in from behind, causing him to slowly shut his mouth. "What are you doing with that bear's heart? Were you planning on eating that?"

Jack turned his head to the side and found himself staring at Chris, the silver-haired thief who was now leaning against a tree with her arms crossed over her chest. She seemed to have left her cloak at home, considering she was dressed in her normal green poncho along with a light blue scarf.

"Yes," the teen male replied near immediately with a dulled temperament, looking over her slender build. "I'm assuming you couldn't wait until we got back? You nearly excited me there for a moment," A small smirk formed over his lips as his fingers pulsed around the heart as it leaked dark crimson fluids, he wanted to bite into it like an apple.

Her face turned a beet red at the smirk he made towards her, it felt almost as if he was tracing over her with his eyes. "You were gone a long time... I was just wondering where you two have been..." She squirmed in place as she recalled the punishment from earlier. Chris then glanced over to Megumin who was sound asleep hugging onto a small dire wolf pup. The blush slowly faded from her face and within the seconds that followed she was completely calm, "What's this?"

"A Dire Wolf pup, we named it Petra." Jack raised a brow at her as she was inspecting the two unconscious beings from afar. "You have any bags on you by any chance," he gestured towards a large sum of bear meat.

"Meat?" Chris nearly went starry-eyed seeing so much harvested and sorted out. Her eyes then moved to the pelts which seemed to also be already refined to be used as raw material. "You planning on making something from those furs?"

"Hm? Yeah, Megumin needs improved gear for the winter." His eyes traced over the rims of her biker shorts which she was wearing under her normal pair. "It would be cheaper to just produce it myself rather than buy it."

"Ooooh?" Chris seemed to smirk herself noticing where his eyes were wandering, her cheeks turning a faint pink as compared to the blush that plagued her face before. "What level are you now?"

"Eight," Jack's gaze moved back to the Heart before opening his mouth once more to bite into it.

"You should probably clean that first," Chris folded her arms over her chest as she pushed herself off the tree, walking towards him. Faster than she seemed, the girl was now standing a couple of feet in front of him within the next few seconds. She was an entire foot in range of his grasp. "Also, I brought these for you and Megumin," she took out two necklaces which was the emblem of the Eris Order.

"How thoughtful," Jack hooked one of them with his finger, looking over the item. It was square with a few thin long rectangles cut into one of its four sides. "It's oddly... Schway."

"I know right! You really think so?!" Chris seemed a bit too enthusiastic hearing him compliment it, "Wait... What's schway mean? It's good, right? Right?" She was still far too excited to make this comfortable.

"Huh... Uh, I think it's something akin to awesome, I heard a few kids say it before, but I don't quite remember when," Jack scratched the side of his head slightly as he had completely drawn a blank. Slipping string around his neck, he fastened the sigil type necklace and under the collar of his kimono's underlayer.

Using yang magic, he was able to channel purifying energy into the heart, removing toxins and disease. This gave the heart a radiant glow before he finally did what he was trying to do prior.

His teeth sunk into the heart, tore through the membrane that protected its outer layers of flesh. It was covered in fats and muscle. A few parts of the heart even made a pop sound as his teeth cut through. It felt like he was eating the very essence of the bear as it was tough, hard and chewy. Blood would begin to drain from the organ as he pulled it away from his mouth, the pressure inside already having died down to avoid squirting everywhere.

"So you still went ahead and bit into it, hah..." Chris placed a hand over her mouth for a moment before turning away and walking towards Megumin, the other necklace in her hand. Though her eyes were now fixated on the wolf pup rather than the crazy explosion girl.

Jack simply watched as he hardly took his time eating the raw flesh. Comparing it to beef, it was a lot sweeter, though it was a lot tougher than venison and rougher in texture than pork.

Oddly enough he felt as if power was being added to him, but not in a metaphorical sense. In the previous world, rare foods weren't necessarily always good for you. Though the best or even illegal ones were always the most expensive due to procurement.

About halfway through eating the heart, Jack reaches into his kimono with his free hand in order to retrieve his registration card. What he saw next was rather unbelievable, he had gone up an additional three levels. "I'm already level Eleven?" He said in an essentially easygoing tone with a clearly bewildered expression that hardly matched.

"Uh, Why are you so surprised?" Chris immediately turned her head from Megumin as she had placed the jewelry around the younger girl's neck just below the choker. She pursed her lips seeing him continuing to chow down on the heart while eying his registration card.

By the time he finished the heart, he gained an additional three levels making him level fourteen.

Chris lifted a brow as curiosity peaked as she began wondering what exactly he knew and didn't know, "You didn't know exotic and high-quality ingredients help you level up?"

"If I knew, I'd be hunting powerful beasts to extinction," Jack replied with a sarcastic tone, clearly indicating he lacked the knowledge of such things. "I just came here like ... A couple of days ago."

Parting her lips, she looked over him for a few seconds before cocking her head to the left, now figuring he had been someone who reincarnated. Though the amount of magical knowledge and skill he possessed, she doubted he was new at using magic. On top of that, her eyes rested on those emerald Oni horns of his which were protruding from his forehead. If he reincarnated, he was definitely not human to begin with.

"I'm curious, where did you come from before this?" Chris asked as she padded towards him, taking out what appeared to be a handkerchief from her right pants pocket.

"I..." His mouth remained open, gradually closing in a prolonged pause as if he was searching his mind for the information. "What was it called again..." His eyes shifted back to his card, it was as if he was losing information based on his second life as a human the more he leveled up.

What was this?

Stuffing his card away into his kimono he pulled out what appeared to be a leather book. Opening it as he burned away the blood from his other hand with yang heat-related magic.

His eyes drifted over the words, they weren't in Japanese, so he could easily read them. They were all written in his previous world's language. "Subaru, Earth." His eyes rested on a sketch of a young man with black hair and Japanese facial qualities which was beside a crude globe drawing.

From his last life, he remembered just a bit of how he died since that was the freshest thing. The knowledge he knew and gained remained, but the memories that came with them were gone.

He remembered the internet, how to use a smartphone, but he didn't really recall using one now. A sweatdrop appeared on his forehead, not quite knowing what to expect should he gain more power.

His eyes traced over to the ring which was on his finger, wondering if that thing was the cause. Though part of him doubted it, he couldn't help but think it may have a price.

At the same time, he could also assume that his own Oni body was rejecting his human memories all while keeping and consuming its knowledge. The stronger his Oni-side got, the weaker the human side was made in return.

It wasn't really that bad of a trade-off, but he still enjoyed at least the beginning of that life. Even though his mind never matured. Jack slowly closed the book and tucked it back into its place.

"Are you okay?" Chris stood there in front of Jack, actually worried about him as he almost appeared lost for a moment there if not in a subtly hidden form of distress.

"I'm fine, I just... Can't remember a lot from my previous life. I was... I'm pretty sure I was hit by a rather large metal transport." Jack clenched his jaw as he rubbed the arm which had made the first impact. The sound of a girl crying was replaying in the back of his head which made him almost wince. "But the planet is called Earth..."

Shifting his body in place, he moved to face Megumin who let out a light groan.

"So do you have any bags," He asked, "For the meat?"

"Hm? Uh, no. I could run back to the market and buy some though!" She grinned at him as if she was offering to do him a favor.

Jack took out a handful of gold coins and placed them into her hands, "Thank you very much." That was when he began to focus as he then turned and faced a particular direction at a diagonal angle away from the two them, "Arcane Gate!"

Space wrapped around a single physical point and with a high pitch pop sound, a portal of twelve feet in radius forced itself up! Lined with blue energy, the market place could clearly be seen.

People nearly jumped seeing the portal appear on their end, many being surprised. A pair of guards even walked over to investigate, seeing the known thief and the man who had slain the dire wolves just a day prior.

"What even is this?" One of them exclaimed, reaching out and putting a hand through before their eyes nearly bugged out of their head and they took a jump backward.

"It's a portal, a gateway between two places," Jack uttered loud enough for them to hear, then looked to Chris and gave her a slight nod. "I am sorry for the inconvenience."

"Is it dangerous?" One of the guards questioned as Chris hopped through and made her way into the market place. She quickly vanished amongst the crowds towards one of the utility stalls.

"Unless it closes on someone before they go all the way through, I doubt it'll harm anyone." Jack gestured carefully as he continued to concentrate on keeping the portal open.

"Ah... I see..." One of the guards which seemed to outrank the other in the pair spoke up, "Perhaps it is best if he opened it in an alleyway or some sort of home residence instead of a busy avenue. We don't want it causing accidents."

Jack nodded not really wanting a wagon drawn by horses to come rushing through a portal and crushing him while he is standing in front of it any time soon. "Your... Uh, fears are understood. The next time I open a portal, it will not be in a densely populated area. That I can promise."

"Good," the guard asserted with a slight nod of his own before looking over the blue swirling trim of the portal. It was clear they were now eying his horns suspiciously. "We'll remain here to make sure no one comes through until Chris comes back."

"Of course," Jack's eyelids squinted lightly as he kept the door open.

He stayed there for several minutes as the Guards put their backs to him. Just as fifteen minutes had gone by, Chris was seen running on towards the gate, a large smile of accomplishment on her face. There were a number of burlap leather bags in her hands, stitched professionally together. It seemed she didn't skimp out on him in order to keep the change.

A small chuckle escaped his lips as she hopped on through the portal, directly between the guards, and landed beside him. Just as the guards began walking away, he closed the portal.

"So, how many did you get?" Jack looked over her hands as she was holding some largely made drawstring bags behind her back. They weren't necessarily heavy, but they weren't light either.

"As many as I possibly could!" She held at least six in each hand of hers. It was more than enough to sack the guts and meat away, as well as the pelts that were seated on the scorched bare earth.

"That is more than enough, thank you for getting so many," he said as he closed one eye looking her over. "As beautiful as you are resourceful... It's almost as if you're some sort of Goddess looking over me." Jack meant it as a figure of speech, but she seemed rendered speechless and began sputtering as he lightly swiped one of the bags in order to get to work.

"But... But I'm not a goddess!"

Jack paused and looked over his shoulder for a few seconds, "Don't be so insistent, a beauty such as you must have some divine value." His tone was teasing, but also serious in a sense that he was clearly flirting with her.

Chris shoved her hands into her short silvery hair as her face turned a faint rosy tint, "Ah! You're impossible!" She exclaimed before covering her face as she dropped the bags.

"Perhaps I'll make some grilled Whisky Bear Ribs tonight, you're invited." Simpering in his victory, Jack didn't hesitate to move the floppy internal organs of the bear which he had already sorted, into the bags selectively.

Chris, on the other hand, was licking her lips upon the offer as she gingerly lowered her hands till her knuckles rested along her jawline. "Ribs?"

"Yes, though I'm pretty sure it will take about four hours to boil," his head cocked to the side as he looked to Megumin who was still sleeping. "Maybe I should've sent you back to get some of the camping equipment."

"Camping?" The thief chuckled lightly as she remembered hearing about how he stayed out in the forest after hunting down the Dire Wolves. She never really met any sort of adventurer who would bother camping out in the forests where monsters and such tend to inhabit. "That sounds like fun..."

"In that case, we'll have a barbeque. I'm sure that pup will be hungry enough to move later after it gets enough rest." Jack really liked the idea of having a dog, even if it was really just a prehistoric wolf. So far it didn't try eating Megumin, not that she would give it much other than bones due to her slender physique and likely some explosive indigestion. "Just need to set up a grill and makeshift tent."

"I'll go collect the wood and branches!" It seemed without hesitation, Chris was running off to collect wood and other items to build a fire as well as their sleeping places.

Once again, Jack found himself wanting to thank Megumin, mostly due to her creating a perfect place to set down a tent.