Bon appétit

Alric climbed out of the titan's emptied eye socket and jumped down.

He brought his hand up to wipe a few drops of its blood off, which clung stubbornly to his beautiful, long eyelashes. He blinked rapidly to try and clear his eyeballs of any blood.

He ran a hand through his hair, cold blood falling onto his neck and rolling down his spine as he did so.

Alric desperately needed a bath. He turned his face toward the river.

He thought for a moment and then shook his head as if rejecting an idea.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I am never going near that water ever again," Alric spoke to himself, reminding himself of the deadly fight with the now-dead titan.

He looked at his clothes... then at the river, then at his clothes again, and then at the river again. He looked at the cuts and bruises on his skin and then at the river. He smelled himself and then looked at the river. He kept looking at the river. His mouth got dry from thirst.

His mouth filled with saliva, and he gulped.

The river now looked much more appealing than before.

He gulped again and turned his face to the dead titan...

He was trying to remind himself of what had come out of that cursed river.

But his thirst was much greater than his newfound fear of the river... and the stench of blood on him was intoxicating, too.

In the end, he gave up, and it would be foolish of him not to use water when it was right in front of him.

He wiped both of his weapons' blades on his black robes and used his ability, [Take]. The dagger and the long knife soon disappeared from Alric's vision.

"Whispers," Alric muttered calmly.

[Name: Alric Lyra

Class: -

Skills: -

Access: [9]

Abilities: [Leap] [Take] -

He focused on [Take], and another image similar to the one he was witnessing appeared in his mind.

[Take]: This ability allows the user to take or send anything they want into the Abyss. Once something is taken or sent, it remains there indefinitely with no time limit. This works even when the user is not present in the Abyss. The item stays untouched by time or change until the user decides to retrieve it or call it back. The number of objects the user can do this with depends on the user's access level.

Items: [Long emerald knife] [Obsidian dagger] -

Making sure that his weapons were safely kept away in the Abyss, Alric took a step, getting closer to the river.

His guard was up; no matter what, he did not want to get eaten alive... again.

Alric carefully took another step ahead.

Soon, he took his first step into the brownish water of the river.

The current was neither strong nor weak, just enough for Alric to maintain his balance.

Water soaked his footwear, the current washing away the blood that was now dry.

Alric removed his footwear and placed them on the ground, close to the river. They looked worn-out and dirty before, but the river had cleaned them now. They only looked a bit torn.

Alric took another step deeper into the river. Water was now up to his knees; the current washed away all the dirt and dried blood.

The water was cold but also comforting. Alric bent down and allowed water to flow freely into his bloodied palms. He rubbed his hands against each other, hoping to wash away any trace of blood. The water turned pink... then crimson, then brownish; the current had taken the blood with it.

Looking at the reflection of his blood-filled face, he splashed his face with cold river water. The cold water sent a shiver down his spine. But the satisfaction of washing filthy titan blood off him was greater than the coldness of the water.

Alric slammed his face into the water, seeing that splashing was not enough. He rubbed his face, using his hands, every corner of it.

He stood up and loosened the cloak of his black robes, once elegant and worthy of being worn by royalty, but now so worn-out and dirty, fit to be worn by a beggar.

He bent down again and rubbed the heavy cloth together, scrubbing the blood off.

Once the cloak was clean, he folded the heavy cloth and placed it on top of his footwear.

Then he loosened the fastenings of his blood-soaked robes, taking them fully off.

He continued rubbing the cloth against itself until there was no trace of blood on it.

The rough texture of the river's bottom hurt his bare feet.

Alric folded his robes and placed them on top of his cloak, which was on top of his footwear.

Taking a long sigh, Alric sat down in the water. His lean body, covered in dried blood, returned to its former glory as the river's current washed away the blood. The river turned crimson for a moment but soon returned to its former brownish colour.

Alric was shivering in the cold river water, but it was worth it.

He took a deep breath, shoved his head underwater, and used his hands to clean the blood from his raven hair.

He made sure to clean his injuries, washing off his own blood mixed with the titan's, a precaution against potential infections.

After giving himself a nice bath, Alric stood up from the river and cupped water in his palms. He did not know if it was safe to drink, but his thirst was great enough for him to risk it. He brought his palm, filled to the brim with water, up to his mouth, and greedily drank it, quenching his thirst. The water was surprisingly sweet and flavorful, and that taste alone told him that the water was safe to drink.

After having enough, Alric walked toward his belongings and wore his wet black robes, tightening their fastenings and his torn footwear. Putting on his wet cloak, Alric approached a vast tree; moss and fungus infected its roots. His stomach groaned.

He climbed the gigantic roots and soon stood facing a clean, dry part of the wood, clear of any moss or fungus.

Alric called upon his long emerald knife. Darkness shrouded his hand, and a long emerald knife appeared in it out of thin air... or dense darkness.

He observed the knife for a moment and used both hands to dig it deep into the primordial wood of the tree horizontally.

It took all his might to carve out a piece of wood, even though the wood was dry.

After gathering several pieces of dry wood, which took him approximately one hour, Alric descended the enormous roots.

Finally, stepping back onto the ground after an hour made him feel peaceful for some reason.

His stomach groaned again.

Alric was hungry. He turned and looked at the titan lying dead a few meters away... it looked very appealing at the moment.

Alric gulped.

"I guess I am finding out what Titan meat tastes like," he spoke to himself.

Approaching the titan, he placed all the wood he had gathered on the ground, five meters away from his lunch.

Alric withdrew his hand and plunged his knife deep into the underside of its soft stomach.

With his knife still plunged deep into the titan's stomach, Alric ran sideways and sliced open its stomach.

He quickly used his ability [Leap] to appear on top of the titan.

Blood and bodily fluids rushed out of its sliced stomach, pooling on the ground. "Can't afford to get dirty again," Alric spoke to himself. Indeed, he could not afford to get dirty again. It had taken him a long while to clean his robes of any dirt or blood.

Making sure that no more fluids would rush out, Alric descended the titan.

In fact, this titan was not as big as a real titan at all. It was like a fish in front of a shark... then again... it was a fish-like creature to begin with.

Alric stepped onto the ground that was soaked in blood and bodily fluids; wet soil stuck to the underside of his footwear. It was okay. He was going to traverse many different places and encounter who knows what. A little dirt under his footwear did not matter in the long run.

He brought his knife forward, found the juiciest part of the titan, and dissected it, separating it from the titan's body.

Alric soon stepped out of the soil that was soaked in blood and bodily fluids with a juicy piece of meat in his hands.

"Where do I keep this now..." Alric had no idea where to place the meat. So he removed his cloak while still holding the chunk of meat and spread it on the dry ground. Soon, he placed the meat on top of the cloak, preventing it from getting dirty.

Alric approached the riverside and brought three perfectly shaped rocks. He washed them in the river and brought them back.

Alric placed those rocks beside the meat on his cloak. He approached the pile of wood he had gathered and made a small pyramid out of it with wood dust inside.

"Now comes the fire," Alric called upon his dagger, and once it was in his left hand, he scratched the blades of both his weapons, creating sparks. The sparks fell onto the wood shaped into a pyramid.

The dry wood finally started to smoke. Alric took a deep breath and blew on the wood, hoping it would catch fire, and it did.

The smoke turned into bright, orange-red fire. "Finally!" Alric exclaimed.

He placed two rocks on each side of the wooden pyramid that was on fire and placed the long, thin rock on top, the two rocks supporting the thin rock.

The rock heated up.

Alric sliced the chunk of meat into smaller and thinner pieces. He placed those pieces on the hot rock vertically.

"Ah... no seasoning! What an inconvenience," Alric spoke out of frustration.

The meat started sizzling on the hot rock, the fat a replacement for oil.

Alric had cooked like this for the first time in his life and the first time outside the royal palace.

He had learned this method of cooking in a survival-themed book.

After a few minutes, his lunch was finally ready.

Alric picked up the tender meat with his bare hands; it was hot but not unbearable. Bringing it up to his mouth. "Bon appétit," Alric said, taking a bite of the tender and cooked meat.

Wait... what did he just say? What was its meaning? Why did he say that? Alric did not know, and he did not care... all he cared about was the meat.

The tender meat was so soft and juicy that Alric did not even have to use his teeth to chew it.

The meat practically melted in his mouth.

"Hmmm, so delicious, even without seasoning," Alric exclaimed with joy at the taste of his cooking. "So tender!"

The meat tasted heavenly to alric. It could have even been one of the most delicious dishes alric had made in his life, or maybe it tasted that way because alric was really hungry.

The more hungry you are, the better the food tastes, that's what they said.

Alric greedily ate as much as he could until his stomach was about to burst.

Alric sat near the fire that was still burning brightly.

"Maybe I should open a restaurant after I am done with piracy," Alric had a distant look on his face, like he was in the world of his dreams. He looked up at the sky, in shades of blue and orange. It was close to dusk... he had to find shelter before it was dark.

Alric stood up from the ground and put the fire out. He then picked up his cloak from the ground and approached the titan. He used his knife to carve out more meat and placed that meat into his cloak, tying it tight around him.

He could have used leaves to do so instead of using his recently washed cloak, but he was in no way physically capable of ascending those monstrous trees until he reached the parts where leaves grew. So Alric just gave up on that idea.

Alric also wanted to take its Titan Core with him, as they cost a great sum of money. But survival came first, and he could not afford to have extra weight on him. Maybe he could come back someday... some day, but that was not happening, and Alric knew it. Even if he came back one day, which was highly unlikely, he did not even know how to get out of here... the titan would have already been eaten by different creatures or rotted away. Then again... the cores don't rot...

Alric stepped away from the dead titan... the first real titan he had killed... he used one of his abilities, [Take], and both of his weapons vanished from his hands.

"Where to go now?"