Moon flowed between defensive stances and offensive probing, his movents gradually becoming smoother and more efficient as he got into the flow.
’The proficiency is definitely increasing ever so slightly,’ Moon confird as his blade found a gap between their protective armour and penetrated deep into their soft tissue. ’Skills can be learnt through practice even after system support ends. Albeit, the increase rate is incredibly tedious, as if its five or ten tis harder to do so.’
Behind him, Selene’s battle was reaching its conclusion as well, her final opponents succumbing to their wounds.
By the end of Selene’s killing spree, the beach had beco thoroughly littered with broken crab carapaces and scattered limbs.
"Not bad at all. Eleven crabs total," Moon counted, surveying the carnage before turning toward Selene, who was breathing heavily from the intense combat she’d just completed. "Did you manage to level up from all that?"
Selene checked her status screen briefly before shaking her head with slight disappointnt. "Not yet, unfortunately. Although they’re definitely high-level beasts, they’re still classified as B-rank objectively speaking rather than A-rank or higher. Their greater numbers did help compensate for the lower individual experience value, I should level up after killing maybe another ten or so."
Moon nodded understanding. "That’s perfectly fine. More importantly, it doesn’t seem like the Crab King wants to make his dramatic appearance just yet, so we will just kill until we force him up." He turned his gaze toward the ocean waters where the powerful creature was supposedly dwelling, watching for any signs of disturbance or approaching threat.
For good or bad, there was nothing but the calm waves of the sea.
"Let’s cook so of these crabs," Selene suggested suddenly, her mouth watering at the thought of fresh seafood. "They’re supposed to taste really good from what I’ve heard about island crab at."
Moon’s face broke into a soft grin at the suggestion. "That’s actually a smart idea too. The sll of cooking might attract more crabs to erge from the water to investigate, giving you additional targets without us needing to wait for them to eventually show up."
Moon quickly gathered dry wood from nearby palm-like trees and constructed a proper bonfire structure on the sandy beach.
Pop!
Crackle!
He channeled a small fla to ignite the gathered branches, starting the bonfire efficiently. Then Moon retrieved a large cooking pot from his spatial storage and filled it with clean water before carefully positioning it above the flas.
Bubble... Bubble...
Once the water began reaching a proper rolling boil, Moon turned toward Selene with an expression of helplessness crossing his face. "Um, you know how to properly prepare and cook crabs, right? I honestly don’t have any idea how to handle it for eating, I done what I could."
Selene’s expression mirrored his embarrassnt perfectly. "...I don’t know either, actually. I’ve eaten crab before at restaurants, but I’ve never personally cooked one from scratch. I thought you would know..."
"..."
An awkward silence stretched between them. They both turned simultaneously toward Yara with hopeful, expectant expressions.
"Eh?" Yara looked genuinely surprised when both pairs of eyes suddenly focused on her with obvious need. Seeing their pleading faces, she found herself completely unable to refuse.
She sighed with resigned amusent and held out her hand. "Give your dagger."
Moon handed over his blade without hesitation, consciously avoiding their hands from touching during the process because of the earlier event.
Yara handled the weapon with confidence, approaching the nearest intact crab carcass. She worked like a chef with years of experience in preparing seafood, her hand movents graceful like a swan.
"First, you need to remove the top shell carefully, the carapace," Yara explained while demonstrating, using the dagger’s point to separate the shell segnts. "Twist it off like this without damaging the at inside."
Moon and Selene watched with fascination as she expertly disassembled the creature.
"Then you clean out all the internal organs, the gray feathery parts. Those aren’t edible and taste terrible," Yara continued, scraping away the unwanted material. "Keep only the white at from the body and the at inside the legs and claws."
She cracked open a massive pincer with a sharp strike from a rock, revealing the dense white flesh inside. "The claw at is the best part, it’s very sweet and tender."
Within minutes, Yara had efficiently processed three crabs, separating edible portions and discarding the waste. She placed the cleaned at segnts carefully into the boiling water.
"Let them cook until the at turn from translucent to solid white. That’s how you know it’s properly cooked. If you overcook it, the texture becos rubbery and unpleasant."
"You’re really good at this," Selene observed with admiration struck eyes. "Do you prepare seafood often for your clan?"
Yara nodded, a small smile appearing. "Crabs, fish, shellfish, we rely heavily on ocean resources for food. I’ve been learning to prepare them since I was very young. It’s considered an important skill for contributing to the clan’s wellbeing."
Moon watched the cooking process with interest, making ntal notes about the technique in case he needed to prepare food independently in the future.
The sll of cooking crab at began wafting across the beach, carried on the ocean breeze.
The pleasant aroma of cooking crab intensified as the at reached proper doneness, the previously translucent flesh turning a solid, appetizing white just as Yara had predicted.
"It’s ready now," Yara announced, carefully using a pair of flat stones as makeshift tongs to extract the steaming crab portions from the boiling water.
She distributed the cooked at among everyone present—Moon, Selene, and the four Savi warriors who’d been maintaining their periter watch but were clearly interested in the al.
Moon took his first bite cautiously, testing the temperature before committing fully. The mont the flavor registered, his eyes widened with genuine appreciation.
The at was incredibly sweet and tender, with a delicate texture that practically lted against his tongue. The natural brine from the ocean had seasoned it perfectly without any need for additional spices.
"This is amazing," Moon said sincerely, looking at Yara with newfound respect. "You’re an excellent cook. The texture is perfect, not rubbery at all."
Selene made an enthusiastic sound of agreent around her own mouthful, nodding vigorously before swallowing. "So good! I’ve had crab at expensive restaurants before, but honestly, this tastes better than any of them. Maybe it’s because it’s so fresh, or maybe you just have genuine talent for preparation."
Yara’s cheeks colored slightly with pleased embarrassnt at the complints. "Thank you both. I’m glad you’re enjoying it. Fresh ingredients and proper timing make all the difference."
The Savi warriors were eating their portions with obvious satisfaction as well, making appreciative sounds in their native language that clearly conveyed similar sentints.
Moon reached for another piece, savoring the al. "If you were on earth, you could probably run a very successful seafood restaurant sowhere."
Selene laughed. "Agreed. This is restaurant-quality food easily."
Yara smiled warmly, the earlier awkwardness from Moon’s accidental touch finally fading completely in the comfortable atmosphere of appreciation for the good food.
They continued eating contentedly, the simple pleasure of a well-prepared al providing a brief respite from the dangers and tensions surrounding them.
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