She quietly lifted her head, her gaze shifting away from her arm to Reid, who was still acting as if he were completely heartbroken.
By now, the little one had grown used to Reid's exaggerated performances during his idle moments. At the beginning, whenever he acted up, she would take him seriously, only to be mercilessly mocked. She had tried to explain herself, but Reid never listened. He only heard what he wanted to hear.
Later, she came up with a solution. She would simply cover her head and stay completely still.
But if one looked closely, they would notice that in her ice-blue eyes, Reid's ridiculous expressions were reflected, along with the faintest trace of a smile, almost imperceptible.
She said nothing, letting him poke at her. When he jabbed a little harder, she only swayed slightly with the force.
Reid poked her a few more times, then paused when he noticed her completely unbothered, thick-skinned attitude.
For a moment, she looked oddly familiar.
He clicked his tongue, withdrew his hand, and planted his hands on his hips. "Tch. You really enjoy being lectured, don't you? Next time you waste food, you don't get any meat. Got it?"
The little one slowly lowered her hands from her head and stood upright. She looked at Reid, neither nodding nor shaking her head. Instead, she reached out, tugged lightly on his clothes, and pointed toward the depths of the forest.
The meaning was obvious.
Another hunt. This time, she wouldn't "scatter" it.
Reid paused at her small gesture, then let out a low chuckle. "Oh? Now you're even asking for extra training on your own? Good. Very good. That's progress."
He snapped his fingers, and the blood mist around him surged again, thicker than before. After all, Reid wouldn't be Reid if he behaved himself.
"Then let's raise the difficulty." He grinned, flashing white teeth. "Just don't turn our 'rations' into 'ice dust' again, my first mate."
The blood mist swept deep into the forest. Soon, even fiercer roars echoed in the distance, along with the thunderous crash of collapsing trees.
The little girl took a deep breath. Ice-blue cold gathered once more in her palms. This time, the edges of the forming petals seemed sharper, the chill more restrained, more focused.
Boom! Thud!
On Blubru Island, the sound of prey being dumped into the tribe's clearing had long since become one of the most common background noises.
The elder watched as Reid and the little one dragged back an even larger beast than before. The shock and fear that once filled his face had faded, replaced by a complicated mix of gratitude, helplessness, and familiarity. He efficiently directed a few younger tribesmen to take over and process the prey.
"Tch, this armored rhino was no easy catch. Its hide's as thick as a fortress wall… You foolish boy, you're not hurt, are you?"
The elder muttered as usual while inspecting the prey, his eyes scanning Reid and the girl. Only after confirming they were unharmed did he let out a breath of relief.
At first, when Reid began this kind of "hunting training" with the girl and brought back massive amounts of prey, the elder had strongly opposed it.
When he confronted Reid back then, his expression had been full of concern.
"Child, we appreciate your kindness. But this food… it's too much! If the tribe grows used to receiving food without effort, their hunting instincts and courage will weaken. They'll become dependent, lazy. This won't help them. It will ruin them!"
At the time, Reid had been playing with a small red flower formed from blood mist, using it to tease the girl, though she barely reacted. Without even looking up, he replied:
"You're overthinking it, old man. This isn't for them to eat right now."
The elder had been startled. "Not for now? Then…?"
"Emergency rations," Reid said simply.
He finally tucked the little red flower into the girl's hair, only for it to freeze and shatter in the next second.
"Didn't you say you might have to hide in the mist for a hundred years? A hundred years. With just your current supplies and occasional risky hunts, what good is that?"
He stood up. "What I hunt now, processed with my abilities, frozen or turned into dried meat and stored in that cave, will last your entire tribe for generations. And besides, the little one can only hunt in the forest right now. Not eating what she catches would be a waste."
The elder had opened his mouth to argue that a hundred years was an exaggeration, but remembering Reid's descriptions of deadly powerhouses and the chaos beyond the island, he swallowed his words.
If they truly had to hide for a century, their current supplies were indeed far from enough.
Reid saw his expression and knew he understood. "As for hunting skills, don't worry. When the time comes and you need them again, you'll relearn them naturally. Right now, surviving, and living a little better, matters more."
From that day on, the elder stopped opposing him.
He organized the tribe. With the girl's help, they slaughtered, salted, smoked, and froze the prey Reid brought back. Basket after basket, cart after cart, the food was transported deep into the cave protected by the blood mist barrier.
At the cave's entrance, the elder's daughter even raised statues of Reid and the girl from the ground.
Whether they worshipped Reid or not didn't really matter. After all, statues of the "Sea Emperor Reid" existed everywhere. But greeting Reid every morning, then walking past him to offer sacrifices to his statue… that was something Reid simply could not understand. It was strange. Very strange.
The cave that had once been a last refuge had now become an enormous cold storage and granary, stocked with enough food to sustain the tribe for years.
Watching the tribe skillfully process today's spoils, the elder let out a sigh, though there was a trace of relief on his face. He walked over to Reid and said quietly:
"The deepest storage chambers are almost full… isn't this enough?"
Reid stroked his chin and glanced at the massive rhino. "Hmm… fine. Starting tomorrow, we'll change the training."
Relief just began to appear on the elder's face when Reid turned to the girl and added:
"From tomorrow, we practice precision. For example… freezing only the prey's brain, or just the heart, while keeping the hide and most of the meat intact. That way it sells for more… I mean, it preserves better and looks nicer."
The elder fell silent.
Suddenly, the emergency rations in that cave didn't feel quite so reassuring anymore.
The little girl listened carefully, then nodded seriously, as if saying: Understood. I will master this "delicate" technique.
Reid ruffled her hair, satisfied. "Good. That's my qualified first mate."
The elder watched the scene, then quietly turned away and ordered the tribe to speed up processing.
He needed to get this rhino into storage as soon as possible…
And perhaps…
It was time to secretly expand the warehouse again.