Chapter 50: 50 – Humiliated by the Chickens
Leva devoured the freshly roasted chicken. Meanwhile, Seb was hanging the chickens on a twig rack, next to the fire.
"Well, at least this time I smoked something new." Seb shrugged with a sneer. It was the fourth rack he used. "I don't have to thinly slice meat anymore, it's a tedious job."
"Don't you still have to pluck their feathers? It's also quite a time-consuming job, right?" Leva asked with her mouth full.
"Well, their feathers are very easy to remove. It's very much like the genetically engineered chickens on our planet, they make the animals so easy to process, from the meat to the feathers." Seb hung the last chicken and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Anyway, this is really a change of pace from slicing meat."
Leva's gaze turned to Pif. The skinny man just sat looking at the bonfire. His body was still full of bite wounds from the chickens.
"Why don't you eat, kid?" Leva raised an eyebrow.
Seb took his share of the roast chicken. "Let's eat Pif. You must be hungry, right? Finally, we have food other than red meat, berries and bananas."
[Mental breakdown debuff – Pif is under severe psychological stress, so he cannot properly perform his function as a human.]
Just because of the attack of the chickens, he became like that? No. I think this is the culmination of all Pif's feelings. Maybe that negative feeling has been piling up since before this young man even joined my colony.
"Tsk." Leva clucked and continued eating.
This cannot be left alone. If Pif can't do anything and Leva goes to get Clay, who will protect this colony and Seb?
I whispered something into Leva's ear. Seb had also experienced a mental breakdown and was successfully healed by the red-haired girl. So, I think Leva can help Pif now.
"Damn it, kid." Leva stuck the stick used to stab the chicken into the ground, then got up to approach the skinny young man. However, Pif looked the other way.
Seb got up too. "Leva, you better…."
"Shut up and sit down, Seb." I cut him off, and the man sat back down.
Leva folded her arms across her chest. "Let me guess, you're feeling useless again, huh? You feel you should join in attacking the chickens. Jeez, Pif. How many times do I have to say, there's no one blaming you for something like that."
The young man remained silent. Leva snorted and grabbed Pif's hand, forcing him to stand up. However, Pif instead looked down, not wanting to look at the woman.
"Listen to me carefully!" Leva snapped. "If you continue like this, you will not be able to progress! Look, you believe in that guardian spirit, right? Perhaps you were given instructions to bring the chickens here…."
"Shut up." Pif hissed, then took his part of the chicken and the piece of fiery wood, then walked away.
"Hey, I'm not done talking yet!" Leva grabbed the boy's shoulder.
Pif only glanced at Leva with a sharp look.
Sensing something from the young man, I whispered into Leva's ear. "Just let him go."
Leva withdrew her hand and snorted. I followed Pif, who started walking again. It didn't take long until the young man arrived at the area that became my colony's graveyard. Pif stuck a wooden stick with a flame tip in his hand into the ground, then scratched his hair while looking at the five mounds there.
It lasted a few seconds, then the young man sighed, split the roast chicken in half, and placed one of them in front of the graves.
"I don't know where your graves are, Theo, Ella." Pif sat down and started eating his chicken. "See, we can finally eat a chicken that is neither head nor leg."
The young man chuckled, then the corners of his lips dropped. "Well, my life has changed drastically now. When I can't do my job well, I'm no longer tortured or publicly humiliated. I'm only being scolded now, but it's not because of my incompetence either."
The atmosphere became quiet. All that was heard was the slight crackling of the fiery stick. Pif continued to eat in silence.
"Maybe, I really have to practice a lot to make myself better, as taught by Egan and his friends. No matter how rough they are, their practice has a point." Pif shook his head. "However, lately I just feel like I have to practice archery, even though there are still many exercises that I can do to increase stamina and so on. I don't know…. Is the guardian spirit of this group giving any clues…"
Ah, it turns out I made a mistake too. Perhaps my order also added to his frustration.
"If it's my guardian spirit that whispers to me to practice archery only, I hope he hears me." A faint smile formed on the youth's lips. "I'm not like the others, who already have basic strength. I still need to train my muscles. My activities also don't have much to do with the physical, so I need special training. I can't immediately mine or chop down trees because it will drain my stamina quickly."
"Do what you think is best, Pif." I whispered into the young man's ear.
I checked the boy's profile window and couldn't find the debuff again. I forget. Pif is actually not that weak.
Pif threw chicken bones on the ground, then fell silent again. Since the young man didn't speak for a while, I decided to fast-forward the game. It seemed Pif had nothing to say anymore.
I stopped the fast forward in the morning because I saw Pif did something unusual. He put his hands on the ground and started push-ups.
Leva came out of the shelter carrying a sack of goods on her back and a wooden container on her shoulders. The girl raised an eyebrow at the young man's activity.
"What are you doing?" The red-haired girl asked as she approached Pif.
Pif was lying face down on the ground after ten push-ups. "I want to increase my strength so I can at least pull the bowstring more steadily."
Leva nodded. "Good luck with the practice then."
"Good luck to you too on the journey."
"Bye." Leva waved her hand and started walking. "I will give you a bonus if your training shows results."
Pif immediately got up. "Hey, what do you mean?"
Leva just waved her hand, not looking at the young man at all.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone