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“NO!”
You let out a loud and panicked scream as your body jolts upright violently. Your hand clutching your chest, your heart pounding like crazy, a cold sweat rushing down your body as you awaken abruptly. Once you were fully awake your hands reached for and cradled your head. It was a terrible headache and getting up like that didn’t help it. You wince in pain from your body’s soreness and your headache as you try to piece together all of what happened. You couldn’t think clearly or even remember where you were but something snapped you out of your cluttered train of thought.
“Oh yer up, hello there. It’s probably best you stay down for a bit. Mana sickness isn’t nothing nice.”
A pained and confused groan leaves your mouth as you look up and try to focus your vision on the person in front of you. To your surprise, it was a dwarf, thankfully a friendly one. He stood on the far side of the small room you both confided in. It was hard to see from the intense headache and dizziness you were under from your mana sickness but from what you could see he was sitting down over a large pot. You rubbed your heavy eyes and cleared your throat before questioning the dwarf.
“Tsk…aand uhm..who are you..?"
“Oh, how rude of me. I'm Senshi, the one who saved ya before things got out of hand.”
That's when all the memories flooded back to you. You were roaming around the lower levels by yourself, Unfortunately for you, you were cornered by a bunch of ghosts. As a last resort, you used a large spell to scare them off but it cost you. Once the memories fully came back you began to look around at your things frantically. The only thing on yourself is the clothes you wore. Fear rushed down your spine as you thought all of your gear, food, and money you had were lost to the dungeon.
“If yur looking for your things, it’s over there.”
Senshi announced while pointing to the wall beside him. There were all your things, it was a bit torn and damaged from the large attack you did but it was all still there. Relief washed over you as you leaned up against the wall your hands resting back over your face. It was difficult to move much with your mana sickness and overall soreness. You wanted nothing more than to crawl back up on your sleeping mat and rest more but there was another thing keeping you awake. It was the smell of something cooking, the scent circulated the room and up your nose. It was a unique smell, one you couldn’t quite figure out but it smelled amazing. Your face lifted from your hands and gave the air a few more sniffs trying to figure out what was cooking. Senshi was too busy stirring his pot and preparing more ingredients for whatever he was brewing. Dizziness still plagued you so you stayed leaned up against the wall with your eyes shut for the time being.
“What’s that smell..?”
Your raspy voice cuts through the silence and snaps Senshi out of his focus.
“Oh, just whipping us up some stew, after what you’ve been through you could need it.”
He was cooking a meal for you; A random stranger took his time out of his day to not only save you but feed you as well. You weren’t going to deny his request, you were starving. You could practically feel your stomach shrink by the second. Maybe it was from your mana sickness and dizziness but you can’t remember the last time you ate, with each growl your stomach let out the more discomfort you felt. He dwarfed moved a bit quicker to finish up the meal he was making for you both.
“It’s done!”
Senshi announced with a loud hand clap. After a handful of minutes, the food was down and ready to be served. He ladled a hefty portion of the stew into one of the bowls and walked it over to you. His heavy footsteps made you open your eyes and finally, you were able to get a good look at him. He, like all dwarfs, was short and stocky. He had a large fluffy bead that draped over most of his chest, paired with the beard, he had a fluffy mustache. What stood out the most about him wasn’t his lack of real armor but his helmet. His helmet had two mid-sized curling horns sticking out of it as well as a large X on the front of it. While you were busy staring at him he bent down a bit in front of you and handed you the bowl of food and a spoon. Your eyes adjust more and look at the food. It looked amazing! You thought to yourself as your eyes widened and your mouth hung slightly open. You carefully take the bowl and spoon and admire the mela he’s made for you. The aroma is savory with a hint of spice, the soup looked rich and flavorful. The stew was full of an assortment of veggies and meat. You could feel droll start to drip down your chin the longer you gazed at the bowl. Senshi was making himself a bowl but kept his eyes on you, finding your reaction to the food a bit amusing but he kept a calm look. You take the spoon and shovel some of the food into your mouth. It was piping hot, resulting in you huffing a few times but besides that the food was delicious. The textures were a bit weird and so was the taste but delicious nonetheless. These new flavors melted on your tongue the more you chewed. A few happy moans slip from your lips as you return for another bite of the stew. Senshi watched as you began to eat more of his food, seeing you express your enjoyment of the meal made him smile a bit. Once he served himself some food he took a seat in front of you and began to eat as well. After a few more big bites of the meal, you pause to thank him.
“Where did you even find these ingredients? It is so.. unique but it’s good, really good..Thank you, Senshi..”
“This dungeon is full of veggies and animals, wasn’t hard to gather them. Just got to know where to look that’s all. And yur welcome”
He said with another brief smile before taking another bite of his food. Your eyebrows raise when he says the food came from down here. You must have been looking in all the wrong places because as long as you’ve been down here you haven’t seen much. As you took another bite of the meal a question stirred in your brain. He looked at him with a curious expression as you finished up your chewing. He returned the look to you, wondering what was on your mind.
“Something on yur mind?”
“..yeah.. what's exactly in this stew?”
“Oh, well potatoes, carrots, onions, kelpie meat, and some seasonings.”
As if your eyes couldn’t get any wider you looked at him with a stunned expression. As if you didn’t hear him correctly. KELPIE MEAT? AS IN THE MONSTER? You thought as you rested the spoon on your lips and looked back at the bowl. Confusion fills your face as you sit in silence. He watched your expression, expecting you to say something about the stew or not eat it anymore.
“...Didn’t expect them to taste any good..”
You mumbled but loud enough for him to hear. You reached your spoon back into the bowl and took another bite. Slightly weirded out by the fact you were eating kelpie meat but that didn’t take away from its insane flavor. His eyes widened a bit at your comment, he was expecting you to say something rude about it but seeing you still eating it made him grow a little more fond of you. He smiled a bit more and you returned the smile.
“After I finish I bet get going, this meal is very nutritious and filling but I best not linger..”
“My party is coming back soon, we have a magic user who could help you recover your mana. Stay a bit longer. They wouldn’t mind assisting you.”
He gestures his hands towards you like he’s telling you to take your time eating. His kindness warms your soul and his meal replenishes your energy slowly. It would be foolish not to expect his offer so you nodded and continued to eat your meal alongside him.
“Thank you again senshi, I hope I can repay the favor soon”
“Yur welcome, you enjoying the meal is enough for me.”
You and him exchange one more smile before continuing to eat this delicious dungeon meal.