"The pork belly on this thing is going to be phenomenal. The fat-to-meat ratio is perfect for a slow-braised red pork dish!"
Blue stood a few paces away, his hands resting casually behind his back, watching her work with a faint, indulgent smile. "I merely provided the opening. Your strike rattled its brain. You are a formidable warrior, Brother Ji'an."
"I am a chef who hits things very hard," Ji'an corrected, expertly separating the beast's glowing purple core from its chest cavity and tossing it into a collection pouch, before getting to work on the premium cuts of meat. "There is a difference."
As Ji'an enthusiastically butchered the boar, wrapping the best cuts in preservation talismans and storing them in her ring, the ambient noise of the jungle slowly began to change.
The buzzing of the giant, iridescent swamp mosquitoes ceased.
The distant calls of the canopy birds went dead silent.
