Chapter 182: Mixed Feelings
"Go and get me fire wood from the nearby area and be careful of any beasts. We will need a lot so be quick and you can eat as much as you want" instructed Damian to the beast.
He couldn't help but think that it was cute and was also a capable, dependable and understanding beast that would be very useful and fun to have around, but the fact that it was an unrestrainable and unknown beast made Damian feel wary of it.
Especially after Utsusu's warning, Damian didn't want to get too attached to the beast, while he also wanted to gauge as much as he could about the beast and find out why it saved him and continued to follow him.
The Monkey Beast didn't understand what Damian was instructing it to do, but then Damian picked up a nearby stick and lit it up with a small spark that he was able to form with a tiny amount of fire energy.
After seeing that, the beast understood and began gathering piles of sticks at alarming speeds that made Damian wonder whether he himself while using Shadow Energy would be able to keep up with such speed.
"What an incredible and unusual beast?" mumbled Damian to himself as he continued skinning the Moose Beast's body then cutting it apart.
He prepared large slabs of meat and put a small amount of salt on them, then left the bones, organs and skin that he wasn't going to eat in a pile nearby.
The Monkey Beast had gathered more than enough fire wood within a minute then sat and watched Damian closely as the beast tried to mimic Damian's movements.
It put out its hands and seemed to want the knife that Damian was holding, but treating the beast like a child, Damian began scolding it.
"This isn't a toy, it is sharp and dangerous. You can eat that stuff if you want or wait patiently"
Continuing preparing the Moose Beast's body as best as he could despite the wounded and fatigued state that he was in, Damian was surprised and happy to see that the Monkey Beast did exactly as he said.
He was unsure whether the Monkey Beast really would eat what he had thrown out, since just like the Moose Beast, Monkey Beast's usually wouldn't eat much beast meat and would prefer to eat plants and herbs with medicinal properties and energy.
They would also consume beast cores directly, but Damian was once again surprised to see that the Monkey Beast began stuffing its mouth with the Moose Beast's organs.
It then went on to eating its furry and tough skin, making it look easy, and even went on to crunching on the hooves and antlers of the beast.
The antlers of the Moose Beast is one of the most valuable parts of the Moose Beast's body because of how hard and durable they were, but they were too large for Damian to carry around.
He had left them there for a lucky person to stumble across and sell, but he had never expected that the small monkey beast would be able to eat it without any trouble, making it look like a candy stick.
Looking at its teeth, they looked to be similar to that of an adult human, but they were slightly larger, had sharper tips and were clearly much harder and more durable.
It made Damian wonder whether the rest of the Monkey Beast's bones were that tough and he also realised that he hadn't seen it be hurt a single time, which led him to believe that the durability of the entire Monkey Beast's body was incredible.
Everything about the beast was too unbelievable, powerful and dangerous, and yet it acted and looked like a playful child that listened to everything Damian told it to do.
It devoured the entire pile of waste that Damian had put to the side, then sat opposite Damian and waited for Damian to start cooking the meat of the Moose Beast.
The Monkey Beast's bright orange eyes were staring at the meat that was beside Damian and began drooling, which shocked Damian who had just watched it eat a pile of organs, skin and bones.
Despite the Monkey Besat being small, its appetite seemed incredibly large and it also seemed to be able to eat anything, no matter how hard it was to chew and digest.
Forming a small pile using the fire wood that the Monkey Beast had gathered, Damian lit it with a small amount of fire energy then began cooking meat over the flame.
Owing the beast and wanting to see how much it could eat, Damian would cook the Moose Beast's meat and continued handing the cooked beast meat to the Monkey Beast.
Despite it being in a small form, it still continued stuffing down the food without showing any signs of stopping, but then it abruptly stopped as it looked at Damian.
Damian was barely able to move and stay conscious, yet out of appreciation to the beast and because he saw the beast as a cute child that deserved the beast meat he was giving it, he still continued cooking beast meat and giving it to it.
As Damian handed over another large slab of beast meat, he was surprised to see the Monkey Beast shake his head and push the meat back to him, despite it being clear that it was still hungry.
It pointed at Damian then all of his injuries and signalled for him to eat the meat himself, while it grabbed some of the raw meat and mimicked how Damian had cooked it so that Damian could take the time to eat.
Damian was touched, shocked and didn't know how to feel about the beast who had done nothing but save him, help him and care for him, which was very weird for a beast.
Feeling hungry, tired and injured all over Damian didn't refuse the food and couldn't help but feel differently about the beast and slowly warm up to the cute, protective and intelligent Monkey Beast.