Later that day, lunchtime.

“Hmm hmmm!” Shion hummed a song that only she knew in a good mood.

Kenji looked at her captain with a confused expression. “Boss, you’re making me scared. What’s going on?”

“What do you mean? Isn’t I serving you with a naked apron in one of your list of desires?” She asked him back.

At the moment, Shion is only wearing a skimpy apron on top of her super erotic black serpent-scale bodysuit. Since the body suit is hugging her body like a second skin, her modest breast shape, waistline, and round butt is bare for him to see. 

Considering the original mood that she showed during her return after killing the first female Giant Kararan Serpent, her quick mood swing is suspicious. The feeling of incongruence was amplified because it seems like she poured all of her love and effort into cooking for Kenji.

She served a set of beast meat on a wooden platter. The smell alone could make someone hungry, the mouth-watering presentation was also excellent beyond the standards of a high-level fine dining restaurant. 

“I am familiar with Giant Kararan Serpent meat even if it became a steak. What about these sausages?” He asked, ignoring Shion’s erotic body.

“It is a serpent blood sausage made from Giant Kararan Serpent’s intestine, blood, and egg yolk, perfect for increasing the amount of energy that your blood can provide to your whole body.”

Kenji frowned. “What about this…mashed potatoes. Didn’t you forcefully ‘requisite’ them from Thousand Flower girls just now?” 

“That is indeed one of their rank 0 Potato Mines, baked and mashed into perfection with mayonnaise and several other sauces which I procured from Thousand Flower vanguard members. A balanced diet does not purely contain meat products as your body also requires carbohydrates, magnesium, ferron and other essentials, this mashed potato will fulfil that role.” 

“Fuck. Why is she trying to kill me with this method...” Kenji cursed his bad luck. He didn’t recall making Shion furious like this. “Boss, spare me… I don’t want to explode. I’ve seen the goblins step on those Potato Mines and explode into a thousand little pieces… I’m sorry if I made you angry… please just spare me this time!!!”

Shion made a pained expression as if Kenji had slaughtered her whole family. “You wound me. I’ve picked the best ingredients and resources so that you can eat good food. Is this how you repay me, with slander?” Shion sobbed.

Kenji ignored her words, but his danger senses did not pick up anything from the mashed Potato Mines nor serpent steak and blood sausages. They are not poisoned nor a time bomb, yet he did not have the courage to eat them. However, seeing Shion go this far to feed him, it would’ve been wasteful if he didn’t eat. 

“Fine… I’ll be your guinea pig.” Kenji grudgingly took the first bite on the steak. 

The taste was as good as the smell and presentation. The hard, metal-like rubbery meat was so soft that it felt like it melted in his mouth. The juicy fat and oil that leaked was so delicious that Kenji did not allow any to spill.

The sausages are also delicious, the taste of blood isn’t too strong and it also smells really good. When Kenji ate the pale yellow mashed potato with orange-colored mayonnaise sprinkled with red chilli powder, the balanced taste made him eat more than he wanted to. 

“I never knew Potato Mines, a wood-path offensive method, can be used to make great food!” Kenji activated his cultivation method while eating. Every martial artist starts their cultivation journey by learning a type of ‘Nurturing Technique’.

Nurturing Technique is a cultivation method that… literally nurtures the cultivator in various aspects, typically their physical body or teaches the martial artist for a certain foundational concept which can be used with other techniques. 

For example, the one who is responsible for increasing martial artists’ internal energy development quotient is Internal Energy Nurturing Technique whereas their physical attribute is thanks to Body Nurturing Technique, so on and so forth. What determines whether a martial artist is elite or trash are the quality of their talent and Nurturing Techniques. 

The method Kenji activates is called [Barbarian Stomach], a strength-path Body Nurturing Technique that not only allows his stomach to absorb nutrients from the food he consumed more effectively, but also allows his body to process the hardest, most bitter meals such as wood or even soil. With better efficiency, his metabolism is faster and more optimized than his peers, his biological energy replenishment rate is extremely fast. 

In other words, it is a Body Nurturing Technique that upgrades his digestion and metabolic systems the more he cultivated and mastered the technique.

Since the quality of his food is great, taste and nutrition wise, he can use the energy to activate Body Nurturing Technique with other functions, such as one that increases his physical foundation or even better, Internal Energy Nurturing Technique to progress his cultivation.

However, he did not activate any other Nurturing Techniques because Shion gave him a telepathic message during his meal.

“[Flesh Tearing Bone Breaking Fist], is it?” Kenji gazed at the smiling Shion who playfully acted like a maid, waiting for him to finish the food so she could serve more. “To think that she’s willingly shared her [Triple Extreme Sound: Drum Fist] and derive a strength-path version of it because it overlaps with my methods. Who the fuck are you, boss?” Kenji muttered in silence as he seriously pondered the technique she passed on through telepathic messages. 

[Flesh Tearing Bone Breaking Fist] is not a Nurturing Technique, but a Killing Technique.

Nurturing Technique is a cultivation method to build up a martial artist’s foundation or teaches a certain foundational concept, it usually has utility and auxiliary function. Although some offered a bit of offensive power, it was merely at the point of better than normal attack.

Killing Technique is the opposite of Nurturing Technique. It contributes absolutely nothing towards one's cultivation base, but grants the martial artist lethality as it is focused on destruction and killing, sometimes at the cost of one’s foundation. Most martial artists do not learn any Killing Technique unless they have achieved rank 1 or close to it, otherwise, it would kill the user first before it can be successfully activated. 

But, how can Kenji or other elites at Hunter Academy be satisfied with merely Nurturing Techniques. Isn’t being a heavenly genius meant they are above others? If they do not have the lethality of Killing Technique, what’s the difference between them and those trash martial artists?

And so, it isn’t strange for first year geniuses of the Hunter Academy to grasp a Killing Technique for trump card.

That being said, the amount of Killing Technique that Kenji had learnt is extremely low, most of his methods are still considered as Nurturing Technique.

For example, [Horizontal Charge] is a Nurturing Technique that trains his leg strength, it teaches him how to effectively charge head on like an armored beast.

One of his favourite martial arts, [Ground Shaker], is also a Nurturing Technique that trained him to distribute raw power through blunt martial weapons. He just liked to use them  offensively because he wanted to hide his atmospheric strength nurturing techniques.

The only Killing Technique that kenji have is [Power Overwhelming], which allows him to unleash his physical body’s full potential within a short period. Each usage of [Power Overwhelming] usually ruptured his veins, ripped his tendons, and potentially fractured his bones because of that is simply the nature of Killing Technique. 

Even so, [Power Overwhelming] is still considered as an amplification-type Killing Technique because it only ‘breaks’ the limit of the martial artist. It’s actual power is, in the end, dependent on how the martial artist utilizes it during the ‘amplification’ period. 

But, it is also the reason why most first mid-stage or late-stage rank 0 martial artists learnt [Power Overwhelming] as a trump card. In a life-and-death battle, it’s a thousand times better to struggle to the very end and be crippled rather than being dead. 

On the other hand, [Flesh Tearing Bone Breaking Fist] is a true Killing Technique.

“Boss, it’s impossible for me to learn this in a short amount of time.” Kenji argued. He immediately understood why Shion was so nice all of a sudden. “Is it related to Combat Exosuit Minor Inheritance?”

Shion did not break her smile nor say anything unnecessary. “Just try your best, I will deduce the supporting Nurturing Technique so that your hands won’t explode during use.”

Shion paused before adding, “Also from henceforth, you will be responsible for my portion of combat. Be as aggressive as possible. I will not personally participate in battle unless the whole team is in danger of being wiped, but I will support you to the best of my abilities.”

Kenji raised his eyebrows. “By support, do you mean your cooking and stuff?”

“Indeed.”

“I’ve never seen you eat...” Kenji scratched his chin. “I’ve only seen you drinking those weird lightning-path solvent that you refined personally… or those Galatreon’s D-rank liquid nutrients you’ve got from Ayame.” He complained to himself. “Though, your cooking is sublime! Who taught you that?”

“My big brother. He used to take care of me.” Shion smiled. “He’s not in this material plane at the moment.”  

Kenji asked jokingly to make a conversation, but he never thought that Shion would answer. “Oh, I see.” He didn’t think too much of it. In his perspective, Shion’s brother must be invading other minor planes to pillage resources and inheritances, it was common for those with powerful background to gain experience in extraplanar warfare after reaching rank 1. He did not ask further because knowing too much would be a reason to be targeted in the future because of Shion's secretive background.

She erases the smile on her face as she turns serious, “That being said, you have to master [Flesh Tearing Bone Breaking Fist] as soon as possible.” She turned around, going back to the camp kitchen to make some more food.

Kenji saw the grim expression that Shion made. “I… Understand.” 

…

The next day, in an underground beast nest.

“Captain, it’s not fair that you’ve practically siphoned most of our spoils of war into Kenji.” Yulinka Victoria of Frozen Heart, Anastasia’s distant cousin, complained to Shion.

Mages cast spells using spell catalysts which are refined from materials, whereas martial artists consume a large amount of food to generate energy.

The biggest difference between a mage and martial artists is that, although mages could eat the same type of food compared to martial artists, they do not necessarily have the Nurturing Technique required to effectively use that energy.

Martial artists like kenji have no problem eating 25 to 40 kilograms of meat in one sitting whereas the typical mage would probably be full after eating 1200 gram of steak. So, mages make best use of their limited stomach capacity by eating better quality meals or potions which augment their cultivation. 

Then, why didn't mages cultivate Nurturing Technique themselves? With their resources, it must be easy to find a fitting Nurturing Technique that does not conflict with their spiritual force meditation technique, right?

Well, it isn’t that simple, because a person’s time is limited. 

Those who wanted to thread the martial path and the arcane path at the same time had to not only be extremely talented and resourceful, but also have the mental fortitude to do so. 

For some, closed doors cultivation is boring while for others, they do not want to risk their life in martial combat. 

Martial and mage cultivation is on the opposite end of each other. Martial artists must continuously temper their body through trials of combat while mages are based on intellectual pursuit and understanding the mystery of magic through research.  

That being said, the spoils of war that the vanguard team’s harvested along the way had been requisitioned by Shion for Kenji. Over half of the materials harvested by the 10-man vanguard team has been taken away, which meant less for others. How can they not raise a complaint?

“Yes, I am unreasonable. So, are you going to fight it out with me for the resources I used on Kenji or are you just here to complain?” Shion coldly implied. “I don’t even have to get my hands dirty, you can fight it out yourselves with Kenji.” Shon added, disdain is obvious on her face.

Everyone knows she was in the right because she followed the team contract to the fullest. But, being right doesn’t mean you have to be a dick about it.

“As the contract stated, the spoils of war’s distribution depends on one’s contribution. However, Kenji have been killing all the hostiles and thus, stealing the contributions that we can get. I know he is your vice-captain, but it isn’t a reason for you to abuse your authority!” Yulinka argued.

The team contract itself is very fair, otherwise none of the captains of the original teams would accept it. Nobody is an idiot to allow others to exploit themselves. 

That being said, they also wouldn’t make the contract too restrictive because a rigid system will make the coordination between teams slow and lack flexibility in the battlefield. This allows the vanguard team members to contribute the barest minimum while getting at least half (5%) of their share of spoils of war (10%). 

Though, the actual numbers would fluctuate between 15% and 5%, depending on their contribution.

However, when Kenji went all out, most of the team could not participate in the battle at all. They went from contributing the barest minimum (gaining at least 5%), to getting zero! 

“The Seas of Eternal Winters is the region where water-path, ice and snow-path, and dark-path are the most developed. Then, you want to tell me that you, who came from the Seas of Eternal Winter, could not identify traces of Giant Kararan Serpent, one of the common dark-path beasts that could be found in all five regions?” Shion stared at Yulinka. “Moreover, as a cold-blooded beast, Giant Kararan Serpents are vulnerable to ice and snow-path methods. You want to tell me that your methods are flashy but they are useless, or you did go all out when I wasn’t there with Kenji to kill it?” Shion added.

She did not stop. “Klauss Ludwig, can you elaborate how those 9mm rounds are all you have? Weren’t those the caliber you use against goblins? You have no HE Rounds or AR Rounds especially made to deal with large beasts?”

“I am not mad that all of you did not use your methods to the fullest. I understand your reasoning, but understanding doesn’t equal agreeing. You can go ahead concealing your true strength for all I care, it doesn't affect me in any way. Kenji’s bow can take care of everything.” Shion scolded everyone in the vanguard team.

Although She did not say anything towards those from Thousand Flowers, their inventory have been ‘requisitioned’ by Shion, they wouldn’t dare not to contribute to the team.

At this moment, Kenji, with his compound bow, returned after fetching his metal arrows. 

After he was told to go all-out by Shion, he was forced to take out his bows and arrow. His marksmanship was shit compared to a true archer, but he was actually quite good if compared to those who had held the bow the same duration with himself. 

His marksmanship wasn’t due to talent, but pure effort.

“With this, he will take… around 70%.” Shion gazed at the Thousand Flower girls who are incharge of logistics and support. “Please gather the spoils of war, I want the priority for the spinneret glands and carapace, I don't care about the poison glands..” Shion pointed at a large beast corpse.

Those poor weak girls whose names did not get remembered by Shion wouldn’t dare to delay.  

The dead beast is a Corpse Spider Mother, a large dark-path spider the size of a room (3 m tall, 4 m wide and 8 m long). It could produce a large amount of poisonous mist from it’s poison glands in addition to it’s durable paralytic web. Its spear-like legs are also so sharp that it can be used as a weapon. The name came from the fact that the spider injected her youngs inside a living creature, consuming the victim from inside. 

The victim did not die easily, the young spiders have a hallucinogenic substance to make the victim serve the spider mother like zombies.

It is not easy to kill her even if one can eradicate her zombie-like servants. She has strong layered carapace for defense in addition to it’s supernatural danger senses granted by the hairs on it’s ten legs. 

However, the beast spider is now dead, thanks to the thirteen spear-like arrow wounds lodged on its body. The force behind the arrows is enough to pierce the beast’s layered carapace. It is an achievement impossible to achieve by mid-stage rank 0 like them, unless Kenji uses a Killing Technique.

What made them frustrated is, Kenji is known for his powerful melee attacks, not bow-and-arrows... 

In a sense, the vanguard team benefited greatly, because they could see a glimpse of Kenji’s true might. Intel regarding a powerful hunter’s method is so precious that sometimes it couldn’t be bought with money. But their purpose in coming into the Ruined Wood Palace is to kill greenskins and beasts to gather resources. The profit from the battles are dwindling because they are skirting around the limit of the team contract to exploit Shion and Kenji.

“All of you seem to forget something. I was a Captain of a two-man team before I joined the group. Although I like to mess around with Kenji, that’s because he’s worth my time. You? In my eyes, you’re all merely a moving lump of flesh, tendon and bones: raw materials, no different than the beasts that you kill. If you die, I will make the best of what’s left of you to refine tools.” Shion smiled sweetly, but everyone, especially Kenji, had goosebumps. 

They wouldn’t doubt Shion refinement-path attainment. She made a suit out of serpent scale, tendon and bones in one short night, after all. It was the best proof of her claims.  

“F- fine!” Yulinka dropped the topic. “Let’s go.” She dragged her friend out of Shion’s line of sight, absolute dread concealed within her eyes. ‘Was this Bloodline suppression? I can’t shake my trembling hands, as if I was in the presence of… a Deep Sea Beast from the depth of the abyss… Shion is not a herbivore like I think she was. She is… an apex predator on top of the food chain. No wonder my cousin is warning me not to do anything overboard.’ 

Although they can hide their methods, their original captain wouldn’t accept them to have zero contribution at all. It would be an insult, one that not only damages one’s reputation but also reduces the team’s tangible benefits.

After Yulinka left, the others did not dare to complain to Shion. She established her dominance over the vanguard team while following the team contract to the absolute limit, to the point of not giving others the chance to contribute. 

In the upcoming battle, the vanguard team competed to contribute, reducing Kenji’s contribution from 70% to around 30%.

However, they need to showcase their methods. In all, it was according to Shion’s plan. She got a glimpse of what these little children could do and she could make a countermeasure if they did something funny later.

 

Three days later, they reached the boundary of a radioactive swamp. 

“Boss, we are now entering the Ruined Wood Palace.” Kenji reported.