Chapter 24: Steamed Clams

"By the way, Jax, why did you pull those clams from the sea? They’re almost impossible to open. We’ve been trying to eat them for a long time, but we never could." "You’ll see, Manaia. There’s always a way to do things. Follow me, I’ll show you something fun. In fact, let’s make a bet." "Heh heh, sounds good. What would you like to lose...?" "Hmm... Let’s see. If I manage to open these clams tonight, you won’t be able to say no to anything I ask." "Heh heh, alright, I accept the deal. But if you lose, you won’t be able to say no to anything I ask you..." "I like the sound of that. Let’s do it..." I started gathering logs from the ground and tearing off more branches to build a campfire. I broke all the wood into small pieces with my hands to make sure the flame wouldn’t spread, but would stay compact. Around that crushed wood, I stacked the clams, forming a small improvised oven to keep the heat concentrated. "Manaia, help me light the fire. I’ll get more firewood; I saw some bigger logs lying around over here." "Of course, Jax. I’m really looking forward to the outcome of our bet, though I don’t know what I’d like more, to win or to lose." "You don’t need to decide. You’ve already lost the moment you bet with me, hahaha...!" I kept gathering wood, even tearing down a small dry tree to make sure I wouldn’t run out. "This is one bet I don’t want to lose, hahaha...", I thought. When I returned, Manaia already had a huge fire going. "Ready, Jax. What’s next? If that’s all you’ve got, I’m afraid to say you’ll lose this time." "Manaia, you shouldn’t doubt your man." I approached Manaia and took her by the waist, pressing her against my body as I kissed her intensely. Our tongues met and I began to explore her mouth with passion while one of my hands roamed her large, round ass. My other hand started to move up and slipped under the side of her dress, pulling one of her breasts out into the open to massage it. Manaia’s arousal grew as I moved down to her neck to lick and kiss it, exciting her even more. "No...! You haven’t won the bet yet, so I won’t give in that easily, Jax. But... if you want to keep going, I wouldn’t mind when I lose." Her voice faded until it was just a murmur. "Alright, I’m not in a hurry to devour you. I can wait a bit longer." "Leader Jax, Matriarch, what are you doing?" The fire blazed and the wood crackled, making it seem like we were at a campfire by the beach. The atmosphere was warm and romantic when Zyra and Vira arrived. Not that I don’t enjoy their company; in fact, even though their bodies have quite a bit of muscle, they’re very sexy. I’d take a big bite out of them any time. "Cooking clams, or so it seems. I’m very intrigued by what Jax is trying to do." "Jax, I’m not trying to discourage you, but these clams are harder than rocks. They’re impossible to open, and even if you use fire to burn them, they have a sticky membrane that protects them from extreme temperatures. I don’t think you can ’kill’ them with such a weak fire." "Yeah, yeah, Jax. You should look for another method. Tala the blacksmith tried leaving a smaller one in her forge to cook, but even after leaving it there for several days while she worked, the clam didn’t even make a sound. Finally, Tala gave up." Even though I knew they were saying it for my own good, it was pretty sad they didn’t trust me. For two hours, I fed the fire ceaselessly, throwing more and more wood until the clams began to turn red. Their shells glowed like molten metal, red-hot. When they were all burning with an incandescent red, I grabbed a large stick, using it like a bat. With a powerful swing, I launched the first clam directly into the sea. The thermal shock was brutal. The clam’s shell cracked instantly with a dull crunch, because even though the clam’s interior could withstand high temperatures, the vacuum created by the sudden cooling shattered it, like applying thermal shock to a soda can. Upon impact with the water, the clam died due to implosion. [EXP Acquired] [Lvl Up] [Lvl Up] [Lvl Up] [EXP Acquired] [Lvl Up] [Lvl Up] [EXP Acquired] ... Many alerts flickered in my vision. Seeing my method worked, I kept launching the clams. One after another, each explosion sound sent even more messages. I gained a total of 7 levels thanks to my ingenious method. I turned to Manaia, Zyra, and Vira, who watched me with a mix of astonishment and curiosity. "This trick was taught to me by an old chef I used to travel with," I explained, a half-smile forming on my lips, though my eyes held a shadow of melancholy. "He used to say there’s always a way to get something out of everything, even the most difficult ingredients to use." A bitter thought crossed my mind. I hoped that chef was alright. They had removed him from my service under the excuse of an "illness," though I never saw him sick. Considering how the kingdom had treated me, I didn’t doubt the cook might have died for becoming too close, or for knowing too much. My mind drifted to my party members. There were four of us, a formidable team. From our first hunts, we had a habit of waiting for me in a bar near the castle entrance when I went to deliver the head of some demon or monster. They were never allowed inside, and that occasion was no exception. If my four companions had been there at that moment, during the siege, they would have subdued me more easily, as they knew my strategies, my fighting style, my tricks, and weaknesses. But they weren’t at the siege, so I still hoped they were alive and well. I didn’t want to believe that those I traveled with and risked my life for were capable of betraying me and stabbing me in the back. "If anything happens to them, damn Charles. I’ll make you suffer a hundred times over."