Taylor turned the handle to rotate the deer he was roasting whole. Using some magic he categorized as earth and healing Magics he caused sturdy branches to grow on their own and used them to make the spit to roast it.

Melody still hadn’t woken up so he had decided she might need something to eat once she’s up. The deer was about done at this point so he grabbed some herbs he had gathered. He figured out which ones seemed similar by trial and error. A few times having to be saved by Gaia because he tried a herb that turned out to be poisonous.

He asked Gaia why he didn’t warn him and Gaia told him that since he didn’t eat he had no reason to worry about what was and wasn’t edible. Taking the herbs the crushed them up and sprinkled them over the deer to finish it off, not counting the ones he had already stuffed in the slit he made in its stomach cavity.

A rustling behind him made Taylor turn around to see Melody stirring. “I saved you after you fell, I have food, I mean no harm.” He said in a calm voice, beat to explain and get his intentions out fast as to not scare her.

She turned slowly and then looked up at Gaia. “The Tree of life” she said nostalgically, “why did you save me elf?” She asked getting to her feet.

“You fell quite a ways and I needed to make sure you were fine.” Taylor said getting to his feet as well, “Gaia helped me remove the dead mana from your body and purify it. I like being able to help others so when I can do good I will.”

Melody looked around “who is this Gaia you mentioned? I must thank them for assisting me.”

“The tree” Taylor explained, “I named him Gaia, we’ve been keeping each other company for the last nine months or so while I studied magic.”

“You can speak to it?” She asked incredulously.

“Him, and yes I can. Can you not?” He asked bewildered.

Melody walked up to him standing about three inches short of his height and stared at him. “Nobody has spoken to the tree before to my knowledge. I didn’t even think that was possible. How are you able to talk to it- uh, him?” She asked raising an eyebrow.

“Mana synchronization,” Taylor explained, “basically just focus on feeling the mana around you and eventually you’ll reach a state where you can see the mana visibly and it will allow you to see and talk to Gaia yourself.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Surely it can’t be that simple,” she rebutted.

Gesturing to the deer he said “how about you get something to eat first.”

“You’re eating the protected animals of the tree?! On this island?!” She half yelled and jumped back. “Those animals have been protected by the tree for centuries. Every human I’ve seen try to hunt them have had terrible fates befall them.”

“Gaia said I could,” Taylor said simply and cut a piece of meat off to eat it, “see? I’m just fine.” He said with a mouthful of deer.

She glanced at the tree and grabbed a whole back leg off at the joint and began to drool a bit. With a nod of approval from Taylor and one last glance at Gaia she bit into it and closed her eyes. The juice of the fat posing out with every chew and the herbs Taylor added on made the meat so much better. The herbs were similar to rosemary and thyme so he knew it would turn out well.

“This has got to be the best meat I’ve had in my life!” She exclaimed, “what did you do to it?”

Taylor took out a few leaves he had left. “I just dried up these leaves, crushed them up and put them on it while it cooked.” He explained. “Where I’m from this is fairly basic so I could make much better food if I had more stuff.”

“Name it and I’ll grab it for you” she said with a deadly serious look on her face.

“Are you going to take it from some human?” He asked.

“Where I get it matters not if you can make better food.” She says waving around the leg with one hand.

“Stealing is bad,” Taylor chided her, “many humans can barely afford what they have let alone to replace something stolen by a crazy dragon.”

“I am not crazy,” she growled.

“I’m human society you would be considered crazy,” he explained, “you go to someone’s home, break in, and steal their cooking utensils, all so someone else can make you some food.” He gave her a pointed look, “most other people would just rather you asked where to get some utensils or if they had any extra they were willing to part with, maybe in exchange for some meat or other commodity.”

“Why do humans have to be so complicated?” She sighed.

“The golden rule, one you should always follow, treat others the way you would want them to treat you.” He rattled off as if he were explaining this to his children, “if some stranger came to your house and took some of your items you used every day would you be happy?”

“No…” she grumbled.

“Then find a way to ask politely in a manner in which you would be less offended if someone did that same thing to you.” He said in a bit more of a cheerful tone.

“Oh great and powerful human!” She began.

“No.” Taylor interrupted, “treat them as an equal, not a better. Things are better for everyone if you’re on equal standing. Try ‘hello, I seem to have lost my cooking utensils, could I take any spares of yours? I have an animal I caught I would trade you for it if you have any.’”

She seemed to think on his example, “so make a barter with them? Make an equal exchange?”

“Exactly,” he said happily, “even if they find the trade to be unequal because you are offering more than it’s worth give them what you feel it’s worth to you. If gold is useless to you give them gold for it. Humans love gold and will give you almost anything for it. But they would be much friendlier and appreciative if you have them meat or offered to help with heavy lifting.”

She simply grunted in response as she continued devouring her leg. Taylor thought of what this could mean for his life from here on out. Was she staying? It seemed like it since she liked his cooking, she also seemed interested in talking to Gaia, so maybe he should show her how to do that. One thing was for sure, things weren’t going to be as quiet as they were before.