Reta reached into her sidebag and pulled out some sort of round object, wrapped in cloth.
"I have another one, so you can have this one." She said, handing the cloth wrapped object to Cooper.
"What is it?" Cooper asked, taking the offered mystery blob.
"Wamper sandwich. Food for your starving self."
"What exactly is a Wamper sandwich?" Cooper eyed the 'sandwich' cautiously.
"Well, bread, for one. The other part comes from the swamps of Nalli. As far as I know, it's exclusively from there, we passed by it a month back and the Wampers keep well."
"Yes, but what is a Wamper?" Cooper insisted.
"Safe to eat is what it is." The armored man spoke up.
"Describe it, if you would." Cooper said, not letting it go.
"Safe. To. Eat. Not for the starving to be so picky." The armored man insisted, matching Cooper's stubbornness.
"Fine. I am hungry after all. If I get sick, it is on you." Cooper said, unwrapping the sandwich, which didn't look bad, apart from the blue-green coloured meat sticking out. Cooper took a bite out of the sandwich and to his surprise, it didn't taste bad. A bit dry, but overall quite tasty. "It's not bad, if it was a bit juicier, it'd be better." Cooper said, swallowing the weird meat.
"Honestly thought you might not like it, it's a bit of an acquired taste, and yes, it is better when not dry, however we don't really get a choice in the matter, you either dry it, or it spoils." Reta reached into her sidebag again, pulling out another sandwich and taking a bite herself, Cooper looked at the other two who had done the same.
"My favourite place to get food for the road is definitely the Ambir mountains, Wyvern meat is a delicacy and roasted properly, definitely my favourite." The armored man said, Cooper could swear he was drooling.
"I like the swamps, I just wish we'd stopped by for a Hydra. Love me some roasted Hydra meat. It doesn't keep well though so we would've had to eat it almost immediately. Or have a mage who could preserve stuff." The bird woman emphasized the last part, giving Reta a look.
"Look, once we find an ice mage that can teach me that, I'll get on it. Last time I didn't have a choice, we had to leave before I had a chance. Also, I think you're all wrong and are forgetting about Kallon Seakeep, the rivers are so plentiful there with rare fish, if they allow you to fish that is. Also all sorts of crabs and lobsters if you're staying for a bit. Nothing beats good seafood."
"The best food I've had so far has been this Wamper sandwich." Cooper bluntly stated. The armored man laughed, the bird woman joined in on the laughter. Reta just smiled.
As Cooper was about to eat the last bite of the sandwich, he felt something poking at his leg again. His Stalker looked at him with expecting eyes, Cooper had forgotten about him, again, and gave him the last piece, which the Stalker immediately scarfed down.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"Don't think he had eaten either. I don't know what he gets up half the time, he kind of just, disappears. He might've eaten a goblin for all I know." Cooper shrugged.
"I think you two need more bonding time, it has been a bit hectic for a bit now." The bird woman suggested.
"I would tend to agree, you haven't had much time but there's a bit of time before we reach Trand, could use the time for that. Also since you haven't had a look at his skills and such, that's probably something you should do as well." Reta said in agreement with the bird woman.
"Right, it's a good idea. Might just do that, check in with Tommy first, probably. Before I leave, I kind of don't know what to refer to the two of you as, so introductions, a bit late but that seems to be common for me. You probably already know my name, but if you don't, it's Cooper."
"I'm Mall." The armored man said.
"I am Phebesh. Good to know you, Cooper." The bird woman said in turn.
"And you already know me, I think. It's Reta regardless."
"Good meeting all of you, I think I'll be off to find Tommy and then maybe do something with this thing." Cooper pointed at his Stalker. "Thanks for the food, and company. And for answering my questions. See you later."
"Talk to you later, Cooper." The three said in unnerving unison.
Cooper walked off to find Tommy to check in on his healing. On the way, Cooper decided to open his status, trying to find his Stalker's stuff, without success. Stumped, he looked at his Stalker and tried to will in his Stalker's status instead, which to his surprised, worked.
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Juvenile Grey Stalker (Male) - Level 10 Stalker - Companion
HP 150/150 MP 5/5
Unallocated Stat points available - 27
Strength - 9 +
Agility - 15 +
Endurance - 5 +
Intelligence - 8 +
Wisdom - 3 +
Magic - 2 +
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Cooper had a quick glance at his Stalker's status, slightly jealous of his Stalker's higher Intelligence stat.
"You're an agile one, aren't you." Cooper ruffled his Stalker's head, ears flopping.
"I sure am." A voice came from the side, startling Cooper, who momentarily thought his Stalker had learned to speak.
"Tommy! You scared the shit out of me. I'm just looking at my Stalker's stats, I was coming to find you but didn't expect to find you this soon. Or, well, you to find me, I suppose."
"Not you too. Darren's been checking in on me every five minutes it feels like. I'm fine. Changing the topic, where have you been?"
"Oh. I was asking Reta some questions about magic. She also told me about my Stalker having skills of his own. Also met Phebesh and Mall. They're nice, though Mall is kind of imposing."
"That he is. I didn't know your companion could get skills. That's neat."
"Yeah, I didn't either. It seems very similar to mine, from a quick glance."
"Right. I'll leave ya to it, don't wanna disturb you any more than I already have."
"Thanks, I do need to have a look at this, we can catch up properly at town, maybe you can help me with what to do in town, seeing as I don't know much."
"We'll probably get assigned to do some beginner escort quests or the like. Or, me at least, depends on if you decide to sign with our merry band of glorified caravan guards."
"Right, I'll think about it but I am leaning towards yes, we'll see about the details later but I doubt I'll say no."
"Right. Either way, off you get, you've got skills to look at, or something like that. I don't know how your thing works."
"See you Tommy." Tommy nodded as a response. "Right, back to this then, eh."