Percy entered the butcher’s shop, noticed that the butcher was alone, and spoke up before the hulking man could throw him out for sullying his products or staining the shop’s furniture and flooring. Percy was tired of getting shouted at.

“Erdwin told me to come here with these,” He announced, displaying the Berserk Rabbits in his right hand immediately.

The butcher looked up from his work and studied Percy briefly before his eyes trailed to the Berserk Rabbits.

“You sold the eyes to him?” The butcher asked after a moment.

Percy nodded, which brought a smile to his face, “To think this bastard let you inside with the corpses. He must like you.”

I sincerely doubt that. He likes money. Well, maybe he liked exploiting someone who doesn’t know better.

The butcher noted Percy’s expression and nodded understandingly.

“Don’t mind Erdwin too much. He is a good guy, but he also knows when it hurts. That sleazy bastard probably lectured you after ripping you off.”

Percy pressed his lips together and didn’t move. The butcher hit the bullseye.

The hulking man laughed and stepped closer. After fluidly removing one of his blood-smudged gloves, he offered Percy a handshake.

“My name is Kevin. Nice meeting you.”

Percy’s mind blanked out but subconsciously reached for the man’s hand.

Kevin first grasped Percy’s hand with little force, fearing he would break the youth’s hand, but quickly realized that there was more power behind Percy’s frail build. He applied more strength until Percy’s lips twitched.

“You have a good grip, kiddo.” Kevin praised, releasing Percy before he walked over to the sink to clean his hand.

Kevin cleaned his hand thoroughly, dried it with a clean cloth, and slipped the glove over his hand once again. Percy followed the butcher’s movements silently. Kevin noticed that.

“Don’t overthink. I always wash my hands before I put on my working gloves.”

Kevin pointed at the Berserk Rabbits without going any further into detail.

“I can dissect them for you if you want. Erdwin probably didn’t tell you about my service and how I’m usually paid. There are two main ways to pay me for my work. Either you give me a portion of the Berserk Rabbits or pay me for my service with coins. I recommend the former because I usually pay more attention to the valuable parts of the monsters I’m working on since I’ll be taking a portion as well. Of course, that isn’t morally correct, but that’s how the human mind works.”

He shrugs.

“But then again, It doesn’t matter much with the Berserk Rabbits. The basic service is probably not more profitable.”

I need food, and I can't pay him right now. In the first place, why does everyone want to get paid? That’s a stupid question. Of course, everyone wants to get paid for their service.

“Can I decide what service I want once you’re done?” Percy asked, his lips pressed together.

“Good thinking. Usually, I don’t allow that, but we can do that,” Butcher Kevin grinned, which looked far more devilish than intended – or so Percy hoped.

Kevin’s apron and gloves were covered in blood, and his butcher knife didn’t improve his image either. One thing was certain. Butcher Kevin didn’t look like a harmless sheep.

“Put the corpses down there and come back in two hours. I’m still a bit busy, but I should be done by then,” Kevin said, the tip of his knife pointing to the counter to his left. Percy nodded and did as instructed.

“Thank you,” Percy said, realizing that he missed something crucial, “I’m Percy, by the way.”

Kevin nodded, “Till later, Percy.”

“I will be back.”

Percy turned around in a hurry and left the shop.

I’m a disaster at socializing! Why didn’t you teach me how to talk to people? And why in the seven hells did you tell me that the people here are all bad? Kevin is friendly, and Erdwin is…well, a merchant. Do I like him? We will see…

Now that he thought back to the past and the times the old man told him about the people of Raewood and that he had to be careful of everyone, Percy was confused.

Was the old man wrong? It looked like it. In that case, what was correct and what was wrong?

Percy ruffled through his hair, letting his frustration loose.

Can I trust anything that old man said?!?

His stomach grumbled again, distracting Percy.

“I know, I know. The only thing I can rely on is my insatiable hunger.” He rolled his eyes and reached into his pockets where his five copper coins were kept.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Five copper coins won’t bring me far. It’s not nearly enough to buy food, rent a proper room, buy an ointment and a new set of clothes. Well, I can probably remove the room. The rent for the chamber of poverty isn’t overdue until tomorrow…but do I want to go back there wounded? That room is a collection of diseases. I don’t even want to know how many poor fellas died in there for the rent to be one copper coin a night.

Percy shuddered at the thought and looked at the makeshift bandage. His arm didn’t hurt badly anymore, but he didn’t want to take any risks. It would be one of the most idiotic deaths to die from an infection less than 24 hours after manifesting an Ego.

Since [Consume] told me the Berserk Rabbits are worth seven Prosperity as a whole, with each eyeball worth one Prosperity, I can assume I’ll get five or more copper coins for each corpse, right? Probably even more. Erdwin would have given me two copper coins for each eyeball if I had negotiated. That bastard tricked me!

He cursed quietly, throwing a small fit in the middle of the cobbled street while paving his way through the town.

Whatever. Let’s say I get 15 copper coins for the rest. I’ll have to give Kevin a part of it. How much…I don’t know. Still, that should leave enough for a room in a clean inn and a new set of clothes.

A thin smile formed on his lips. He eyed the five copper coins in his hand and nodded slowly.

That means I can spend everything I have on food!

He rejoiced and clenched his fist in excitement. Simultaneously, the mana residing within him continued coursing through him. It swirled more often around his arm and cooled his wound.

Percy didn’t think too much about it, but he was glad that the mana inside him helped to mend his wound. Maybe he didn’t have to buy an overpriced ointment.

Now, it was time to eat something.

However, before he could rush into a shop, Percy had to clean himself. His encounter with the baker this morning was still vivid in his mind. He didn’t want to get thrown out of the shop anymore, so he headed to the nearby well, where he got a bucket of cold water to clean himself as well as possible.

He looked at his reflection in the water bucket and sighed deeply. It wasn’t perfect – not even close to perfection – but it was better than this morning.

I tried my best and needed all my money to buy food. He won’t be angry….right?

Percy wasn’t so sure about that, but all he could do was try it.

Thus, he returned to the same bakery he had been in the morning. He planned to thank the baker for his help… because he wanted to eat more of his pastry.

Percy was discovered even before he stepped inside the bakery. The baker looked at him briefly, startling Percy, but he gathered his courage and stepped inside.

The baker first inspected him. He noticed the wet bandage around his arm and nodded slowly.

“You’re still alive,” He said, retrieving a small piece of cloth that he gave Percy, “Bandage your wound properly with this.”

Percy nodded slowly and exchanged the bandage, but he didn’t take another step inside the bakery before asking, “Is it okay for me to enter? I’m not sure if I’m clean enough, but I wanted to spend my first earnings here to thank you for your help in the morning”

The baker laughed and motioned him to enter, yet Percy was still a bit hesitant.

“What’s the issue, kiddo?”

“I…wanted to apologize as well…”

The baker looked intently at Percy, not saying a word. He was waiting for him to say more.

“I was so hungry…and considered stealing some of your bread…” Percy couldn’t look into the baker’s eyes and stared at the ground. His ears were hot and red in shame, but the baker merely laughed.

Percy looked up in confusion.

“Did you think I didn’t notice that? You were staring holes into my food,” The man cleared his throat. “Since we’re being honest, let me tell you something as well.”

He smiled gently at Percy.

“The only reason I gave you food is because you didn’t steal anything even though you were hungry. You looked like you were drooling at the sight of my food, yet you managed to control your urge to take something. You left without taking anything.”

That was certainly not what Percy expected.

The baker continued smiling and pointed at a small basket of cookies on the counter, “Do you want to try one of them?”

Percy hesitated, but his tremoring stomach won this battle. He accepted one of the cookies and took a small bite.

The cookie was crunchy outside, but the inside melted on his tongue. The mixture of the outside crunch and the juicy inside was marvelous. Percy couldn’t even find words to explain the extraordinary taste, yet he couldn’t get enough of it. His eyes widened when he bit into his finger after finishing the cookie.

It was almost like the cookie had disappeared from his eyes. He’d devoured it before realizing it.

The baker smiled and handed him something else.

Percy wasn’t as reserved as before and started eating right away. At last, his stomach was silenced. However, something else happened in his body once his hunger didn’t bother him anymore. The mana residing within him rotated faster through his body.

His stomach was silenced, and his strength seemed to increase as he received more food from the baker, one tastier than the other.

“Awakening your gift without money to buy nutritious food is troublesome. The mana entering your body is trying to change your body forcefully, improving it with every rank up. It sucks you dry and leaves you starving if you don’t have the supplements your body needs to keep up with the changes,” The baker said suddenly, nodding at Percy satisfactorily after a while.

“Are you full?”

Percy realized only now how much he had eaten. He wiped his lips and nodded slowly but paled, recollecting how much he’d eaten.

Can I even afford all of that?

The baker chuckled at his expression, “Don’t worry about payment. You will be fine if you pay me…five copper coins.”

Percy sighed in relief, fetched his fortune of five copper coins, and gave it to the baker without hesitation.

Wait. Did he know how much money I had in my pockets? That’s…weird.

“You ate quite a lot. The cookies are for the Gifted. Small snacks with more nutrients than most ordinary people require. Did you already advance in rank?” The baker asked, only for Percy to freeze in his place.

The baker grinned, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not an Oracle or the like. Do you even know how much you’ve eaten? No ordinary Mortal-1 Gifted needs that much nutrients to fill his stomach.”

He waved his hand dismissively, “There is no need to worry, kiddo. If you’re hungry again, you can come over. Bring some coins, and you will be fine. Though I would prefer you to have new clothes and clean boots when you revisit my humble shop.”

The man grinned and turned around to return to the back of the bakery, the smile never leaving his lips.

“Now get out of the bakery. I have a bunch of orders to complete!”