Jason groaned as he opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that he was tied up, and the second thing was Mia’s face on his shoulder.

“OI! What the hell?!”

“Oh god, one of them’s awake again. Go knock 'em out or something. I still don’t know why you won't let me just chop them up first,” a voice growled. Jason raised his head and saw three large monsters standing over some pots and pans, next to a campfire.

“I keep telling you, if we kill them now, they’d rot before you even get the pot boiling!” another one grumbled. John looked at the food they were cooking, as realization hit him.

Oh god, this is like that scene from lord of the doorbells, or something.

“Fine, whatever. Just make some rice for us, so we have something to eat with it,” the largest monster barked. The younger troll picked up some rice and dropped it into an empty pot, right above the flame.

“WHAT DA HAIL YOU DO?! WHO COOKS RICE LIKE THAT!?” John screamed at the top of his lungs, waking up the other heroes. Even the three monsters were stunned.

“What are you doing?! Why would you out yourself like that!” Aiden half whispered, half yelled, but Jason ignored him.

“What the hell ye talkin about? Just chuck the rice into a pot and cook on an open flame for a bit. It should turn black as the night, and then it’s good to eat.”

“BLACK RICE?! ARE YOU F*CKING DUMB? THAT’S JUST BURNT RICE!!!”

“What?! That’s how my mother always cooked rice!” the cooker monster protested.

“Well your mother is either missing taste buds or brain cells because ain't anyone gonna disrespect rice like that!”

“Stop aggravating them you idiot!” Tina hissed at Jason, kicking him in the shoulder. She was trying to use a nearby rock to cut the ropes, but there wasn’t a rock sharp enough.

“Not cool man! My mother lost her tongue in the war against your kind!”

“Well that would explain her burning the rice then! But how do you eat that, and genuinely live? Like how are you alive?”

“We’ve eaten this kind of rice for years! You think you can do better?”

“Bet I could! I mean, y'all aren’t setting the bar high!” Jason yelled, slowly trying to stand up.

“Oh sure you can! Prove it then!”

“BET! Get me some clean water in that pot, and get me a strainer!” Jason screamed at the monsters, ripping the ropes holding him. However, instead of attacking, he pulled out a book and started to work with the ingredients.

“What about us?!” Aiden protested. He tried to rip the ropes off of himself, but they wouldn’t budge.

“Oh yeah, while you cook some rice, we will cook the hu-,” the monster began, but Jason threw a spoon at him, slapping his hand away.

“You f*ck up rice, you think I let you cook human meat?! Learn to cook pig first! Now grab the rice, you failure!” Jason commanded the monsters, startling them.

“I’m not a-”

“Shut! Grab the rice or I hit you with shoe!” The one reaching for his allies began to slowly back away and reach toward the rice.

“Gut. Now put rice in strainer and go wash in river,” the man instructed, pointing to the river.

As the monsters began to move and prepare the ingredients, Jason and the heroes were left alone.

“Quick! While they are distracted, go grab my sword and cut u-,” Aiden tried to whisper to him, but Jason suddenly smashed his cookbook into the ground.

“WHAT DA HEEEELL? YOU LOSE ALL DA RICE DAT WAY!!! HAIYAAAAA!” he screamed, running up to the monster with the strainer. The other heroes looked in confusion, trying to figure out why he didn’t set them free there and then.

“What the hell is that guy thinking?! He had the prime opportunity!”

“It would probably take him too long to cut us all free and the others would return,” Arlo theorized.

“I don’t wanna die yet! I’m too young!” Tina tried to squirm out of her ropes.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Jason is just looking for the right moment to get us out of here,” Mia reassured her, trying to calm the girl down.

----------------------------------------

“I take it back, we're going to die,” Mia grumbled, giving Jason a death stare. For the past few hours he completely ignored everything they tried to tell him, and instead yelled at the monsters for the tiniest mistakes they made. Tina started to panic and cry as she thrashed around violently, while Arlo joined Mia in glaring at Jason. Aiden was still trying to rip his ropes off like Jason did earlier, but it wasn’t working for some reason.

I guess they did tie me up with more rope than him.

“Alright. Now you successfully cooked a pig. You are no longer failures,” Jason said with a smile.

“This tastes delicious! I didn’t know rice could be so soft and tasty!” the leader of the monsters exclaimed.

“And this pig, it's so juicy!” the other one agreed.

“Perfect. Now we move on to humans!” Jason exclaimed.

“WHAT?!” the three heroes screamed. Aiden looked at Jason with hate in his eyes, while Arlo sighed and leaned back onto the ground. Tina started sobbing even harder as Mia tried to calm her down.

“Alright. So we dice them and put them into the fry-,” the younger monster began, but Jason threw a shoe at him.

“Da HAAAAAIL? Have you learned nothing, Haiyaaaaaa. They are still alive, you gotta soffen em up first,” Jason exclaimed, retrieving his shoe.

“What? But why did we throw the pig into the frying pan then?”

“Cause pig was dead. And you will be too if you doubt me. You failed to cook rice for 20 years! I’m pretty sure I know how to cook humans better,” Jason replied, flipping through his cookbook.

“But… aren’t you also human? I thought humans didn’t eat each other.”

“Oh, no. I’m 75% demon. Dad was a demon, mom was half demon. Though from their relationship you’d think it was the other way around. Now grab pot and put them in,” Jason commanded, walking up to the river. The younger monster did as instructed and threw Arlo in with enough force to let out a loud clang.

“AGH!” Arlo yelled from the bottom of the pot.

“What da hail you doin? Put them in carefully, or you spray all da juices!” Jason exclaimed, pointing to the other 3 heroes.

“JASON, IF I DIE FROM THIS, I AM HAUNTING YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!” Aiden yelled, as he was lowered into the pot. The other two were also dropped inside, and the monster approached the edge of the river.

“Wait! Chop up some carrots and beets. Then the eggs and mix. And then we add in the water,” Jason said, tapping away at the cookbook. The younger monster nodded and turned away. As he was reaching for the vegetables, Jason grabbed all of the hero's weapons, turned towards the pot and kicked it into the river with all his might. The pot crashed into the water, and Jason hopped in just as it began to flow down the stream.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Huh? HEY! HE’S GETTING AWAY!” the younger monster yelled, as he started to run towards the pot. Jason pulled out his knife and Aiden's sword and began to cut the ropes as fast as he could.

“Aiden! Quick! Fireball him!” Jason yelled, once he got Aiden untied. He didn’t argue, and raised his hand towards the monster, blasting a ball of flame at his eyes. The monster stumbled a bit and covered his eyes, but continued pursuing.

“Arlo! Trip him!” Jason instructed again, untying the tank. He pulled himself up and raised his hand in the air. A piece of the earth popped up just in front of the monster's foot. The monster, still covering his eyes, tripped on the rock and crashed onto the ground.

“What?! WHO PUT A ROCK THERE?!” the monster yelled as the gang got away.

“Phew! Alright guys, I think we’re gonna live!” Jason let out a sigh and leaned on the rim of the pot. Aiden leaned down and began to untie the girls while Arlo looked around.

“Uh oh,” he suddenly mumbled. Jason’s eyes widened and he slammed his forehead into the pot.

“I jinxed it, didn't I?”

“Exactly.”

“Sudden drop into the abyss?”

“Yep.”

“Sharp rocks at the bottom?”

“Possibly.”

“Bring it,” Jason grumbled.

The five of them yelled as the pot began to fall rapidly. Jason turned towards Tina and Mia.

“TINA! MIA! USE WIND TO SLOW US DOWN!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. They looked down and began to gather their mana. In a second, a burst of wind shot forth, and their fall started to slow down just as they were about to reach the bottom.

Finally the pot crashed into the ground, launching everyone all over the place.

“Everyone alive? Any broken bones?” Aiden grumbled. A couple of groans were heard, but it didn’t seem like anyone was severely injured.

As Jason scrambled onto his feet, he felt a tug on his shirt, and a stinging pain on his cheek.

“YOU… F*CKING… IDIOT!” Tina yelled, punching him several times. “MORON! *SSHAT! PIECE OF SH*T!”

She dropped him to the ground and continued her barrage of hits until Arlo pulled her away from Jason.

“Tina! Tina! Tina! Calm down!” he said, but she pushed herself out of his hands and glared at him.

“How am I supposed to calm down?! We almost died because of this dumb*ss” Tina shrieked, looking at Arlo with tears in her eyes.

“Remember, tenderizing comes after washing the meat,” he said, with a smirk on his face. She looked at him in confusion, but a smile crept onto her lips as realization hit her. She turned towards Jason and grinned.

“Wait wait guys! We all lived rig-?’ Jason tried to say, but Tina grabbed Jason by the neck.

“You’re right. Let’s wash him up first, shall we?” Tina cackled, kicking Jason into the water. Arlo hopped on top and pushed him down into the water.

“Don’t worry, I’ll preheat the oven,” Aiden joined in, summoning a fireball in his hand.

“Wh-wait, guys! Mia! Help me!” Jason pleaded, turning towards the only hero who hasn’t joined in yet. But she smiled cruelly as she turned away.

“I’ll go gather some spices to go with the meat, shall I?” she said, abandoning Jason to his fate.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!” Jason yelled, piercing the night with his screams, even drowning out the noise of the waterfall. From this day, people thought that the waterfall was haunted, and it was renamed the Howling Waters.

----------------------------------------

“Mmmmm,” Jason groaned, stumbling after the rest of the gang. Mia healed him after what happened yesterday, but his body was still sore from everything. She was walking beside him with eyes full of worry.

“Sorry, but you shouldn’t scare us like that,” she mumbled.

“You did kinda deserve it.”

Jason looked around for the source of the voice, causing Mia to follow his gaze.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, I just thought I heard something. Maybe that beating from yesterday gave me a concussion.”

“Eh?! You want me to heal you? I didn’t think we hit you that hard,” Mia cried out, sending a wave of healing at Jason.

“I’m not a hallucination! I am the gr-”

“Hey, I’ll catch up to you guys in a bit. I need to make a stop around here to test something,” Jason called out to the rest of the gang.

"Alright, but don’t stray too far,” Aiden warned him, but Jason was already out of earshot.

“Alright buddy, how are you still here?” Jason asked.

“You stuffed me into your necklace, remember?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”

“HOW COULD YOU JUST FORGET?! YOU STUFFED ME IN THERE AND EVEN HAD A WHOLE CRISIS ABOUT YOUR INTELLECT!!!”

“Eh, I honestly thought that cave was a fever dream. Or I hit my head too hard. So, how do I get you to shut up again?”

“LIKE I WOULD KNOW?! EVEN IF I DID, I WOULDN’T TELL YOU!”

“Well, there goes any use I could get out of this. Guess I’ll just do what I do to most of my problems. Ignore them until they either disappear or kill me,” Jason grumbled, walking back to the rest of the gang.

“I don’t think that’s something you should be doing? I could be out of touch with humanity though.”

“Alright, what’s the plan now Aiden?”

“Well, we got the info on the missing people. I don’t think we can beat those guys on our own so let’s go back and report this I guess. Plus I think we all need a break in the hot springs again before we head back.”

“Why not call him over via magic?” Mia asked. Aiden paused and looked at her.

“You can do that here?!” Aiden asked. She nodded and pulled out a small round crystal ball.

“Wait, since when can we do this?” Arlo asked.

“Our magic teacher gave me this before we left. He said I could use it to contact the king by putting mana in it and thinking of the person I want to call. I think… I haven't tested it yet,” she admitted, putting the crystal on the ground.

“Well, first time for everything,” Aiden said, putting his hand on the crystal ball.

“Yeah, you do that. I found some cave stones so I’m going to look at what I got if you don’t mind,” Jason said, walking away from the group. He pulled up the status of his necklace and dumped several mana crystals onto the floor.

While he was talking with the demon he dumped as many as he could into the pouch, but when it got too heavy he began to synthesize large groups of crystals into one until he had 5 small but brightly glowing crystals.

[Mana Crystal

Special Effect: Mana Recovery Up (Lvl.7), Max Mana Up (Lvl.7)

Each crystal had mana absorption and storage properties, but fused together they could store a lot more mana and recover it a lot faster.

Jason smiled and synthesized one of the crystals into his necklace, before he opened up his status.

[Hero Necklace]

Special Effect: Protection of the Gods, Demonic Evolution (Level 1), Attack Up (Lvl.3), Strength (Lvl.2), Magic Power (Lvl.3), Defense Up (Lvl.3), Magic Defense Up (Lvl.3), Agility Up (Lvl.1), Max Mana Up (Lvl.9), Mana Recovery Up (Lvl.10)

Wow, that’s a lot more than I expected, even if I did throw a random crystal demon into my necklace. Well, it mostly boils down to getting a bit of every magic bonus and a huge increase to my mana recovery and storage. I guess I’ll be able to synthesize a lot into my necklace now. I wonder if there is a limit to how much I can get on each buff? After I finish I could hand this over to one of the heroes and see them nuke a mountain or the final boss. Tho I do wonder what demonic evolution does, since unlike the others, this one is a skill.

…

Oh well.

“I could inform you o-”

Shut! I am way too tired to listen or learn so just don’t say a word.

“Thank you for the report, Sir Aiden. I will send some of my men to take care of this,” Jason heard the king say from the magic crystal, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“What should we do for now, your majesty?”

“I want you to go out into the world, level up yourselves and your special skills. I should have a mission for you soon enough but I want you to be prepared for it. Anything else you need, brave heroes?” the king asked, smiling.

“Thank you, but no. We shall see you later then,” Aiden said, smiling back at the king. The video call ended and Aiden sighed.

“Well, what should we do for now?" Mia asked.

“We should go to the adventurers guild and take on some quests. The money the king gave us won’t last us forever, and we will be able to level up a bunch as well,” Arlo suggested.

“Alright, that could work. Anyone else have any ideas or objections?” Aiden asked, looking around.

“I think this could be fun. We can also help people out while we're at it!” Mia said optimistically.

“Yeah. I guess so,” Tina mumbled.

“Oh yeah, before we go, everyone take one of these,” Jason said, tossing everyone a crystal.

“Wha… where did you get these?!” Mia asked, as her maximum mana skyrocketed. Tina also looked at it in surprise and put it into her pocket. Arlo tucked his away as well.

“I fell into a cave and found these in the walls. Then I used my skill to combine a bunch and I got these. I put mine into my necklace though,” he said, raising his necklace.

“Wow, may I see?” Aiden asked, looking at it. Jason tossed him the necklace and started to pull out a grill.

“So what should I cook today? Also, do you have any meat from the hunt left, Aiden?”

Aiden didn’t answer him, and was instead looking at the necklace.

“Aiden?”

No answer followed. Annoyed, Jason walked up to Aiden and leaned into his ear.

“Aiden!” Jason finally yelled, pulling Aiden out of whatever trance he was in.

“What? Ah, sorry. I got lost in thought. What were you saying?” he asked, handing Jason back the necklace.

“Don’t phase out on us man. We’re counting on you to lead us through this world. No pressure tho,” Jason added the last part and playfully punched Aiden on the shoulder.

“Hah, yeah. Of course,” he mumbled, walking away.

Weird. Oh well. Hm. Do I try to make lasagna, or just cook some steak today?

Jason got to work, the events of the last day forgotten.