Chapter 17 - Thank you

In the middle of an open-space room, that was probably used as a small diner was a large wooden table filled-to-the-brim with various types of food. You could find a large bowl of delicious-looking fruits, a large plate of various roasted meat, a basket of pastry, consisting of mostly rolls, and crescents with a few slices of bread. Next to the bowl of fruits, was another bowl filled with different-looking vegetables as well.

3 plates were seated on the table with 3 transparent non-metallic glasses with a white liquid. Aiden did not know what material was used for those glasses to be transparent, but he was sure it wasn't any metal nor wood. 'Probably some sort of magic..' he thought.

Granny looked at the open-mouthed boy, with a satisfied grin, and only after a few moments did she speak to him.

"Aiden, please pick a seat, and help yourself to any of the food you see here. This large feast is prepared just for you. Hope you will find something you like. After dinner, Lily and I have prepared some baked sweets."

Lily's eyes immediately sparkled, and her tiny right hand shot up to the sky in exclamation.

"Yosh! Prepare yourself, brother! Those are the best sweets in the world!"

Looking at the cheerful little girl, a small smile crept up once again, on Aiden's usually expressionless face. Or maybe, it shouldn't really be called expressionless anymore..

Nodding his head towards Lily, he made his way towards the closest seat on the table, the middle. He still was a bit unsteady on his feet, but in the last few minutes with the help of the elderly lady, he was able to practice the motion and get a better grasp at the motion. It's not like the experience was entirely alien to him, he had a strange familiarity, and it was as if his muscles just remembered some past experience. In just a few short minutes he was already capable of walking alone. The main issue was not that using his legs was alien, but to use only the right amount of force. He didn't gain this power gradually and with the sudden burst, he had problems exerting the right amount. Holes could be seen on the floor all the way from the bedroom towards the dining room, marking his progress. In the end he was close but still had to train a bit, not to cause too much trouble.

He made a mental note to spend the next day training and familiarizing himself with his new body. For the time being, Aiden did not want to do any sort of transformation, not to scare his two benefactors. Getting used to this body, that's probably gonna be his new default state from now on should be the most important task after all.

Seeing Aiden taking his place in the middle, both ladies took their respective seats to his left and right on the table. Granny was on the left, while Lily on the right. Lily immediately picked up a small piece of meat, with a roll and some vegetables, with a few small pieces of purple round fruits crowned on her plate. With a satisfied grin, she looked back at the staring Aiden.

"Shishishi, the best way is to pick from everything! Try them out, everything is fresh!"

Aiden, then looked at Granny who filled her plate with a mixture of vegetables and fruits creating a very colorful painting with it. She too looked at Aiden and gently smiled at him.

"I'm not a meat-lover dear, but don't let that deter you from it, they are critters from the forest, it should be very delicious, Lily loves it, especially the wolf meat, right Lily?"

Lily, who was already devouring the contents on her tray, could only nod her head while her cheeks were stuffed.

"Mhm!"

'The best course would be to sample from everything…' thinking to himself, he picked a single piece of meat and placed it on his plate. Both girls stopped their meals and watched the boy intently.

Aiden picked up the meat with his hands and took a small bite to taste it. His eyes opened wide immediately.

'This is so much better than those bugs! It even beats those fish! Although it does not provide as much energy, the taste… the taste compensates for it!' Aiden could feel the food he swallowed slowly being processed, converted to energy, filling up his reserves.

Granny's eyes narrowed, her eyes scanning the boy while he was swallowing. She could see a subtle stream of energy spreading out all over the boy's body as he swallowed. 'Interesting…' she murmured to herself. Looking at Lily, she was already back on her quest to completely destroy the contents of her plate, so she could move forward to the desserts. Smiling, she continued with her own as well.

Meanwhile Aiden, finishing the meat, he continued onwards, and tasted everything one-by-one. While the fruits and vegetables weren't bad, he disliked the taste of the pastry products. His absolute favourite was the meat, as it had the best taste, and gave the best amount of energy as well. After the small taste test, he filled his plate with meat, and started working on them.

Seeing this, both girls laughed.

"Looks like brother is a meat-lover! Hehehe! Be sure to save some space for the desserts!" reminded Lily.

"I agree dear, Aiden looks just like a little carnivore that found its prey!" laughed Granny.

Ignoring their antics, Aiden was focusing on his plate. Previously when he was a snake, or even before as a bug, he did not put much attention to it, but by now he was sure that his body worked differently than others. He could feel the food being converted to energy, but the food that he swallowed never arrived at his stomach. Only the energy that was processed from the substance gathered there, slowly going out filling all parts and ends of his body.

'Hmm.. could I actually overcharge myself? Can I go beyond 'full'? How would that look like…' thinking, Aiden wanted to test his limits, but he wasn't sure if it would be wise to do so, in front of these 2.

'Guess I'll test it out later… For now, let's focus on getting full, this body needs much more than my previous one..' Making a mental note for later, he decided to just focus on the here and the now, and he continued clearing his plate.

Time slowly passed and soon all 3 plates were cleared of food. Seeing that, Granny stood up, and looked at the 2 children.

"Are you guys full? Would you like to get some desserts?"

Without waiting for Aiden to get a chance to answer, Lily's right hand immediately shot up to the sky, as she loudly exclaimed: "YES! YES! YES! We want deserts!" Then she looked at the staring but expressionless Aiden. "You will love it brother! They are the BEST!"

Aiden nodded at her exclamation and looked towards Granny who was making his way towards the kitchen. Arriving at the entrance, she looked back at the table and waved her hand, forming a small rune while murmuring something under her breath. Her hands shined in golden light that in the next moment, engulfed the contents of the table. After a few breaths of time, the light faded, and the table was clean of all its contents.

Aiden's golden eyes were shining, as he was processing the scene he saw. Looking at him, Granny's eyes once again showed some thoughtful glints, but shortly after she turned around and walked into the kitchen.

Meanwhile inside Aiden's mind, the sound of a notification disturbed the silence.

[Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information… 5%]

Enya's voice followed shortly after.

[Aiden, as I mentioned previously, the system will automatically analyze all new information it receives, and once it's completed, it will begin converting the processed information to a skill for you. This is automatic, so just make a note of it. On the other hand, the analysis on the language they spoke is complete, and the system began processing the information. You can check the notification for the remaining time before the skill is created.]

Aiden followed suit and checked the next 2 notifications in the system.

[Analyzing Language: Common. Progress 100%]

[Analysis complete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time: 11 hours 58 minutes 55 seconds]

A smile once again, for the umpteenth time crawled on Aiden's face. Seeing that the returning Granny who had her hands full of a plate full of delicious looking tarts, asked.

"What are you smiling at Aiden? Are you looking forward to the desserts that much?"

The questioning tone reminded Aiden of something very important he wanted to do at the end of dinner today. He quickly made the command for Enya.

'Enya, please use the experience we talked about earlier, and help me thank them, for their help!'

[Understood. Aiden, you can continue, the system will now assist you.]

Nodding, Aiden looked at the elderly lady, and as he opened his mouth, he could feel the system forming words that weren't familiar to him. He said 2 short words, that he instinctively understood, based on both girls' reactions.

These words were relatively plain, simple, yet filled with emotions, that caused the elderly lady to start shedding a few tears, while Lily smiled as wide as she could.

The words he said were: "Thank you."