Bear was putting a huge salmon on a stick and sprinkled some salt on it, when he saw Gantz strutting nonchalantly towards him.

“Has Gantz finished using that glowing marble?”

“Glowing marble?” Gantz raised an eyebrow as he sat on the log next to Bear. “Oh, that.” He then snickered before adding, “That’s called communication marble. It allows you to communicate with people far away from you. The strength of the connection lies within the magic stone inside the marble. One like mine can communicate with people about a couple hundreds of miles away.”

Gantz took out his marble from his pants and showed it in front of Bear. His marble—a clear globe with a small colored gem embedded inside it—has a blue gem.

“The lighter the blue color, the more powerful the communication marble is.” Gantz explained. “And just like it’s amazing function, the price is also great.”

Bear nodded in understanding. As he was working on the fishes, he only inspected at the marble in Gantz’s hand.

“Anyways, what are you cooking?” Gantz asking, diverting Bear’s attention from the marble and back to his task.

“Grilled fish. Bear will make it a bit special today.” Bear said, and took out a small clay container. Bear handed it to Gantz, telling him to take a whiff of the content inside the container.

“This is…!” Gantz immediately pulled back his head from the container’s lid and scrunched his face. A few seconds later, a loud sneeze shook the nearby birds and they flew away.

“This is… pepper powder…” Gantz said in between small sneezes. Bear giggled cheerfully, amused by Gantz funny reaction.

“Yes. Bear used the pepper powder mindfully, only during special occasions, like finding some rare herbs, or succeeding in making a wonderful healing potions, or when Bear saved other animals, or during Bear’s birthday.”

“Your birthday?” Gantz repeated, looking astonished. “What do you usually do during your birthday?”

Bear bobbed his head while he impaled another salmon on a stick, thinking about something. “Eat a mountain of freshly caught fishes?”

“You cook it and sprinkle some of this?” Gantz lifted the container and pointed at it.

“Mindfully, yes.” Bear nodded.

Gantz glanced at the container for a while. While he did, Bear arranged the salmons near the firepit that was lit. The rich smell of herbs gradually wafted in the air when the fishes were grilled.

“You know, Bear.” Bear—who was tending to the fire—looked to Gantz. Gantz waved the container at Bear as he said, “When you go on an adventure with me, I’ll show you what a cake will taste like.”

Bear flapped his ears.

“Cake?”

“Yeah, a cake.” Gantz suddenly stretched. “Now that a cake has been mentioned, I somehow feel motivated to go home. Let’s have our meal and prepare for our journey.”

Bear blinked. He couldn’t seem to understand the term ‘cake’ that Gantz spoke of, but Gantz seemed happy at the mention of it, so it must have been something good. With sparkly eyes, Bear nodded.