Later in the evening, Jade was wearing a new green dress and sitting at a metal table in the front yard. She sipped some Greenstone Tea and watched the villagers holding a big banquet in the central square. Almost everyone in the whole village was gathered around to celebrate Greenstone’s life, after all, he was their Teacher and also their ‘Chief’ for the past few decades. There were less than a hundred people in the whole town, so even with everyone gathered together, the hundred meter wide town square seemed a little empty. Many people also simply stayed in their front yards and got together with their friends or family.

“How do you feel now? Any problems?” Oliver sat down next to the stone statue and put a huge plate of food onto the table. There were red-shelled steamed crayfish from the river nearby, some sautéed giant mushrooms, along with all kinds of veggies like broccoli, string beans and snow pea pods in spicy Greenstone Sauce. 

Although they didn’t grind up those fancy crystals and rocks like a condiment to make their teas and sauces, it is true that there were small amounts of Greenstone in practically every fruit, vegetable and herb that was grown on the mountain. In fact, a lot of people decorated their gardens with various Greenstone ornaments or sculptures. Potatoes and turnips in particular had a lot of Greenstone in them.

“I feel great. Much better than before. I’m still hungry, but I think I really can eat normal human food.”

“That’s awesome! Hahaha~!”

Oliver ripped the tail off a red-shelled crawfish very familiarly, revealing a thick chunk of meat sticking out the end. Then he easily slurped it up, along with the rest of the meat that was hidden inside the tail. After that, he broke off another one and put it up to Jade’s mouth.

“Thank you.” She also slurped it out very familiarly, “It tastes just like I remember… They still use the same sauce?”

“Granny Ye’s recipe has been passed down in her family forever.” Peridot also came back with two huge plates of food, including a giant mound of mashed potatoes and a few sweet potatoes.

“Thanks, Peri.” Jade giggled and accepted the plate that was handed over. Then she tried to conjure something with her right hand, “Umm… That’s embarrassing.”

“Here ya go~!” Oliver handed her his spoon, fork and knife. Then he continued eating crawfish with his hands.

“Thank you, again…” The gray-skinned girl smirked and started eating the mashed potatoes quickly. Although they just looked normal and white, with some black pepper and yellowish butter, she could also see something more…

“Oliver, is this food glowing green to you? Is that normal? Or is there something wrong with my eyes now?”

“It looks pretty normal to me?” Peridot looked over at the white paste and then covered it in some thick brown gravy, “There. Much better.”

“Now it’s even brighter?”

“There is a little bit of glow…” Oliver looked down at his own food, then over at hers, but he only saw very small flecks of green under the sunlight.

“It’s probably because of your eyes. I always see a lot of glowing things that other people can’t see. I used to think I was going crazy, but then I realized that I’m just getting stronger as a Miner. The stronger I get, the more easily I can find Greenstone crystals and ores.”

“That makes sense.” Jade nodded seriously and then started to eat her mashed potatoes with a big smile on her beautiful gray face. The long black hair draped in front of her chest and behind her back became less rigid than before, looking more like actual human hair. Then she looked up and saw a dark-skinned girl in a glowing green dress walking over. Not only was her dress radiant, but she also wore reflective golden lipstick, eyeliner and eyeshadow. There were big viridian serpentine dragon hooped earrings, a fancy extremely radiant greenstone necklace, along with some gold, silver and greenstone rings on her fingers. 

“Ollie~! Muah~! Hehe~!”

The moment she sat down next to the boy, she kissed his graying bearded left cheek and hugged his arm tightly, “I heard your favorite body pillow turned into a real girl~! I’m a little jealous~!”

“Mmmmn…” Oliver ignored her nonsense and continued stuffing his face with food.

“Screw off, Verna!” Peridot glared at the ‘little girl’ who was only a year younger, but almost looked like an adult already, “Ollie ain’t interested in a slutty gold digger like you!”

“A gold digger and a Miner would make the perfect combination, right Ollie?” Verna giggled and hugged that muscular arm tighter, though it really didn’t feel like much of anything to Oliver. He just rolled his green eyes and kept eating crawfish at a rapid pace.

“I heard your parents wanted to whore you off to the Mayor of Kale Town. I’m surprised you turned down the offer, hahaha~!”

“Alas~! The Mayor didn’t offer a high enough price, hehe~! If it was Ollie though, I’d be willing to make a huge discount!”

“Ew! Gross!” Peridot cringed, “You’re only twelve! What the hell?!”

“And you’re already thirteen~! When are you gonna get a job?”

“Screw you!” Peridot finally snapped and slammed her palms on the table as she stood up.

“Hahaha~! Oh, poor, poor Peri~! Living alone with the boy you love and he’d rather sleep with a statue~!”

*Cough~!*

Jade choked a bit and looked at the two bickering girls, then whispered to the boy next to her, “Are they normally like this?”

“Yep… Yep. Pretty much.”

Oliver snickered and started eating the sautéed mushrooms, stir-fried veggies and drinking some fizzly brown liquid in a clear glass. Of course, the beverage was radiating a decent amount of green light under the girl’s sensitive yellow crystal eyes.

“What’s that?” Jade reached out to hold the glass very carefully, otherwise her stone hands might crack or crush it easily. It could also slip, since her fingers were very smooth.

“Try some. It’s called ‘soda’. A cool drink that’s filled with air bubbles.”

“Mmmn~! Aaah~! It tastes so good!” Jade was shocked and amazed by the wonderful flavor, “Hmmm… It’s a little too sweet though.”

“It’s mostly sugar.” Peridot stopped fighting with her ‘friend’ to casually explain, “They make different kinds with different amounts of sugar and other flavors. I heard it’s bad for your teeth though. So I just drink spring water.”

Jade looked at the glowing green glass of water in the girl’s hand and smiled wryly, “Is that what water looks like now?”

“Your name is Jade, right? A pleasure to make your acquaintance~! I’m Verna, from the Verde Village Trader across the square.” Verna reached out in front of Oliver’s chest and shook Jade’s cold, hard hand very naturally.

“If you ever want to buy, sell or trade anything, let me know!”

“Ah, yes, thank you. I mean, it’s nice to meet you too.” Jade nodded lightly and continued drinking Oliver’s soda, while he started drinking Verna’s limeade instead.

“Ollie, you lucky bastard!” A tall and muscular black-haired, brown-eyed boy with tanned skin came over, then sat down across the metal table.

“Yeah, it’s not fair!” A short, bald-headed, gray eyed and similarly muscular boy sat down afterwards, followed by a slightly younger, similarly short but lankier kid with green eyes and long brown hair tied back in a ponytail.

Forest smirked at Oliver and the three girls, especially the eye-catching gray-skinned girl with yellow crystals for eyes.

“Ollie, Verna, Peri and… Jade? Mind if we sit here?”