[Quest Completed: Travel Alone With Lucian]
[Reward: 180 C-Point // 200 XP]
[Reward Gold Coins: 50]
[New Romance Quest: Hugged by Lucian]
What the hell was that!
How did the quest go from finding information about him and walking together to a hug?!
More important thing was Lucian had to be the one who hugged her first!
Nonsense. Ridiculous. Stupid system.
Since she t him, Lucian had never shown any tendency of a predator.
They were in the middle of the apocalypse, right? Won were rare in that kind of situation, so the n would usually treat the won as sex toys if they encountered one.
Especially a beautiful woman like deia.
The villagers were like family to her so they didn't count, but Lucian was a complete stranger with a strong ability. If he wanted it, he could force her to beco his sex slave.
However, Lucian had never touched her, even once!
Even after they traveled together for two days and two nights, he had always commanded the wolf to sleep between them.
"I think we can stay here for tonight." Lucian's voice pulled her out of her reverie.
deia looked at the old diner in front of her. The old diner stood at the edge of the crumbling town. Dust coated the cracked windows, and the paint on the walls had peeled away.
Despite its decay, the diner could be their temporary shelter for one night. deia explored the interior of the diner and found the kitchen to be badly damaged as most people would try to find food there.
"Don't you think this place is too dusty?" deia couldn't help but cough over and over again because of it. "Maybe we can stay outside like we always do."
"We can't sleep outside tonight." Lucian said, "As we get close to Vermillion Forest, the temperature will drop at night, so you may get sick if we sleep outside."
deia lowered her head, looking at the dirt and dust on the floor. "Maybe we should clean up a bit."
Lucian smiled. "Close your eyes for three seconds."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
deia didn't ask again and did what he said. She heard the furniture in the diner moving around, but she could feel Lucian hadn't moved from his place since the beginning.
"Okay, open your eyes."
deia stood in awe as she saw the room suddenly clean. There was not a speck of dust, and the furniture was back in place.
Aside from the damaged paint, the diner looked like it was alive again.
"How did you do this?" deia spun around to see the detail of the room.
Lucian answered her jokingly. "With magic."
'System, can't you detect it? Is it his other ability?'
[Negative. He's only released a drop of his ability. The system can't detect it]
But, he cleaned the entire building, so how could the system assu he only used a drop of his ability earlier?
It didn't make sense, but deia decided to not think about that too much.
When the sun went down, Lucian build a temporary furnace and boiled potatoes, tomatoes, and the last ration of at. They had no spices, so the food always tasted bland. But deia had never protest, because the food in hell was worse.
"We'll probably reach Vermillion Forest tomorrow." Lucian handed the bowl of hot soup to deia, then gave the raw at to Bear. "You have to wear more jackets tomorrow."
Before they left the village, Lucian had reminded her every day to bring at least three jackets because the land in the Vermillion Forest had been contaminated by radiation, so the soil in the forest had beco permafrost.
Normally, no plants could grow in such soil, but even the plants in Vermillion Forest had mutated and adapted to their current habitat.
But what was so bad about the cold? deia had gone to the coldest hell and back, so she didn't think a little cold in the human realm would bother her.
She took it lightly, but once she stepped into the Vermillion Forest, she couldn't stop shivering and hugging herself. Fortunately, she brought three jackets with her because Lucian had to constantly check her belongings before they left.
Still, the jackets weren't enough for her.
'You're torturing with this body!' deia exclaid in her heart, accusing the system of abusing her.
[It's a normal reaction, Host! Every human will shiver in cold when the temperature is 0° celsius]
deia turned her eyes to Lucian, who looked perfectly fine. He wasn't even wearing as much clothing as she was. "Lucian, aren't you cold?"
"I'm used to coming to places like this, so my body has adapted to the extre temperatures." Lucian then realized deia hadn't stopped shivering. "Is the cold too much for you?"
"It's definitely too much."
But wasn't this the perfect condition for Lucian to embrace her?
A fragile beauty shivering from the cold, did Lucian have no desire to share their bodies heat?
deia walked closer to Lucian, giving him a hint to hug her. But instead of hugging her, he grabbed a blue mushroom from under the tree.
"Do you know what this is?" asked Lucian excitedly.
deia forced herself to smile. "What is that?"
"This is called 'Heatspore', a mushroom that can warm your body. Even if we don't cook it, it's safe to eat right away." Lucian sliced the mushroom into tiny pieces. "Here, eat this one."
deia grunted in her heart because she ended up eating a mushroom instead of hugging a hot man. However, as soon as she swallowed it the burst of warmth imdiately spread across her body.
Lucian asked, "Warr?"
deia nodded quickly. "You're really aweso." She said, "How can you know a lot about plants and mushrooms?"
"My mother taught a lot about them." Lucian smiled, but his eyes seed down.
deia didn't want to touch his sore spot, so she diverted the topic. "And now you have to teach everything you know." She pulled his hands, "First, tell how to differentiate edible and poisonous plants."
Lucian followed her deeper into the forest. Towering crimson trees surround the forest, their skeletal branches dusted with frost. The ground beneath them was hard, each step crunching faintly against the permafrost.
The forest was quiet, but silence could be deadly as the monsters could suddenly attack them without making a sound.
deia held Lucian's hand and acted like a scared cat, although she was actually excited to et one of the monsters in the forest.
"Because of the mutation, it's hard to distinguish edible or poisonous plants by color or texture." Lucian explained, "The only way to recognize them is by morizing them."
He crouched down and touched a plant that resembled aloe vera, but the leaf was blue and it was thicker than normal aloe vera.
"My mother used to call this 'waterheart' because it contains water that is safe to drink." He said, "Rare, but incredibly useful. Waterheart can also be stored for over two months without spoilage.
deia raised an eyebrow. "Sounds convenient."
Lucian pulled out a small knife, carefully slicing one of the thick leaves. He held it up, the liquid inside sloshing gently. "Taste it."
deia brought her face closer to it. She widened her eyes slightly as she took a sip. "It's sweet."
He smiled when deia liked it. "Yes, it tastes like sugar cane." Lucian let deia drink the rest of the liquid, then pulled out so waterheart to save for later. "Let's find other things."
deia nodded, but before she could take a step, she suddenly heard a loud noise in the distance. It sounded strange, like a bunch of cars and motorcycles moving toward the forest, but how was it possible?
After the apocalypse, it was hard to find fuels, so modern vehicles were useless. Could it be military? Didn't Lucian say there were military bases sowhere?
But before deia had a chance to think about it further, Lucian suddenly grabbed her body and carried her to hide between the large trees. Bear also ran to the bushes and didn't dare to make a sound.
Lucian covered her mouth. He held her tightly, almost suffocating her. "Don't talk, don't move, and don't make a sound." His voice was low and serious. "And cover your face. Don't let them know you are a woman."
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