A burst of sunlight struck his face and Dan's consciousness awakened from slumber. When he woke up, the first scene he saw was the vast skies and the towering trees around him.
Staring at the semi-transparent notification screen that floated in the air, Dan slowly stood up and scanned the surroundings.
[System Assisted Recovery has recovered one-fourth of the host's health!]
[Duration until full health is achieved: 7d 23m 21s]
Not far away from him in a nearby bush, he saw Charlotte's figure drenched in her own blood. Moving close to her, he inspected her body with the System and found that she suffered blunt injuries on her back, most likely sustained by falling from a high place.
Unfortunately, Dan's Virtual Storage didn't contain any medications and if Charlotte had pills that could help her recover. Dan couldn't open it since it's bound to her soul.
Clicking his tongue, he realized that her body felt cold and her expression looked pale. This indicated that she suffered some minor hypothermia from the cold temperatures at night, and it was backed up when Dan found that her clothes looked incredibly moist along with the bush that covered her lower body.
Carefully supporting her spine and her head, Dan dragged her towards a nearby patch of grass under the shade of a tree and inspected her body.
'It seems like her injuries are something that I cannot meddle for now, however, the most pressing issue in here is hypothermia...' Dan also realized that her lips looked cracked and dry, indicating her dehydration.
Clicking his tongue, Dan ordered the System, "System, scan the surrounding area and mark the location of a nearby body of water, also factor that there should be no dangerous beasts nearby..."
[System Function Initiating;50%]
Since his request went through, Dan praised the convenience of having a system. If not, he would've to manually search the area for water and food, and that included leaving Charlotte in here with her defenseless state.
[According to the database information recorded at the Longinus Clan Library, the host is inside the Great Wilderness of Torb, approximately thirty-thousand kilometers away from the Empire of Eternal Faith.]
[The nearest body of water has been found and marked. A mini-map is generated.]
Dismissing these messages, Dan fell into deep contemplation. According to his memories, the Great Wilderness of Torb was a huge patch of land that separated the Empire of Eternal Faith and the Northern part of the Continent, spanning several hundred thousands of miles, all sorts of lucky chances and dangerous creatures were present in this Great Wilderness.
Wryly smiling to himself, Dan shook his head and focused on the matter at hand. And that was, securing water for Charlotte. Carrying her body, Dan followed the indication on the mini-map and he soon arrived at a river.
Scanning the System, there were no indications of any nearby life forms that could harm them in a radius of two kilometers. If there were beasts around, they would be something that Dan could easily handle in his current state, that was unless the System lied.
Stretching his hand on her body, Dan mumbled his apologies and quickly stripped her off, revealing the glory of her young body and her curvaceous curves. However, her gorgeous body looked miserable, dotted with numerous purple patches and wounds that looked full of blood.
Sighing to his heart, Dan was grateful that she wasn't conscious or else she would've to endure such intense pain, continuously wracking her body. Placing her inside the cold waters of the river. The clear water became filled with blood that quickly ran downstream.
She carefully adjusted her posture so that she won't get swept by the current and drown before saying, "System, list every edible plant along with medicinal herbs that you can find in the database of the System that could be found here, along with their characteristics, sort them out by only including those that were easily found..."
Dan didn't have much time to spare, especially when he still needs to find shelter and he had an injured person along with him.
[Results: Blood Coagulating Grass, Hemostasis Mushroom, Cooling Fragrant Leaves...]
Numerous names of medicinal herbs floated in the air and Dan tapped on those ranked highest at the easiest to find. Moving away from the river, Dan dressed and hunted for those herbs and edible vegetables, nearby.
When he returned several minutes later, Dan carried with him numerous herbs and mushrooms along with green vines like vegetables that he stored inside his Virtual Storage.
Staring at the naked Charlotte that was still unconscious, Dan took some leaves and weaved simple clothes that could cover her body. Thankfully, he learned how to weave from the H.E Class back in his previous life so he completed her temporary clothes in just under thirty minutes.
After securing some water and food, Dan stared at the skies and found that the sun was about to set, the air in the area became cold and mysterious fireflies that shone in different colors floated in the air.
If Dan didn't know the dangers of this forest, he would've thought that this would be the nearest comparison of a paradise known to man.
Gritting his teeth, Dan continued his journey with Charlotte on his back, seeking out any caves where he could enter. But after realizing that all the caves were occupied by predatory beasts.
Dan had to settle down by hollowing a nearby tree, creating a space where both of them could safely sleep together before covering the entrance with leaves.
Night fell and only the incessant cries of insects could be heard. The temperature dropped to the extent that the unconscious Charlotte started shivering. Embracing her, he hoped that she wouldn't suffer from the cold as Dan constantly scanned the area with the System.
The darkness in the area reduced any visibility and Dan didn't dare to light any kind of fire lest he attracts the attention of a beast. If not for the system which gave him information about his surroundings without being impeded by eyesight, Dan would've grown crazy from the fear of the unknown.
Using his Divine Arts, Dan lighted the area inside the hollowed tree and charred some of the edible mushrooms that he scavenged. Since Charlotte was unconscious, obviously she couldn't swallow and Dan had to crush the mushrooms and mix it with water so that she could at least have something to digest and nourish her delicate body.
Fortunately for Dan, the night safely passed and when daybreak arrived, he finally lost his power and fell unconscious beside Charlotte whose figure started shivering as her consciousness, returned to her body.