Two days later, as usual, Locke collected fruits and slaughtered salt crabs for food. Now, his priority was to restore his strength and heal his injuries.
Most of Locke's injuries were superficial. They looked scary, but most of them had healed under the nourishment of impetus. Only the two broken ribs in front of his chest were more serious. Fortunately, Locke had seen all kinds of injuries in his many years of war, so he could fix his broken ribs with his bare hands. It was just that it took a long time for the bones to recover. Angelina was also able to walk around freely. Unlike Locke, who only needed to eat and circulate impetus to recover, Angelina relied on her mental power to recover. Without potions, she could only meditate slowly. She had started meditating the day before yesterday, but so far, there had been little effect.
"It's a pity that I left all the Dark Blue potions in the carriage. Otherwise, my recovery would be much faster," complained Angelina when she wasn't meditating. "Or Azure Water would be good too. Ah, I'll ask the mentor for a few bottles before I leave."
Locke was speechless. He didn't even know what the potion looked like, but Angelina drank it like it was water.
"Which potion is suitable for me?" asked Locke.
Angelina looked at Locke and thought for a while. "You're a knight, so I don't recommend using strength potion and anger potion. They have side effects. Strengthening potion is good, and so is will-condensing potion. They're more suitable for you since you've just started." Angelina listed a few potions that Locke had never heard of in one breath.
"What about redsand potion?" Yoshk had once told him that it was one of the potions that could be exchanged for with military merit. It was also a relatively popular potion that was suitable for middle and lower level sergeants like him.
"Redsand potion? I've never heard of it. What's it for? "Angelina was puzzled. How could there be a potion that she hadn't heard of?
"It's said that after using it, it can increase your strength and resistance for a while," answered Locke honestly. Strength and resistance were the most important things on the battlefield. An increase in strength meant a greater chance of survival. It was no wonder that lower-level sergeants would choose this potion.
"Why does it sound so much like strengthening potions?" Angelina said, "But strengthening potions permanently increase strength and tenacity."
Locke didn't even need to think to know how precious a potion that could permanently increase one's attributes was. It wasn't something he could hope for.
"When we get back alive, I'll ask my brother to reward you with a lot of potions. It'll be enough for you to become a mid-rank Knecht," said Angelina playfully. Locke was still two ranks away from becoming a mid-rank Knecht. Besides, he had only just become a beginner-rank Knecht not long ago. It was too far away for him to imagine.
Since they knew that there might be an evolved version of a Salt Crab around them, it was necessary for them to leave. He had slaughtered so many of the crab's people, but it still hadn't come out to fight him. It was probably hibernating, as Angelina had said. However, the two of them decided to leave this place as soon as their injuries and strength were more or less recovered. Who knew if the crab would suddenly wake up from its hibernation and cause trouble for them. The two of them couldn't sleep well if they were always under the shadow of danger.
Speaking of sleep, the interesting thing was that Locke didn't continue to weave grass skins after that time. The two of them still slept very close to each other every night. Of course, Locke didn't dare to touch her. After all, Angelina was still unconscious. Now that she was awake, Locke never forgot that she was a princess. Of course, Locke didn't care what happened after he fell asleep. There were several times when Locke woke up in the middle of the night to find that his hands were either around Angelina's waist or she was hugging his arm.
Angelina blushed and asked shyly, "Why don't you weave more quilts?"
"I don't have the time. I have to find food and recover from my injuries," answered Locke innocently.
Angelina gritted her teeth and glared at Locke, but she could only accept it.
These days, Locke made a few more water bottles. Although there was no shortage of water in the forest, he still prepared to bring enough fresh water just in case. As for food, Locke had already caught all the salt crabs on the sandy beach around the saltwater lake and harvested a total of eight of them. Locke peeled all of them and poured a layer of saltwater lake water on them. Every day at noon, when the sun was at its brightest, he threw them on a rock to dry. He planned to make all of them into bacon. This way, they would be easy to preserve and wouldn't rot easily. Angelina, who had lived a luxurious life since she was a child, had never heard of bacon, let alone eaten it. She was curious about this strange method and found it interesting.
Only when Locke was marinating the bacon did he notice that the two of them had mostly eaten salt crabs these days. The crab meat of this kind of crab had a strong salt taste, which supplemented their salt intake. If they went out in the future and finished eating the crab meat, where would they get salt? Without salt, they would have no strength, so Locke finally decided to fill another bottle with saltwater lake water.
There was also the fruit, the white fruit that resembled grapes. Because it contained too much water, it was not convenient to carry around, so Locke dried them. After the water evaporated from the plump flesh, there was only a thin layer left. Perhaps the taste of the fruit was very bland, so the dried fruit tasted mediocre after being dried. However, it was easy to carry around and there were many of them, so Locke chose to carry some.
Locke's tattered coat had been torn off and made into a simple backpack that contained their food and water. This backpack might be their hope of walking out of the Bering Mountains alive. Without his coat, Locke, who only had a singlet and a short-sleeved shirt on his upper body, felt like he was about to freeze to death every morning. Fortunately, Angelina was there to warm his hands.
Although Angelina's clothes were tattered, they could at least keep out the cold. Locke's physique was much stronger than Angelina's, but even he felt cold. Angelina often woke up from the cold at night even with her clothes on.
It couldn't be helped. According to the time, it would be winter in half a month. The temperature difference between day and night was huge at this time. The bonfire that Locke had lit would go out at midnight. In the cold weather, Locke couldn't light a bonfire again no matter how hard he tried. In the past, the barracks would wrap a layer of linen around the torch and pour grease over it. Where could Locke get grease now? Cloth was fine, as he couldn't even tear a trouser leg. As for grease, apart from the salt crabs and the wolf, the only living things that Locke had seen so far were birds flying in the sky.
In the past few days, Angelina had learned a lot from Locke. At least she could sew her own torn clothes now. As a princess, Angelina had actually learned tailoring. It seemed that she had grown a lot.
That evening, Locke came back from the forest again with an arm full of white fruits. They were his harvest today. Angelina went forward to greet Locke. To be honest, every time Locke left, she was always worried that something would happen to him. Waiting alone in the cave by the lake was the only thing she could do. Fortunately, she could still pass the time by meditating. Otherwise, she felt that she would go crazy.
In the past few days, Angelina's happiest moment was when Locke came back. Finally, there was someone to talk to. Although practicing magic was lonely, it wasn't autistic. Casters were also human, and they needed to communicate normally.
Among the food that Locke brought back today, there was a red thumb-sized fruit.
"After searching for so long, I finally found a new species nearby. Take a look and see if it's edible," said Locke to Angelina. Now, their relationship was no longer that of a commoner and a princess, nor was it that of a superior and a subordinate. They were just two unlucky people who shared the same fate in the forest. They didn't have as much scruples when talking to each other, and sometimes they would even joke around.
Angelina tucked her hair behind her ear and took the fruit from Locke to examine it. Locke had found a lot of fruits these days, but without exception, they were all inedible or had side effects. Only the white fruit that Locke found first was edible.
Angelina frowned and observed for a long time before saying with uncertainty, "This seems to be a spellcasting material."
"Spellcasting material?" Locke was very interested in this new term.
"Yes, sometimes casters need some materials to cast spells quickly. These are spellcasting materials," said Angelina.
"Can this help you cast spells?" Locke looked at Angelina excitedly. In the past two days, he'd found out that Angelina knew three spells, and he'd even enjoyed a cleanse spell. Magic was indeed amazing, he thought at that time.
"This is a firecloud fruit with a slight fire element. It can help cast fire spells," said Angelina after recalling for a while. "I can't do it yet." Angelina blushed. She was only a beginner-rank Lehrling, and knowing three spells was already very impressive. Although Luminescence also contained some fire mana, it didn't require this kind of spellcasting material at all.
"Then it should be very precious, right?" Locke changed the topic and asked. He was now interested in items that could enhance his strength and money.
"Yes." Angelina nodded. When it came to spellcasting materials, nothing was cheap.
"I'm rich, I'm rich …" Locke muttered. He saw this kind of fruit growing in a small forest today. If he picked all of them back …
"There are usually magic creatures living around this kind of magic plant. Haven't you seen it?" Angelina asked doubtfully. Although the firecloud fruit wasn't of a high rank, it was still a magic plant. Many fire and earth magic creatures liked to eat it.
"Uh, I haven't seen it." Locke was speechless. "Could it be hibernating again?" Locke guessed.
"It's possible. Fire and earth major monsters don't like winter, so they usually hibernate," said Angelina. "It's only because this place is close to Morphey Forest that the mana is strong that the firecloud fruit grows in winter. This kind of thing usually ripens in summer."
"Looks like we're in luck. The two monsters we might have encountered are both hibernating." Locke scratched his head.
"Yeah." Angelina smiled sweetly.
"Can this be eaten?" Locke stared at the firecloud fruit and suddenly asked.
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