By the riverbank.
Beneath the shimmering surface of the water, several lively fish swam joyfully, accompanied by the splashing sound of the flowing river.
"I really thought I was going to die!" Jed's expression was one of lingering fear as he sat on a rock by the river, his feet soaking in the water and lightly stirring.
This was the first time in his life he had seen such devastating power, a random slash could annihilate a city, and a gentle split could sever mountains.
If it wasn't for that lava giant, who simply didn't care about the three of them, they'd most likely be dead with no chance of survival.
"Speaking of which, Letixia seems to know a lot about that giant," he said, turning to Letixia, who was also sitting by the river soaking her feet.
"Why is that giant so strong?"
"It's not the giant that's strong, it's the sword," Letixia explained to Jed, "Even if you were to hold that sword, you could have almost the same power."
"That's really enviable," Jed sighed, looking up at the blue sky and gently kicking the cool river water, "If only I could have such a weapon."
"Even if you found such a weapon, you couldn't use it," Letixia chuckled, looking at Jed's puzzled expression.
"To use that kind of weapon, you need the weapon's owner to acknowledge you, or use your own strength to forcibly wield it."
"That giant is a saint who worships Sulter, wielding a prototype Sword of Light forged by Flame Giant Surter," Letixia continued.
"Ordinary people can't possibly meet these conditions," she added.
Jed nodded, feeling somewhat disappointed but not too concerned, for a weapon of that caliber was something he would never come across in his lifetime, so there was no need to worry about the conditions for its use.
After all, he couldn't even meet the prerequisites for owning one.
"You really know a lot, Letixia," he marveled, noticing Letixia's smile turning somewhat unnatural as she turned her head away.
"Letixia, you really can't take a compliment. Trying to catch the boss's attention like this isn't going to be easy," Jed teased.
"That's not the reason," Letixia shook her head gently, brushing a lock of golden hair behind her ear and lowering her emerald eyes.
She did have feelings for Ahtal, and she could admit that easily, but this time her reaction wasn't because of Ahtal.
Her intimate knowledge of the prototype Sword of Light and the saint mainly came from the fact that her family possessed the genuine Sword of Light.
She had once even touched the authentic Sword of Light with her own hands.
"Yeah, I understand," Jed nodded gently, seeing Letixia looking even more unnatural and deciding not to tease the princess any further.
So inexperienced with emotions... Capturing the boss's heart likely wouldn't be possible anytime soon. After all, to win over introverted young men like the boss, you need the passion of a raging fire to pry open his heart.
Though she hadn't practiced it herself, Jed was rich in theoretical knowledge.
"Speaking of which, does the boss always take so long to bathe?" Jed changed the subject, looking downstream.
Letixia smiled and explained, "He got covered in too much blood; probably needs to spend more time on it."
Ahtal, having escaped from Forge City, was drenched in the giant's blood, as if he had swum in a pool of blood.
So, it was understandable that his bath would take a bit longer.
Jed agreed with a nod, raising her voice deliberately as Ahtal approached from downstream, "You're really considerate of the boss, Letixia. I wonder if the boss knows how you feel."
"..." Letixia's initial surprise turned to a glance downstream as Jed looked on and saw Ahtal walking up wearing only shorts and carrying three plump fish.
"I'm done bathing, do you want to take a bath? I can wait here for you and grill some fish for lunch," Xi Mu asked the two.
"Sure," Letixia nodded in agreement, pulling Jed by the wrist toward the upper stream for a bath—they needed one, too.
She could also see that Ahtal was deliberately changing the subject, and she didn't want to make things difficult for him.
So she followed Ahtal's cue and left with him.
"..." Xi Mu watched the two leave and skillfully prepared to grill the fish. In this game, he wondered what the developers were thinking. There were not only Magic Power and Stamina bars but also a hunger value to limit continuous fighting.
Only after reaching level sixty could one greatly reduce the food requirement. If one chose not to eat but continued fighting at an early stage, a high hunger value would cause a temporary decline in attributes, slowing the recovery of Magic Power and Stamina.
Therefore, it was necessary to replenish food.
[Host, that was such a great opportunity to make a move!] The system's voice suddenly rang out in Xi Mu's head, nagging.
[Just show a little reaction, and you could have won over Letixia!]
"I have no intention of pursuing her, so why should I agree?" Xi Mu replied to the system, and then added, "And wouldn't having a girlfriend hamper me from improving relations with other female characters, affecting my strength improvement?"
[That seems to make some sense.] The system started to sound less confident, its voice dwindling. If he became Letixia's boyfriend now, it would indeed be inconvenient to pursue other characters.
So, the host's avoidance was actually the right choice.
Could it be that the host... is a genius in romancing beautiful girls?
"It's just that you're too weak," Xi Mu replied offhandedly, rendering the system completely silent. As his game's assistant, it was rebuked for being too incompetent.