"Ah, I'm exhausted..." Kevin grimaced, "Why does she feel heavier and heavier?"
"It's probably because her magic power is running out. You have to hurry, or once her magic power is depleted, you won't be able to carry her at all," Bella said.
Upon hearing this, Kevin quickly caught his breath, rested for a minute, and then put Catherine back on his back.
"In one go, charge!"
He shouted loudly and charged forward with all his might.
Of course, when he said "charge," his speed was actually not even as fast as his usual jog.
It was really because Catherine was too heavy, and getting heavier. When he crossed the distance of 150 meters, Kevin felt that Catherine on his back was almost 300 pounds.
If it weren't for his regular exercise and good physique, he would have given up long ago.
"Almost there..." Kevin's sweat dripped down his forehead, and his body was already soaked with sweat.
He felt that carrying Catherine for this distance of over 200 meters was more tiring than running 10 kilometers!
At the last twenty meters, Catherine's weight had increased to over 300 pounds, and Kevin's legs trembled with each step.
But he dared not stop, because he was afraid that once he stopped, he would not be able to move Catherine.
He couldn't just leave her in this forest, could he?
He gritted his teeth and persevered. When he arrived at the cave, he threw Catherine to the side and fell to the ground, panting like a bull.
"Ah... Ah..."
"Out of strength..."
Bella watched from the side and couldn't help shaking her head. "You didn't have to save her, and yet you exerted so much effort."
"How could I not? She's the first person I met in this world, and she's a great beauty," Kevin smiled and said, "I can't miss the chance to be a hero and save a beauty."
"Hehe, and by saving her, when she wakes up, she can teach me magic."
Hearing this, Bella looked at Kevin with a hint of amusement.
But she felt that Kevin saved this woman not because she was a beauty, nor because he wanted her to teach him magic.
It was simply because he wanted to save her.
Just like with Gurgle, it was because he wanted to raise her.
"Hungry..." After all the fussing around, Kevin felt that the stone crabs he had eaten earlier had been completely digested, and he was hungry again.
So he decided to go out and find something to eat.
He first caught some stone crabs in the river, then walked around the forest, continuously analyzing and discarding things.
[Greenwood Fruit: Crispy and tender texture, slightly sweet, rich in various vitamins, edible.]
[Redberry Fruit: Soft and tender texture, sour and sweet, rich in various vitamins, edible.]
[Rock Mushroom: Soft and bouncy texture, sweet and fresh, rich in various minerals and amino acids, edible.]
There were also inedible items.
[Greenberry Fruit: Unripe Redberry Fruit, slightly toxic, not recommended for consumption.]
[Seven-Step Date: Soft and sticky texture, overly sweet taste, extremely poisonous, not edible.]
[Rock Bear Dung: Abrasive texture, bitter taste, not edible.]
Kevin: "!!!"
Kevin quickly threw away the thing in his hand, his face full of horror: "Oh my god, it's actually dung, I thought it was some kind of mushroom!"
Bella laughed on the side.
Kevin quickly ran to the river to wash his hands, then walked back to the cave with a pleased expression.
With so many fruits collected, there should be enough to eat.
"Hehe, thanks to the gift of nature."
"Here, Gurgle, have a mushroom." Kevin handed the white mushroom to Gurgle on his shoulder, who immediately wrapped it and began to digest it, his small eyes narrowing into a slit, looking very happy.
Back at the cave, the abandoned copper pot left by the adventurer came in handy.
After cleaning the copper pot, Kevin also cleaned the stone crabs and white mushrooms several times and threw them into the pot to cook into soup.
Let's get started!
While the crab and mushroom soup was cooking, Kevin was eating fruits, feeding Gurgle, and chatting with
"How do I meditate?" Kevin asked.
"Calm your mind and heart, and gradually you will enter a meditative cultivation state. However, in that state, you are essentially defenseless, and your perception of the surroundings will be greatly weakened," Bella said.
Kevin nodded: "I'll meditate later then, so I don't accidentally let the soup burn dry."
Soon, the crab and mushroom soup was ready. After letting it cool a bit, Kevin took a sip directly from the pot.
"Wow, it's really fresh!" he exclaimed, but instead of immediately indulging in the meal, he brought the soup to Catherine's side.
"Aren't you planning to feed her?" Bella asked.
"Yes," Kevin nodded, "Everyone has to eat, and mages are no exception."
Hearing this, Bella didn't stop him.
Kevin lifted Catherine's head, gently pried open her cherry lips, and poured the soup into her mouth bit by bit.
As the soup entered her mouth, Catherine began to swallow instinctively.
"Hey, she's drinking it!" Kevin smiled.
Since she could drink the soup, he didn't have to worry about her starving to death anytime soon.
Bella watched this scene in silence.
In fact, a Saint-level mage wouldn't be in danger of life-threatening conditions even if they didn't eat or drink for more than ten days, and as a powerful dual practitioner of magic and martial arts, Catherine's vitality was naturally even stronger. She could probably last a month or two without eating or drinking.
But she didn't say anything.
Because she felt that Kevin, who was carefully feeding soup to Catherine, appeared very gentle at this moment.
However, she then heard Kevin muttering to himself.
"Hehe, I'm so good to you, you'd better repay me when you wake up, or it wouldn't be fair to me."
"They say the first beautiful woman you meet in a different world is the heroine."
"So you have to survive the magic erosion, you must not die, okay?"
Bella: "..."
Bella retorted, "According to your logic, then I should be the heroine!"
Kevin glanced at her, continuing to feed Catherine soup, and said, "Go away, you're not even as big as my... palm, what kind of heroine are you? Go play somewhere."
Bella: "..."
Ugh, so frustrating!
Ignoring the sulking Bella, Kevin only stopped after feeding Catherine the entire pot of soup. He cleaned the bottom of the pot and then began to leisurely crack open stone crabs and eat white mushrooms.
"It's so delicious, too bad you can't have any," Kevin said while eating, addressing the unconscious Catherine with her beautiful eyes tightly closed.
Then he looked at Bella and asked, "Bella, would you like to eat?"
Bella shook her head: "I am merely an embodiment, not my true form, and I don't need to eat... Well, even if I were in my true form, I wouldn't need to eat either."
Kevin nodded: "Oh, I see... Can other people see you?"
Bella replied: "No, and our conversation is shielded by the laws of this world; no one can hear it."
"So to avoid you being seen as someone who likes to talk to themselves and being thought of as a fool, you can communicate with me through thoughts."
"I see... Come on, Gurgle, have some crab." Kevin nodded.
"Gurgle~"