Chapter 6: More action in another world

That evening, Riley decided to roast another pigbull over the fire. He has made a rotisserie out of sticks so that he could roast the whole pigbull at once.

Thalia was drawn out of the shelter by the alluring smell of meat cooking over the fire. Her stomach grumbled fiercely.

"How's your leg feeling?" Riley asked.

"It-It's still quite painful." She winced as she put pressure on it to walk over. "Is it okay if I have some of that meat? I haven't eaten in days." She asked sheepishly.

"Of course! I'm not gonna let you starve." He said smiling.

Riley had already prepared a piece of bark for her to use as a plate and pulled some meat off for her. He added some mana bush to her plate as well.

He passed the plate to her and she immediately started eating. Her enthusiasm surprised Riley but it was to be expected if she hasn't eaten in a while.

After she had eaten a few mouthfuls she put down the piece she was eating and looked up at Riley.

"I feel like I am constantly thanking you."

"It's no drama." He said waving it off. "I was cooking dinner for myself as well."

They spoke a bit more casually around the campfire and Riley felt that she was feeling more relaxed around him. He had to give her vague made up answers about how he got to live in the forest like this and where he came from. But she didn't probe him too much about it so it went smoothly.

After dinner, Riley insisted that Thalia sleep in the shelter as he had the hammock to sleep on. He preferred being off the ground anyway.

After Thalia went to bed, he had a quick bath in the river and went to sleep in his hammock.

That night, he was woken suddenly to a sound a few metres away from him. He opened his eyes to see a monstrous spider. It had its front legs up making it seem taller than he was.

Hit by a surge of adrenaline, Riley quickly exited his hammock and equipped his wooden spear by instinct, pointing it directly at the spider.

The spider, sensing the danger of the spear hissed at him and clicked its fangs. Riley's battle awareness kicked in and a ball of dark liquid was spat out at him by the spider. Thanks to his increase in speed, he dodged it. Riley lunged at the spider with his spear but the point hit its fangs and splintered. The spider took a step back from the force of the attack but was not injured.

Riley quickly discarded the wooded spear and pulled out the Elvish spear from his storage. Surely this would do some more damage.

He dodged another attack from the giant spider and activated his charge ability.

Riley rushed forwards and thrust the spear through the top of its head. He heard a slight squeal from the spider as its legs curled up in pain. Green blood poured out of the wound as the spider now lay dead on the ground.

Ding!

[You have gained exp.]

(Bonus multiplier x3 activated)

Abilities gained: poison synthesis, web synthesis

Riley yanked the spear out of the head of the spider and shook the green blood off it with a few shakes.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" Thalia called out from the shelter. "I'm sorry I couldn't help" she said sincerely.

"No, it's fine" he replied. Riley was worried she would not feel safe here. "This doesn't usually happen" he added.

"We'll you seem capable enough to handle it" she replied.

Riley smiled, shaking off the last of the spider blood.

"You go back to sleep, I can clean this up" Riley said.

Thalia obliged and once she was asleep, Riley placed the spider in his inventory. It could be useful later on.

Riley stared at the stars, unable to get to sleep from the action he had just encountered. His heart still pumping.

The next day, Riley began his day with a bit of spear fishing, followed by a breakfast of fruits he shared with Thalia.

At breakfast, Thalia was not very talkative and seemed hesitant to say something.

"Is there something on your mind?" He asked.

"Yes.. um… well I don't want to bother you with this but.. I need to bathe in the river but I don't want to get my leg wet." She gestured to her leg, unable to make eye contact with Riley and blushed profusely.

Riley couldn't help but picture her slender and curvaceous body naked in the water for a second before he snapped back to his senses.

"Of course, you've been running for days! No wonder you want to freshen up."

Thalia smiled weakly. "I can manage to wash myself first.. but could you come to help me wash my leg after I have.." she paused "made myself decent?"

Riley got excited for a split second but managed to suppress himself and seem more casual about the whole thing.

"Sure, just let me know when. I'll make sure to face the other way."

"Thank you!" She said with excitement. She must be eager to wash the sweat and grime off herself Riley thought.

Riley say the other way, resisting the temptation to glance a peak at her naked body for just one second. He could hear her movements in the water as he did so.

"Okay, you can turn around now!" She called nervously.

Riley approached her in the water to see a beautiful sight. Her wet hair was slicked back, water droplets lined her face and her dark tanned skin. Her shabby, now wet dress clinging to her skin, which made clear to Riley the size and shape of her bust. She had large, soft boobs, DD or E cup, that pressed against her dress. Her nipples, hardened by the cold water, perfectly visible to him. Glancing his eyes further down, her dress was slightly raised and sticking to her upper thigh. He could see the lines of her inner thighs which lifted the dress off of her crotch area.

Both Riley and Thalia could not help but blush as Riley stared at her figure.

Riley sprung into action. "Do you want me to hold your leg up out of the water for you?"

"Yes please" she said sheepishly.

Riley gently placed a hand behind her knee and lifted her leg to keep it clear of the water. He could not get over how soft she felt.

Thalia placed her hand on his shoulder, which also felt nice for Riley. They locked eyes for a second, her beautiful face shimmering with water in the morning sun. Thalia then suddenly broke eye contact and began to wash water on herself.

Riley was admiring how beautiful she was and how lucky he was to be in this situation before he was snapped back to his senses.

"Thank you Riley. I've got it from here." She smiled.

"Oh.. sure.." Riley placed her leg down a bit too quickly which made her wince in pain. "Sorry!" He said quickly.

"It's fine, thank you for helping me" she smiled reassuringly.

Riley smiled awkwardly and made his way back out of the river, cursing himself as he did so.

He felt awkward staying around while she got out and decided to go into the forest to hunt something, or find some fruits, or anything to take his mind off what just happened. But he couldn't get the image of her out of his head.

Riley was walking for about half an hour when he heard some noises in the distance. It was a group of people! They were armed with swords and bows, and had a carriage with a cage mounted in it. Riley could tell that these people were bandits, and had prisoners in the cage. Mostly children, but one young woman accompanied them, hugging the children as the carriage bounced along. Following this was another carriage. It seemed to be full of supplies. The men, heavily armed and burly looking walked along side the carriages.

Riley crouched in a bush out of view from the convoy.

Riley could hear the men shouting to each other but couldn't pick up on what they were saying. Once they passed him, using his stealth skill, he decided to tail them out of sight.

After about an hour, the convoy stopped. He could hear the men shouting about setting up camp. Riley made a mental note of their location and travelled back to the clearing.

"Where have you been??" Thalia asked worriedly as Riley returned. "I was so worried! I thought you were killed!"

Riley looked at her compassionately. "I guess she wasn't too bothered by this morning then" he thought to himself relieved.

"I don't know if I could survive without you" she said solemnly.

Riley place a hand on her shoulder "I'm sorry Thalia, I shouldn't have left you for so long." He said smiling at her.

Riley's eyes glanced over at the fire. "We should put out that fire" he said hastily.

"Why?" Thalia asked.

"I'll tell you in a second" he said as he went to pour water on it.

Riley then explained what he saw in the forest and how they set up camp not too far from where they were.

"What should we do?" Asked Thalia nervously.

"I think we should wait here for now and keep an eye on the forest. I don't know if they saw the smoke or not. If they did they will sure come for us." Riley saw the look of concern on Thalia's face.

"I didn't get the impression that they saw it based on their behaviour though." Riley said to help ease Thalia's worry.

"When it gets late, I'll go and check their camp again to see if they will attack us during the night." Riley added.

They spent the rest of the afternoon at the camp, watching the forest cautiously and doing odd jobs around the place. The awkwardness from the morning was dissipated completely by the danger looming in the forest.