The moment Cleo returned to the camp, the first thing he did was check on Duk. Seeing that he was okay and sleeping peacefully released a weight in his heart. Even though the possibility of Duk being attacked was low, there was still a possibility of it happening, and that was why it never left his mind even for a second.

With his worry gone, he excitedly created a fire once again, wanting to cook the crabs and the clams. When he was done, he took out what he had harvested and counted them into portions for later food. He caught 13 crabs and collected six clams; he would eat half for now and the remaining ones later. Having no tools for cooking, he placed the crabs and clams on the stones around the fire, cooking them in the simplest method.

While waiting for them, he decided to train and not waste time. He had no idea what kind of training he had to do. The most straightforward but effective exercise he could think of was push-ups; thus, he placed himself in a position of wanting to start immediately. He couldn’t remember the last time he did a push-up; if he recalled correctly, the most he could do was a maximum of 10, so his goal for now was to reach at least 15 and slowly work his way up to 100.

While in a push-up position, he steadily lowered his body, and when he was low enough, he pushed the ground to lift it again. At the first three to four, it was still manageable, but beyond that, he started to feel every fiber of his muscle shaking; sometimes a feeling of an electric ground crawled inside him.

Upon reaching 10 consecutive push-ups, both his hands began to squirm, screaming at him to stop. Nevertheless, he kept going, as his goal hadn't been met yet. It became difficult even to lift his body, and the lingering pain he suffered yesterday made it even harder. But still, he pushed through. How would he face more difficult challenges if he couldn’t even achieve something simple?

Greeting his teeth, he forced his whole body to keep going. Every push he made became far in between as his strength depleted.

11

12…

13…

…

14…

…

…

"15!" He shouted the last number, giving himself a boost to finish his exercise.

Upon reaching 15, he instantly fell to the ground, releasing heavy breathing through his mouth and nose. He didn’t want to move—he just wanted to lay there and wait until nighttime. But his train of thought was instantly interrupted by the scent coming from his campfire.

The smell of cooked crab and clams awakened his sleeping stomach, crying for attention and demanding to feed it. As he salivated from hunger, he tried to get up, but his hands had no more strength to push his body against the ground. Therefore, he rolled and laid on his back. Instead of using his hand, he used his core to sit up and immediately rushed to the campfire—he didn’t want his first meat on the island to burn after all.

Seeing the brown color of the crabs and the open mouths of the clams signaled to him that they were ready for consumption. He grabbed one of the sliced coconut shells and put the crab and the clams inside, blowing at them to hasten their cooling time.

He couldn’t help but gulp while waiting for his time to devour them. Imagining himself eating meat, which he longed for, was a desire that was hard to control. When he couldn't wait any longer, he took one crab—still hot—and split it in half. Seeing some juices spilling from inside, he reacted quickly and caught them with his mouth. Due to this, his tongue got scalded, and steam spewed out of his mouth in an attempt to reduce the burning sensation on his tongue.

Yet he didn’t mind. The taste of the juicy crab was too delicious for him to stop there. With excitement, he bit on the crab’s flesh and sipped out the juice along with its meat. Every bite would burn him, but not once he stopped. He swallowed what he could and spat what was inedible. The small crab didn’t have much meat inside, but that was fine as he still had more to eat.

Finished with his first crab, he took one of the clams, excited for its oceanic flavor! Its tightly sealed shell was now opened, inviting him to take what was inside, like a treasure chest. The invitation was too tempting not to accept; thus, without hesitation, he widened the gap between the shells, and he was welcomed by the grotesque meat of the clam.

Sure, it didn’t have the best appearance, but based on his experience, he could confidently say that its taste could compare to a high-tier food—not like he had tasted one before.

Taking out the meat of the clam with his two fingers, he placed it directly in his mouth, swallowing the whole meat in one bite. Like he expected, it was delicious. Sandy, but delicious! His lips couldn’t help but form a wide grin on his face. He let go of all his worry—at least for now—and enjoyed the peaceful moment with no distraction. Only him and the delicious seafood that he got!

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In a matter of a few minutes, he devoured all the food, laid on the grass, and burped with satisfaction. It had been a while since he got full. Although sweet potatoes and coconuts were good, he wasn’t satisfied like he was right now.

After a while, he sat up, recalling that he needed to give Duk water. When he saw Duk again, guilt arose within him. While he was satisfied and full, Duk couldn’t even eat any, as he could only eat plant-based food. He regretted eating the last sweet potato; he should have just given it to Duk.

"Duk, wake up; you need to drink some water," he said while gently shaking Duk’s body.

Duk opened his eyes, looking at him weakly.

He smiled at him to make sure he would feel comfortable and focus on his recovery. After that, he carefully raised Duk’s head and helped him drink the water. Duk’s mouth quivered—maybe he wanted to say something but was too weak to utter a word.

"Don’t push yourself; just focus on recovering. I will listen to everything you say after that."

Duk seemed to understand him, as he slowly closed his eyes and returned to his slumber. Seeing this, he decided to go away from the shelter for a while and let Duk rest alone. His body was still sour from the push-ups he did, so he decided to turn his attention to a less tiring activity—meditating.

Sauntering to Lunaria, he sat in a lotus position beside it, ready to start another round of memory diving. Before he closed his eyes, he made sure that his heart was calm and tried to empty his mind. When he was ready, he closed his eyes and began meditating.

It took a few minutes before his memory started flooding him. The first memory that entered his mind was the most recent. The memory of their encounter with the black panther. Though the memory was short, the impact it had on him was massive. If only he had the strength to fight or had been prepared enough for the danger, they could have avoided it. If not for the root monster, he would probably be dead by now.

Now that he thought about it, where did the monster come from? He could have sworn he didn’t feel something big like that walking near them, unless it was already there…

At first, he thought Duk was the one who defeated the monster, but if he considered all the clues—which were Duk’s hatred for violence, the sudden appearance of the monster, and the monster's weird actions—it led him to believe the root monster was Duk himself!

However, Duk never said he had the ability to transform. Also, shouldn’t Duk need his permission first before he could use his abilities? No, that wasn’t right; he didn’t feel drained of his energy like last time. Was it possible that Duk used his own Life Force to transform? That would explain why Duk was in his current condition. Then did that mean the water wasn’t helping him at all? No, the water was helping, but not as he thought it would. Was there anything he could do to help him recover faster?

If Duk used his Life Force, perhaps he would also need Spirit Energy to recover it; if so, how could he help him in that area? Cultivating. The two of them were connected; maybe if he succeeded in his cultivation, it would help Duk. His knowledge of the Spirit was limited, so the only thing he could do was try; at least he had something to focus his mind on.

With a newfound reason to cultivate, his mind became more focused than ever before. He must sense his Spirit Root! Repeating the words in his mind, his attention was centered only on the goal. Slowly, his memories disappeared one by one, emptying his mind with only the echoes of his words remaining.

After his memories, his senses also went away: his sense of smell, hearing, taste, and touch. His aching body became numb, the touch of wind disappeared, and the sound of waves vanished, as if he had entered somewhere else, a different world far from his.

Soon, in the middle of all the darkness that surrounded him, he saw something. It had the shape of a seed, and roots protruded from it. Its green color stood out from the surrounding darkness, garnering his attention. Could this be the Spirit Root that Duk had been mentioning?

Sensing the seed, he could feel his connection to it, as if they were the same. He could understand the importance of the seed or Spirit Root without anyone telling him.

Not satisfied with looking, he wanted to extend his non-existent hand and touch it. But before he could do so, a bright light shone, making his nightly mind as bright as day. This made him lose all his focus, pulling him out of his deep meditation.

When he opened his eyes, he was immediately blinded. He had no clue where the light came from, as there was no such thing that could produce the intense blue light.

Steadily, his eyes got used to the blue light, clearing his blurry sight. Upon the recovery of his sight, he was surprised at the one responsible. It was Lunaria!

He didn’t know why the Lunaria acted this way, but when he absorbed his surroundings, he noticed the lack of light and the cold breeze. It was already nighttime. This didn’t make sense to him, as he felt like he only closed his eyes for a minute. Looking up, he saw the full moon, giving him proof that it was indeed nighttime.

While staring at the moon, something finally sank into him.

"If there was a full moon, then that means the Lunaria is bearing fruit!" He exclaimed, excitement bubbling inside him.

Turning his head to Lunaria, his mouth wide open. Beautiful fruits hung on the Lunaria’s stems—a lot of them. It was shaped like the moon itself, purple in color, reflecting the moonlight shimmering a bright blue light. It wasn’t big—only the size of a tomato—but its presence was beyond this world. If he had a chance to sell this kind of magical fruit, it would only be a matter of time before he became rich!

In his curiosity, he plucked one of the fruits. It was soft and had the same texture as a grape. Even after plucking it from the Lunaria, its light still shone brightly; if he wanted to, he could even use it as a light bulb. He wanted to know the taste of the fruit and was excited about its flavor. However, before he could take a bite, Duk’s weakened image forced its way into his mind.

After that, he didn’t even hesitate and rushed into the shelter, wanting to give the first fruit to Duk. When he reached Duk’s side, he woke him up, anxious about the fruit's effect on Duk’s body. The moment Duk opened his eyes, he didn’t even wait and said.

"Eat this; it might help you!"

Duk seemed to understand the situation after seeing the fruit. He opened his mouth, wanting to bite the Lunaria fruit, but his body was so weak that he couldn’t even bring himself to eat it on his own. Of course, he wouldn’t let Duk do it himself. He carefully placed the fruit in Duk’s mouth, hoping that it would help him speed up his recovery.

Duk was having a hard time, but after a little bit of struggle, he finally succeeded in closing his mouth and biting the shimmering fruit!