The human cultivator shrugged and pointed at her, probably asking her name in that incomprehensible language.

"Oh, it's Elowen," she said and regretted it immediately, as the youth repeated all parts of it. "No. Just Elowen." She almost slapped herself on the cheek. "Elowen! Elowen!"

The man nodded. "Elowen."

She beamed, unsure if she should be happy about this small accomplishment.

He didn't stop after learning her name, though. Instead, he started asking about everything he saw, like a child. Be it fire, stone, wood, or beast core... He seemed to have boundless curiosity and picked up the foreign words pretty quickly. Still, it would take a couple of months before he could speak in the common tongue.

Or a few minutes if I can get an elder to help him with that, she thought.

Then she noticed the state of her clothing. The wolf's claws had torn off a large part of it, exposing a good amount of her bare skin—her midriff and shoulders. Moreover, Ki Lein had tended to her wounds and even carried her here.

A deep blush crept to her cheeks as she clutched the blanket tightly. Well, she couldn't complain. While the wolves might have been able to kill her, they would have left her unconscious and vulnerable for another beast to feast on her.

At least she was glad that she was picked by a sensible guy and not one of her arrogant cousins.

With nothing else to occupy her mind or entertain the hairless youth, Elowen decided to cultivate. She sat cross-legged, her spine straight, eyes closed as she dived into meditation. The youth watched her as she drifted off into deep meditation, circulating her essence to cultivate.

Elowen wasn't sure how long she cultivated, but it couldn't have been more than a couple of hours. The fatigue she had accumulated wouldn't let her cultivate longer than that. However, in these two hours, she felt a lot less lethargic; her wounds were recovering, and her exhaustion was waning. She could channel her energy to empower herself again, though not to the best of her capabilities at the sixth-stage copper realm.

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However, when she opened her eyes, she found the youth next to her, watching her with a frown. Elowen almost yelped, scurrying back in fright.

The youth held up his arms in the air in surrender, causing her to fluster.

"Sorry," she said, "I didn't expect you there."

Even though she apologized, her mind wondered how long the youth had been watching her. Thankfully, it didn't look like a lustful glance, but merely a gaze of curiosity.

What's so interesting about me that he would look at me so seriously? Elowen wondered. Unfortunately, he wouldn't gain anything new from her way of cultivation.

As if embarrassed by his act of sizing her up, the foreign man brought his palm out of his cloak and held it before her. His palm held three peanut-sized beast cores.

"Yours," he said in the common tongue.

Elowen's eyes widened, not just at his words, but at his generosity. Yes, she had killed three of the wolves, but she would have been dead without his help. Not to mention, he collected them all after she passed out. For all these reasons, most people would simply pocket all the shares and act like they had done a great service for saving her.

The hairless man didn't seem like those cultivators, though Elowen's honor wouldn't let her accept them. Even if they were the first thing she would need to succeed.

"No, I can't take them," she told him, speaking each word slowly, shaking her head. "They are yours."

"Mine?" He raised his missing eyebrows.

Elowen nodded.

The youth collected them back into his bag and shrugged. Elowen finally managed to get a hold of herself, but then her stomach embarrassed her, growling in hunger.

Their eyes met again, and like before, she was quick to end the contact. The man smiled and gestured next to him for her to see roasted meat, some kind of rehydrated dry ration, and most importantly, water.

When did he make all of those? She wondered, the first time noticing them. I guess he wasn't just watching me meditate.

Ke Lein moved from next to her and served her a portion of the food. He said something in a foreign language and started eating as if to reassure her.

Elowen followed suit, biting into the freshly roasted meat. It was roasted well, as she could already tell by its color, but what surprised her was its flavor. She didn't think the youth had spices and other ingredients with him; surprisingly, she was mistaken.

It tasted good to be wrong, she thought as she devoured the meat, chewing it quickly—faster than the youth. After finishing one of the leg pieces, she held up another, only to find Ki Lein looking at her.

Elowen was about to say something, but only a burp came out of her mouth, embarrassing her again.

The guy laughed, causing her cheeks to color a hue of red. Still smiling, he held up a metal bottle full of water. Elowen glared up at him, though she still accepted the water.