To retreat back to his cave, or find refuge elsewhere? Noah contemplated.

If he wanted to go back to the cave he would need to risk travelling in the dark. But he could also walk into danger attempting to find another place to camp for the night.

He looked over to the woman and her knights. They could take up guard duty along with Krall. With his armoured pet looking over him, he didn’t have to worry about betrayal.

Noah didn’t like it, but it was better than being ambushed through the night by a party of roaming jungle goblins. The last thing he wanted was a pair of smelly, sharpened teeth sinking into his throat during his peaceful sleep.

So, he approached them.

The woman was busy healing the others wounds. Healing, huh? Noah had witnessed it before and it was a surprising sight to behold. Not because it was magic, but because how rare it was to obtain any healing spells.

But that went for all magic. The System spawned Skills from effort based on the task the user was undergoing. However, if you never used any magic, how would you possibly gain a magic Skill?

It was the same for healing. People could gain first aid Skills like bandaging, or surgery, but not magic. Even a Common healing spell was probably at the rarity of an ordinary Epic Skill. Not all Skills were equal, even among others of the same rank.

His [Monster Allegiance] Skill was similar.

They seem pretty strong. Noah thought as he sized up the knights. They looked back at him with their hands tightly held to their weapons.

Even amongst the Trained back on Earth, they were far superior. Noah could tell they were bred for fighting since young. He could see it in their eyes–and hands. The thick calluses covering their palms were evidence of their hard work.

An elf princess then? Noah guessed. He gazed at the pretty face of the elf for a moment, before exhaling a breath with a smile. He could just imagine the others on Earth fawning over her. An elf of noble lineage truly was a magical sight to behold.

“What?” She frowned at the strange response from Noah.

“Nothing, just that you’re gorgeous.” Noah shook his head.

A red seeped out of her cheeks at the compliment while her knights stared daggers at him.

“It’s just getting dark, I figured we’d share camp for the night.” Noah added with a smile.

“One moment you warn us to keep our distance, the next you want to stay with us for the night?” The princess pulled back a loose strand of hair behind her long pointed ear. “That’s–”

“Hypocritical?” Noah interrupted.

“Shameless,” She added.

Noah broke out into laughter. “Yeah, that’s true. But something tells me you won’t refuse the extra set of eyes?” He nudged Krall as he nodded with enthusiasm.

“I won’t deny it. My name is Maera, royal Princess of the kingdom of Calanis.” Maera pinched the corners of her dress, then bent her knees in greeting.

Thought so.

“Noah,” Noah thrusted his hand forward, then nudged his other thumb to his companion. “Krall.”

“Great warrior Noah.” Maera clasped her hand around Noah’s. Her hands were even larger than his own–but slender. He was expecting them to be soft like a baby’s butt, but they were surprisingly tough. Calluses lined the pads of her palm, most likely from sword training, Noah surmised. She looked at the armoured kobold and nodded. “And powerful dragonling, of course.”

Krall tilted his head and his lips curled upward. Noah slapped him on the back of the head as confusion overtook his companions mind.

“C’mon, we need to find somewhere before it gets dark.” Noah walked forwards.

Maera made sure the others were in walking condition before assenting to Noah’s directions.

Noah took the lead on the back of Krall. Thankfully it didn’t take long before he found a suitable place for a camp.

It wasn’t perfect, as no place was in the jungle, but it would do for the night. It was an enormous rock that was held up by two other stalwart boulders. But that wasn’t the reason Noah chose it.

He glanced at the sparse trees. Then moved his vision to three that were in close proximity to the cave-like rock formation. They were going to be used as scouting towers.

Having the other knights also meant that they had extra eyes to look out for any predators. Just having himself and Krall without being in a secure cave meant that they could easily be flanked without them knowing.

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Of course, just having a roof over his head and a wide area to look out of wasn’t enough for Noah. The damn rules of Miles were embedded into his thoughts, unable to be escaped.

“Rule #5, when suitable shelter has been acquired, you must do everything to secure it from predators. Whether that’s digging pitfall trenches, making a fence of pointed spears, or building a solid wall. Just because you have a safe place, that doesn’t mean it is safe.”

I get it miles. Noah’s lips curled into a smile. He turned to the princess. “We need to secure the area. Find any long sticks from the hardened palm trees and make them into spears for defences. Someone should start a fire.”

As he said the words, the princess was already delegating tasks to the knights by names. It was quick, orderly, and professional. Obviously she was used to calling the shots.

Thankfully, Noah was out of work. He first checked to watch if they were doing it properly, but they were well trained. Without having to do anything himself for setting up camp, he wandered over to the nearby lake.

There was still time before he had to hit the hay, what better time was spent than some nice relaxing fishing. Besides, he had a few Skills he still had to gain. He wasn’t exactly sure of their names, but Peter, and the others, had made them up.

Fishing Scout, and Taming Fishery.

After all, Profession Skills were meant to synergise with your Class. If it didn’t, then it was a waste of time. It was why he thought Skinning would be the best for him since he was killing the monsters anyway. However, the Skinning Profession offered no bonuses to him, or at least it wasn’t worth taking.

With Fishing, he could gain a Skill to empower his tamed beasts. And it was one he was aiming for as it would provide him a good boost in power for the next day.

Before casting his rod into the water, first he needed bait. Thankfully he knew how to obtain them.

He approached a dead log at the side and split open the bark. Underneath lay hundreds of squirming bugs. Some were large, the others tiny, barely the size of his pores. It was the big juicy ones he was after.

Of course he wasn’t certain what the fish would like, it was more trial and error. He needed a Skill for that as Objectify was rather limited–until it levelled up that was. That reminded him.

Objectify - level 1: You have been granted the basic ability Objectify. Identify any object that is within your touch and obtain its information.

| Current Progress to Level 2: 83.43%

Nice, almost there. Noah nodded. Hopefully Identification was the next upgrade as he sorely needed it. It would allow him to better predict his opponents strength. Although he was getting used to that…

Noah took out his fishing-rod and cast it into the water with his newly gained bait. The water source wasn’t big, only around the size of a quaint swimming pool back on Earth, but it would do.

He had Krall ready to fight whatever he pulled out of the water. Fishing was meant to be relaxing. How could he sit back and lounge if he had to fight? That’s what Krall was here for–to make his life easier.

A crack of a twig behind him alerted Krall. He stood at the ready. Like a loyal guardian, he bore his fangs at the sudden appearance of the lady–along with two knights. He had learnt his lesson from before, he didn’t want to be hit over the head by his master once again.

Noah had no intention of correcting the behaviour either.

“Is it okay if I gather some water?” Maera held a large sack of water made of some kind of plastic. It was obviously a water container provided by the System.

“Aren’t your knights meant to do that?” Noah bobbed the fishing line up and down, trying to tease whatever was in the water.

“You seem to think little of elves?”

“Well I’m not a racist, if that’s what you mean,” Noah said as a matter of fact. “I’m just talking from experience. Usually royalty, human or not, don’t usually do all that much manual labour.”

Well to be fair, all Noah’s noble experience came from dramas. Hardly accurate, but it was the only truth he knew.

Maera dipped the container into the pool of water as her guards remained vigilant. Their eyes didn’t rest for a moment as they twitched this way and that.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Maera continued. “The Multiversal Broadcast. My mother prayed to the Goddess each day and night until her lips chapped, and her knees seized that I wouldn’t be chosen. However, for preparation, I had to become ready for any event. So I was raised with the broadcast in mind. I spent many gruelling hours learning command, sparring with swords, or understanding how to survive within the harsh wilds in any temperament.” Her words finished and a look of homesickness flickered behind her eyes. “But the Goddess granted me her plans, and I will accept them as they guide me into the light.”

Noah shook his head at the words. He simply couldn’t reciprocate the feeling she was expressing. This was his new home, and he liked it.

Maera seemed to be quite perceptive as her brows raised slightly. “Are you not a religious man?”

“No, I’m not,” Noah said as he swayed his fishing-line from side-to-side. Still yet to have a fish bite.

“Out of pride?”

“Out of freedom,” Noah corrected. “I want my thoughts to be my own and the freedom to act how I want to act.”

“I see.” Maera said as she gazed into the pond of water.

He was surprised to discover he didn’t feel uncomfortable with the woman by his side. She wasn’t stuck up, and didn’t force her ideals onto him. The princess was quiet, and obviously cared for her people. And she was a hard worker, not afraid to get her hands dirty when needed.

Of course, that was what she displayed on the surface. Time would only tell if those qualities were her true self, or if her hidden nature would unravel.

Noah was now within an Otherworld, but the basics he had learned back on Earth still existed. Trust. It was difficult to come by. Morals only became worse when subject to a need for survival.

Who would become twisted by the harsh, primal jungle?

But he had to admit, having someone to talk to that wasn’t an armoured scaly beast was a nice feeling.

Noah pressed his arm against his side. The pain was still there. He glanced at Maera and was about to ask her to heal him when she said, “Would you like me to heal you?”

Noah replied with a nod. She placed her slender hands against his back and activated her Skill. A pleasurable warmth entered his flesh, penetrated his muscles, then cradled his ribs.

Maera frowned. It seemed like healing an internal injury was much more difficult than normal. After a few minutes, the constant pain within his ribs was removed.Noah was about to say his thanks when his fishing-rod arced under pressure.

Something had taken the bait.