"Umm... excuse me... pretty lady," I called her, but she was already out cold.
I held her by the shoulder and gently laid her down on the ground.
Ruru followed me and stood beside me as we both stared at her.
"What should we do, Ruru?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.
She responded by tilting her head in the opposite direction.
As she lay there, the ground below her slowly turned red. She was losing way too much blood. I held her by the shoulder, gently pulling her up. The cloth on her back was cut with sharp claw marks, and blood was flowing out from there. I tore the cloth from her sleeve and wrapped it around her injury, then tore another sleeve from her robe and wrapped her against my back.
"I am sorry, pretty lady, for touching you and tearing your cloth without your permission," I said as I lifted her in a bridal carry, both arms under her knees.
"Ruru, take us to the Amrita water as fast as you can," I said as I climbed onto her.
Ruru nodded and began to move. I held onto her tightly, grabbing her fur.
I knew she was fast, but I never knew she could run even faster—or fly, I should say.
She leapt several feet into the air, skipping hundreds of miles while airborne.
Whenever she reached the ground at terrifying speed, her antlers would glow, and her speed would automatically decrease, allowing her to land softly before making the next high jump.
We reached the destination in just about twenty minutes, which should have taken more than two hours.
I quickly jumped off Ruru's back and ran toward the Amrita water while holding that lady on my back.
As I reached the edge of the pond, I unwrapped the cloth tying us together.
She moaned softly, holding her sides in pain.
"Lady, can you hear me?" I asked, leaning close to her ear.
She replied with a soft moan, squeezing her eyes in pain.
I didn't know if the Amrita water would work on her, since it didn't even work on Ruru, but it was the only choice I had.
I grabbed her from under her arms and dipped her into the Amrita water.
Nothing happened—only a light red color emitted around her due to the blood.
"So it didn't work," I sighed as I slowly pulled my hands upward to take her out.
But then, the water began to glow, and her moans started to become louder. She began to tremble in pain as her skin twisted at the area of injury.
I had firsthand experience of the pain this healing method carried.
"Vivi, can you shut down the consciousness of this lady so she can heal without the pain?" I asked, my voice carrying urgency.
"Touch the subject's head with your hand to let Vivi analyze them."
I immediately put my hand on her head, and another window popped up.
"Analyzing subject's condition...
Subject can be shut down using the lightning attribute of Host.
Warning! Since Host doesn't possess this ability, using this feature will consume all the stored cursed Soulforce in Host's core permanently as a penalty.
Do you permit Vivi to use it?
[Yes] [No]"
"Aaaghhh," the lady shouted in agony as even her injured face began to twist around.
"Tchh, I don't give a shit, just use the feature,"
I snarled and pressed the [Yes] button.
"Initializing Host's request..."
A small electric pulse immediately emitted from my hand and wrapped around the lady's head. She fell unconscious as soon as it hit her.
"Request completed.
As the penalty, the cursed Soulforce in Host's core has been emptied."
I finally took a deep breath and let go of her as she sank in the Amrita water.
For several minutes, all I heard was the sound of bones cracking and skin contorting as the faint blue light emitted from the water.
Finally, she floated upward, unconscious, healed of every injury.
I grabbed her, putting one hand under her back and the other under her knees, and placed her at the side of the pond.
Now that I took a clear glance at her, she had a face no less than that of a goddess—long silver eyelashes and sharp eyebrows. Even her heart-shaped lips carried a natural baby pink colour, and if that wasn't enough, her upper lip had a beauty mark on it. The headband she was wearing also added charms to her elegance. Truly, gods do have favourites.
But there was one problem—why wasn't she waking up?
I placed my hand on her head again and spoke, "Vivi, why is the subject not waking up?"
"Analyzing subject's condition...
"The subject has used too much Ice Energy forcefully, despite her Soulforce being sealed. Her body needs to be immediately warmed, or she will suffer permanent damage to her foundation."
"Warm-warm her? H-How am I supposed to do that?" I muttered, my voice flustered.
"Remove her wet clothing to initiate skin-based thermal transfer. Immediate body heat contact is advised."
"Whaaattttt?! Remove clothes? Body contact? Y-You perverted Vivi. How could I take her clothes off?" I blurted, my face turning red.
But then I took a deep breath, calming myself.
"I am just saving a life here. No need to overreact," I said, placing a hand on my unstable heart.
"Pardon my insolence, pretty lady," I said as I moved my hand under her neck, leaning her against a nearby rock.
I untied the sash belt holding her robe It immediately fell down, loosening the robe.
I moved my trembling hands toward the collar of her robe and removed it, exposing her lean body.
She wore a cotton undergarment that clung to her body due to being wet. I gulped, and with a deep breath, I removed the last piece of cloth from her upper body, revealing her curved breasts underneath.
Her nipples carried the same baby-pink color as her lips, and she had a beauty mark right under her left nipple.
My body began heating up. This was the first time I had seen the bare body of a woman, and her being this beautiful wasn't helping at all.
It was too much for a virgin like me to handle. I immediately removed my jacket and wrapped it around her.
I closed my eyes as my hand reached her lower waist, and I took off the last piece of cloth she was wearing.
Then I turned my face, opened my eyes, and immediately sprinted towards the treehouse. I returned with my blanket and bedsheet in one hand, and half of the dried log that once held the greatsword in the other.
I spread the bedsheet on the ground outside.
Then I moved towards that lady. Closing my eyes, I held her in my arms and opened my eyes, looking straight ahead as I moved towards the bedsheet. I placed her on the bedsheet and covered her body with the blanket.
Then I grabbed some dried-up leaves and branches from the ground and placed them close to the log.
Moving my hand closer to the log, using as little Soulforce as possible, I emitted a small amount of lightning from my hand, striking the dried-up leaves.
It immediately caught fire, and I finally took a breath.
"It's really hard to hold onto your sanity and not cross the line," I said, lying down on the ground, facing her as the bonfire burned between us.
"Oh, I forgot to remove her headband," I whispered as I got up.
I walked closer to her and took it off. But I had never expected to witness something like that hidden beneath it.
She had a vertical, diamond-shaped mark on her forehead—exactly like mine.