Slap... slap...
The sea was turbulent.
Leo and Lilia lay on the mast, struggling to paddle.
The mist around them swirled, and they quickly lost their direction again.
[Beep. Island detected in the left front.]
The prompt appeared again.
"Over there," Leo's eyes lit up, and he quickly swam toward the left front.
The sea was endless, with no landmarks. The thick mist made it easy to get lost.
But with the prompt, the mist began to thin, revealing a landmass nearby.
The two saw hope and pushed harder.
Soon, a small island appeared on the horizon.
Though it was still far away, Leo was already exhausted.
Lilia, on the other hand, tightly gripped the hilt of the sword on the mast, her legs kicking the water with great effort.
What kind of monster was this woman?
Leo was filled with questions. Was his body really weak?
No, although not strong, he was quite sturdy-otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to work as a laborer on the ship.
But compared to Lilia, he felt like a failure.
He couldn't understand how such a small, delicate body could generate such immense strength and endurance.
After struggling for a while, he finally gave up, lying back on the water, gripping the broken mast, and letting it carry him with the current.
"You're so weak!" Lilia sneered from beside him.
Leo glared at her, annoyed. "At least I'm not a complete landlubber."
"Hmph!" Lilia coldly snorted, not responding, and continued swimming toward the island.
Leo's eyes glinted. He said, "I'll teach you how to swim, and you'll teach me how to fight."
Lilia looked at the endless sea, thought for a moment, and nodded. "Alright."
[Beep. Lilia's affection level increases by 1.]
Another increase in affection. It seemed that even just talking to her could raise it.
"Then it's settled." Leo was delighted, pushing himself to his limits, swimming like a fish that had suddenly become a hero.
He finally understood what it meant to be "the mountain looks close but the horse dies."
The island was right in front of them, but they had been paddling for a long time, only reaching the shore when the tide helped them.
Both of them collapsed on the beach, exhausted like dead dogs.
[Beep. Danger approaching.]
Suddenly, the prompt flashed.
Leo shot up from the sand, alert, and said, "There's danger."
"Huh?" Lilia sensed it too and quickly stood up, gripping her long sword.
Whoosh...
A whistling sound filled the air. An arrow shot straight at Leo.
Lilia instinctively raised her sword, blocking the incoming arrow.
Clang!
The arrow fell onto the sand, its tip made of sharpened stone, coated in a milky white liquid-it was poisoned.
Roar... roar...
From the bushes by the shore, more than a dozen barbarians burst out, brandishing bows and spears, surrounding the two.
Lilia immediately stepped in front of Leo and spoke in a language he couldn't understand.
A tall man in animal skin looked at Leo and Lilia, then exchanged words with them.
After a while, the barbarians lowered their weapons, but their expressions remained alert. They pushed Leo and Lilia toward the heart of the island.
"What are they going to do?" Leo followed closely behind Lilia, worried.
Lilia looked at him and whispered, "I told them we were both slaves who ran away from a big ship. But these barbarians have been attacked by humans before, and they don't trust humans. They want to lock you up."
"Lock you up?" Leo swallowed hard. He had seen how brutal these barbarians could be. If he ended up in their hands, it probably wouldn't end well.
"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you," Lilia said coldly, her face still calm.
Leo didn't say anything more. He was thinking about how to escape from here.
But this was an island. Without a big ship, there was no way to get off.
He could only hope another ship would come. But he didn't trust humans either.
Leo was thinking when he was taken to where these barbarians lived.
There were a few small huts scattered around. A lot of women and kids were there.
They were all working. Hanging animal skins, sharpening weapons, and pulling fibers from plants.
The barbarians lived a very simple life.
Some barbarians came over and looked at Lilia and Leo. They spoke a language Leo didn't understand.
These women and kids didn't seem to want to hurt them.
Then an old man came over and started talking to Lilia.
The old man looked at Leo, then told the others to leave. He invited the two of them to a small wooden hut and then left.
Before Leo could say anything, Lilia explained, "I asked them for some food and water. They won't hurt us, but they don't plan to let us go. They're afraid we'll tell others about this island."
"At least there's no danger," Leo said, feeling a little better. He didn't even hope to leave now. Without a big ship, going out to sea would mean death.
Even if there was a ship, a storm would probably kill them.
Soon, some women brought them food, fresh water, and some fruits.
The leader was a young girl. She was tall, with tanned skin, and wore simple animal skins. She looked wild and beautiful.
Leo looked at her for a few seconds. He didn't think a place like this would have such a beautiful girl. She wasn't as pretty as Lilia, but she was better than all the fancy girls back home.
The girl spoke a language Leo didn't understand. She waved her hands and handed them two bamboo tubes, a piece of bloody raw meat, and some unknown fruits.
"Thank you," Leo said, and took a big drink of fresh water. That helped a little.
Then he picked up a wild fruit. It was sour and hard to eat.
Besides the fruit, there was only the raw meat.
He frowned and said, "Don't they use fire?"
Lilia shook her head. She only ate two of the sour fruits and then put them aside.
It was clear that the elf didn't like the sour fruit either.
Leo's stomach was empty. After eating two of the fruits, he felt even hungrier.
"Can I borrow your knife again?" He asked for Lilia's knife. He collected some dry sticks and dry fibers. Using the oldest way of life, he tried to start a fire by rubbing sticks together.
There were flint stones in this world, but he didn't have any on him.
Lilia and the barbarian girl watched his moves.
As the sticks rubbed together, smoke started to rise. A few sparks appeared.
Leo carefully put the sparks on the dry fibers and blew hard.
Whoosh...
Fire came to life.
"Ugh!" The barbarian girl was scared and stepped back. Then she screamed and danced around Leo, waving her arms.
He was confused and looked at Lilia, who was calm. He asked, "What's going on?"
Lilia explained, "This island is called Flame Island. The barbarians here are afraid of fire. And anyone who can control fire is seen as a god. But you're a human, so they would have made you their priest instead."
A priest was like a village leader. That was the old man who just met Leo.
"Is that so?" Leo didn't seem to care.
A lot of women and kids gathered around, staring at the fire in front of him.
But the barbarian warriors didn't care. They saw humans using fire, and they didn't believe it was a god. Even if it was, it was a bad god.
Leo carefully cut the raw meat into long strips, put them on a sharpened stick, and held them over the fire.
Soon, a nice smell filled the air. More barbarians came over, staring at the meat and drooling.
The meat sizzled and gave off oil. The smell spread everywhere.
Leo looked at Lilia and asked, "Can you ask them to get some seawater for me?"
He was a modern person. He couldn't eat without salt.
Even though seawater wasn't pure and had bad stuff in it, it was okay to eat for a short time.
Lilia didn't understand, but she nodded and told the barbarian girl.
The girl nodded and took a bamboo tube, ran to the sea, and came back quickly with the water. She gave it to Leo and watched him carefully.
Leo sprinkled a little seawater on the meat to make it taste better.
The barbarians around him frowned when they saw this. Even Lilia seemed a little disgusted.
He didn't explain much and gave Lilia a piece of cooked meat. He said, "Try it."
He kept one for himself and gave the rest to the barbarians around him.
"Seawater isn't drinkable," Lilia said as she held the meat. It smelled great, and she swallowed hard, but she was still worried it might be poisonous.
"Don't worry, it's okay," Leo said, taking a bite.
It was crispy on the outside and soft inside. It had a light saltiness and a bitter taste of seawater.
But it was way better than those sour fruits.
If he really couldn't leave this place, he'd have to figure out a way to dry and purify the seawater to make salt.
Leo thought about this while Lilia and the barbarians watched him. When they saw he was fine, they started eating boldly.
But this small amount of meat wasn't even enough to fill their mouths. They ate it quickly and then stared at him with hungry eyes.