One day, two days—five days. Outside the Red Maple Forest, Kevin had been here for a full five days.
Early in the morning, Kevin woke up and slowly walked toward the stream that meandered out of the Red Maple Forest. At the edge of the Red Maple Forest, even by the stream, it was difficult to see other creatures coming to drink water. In the area of about a few dozen meters from inside the Red Maple Forest to outside the forest, almost no animals dared to venture, because this was the territory of the "Red Finch." These extremely fast little birds, which attacked like red streaks of light, had long since firmly occupied this area. Or rather, this Red Maple Forest was originally planned by those Traveling Chefs hundreds of years ago specifically for raising Red Finches. Red Finches are one of the few creatures that, even after losing their breeders, still live peacefully only in their former breeding areas. Of course, this is also closely related to their habits.
After washing up and fetching water, Kevin returned to the small camp by the Red Maple Forest. At this time, Gawain had also woken up and was preparing breakfast. He picked up an orange-red fruit from the ground nearby, placed it in the center of the campfire, piled up dry branches he had collected on top of it, and then extended his Nen to slightly stimulate it.
"Boom!" Just like igniting fuel, the orange-red fruit instantly split open, and flames burned fiercely, instantly igniting the dry branches piled on top. Then, he began to roast the dried rabbit meat.
"Nature is truly amazing. The food of these Red Finches can actually be used as such fuel." Gawain said while turning the rabbit meat on the wooden stick. This orange-red fruit is the food of the Red Finches and a product of this Red Maple Forest. Undoubtedly, [Burning Fire Fruit] is a C-grade material. With just a slight stimulation, it can ignite a raging fire with extremely high temperature. Moreover, if processed finely, the outer shell can be peeled off without causing combustion, yielding a special seasoning. That is to say, it is actually also an [Ingredient], a [Material] with elemental—flame attributes. [Red Finch] and [Burning Fire Fruit] could be said to be Kevin's goals. And what Gawain used just now was not freshly picked. It was an empty shell whose internal core had been eaten by the Red Finches. But it still had such power.
"You are improving very quickly. Will you be able to achieve your goal today?" Gawain asked, turning the wooden stick and looking at the campfire. Hearing this, Kevin nodded. "That's right, if there are no surprises, I should be able to catch the first one today."
Red Finches are known for their speed, making their movements almost indistinguishable to the naked eye and extremely difficult to catch. But after these few days, Kevin finally figured out their habits, gradually adapted to their speed, and could even keep up with their movements. He could already touch these birds and feel the high temperature on their bodies. Of course, successfully catching them is not easy, but today, Kevin felt the time was right.
After eating their fill, the two returned to the edge of the forest. After witnessing Kevin's actions these past few days, Gawain also joined in. He treated this as a kind of training, which it indeed was. However, Gawain clearly could not disperse his Nen to form a "Circle" like Kevin to improve his accuracy. His physique did not allow him to do so, otherwise, if a Red Finch drilled in, it would definitely seriously injure or even kill him. He could only rely on Nen for defense. To some extent, this was also training his [Flow] and his eyesight and reaction ability. He did not hope to dodge or catch the Red Finches, only hoping to judge the attack location when they attacked.
To be honest, Kevin thought this was Gawain's strength. No matter what he did, Gawain seemed very rational, clearly recognizing his own strength and defining his scope of ability. Therefore, even when setting training goals, he was never overly ambitious, always choosing goals that he could achieve with diligent effort. It was hard to imagine that this young man, who was a few years younger than Kevin, was so steady.
"I'll go first." Gawain nodded, standing behind Kevin, ready to assist him at any time. This stemmed from a problem that arose two days ago. Due to the presence of the Red Maple Forest, it was difficult for them to judge how many Red Finches were on the trees in front of them, and how many were preparing to attack. Sometimes there were only two or three attacking, sometimes eight or nine, and two days ago there was even an instance where there were as many as thirteen. Even Kevin almost couldn't handle such a formation. If Gawain hadn't reacted quickly and dragged him out at that time, Kevin would have been seriously injured.
Moreover, as time went on, the number of Red Finches on the trees in front of them remained above five, as if they were guarding against them. In the eyes of the Red Finches, these two humans were undoubtedly invaders different from wild beasts. No matter how they attacked, they couldn't drive them away, so they could only stare at them closely.
"Inhale, exhale..."
Kevin adjusted his breathing, then silently closed his eyes. This was not him being arrogant, but him judging that his eyes were useless when facing the Red Finch—after all, the Red Finch was too fast; his eyes simply couldn't keep up. Since he couldn't keep up, he wouldn't. He would directly rely on the accuracy of his "Circle" to replace his eyes.
Kevin stepped into the edge of the forest. However, the Red Finch did not attack immediately. Five days was enough time for these intelligent little birds to make changes. Facing Kevin, they were no longer impulsive. This was also the reason why Kevin had not caught a Red Finch until today. These Red Finches were learning and adjusting. They learned to attack continuously and cooperate with each other to launch sneak attacks, no longer rushing forward all at once like they did at first.
Obviously, the previous attack method was sufficient to deal with other invading creatures, but facing Kevin and Gawain, they needed to make changes. Indeed, the changes and evolution of creatures stem from pressure. It's just that the evolution speed of these creatures is too fast, which may also be a characteristic of this world. Nen, this power emanating from life, is like an accelerator for evolution.
Kevin was not in a hurry, nor did he plan to go deep into the forest. He just stood at the edge and waited quietly. Anyway, these Red Finches absolutely couldn't stand having enemies constantly lingering on the border of their territory. Their territorial awareness was extremely strong.
"Whoosh!" The attack came. Kevin's right hand suddenly grabbed toward his waist and abdomen. His palm touched a scorching hot object, but the other party was too fast and instantly slipped away from his palm.
Just then, three attacks came simultaneously, targeting Kevin's right hand back, left leg, and right leg respectively. He immediately extended his right hand to grab his left hand back. This time, he still only felt a scorching hot sensation, and then his palm was empty. At the same time, his left and right legs were attacked, and the attacked areas instantly became red and swollen, showing injuries from high-temperature burns.
"Whoosh!" Almost at the same instant, the last attack followed closely.
A smile appeared on Kevin's face. He was fooled. This time, he directly met the attack with both hands. The Red Finch hit his chest, and a burning, stinging pain instantly came, but Kevin didn't care. He quickly clasped his hands together, just in time to catch the Red Finch that was turning to escape.
"Close!" A burning hot sensation came from his palm, as if he was holding a burning hot metal ball. The burning pain spread from his palm. But Kevin completely ignored it, straightened his legs, and quickly fled outward.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!" This time, Kevin had really poked a bird's nest. The moment their companion was caught, the Red Finches seemed to be enraged, turning into streaks of red light and rushing madly toward Kevin's direction. They directly crossed the boundary, and Kevin, who had fled out, was still the target of attack.
"I knew it." Kevin had expected it, and a smile spread across his face. "But don't think I can't block it!"
Kevin took the hits just to catch the Red Finch. If he wanted to defend, it was not difficult for him. He tightly held the Red Finch in his left hand—which felt like a burning hot iron ball—and violently pushed forward with his right hand. A large amount of Nen, under his control, condensed into something similar to a barrier, which he pushed out with all his might. A wall of Nen composed of hexagons appeared.
Though this wall of Nen could only last for a short three or four seconds, it was completely sufficient for Kevin. The sound of ping-pong-like collisions rang out. These Red Finches were indeed powerful, actually shattering Kevin's hexagonal Nen wall. The strength of this three-dimensional Nen wall was only 20% weaker than the defense on Kevin's body, which was already very tough, but it was still broken through by the Red Finches. But it didn't matter—after all, he had successfully blocked the attack.
Kevin, with a smiling face, took a few steps back, directly retreating to a place twenty meters away from the border of the Red Maple Forest. Beyond this distance, the Red Finches' attacks lost their meaning. They would not leave their forest.
Seeing this, Gawain quickly came over, holding a potion in his hand. This was a new potion Kevin had concocted in the past few days using surrounding materials, used to treat burns—not even considered a C-grade potion.
"Don't rush. Let's see what this little guy looks like first." Kevin said impatiently. It had taken him several days, and he had finally achieved his goal. He had truly underestimated these creatures.
Hearing this, Gawain also leaned his head over. He was equally full of curiosity. After all, in the past few days, they had only been taking hits and had never clearly seen the appearance of these Red Finches.
Kevin slowly loosened a few fingers, and he could see the burns on his fingers, and also feel the temperature emanating from the Red Finch in his hand. Compared to when he first caught it, the temperature had dropped significantly. It felt like at most forty or fifty degrees Celsius, which was completely within the acceptable range. This seemed to be the Red Finch's normal body temperature.
Kevin slightly adjusted his hand position and moved the Red Finch to his right hand, gently holding its claws with two fingers.
"Chirp chirp chirp!" The Red Finch chirped angrily, but its voice was very faint and gentle, forming a strong contrast with its fierce appearance when attacking.
The two finally got a clear view of the Red Finch's full appearance.
The Red Finch had short feathers all over its body, with an orange-red color. The red feathers had different brightness, layered like a burning flame. There was a white line from its forehead to its back. Its entire body was round and plump, and its two tiny eyes sparkled like black pearls. Its appearance was truly adorable. Coupled with its palm-sized body, it looked even cuter.
"I was actually beaten by such a cute little guy without any ability to fight back." Gawain smiled helplessly and shook his head.
"Haha, who says otherwise." Kevin smiled and nodded, extended his finger and gently poked the Red Finch's head, watching it chirp and chirp, its voice gentle yet full of anger. "You are really cute, little guy. I'm almost reluctant to use you in medicine."
The "desire" coming from Kevin's hand was undoubtedly B-grade, but it also had a hint of a high C-grade feeling. This awkward "desire" was a bit strange, but it undoubtedly indicated the overall level of this Red Finch. If paired with appropriate materials, it might be possible to create a basic B-grade potion; if not paired properly, it could also be made into a top-tier C-grade potion.
"How should we keep it? Look at its small body, and it has quite a temper. A normal cage probably won't work, right?" Gawain asked curiously from the side. Indeed, as long as the Red Finch had a good point of leverage, they could reproduce their previous attack speed. A normal cage might really be directly broken through by them. Kevin had just touched the Red Finch's head and confirmed that its seemingly plump and cute beak and head were harder than steel. It was truly hard to imagine how high the density of such a small body must be to allow them to charge around at such high speed.
"Haha, I was prepared." Kevin smiled and took out a small cage woven from vines and branches from the package next to him. The cage was also only palm-sized, with two holes at the bottom. "I made this based on the size of the Red Finches I touched these past few days."
Though the cage was simple in appearance, it was practical. Kevin carefully placed the Red Finch into the cage. After putting it in, the cage was almost close to the Red Finch's feathers, and its bird claws just extended out from the two holes specially left at the bottom. In this way, the Red Finch could not move at all, nor could it find a point of leverage. Kevin took out the hook on the cage, hung it on a small tree branch nearby with a vine, and let the cage hang in the air. "This will do."
Gawain looked at it, nodded, and then turned to look at the Red Maple Forest. "I'd better not provoke them now. I feel like they will really take my life." A large number of angry gazes were piercing them like needles.
"No need to feel." Kevin said with a smile from the side. He could feel the gazes from inside the Red Maple Forest. These Red Finches were clearly enraged to the extreme. At this moment, he also didn't dare to provoke them, otherwise he would definitely be subjected to a rain of attacks from the Red Finches.
The two honestly returned to the camp. Kevin took out the potion and began to apply it to his burns.
"I've always wanted to ask, how did you manage to only have burns after resisting attacks with your bare body in just a few days?" Gawain asked curiously from the side. Two days ago, after Kevin was hit, he would also have ulcerated wounds from the impact and burns, but in the past two days, after being hit, there were only burns and slight redness and swelling, as if Kevin's body strength had increased by several levels in just a few days, which was really unreasonable.
"This is a technique of controlling Nen and muscles. At the moment of being attacked, my muscles tense up, and my Nen is focused on strengthening." Kevin explained.
Hearing this, Gawain silently looked up at him, the suspicion in his eyes clearly visible. Are you making things up? Gawain obviously didn't believe it, after all, it sounded too outrageous. The Red Finches attacked extremely fast, even the naked eye could not keep up. Adjusting some muscles at the moment of attack to achieve the effect Kevin described was simply a fantasy. This was definitely not something a normal human body could do.
"You can think of this ability as an application of a Nen ability." Kevin added.
Hearing this, Gawain nodded. This sounded much more reasonable. If it was a Nen ability, it made sense.
In fact, this was indeed a Nen ability—[Blank Meteor]. [Blank Meteor] was essentially Kevin's strengthening of a certain abstract ability based on "muscle memory." This ability was abstract enough to remember the effects of potions and various states attached to the body, but the essential muscle memory still existed. Under the heavy blows of these past few days, Kevin's body formed muscle memory in a way he had not anticipated. At the moment of being attacked, the body would instinctively adjust its muscles and strengthen them with Enhancer Nen ability. After being beaten for several days, his body remembered this way of dealing with it.
However, [Blank Meteor] was also powerless against burns. Its goal was what the body could achieve, and then it processed it automatically without thinking. It didn't make Kevin evolve inexplicably and suddenly develop a fire-resistant structure on his skin. But such a change was also a pleasant surprise.
"So, are we leaving?" Gawain asked. After all, given the current situation, they couldn't possibly get close to the Red Maple Forest again, otherwise they would definitely be severely beaten, and even if they didn't die, they would be seriously injured.
"One is enough. Let's slip away first."