Kiki couldn't help but again and again get in awe at that unique magic of this boy. She quickly turned Terry over and gently put his head on her lap.
"Stupid... I had my spear, I would have deflected its attack and not gotten dragged into the quicksand along with it."
"Sorry... I am new to all of this... I felt like…Argh, you were in danger, and I just... cough... cough... jumped."
Kiki looked at the large open wound, hope vanished from her eyes.
"The wound..." She paused.
"What is it?"
"Your stomach is wide open."
Terry smiled as he coughed.
"There is nothing much to do... Do you have any last wish? I will do my best to fulfill it."
Terry brought his hand closer, and a card was in his hand. "Take this..."
She took the card and observed it and nodded. "What am I supposed to do with it?"
"Do you accept?"
"Accept what?"
"To be in my party?"
"I don't know what that means?"
"It means to be..." Kiki put her hand gently over his mouth.
"Yes, I accept."
Suddenly, something triggered in Kiki's mind. A flood of sensations. Strange, new awareness. Several new senses she never felt before, now awakened.
"What?... what is this?" She was in awe.
"Now you are the second... in the world." Terry let out those words very faintly as if those were his last words.
Was this his unique ability? The one he said only he had?
She could feel it. It wasn't a lie. And yet, she had no idea what it even was or how to use it.
He gave it to her?
Kiki covered her mouth, and a stream of tears fell out. She didn't know why... she had met this strange boy just yesterday, not even half a day completed yet and now she was shedding tears for him? Why?
Nothing had happened between them. Nothing deep. No promises. And still, she couldn't help it.
Suddenly, a pillar of light engulfed both of them, as if it came out of both of them, taking over their forms entirely, every speck of their bodies, reforming and rejuvenating.
It didn't even take a few blinks, it was instant, a snap and it was over.
"WHOA!" Terry sat back up. "So that was a level up? Damn, it saved my life!"
Kiki, wide-eyed and stunned, looked down at Terry's abdomen, it was perfectly healed.
She also felt... different. As if her own body had undergone a strange metamorphosis she couldn't explain.
Everything she had, her strength, senses, speed, felt improved, enhanced, like she'd been amplified.
Terry turned and saw Kiki's wet eyes and got confused. "Are you crying?"
Her somber, wet eyes turned infuriating. "YOU!"
SLAP!
She delivered a clean, hard slap across his cheek. "Idiot!"
Without another word, she stood up and walked off.
Terry just sat there, rubbing his cheek, blinking in confusion. "What did I do?"
But no one was around to answer him.
---
Terry was still rubbing his face and walking alone in the darkness.
Instead of one Ghorok Head, he now has five. However, in his inventory, it does not say it's a Ghorok's head but "Large Reptilian Head - Unknown."
He noticed the same pattern in all the items he found. None of them had any names, but a hintable title on what it could be.
All those herbs did not have any names or what their properties were, just hints on what they could be. He tested them and found out the full properties but still not the official names.
Those recipes also had generic names on what they did, not a proper name.
Except the fishes…that was weird.
"Maybe this game system got Isekai'd too," he muttered with a smirk. "Doesn't even know what world it's in."
"She didn't give me any chance to say thanks... for helping me hunt five heads... Well, I did share the XP with her." As he looked in the inventory, he noticed the fish Kiki said to save for later, the Gobullu.
Maybe she liked this fish... should I search for her and give it to her?" Suddenly he stopped.
"Wait a moment. I added her to my party, right?"
He quickly thought of how to find Kiki or his party members. Suddenly he found the sensation, and he turned to look in that direction.
He could tell Kiki was in that direction and even how far. She was far... Terry stood there, thinking about whether he should go that far or not.
But then he decided not to go... he decided to finish this stupid Heir Ceremony first, and then he would return.
Until then maybe her anger would have calmed down.
Still, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. This sensation or instinct-based game-like abilities he has, he wondered why it does not work straight like proper game abilities?
No UI, no quest log, no HP/Mana bar, No Help section. If he has a party member, then why no party chat and other such game features?
He had no answer; it's not like there's a guidebook here. Trial and Error only.
It did have a kind of mental map which tracks which path he has taken so far, so he followed back the same path and found the two huts he made.
He stopped for a moment, remembering. "This is where I met her... who even is she? Living alone in this jungle?"
Then, quieter: "Why did she slap me? Because I almost died? Or because I didn't?" He rubbed his cheek again. "Girls are weird."
He shook his head and kept moving, heading back toward the Arena.
The night hadn't passed yet. It wasn't even that late. After another four hours of walking, he finally reached the edge of the Jungles of Brathen.
Still no Arena in sight.
But then he noticed someone camping nearby.
"Jem?" Terry blinked in surprise.
Jem stood up and stared at him, eyes wet. "Young Lord... you've finally returned."
"What's wrong? What are you doing here? Isn't this against the rules?"
Jem wiped his eyes and shook his head. "No, Young Lord. I'm not breaking any rules... unless I enter the jungle."