Chapter 103: Now I Can Follow You
After taking a refreshing bath in the river while getting completely blasted by Zuri’s high-pressure trunk shower, Nuan finally waddled out of the water alongside Lyra and Tala.
The moment their feet hit the grass, Lyra and Tala smoothly transformed into their massive wolf forms, vigorously shaking their entire bodies to launch a mini-tsunami of water droplets into the air, before instantly shifting right back into their human forms, completely dry.
Nuan stared at them, deadpan. Ugh, if only I had a cheat code to do that. Whatever.
She turned her head toward the massive elephant. "Um, Zuri? Can you become a living curtain for me while I change?"
"Curtain??" Zuri repeated, tilting her massive head in absolute confusion.
"Oh, you know, hide me behind your giant body so I can put on some dry clothes without giving the whole jungle a free show?" Nuan explained.
"I see!" Zuri rumbled proudly. She marched forward and stood perfectly still, but because of her positioning, her massive bulk only hid Nuan from one single side.
Nuan blinked. Ugh? That covers exactly fifty percent of the problem.
But just then, Amara picked up on the cue. She marched over and heavily planted herself right on Nuan’s opposite side, instantly making Nuan feel like she was standing at the very bottom of a remarkably thin, narrow rock valley. "Well, now we just have the mouth of the valley left open," Nuan murmured to herself.
Lyra quickly caught onto the plan and stood right at the opening near both elephant sisters’ heads, while Tala swiftly blocked the back side near their tails. Just like that, the four beastwomen formed a perfect, massive rectangle changing room of solid muscle.
"Oh, absolutely perfect," Nuan murmured, thoroughly appreciating the fortress of privacy.
She didn’t waste a single second, quickly taking off her soaking wet loincloth.
Reaching into system, she pulled out a fresh, bone-dry pair of clothes from her inventory slots—a neatly stitched deer-skin panty, along with the loincloth skirt and matching upper wear she had bought back at the crossroads market.
"Whoa... witchcraft!!" Zuri whispered from above, her giant eyes catching the soft glow of the items materializing out of thin air.
"Even seeing it twice, it still feels unbelievable," Amara murmured down into the makeshift valley.
Right as Nuan was pulling up her panties, the rustle of leaves echoed from the bushes. A heavy, familiar silhouette stepped out into the open.
"Who’s there?" Zuri questioned sharply, her trunk rising in a defensive posture.
From the dense treeline, Kael stepped out onto the riverbank. The moment his golden eyes landed on the extraordinarily stiff, bizarre rectangular formation of the four women, his chest tightened. He couldn’t see Nuan anywhere.
"Where is Nuan?!" he panicked instantly, his nose twitching violently as he sniffed the morning air for her scent, rushing closer to the group with wide, frantic eyes.
"Whoa, whoa, whoaaaa! Stop right there, Kael! I am currently trapped inside this literal beast wall changing my clothes! Turn around!" Nuan shouted at the top of her lungs from inside her living curtains.
"Okay," Kael said instantly, stopping dead in his tracks. He immediately sat right down on the dirt, his golden eyes locked onto the massive elephants, waiting patiently.
Nuan quickly threw on her top and skirt, adjusting the ties before giving a satisfied nod to Amara and Zuri. "All done. You can move."
As the two massive sisters stepped aside, the morning sunlight flooded the valley, and Kael’s eyes immediately locked onto Nuan.
In a single fraction of a second, his golden eyes widened, and his chest completely froze.
She looked entirely different. He had seen her a thousand times by now, but the sight before him made his heart violently skip a beat.
Nuan’s freshly showered honey skin practically radiated under the bright morning sun, looking remarkably soft, fragile, and yet deeply desirable to his predatory senses.
Her figure wasn’t the exaggerated hourglass shape of modern models; her rectangular, athletic build was perfectly forged for survival and physical activity, making it more appealing to Kael’s raw, primal beast mind.
Her brown eyes caught the early morning rays, glowing like two bright suns. Her long, wet hair shined beautifully as a single, stray droplet of river water slowly escaped the strands, traveling down the smooth curve of her waist before getting quietly absorbed by the fabric of her crossroads market skirt.
Kael’s gaze helplessly drifted lower, tracing the line of her smooth thighs as she slowly took a step forward across the grass toward him. Every step she took closer made his heart beat louder and faster, until her legs finally stopped right in front of his seated form.
He kept staring, his eyes traveling from the hem of her skirt, up to the curve of her waist, and stopping at her chest, completely lost in a dense, breathless trance for several long seconds.
"My eyes are up here!" Nuan suddenly snapped, glaring down at him with an intensely annoyed pout.
Kael’s eyes instantly snapped upward, locking onto hers, his gaze as intensely predatory and focused as ever. Nuan stared right back at him, entirely unbothered by the heavy look.
Remembering her mission, Nuan quickly looked over her shoulder toward the giants. "Miss Amara, Zuri! The Red Root, please!"
Both sisters nodded in unison. Amara immediately stepped forward, using her sharp, massive tusk to expertly dig into the fertile soil near the riverbank.
"I am going to stuff this entire root down your stubborn throat, Kael," Nuan hissed, turning back to him and aggressively clenching her fist.
Behind her, Zuri reached her long trunk into the freshly dug dirt, cleanly pulling out a thick, glowing Red Root, ready to hand it over to the furless girl.
But in a literal flash of silver-grey lightning, Kael bolted.
Nuan’s eyes snapped wide as she whirled around, watching him launch himself forward. "Kael! I swear to God, I will not let you run away from this medicine—!"
To everyone’s surprise, Kael didn’t flee into the woods.
Instead, he violently shoved Lyra and Tala out of his path, charged straight toward Zuri, and with a lightning-fast swoop, cleanly snatched the massive Red Root straight out of her trunk’s grasp.
He slammed himself down onto the grass and immediately began furiously devouring the root.
"Kael...?" Nuan murmured, her jaw going slack as she watched the fierce Alpha tear into the root like a starving wolf devouring a fresh carcass.
It was the exact polar opposite of what the four beastwomen had described just a few minutes ago. Kael didn’t even bother to pause for air.
Even though he was a strict carnivore who had never willingly chewed on a plant in his entire life, he was forcefully biting into the dirt-covered, foul-tasting root with a frantic, aggressive hunger, thick red medicinal syrup dripping heavily down his hands and his jaw.
I have to follow Nuan, Kael thought fiercely, swallowing the bitter plant down with sheer force of will. I have to get better right now. I cannot let my body lag behind her.
With one final, violent bite, he swallowed the last piece whole. "Cough! Achkkk... cough!"
Kael’s tongue immediately slipped out of his mouth as he gagged, his sharp claws aggressively scratching at his own tongue to desperately get the horrific, bitter taste off his tastebuds.
"Sss!!! Kael, there is a goddamn freshwater river literally three inches beside you! Drink the water!" Nuan yelled, her unhinged humor instantly kicking back in at the chaotic sight.
Kael scrambled over to the river’s edge, frantically trying to scoop the rushing water with his palm, but because he was trying to only use his one uninjured arm, the water kept slipping through his fingers before it could reach his mouth.
Nuan let out a heavy, fond sigh as she walked over to the riverbank right beside him. With a swift flash of blue pixels, she pulled her crafted wooden bowl out of her inventory and dipped it deep into the river, filling it to the brim.
She held the heavy bowl steady right against his lips, whispering, "Drink slowly."
Kael immediately reached up, his large hand wrapping firmly over Nuan’s hand to steady the wooden bowl against his mouth.
He greedily gulped down the entire contents in one long breath, before letting out a satisfied sigh and wiping the sticky red syrup from his mouth with the back of his palm.
Nuan stood completely frozen, her eyes widening into massive saucers as she stared at his arm.
He had just used his heavily injured, supposedly ruined arm to grip her hand with flawless, fluid strength—completely devoid of any pain, stiffness, or hesitation.
The Red Root had worked its magic instantly.
Kael looked at Nuan’s shocked expression, then down at his own arms. His golden eyes lit up as the realization slammed into him—the Red Root had worked.
It had worked instantly! A confident, fierce smirk stretched across his face.
"My arm... my shoulder is completely fine!" he declared.
Without a single second of hesitation, he ripped the sheepskin arm sling off his neck, tossed it into the dirt, and lunged forward, wrapping his powerful arms around Nuan to pull her into a tight, crushing hug.
"Ugh, Kael!!! Let go, I am literally dying!" Nuan wheezed, her ribcage crying for mercy as she aggressively patted his broad back to get him to release her.
"I am fit and fine again! I can hunt down any cougar that dares to look at you now!" Kael said proudly, finally loosening his grip and letting her take a breath.
"Yeah? Please don’t go picking fights with apex predators on my account," Nuan muttered, stepping back to smooth down her skirt, though a small smile tugged at her lips.
Kael rolled his shoulder back and forth happily, flexing his fully healed chest and arm with a victorious grin.
His golden eyes locked back onto her, full of unyielding determination. Now I can follow Nuan wherever she goes!