Going Hunting

"Lin Ke." Lia softly calls while changing.

"Yeah?"

"When you said earlier…" She pauses for a moment, squirming nervously. "... that I was attractive… Did you mean it?"

Lin Ke freezes, not expecting that question. "Wh-what? I, uh, no that's not- I mean, yes, but not what Lily was saying, erm." He stumbles out.

The sound of shuffling clothes stop for a moment, causing Lin Ke to almost turn his head around without thinking. However, at the last moment, he catches himself, and forcefully rotates his head back to face the cold wall.

"I'm done." Lia says suddenly.

Hearing that, Lin Ke turns around to see Lia wearing a long black dress that reaches down to her legs almost reaching her ankles. The dress gave Lia a different atmosphere to her, making her seem more like an untouchable Goddess.

For a moment, Lin Ke and Lia stare at each other, neither of them saying a word. Lin Ke wants to say something, but the words get lost on their way out. That way they stay for another minute or so, until Lin Ke awkwardly shuffles around and searches for a way out.

"I'm going to take a walk." Lin Ke says, walking out of the cave, grabbing Lily on the way out.

"Um. Okay… I'll stay here… I guess." Lia awkwardly responds.

Ducking out of the cave quickly, Lin Ke looks up at the sky. The rain had cleared by now, leaving a bright orange sky behind. The sun was slowly setting, casting an orange shadow on the trees below him. Descending down the mountain, Lin Ke decides to take a quick bath in the running stream beneath the mountain. "Lily, give me a towel, some soap, and some fresh clothes." Lin Ke asks.

"I'm sorry, but what? I'm not your hotel cleaning maid okay? I'm an Artist System." Lily responded.

"5 Low-grade Chaos Crystals?"

Lily pauses, thinking about how high she can hike the price. "10?"

"It seems you also want to take a dip with me?" Lin Ke threatens.

Helpless, Lily grits her teeth. "Fine. They're in your spatial storage space, and will be at your disposal. Do you have a preference for the type of clothes?"

"No, just something casual is fine." He replies before stripping and jumping into the cold stream. The river was quite cold, and the current ran quickly. The river wasn't very deep though, only about 2 feet deep. There were a few rocks jutting out of the river, showing how shallow it was. Quickly splashing himself with some water and rubbing himself with the bar of soap Lily provided, he rapidly finished up his bath. Stepping back onto land, Lin Ke pulls out the towel and dries himself off before pulling out the clothes Lily prepared.

Lin Ke looked at the clothes before turning to glare at Lily, who was currently floating in the sky.

"What is this?" Lin Ke asked, holding the clothes up. Lily had given him some boxers, a t-shirt, socks and shorts, however, all of them had odd designs. The only thing without an odd design was the socks, which were just plain white. The boxers had small, stupid looking smily faces on them, the t-shirt had a picture of a anime girl dressed extremely revealingly, and the shorts were an extension of the shirt.

"I mean, you said you didn't have a preference." Lily shrugged.

Lin Ke creases his eyebrows, unsure of how to retort. After all, he did say that. Gritting his teeth, he says, "Give me something else, what if Lia sees this?"

Lily shrugs. "Wow, wasting precious resources? Don't you know that that shirt took a manufacturer's supplies to make? Don't you know that what you're doing is a waste? How can you even be so cruel? But if you really want to… I guess I can make something work."

The odd set of clothes disappeared, and were replaced with a plain white cotton shirt and black shorts. The boxers however, remained the same, causing him to look up at Lily again.

"What? Oh, the boxers? I thought that they'll be fine. I mean, who would judge you for that? Plus, you won't have anyone who will even see you with your pants down so why?"

Lin Ke feels the words like a piercing arrow through his heart. "You-" However, Lin Ke wasn't able to deny her statement, so he could only helplessly put them on. Afterwards, he started to walk up the mountain, but then stop, as he realized that his stomach was growling quite loudly. The sun was starting to set, and Lin Ke had not eaten since this morning.

"Lily? Can you give me some food?" He asked.

"No." She replied straight up.

"5 Low-grade Chaos Crystals?"

"No."

"6?"

"No."

"8?"

"No means no!" I'm not providing you with food too! You're in a forest right now! Go look for food yourself!" Lily yells at him.

"I don't know how to hunt." Lin Ke replies.

"Well, learn. Learn the art of hunting!" Lily said sarcastically.

"If you say it like that… You can literally say that about anything." Lin Ke replied. However, at this time, Lin Ke notices someone walking down the mountain carrying a large

silver bow on her back with a quiver full of arrows by her side.

"Oh, hi Lin Ke." Lia said bashfully. "I was just going to head out to hunt a few animals for dinner."

"You can use a bow?" Lin Ke asked, surprised.

Lily nods and says, "Yes, my grandfather taught me how to before. After all, Artists don't really have much combat power until they reach the S-rank, so grandpa said I needed a way to protect myself. That's why I had to learn to use a bow and to use a sword."

Lin Ke looks at her, quite impressed. "That's amazing! I wish I knew how to use a bow and knew how to use a sword! Can I come with you?"

Lia thinks about it. 'Waaah. He wants to come with me? We'll be in the forest alone! What if he's disappointed at my skills?' Shoving all her random thoughts away, she smiles. "Sure!"

Lin Ke brightens up. "Great! Let's go!"