Skill Specialization!

But at this moment, Lami's little face had already turned bright red. Merlin rolled his eyes at her:

"What are you thinking about?"

Lami giggled, her tongue thick as she said, "Brother Merlin, stingy!"

Then, her body unsteady, she crashed headfirst into Merlin's chest, her eyes hazy as they slowly closed, and a soft, cat-like breathing sound came from her—she had already gotten drunk and blacked out.

Merlin let out a light laugh: "Sleep!

You haven't been able to rest properly all this time. Tonight, get a good night's sleep!"

Yol glanced over at Merlin, stamped out the dried grass that had already burned on the ground, then spread the cut monkey hide over the floor.

The largest piece, three meters long and four meters wide, was laid down as a mattress, with three smaller, irregularly shaped monkey hides placed on top to use as blankets.

Once it was arranged, Yol leaned all the backpacks against the cave wall at the "head" of the bed.

Then she came over to Merlin and said with a smile, "Give Lami to me. I'll carry her to sleep."

Merlin handed Lami over. Yol carried her to the monkey hide, placed a backpack under her head as a pillow, took off her shoes, changed her into pajamas, and covered her with a small monkey hide.

Merlin sat on the ground drinking Monkey Wine, feeling waves of warmth enveloping his body as a tipsy sensation gradually seeped into his consciousness.

After a while, Yol walked over and sat down sideways beside Merlin. He glanced at her and handed her a bamboo cup filled with Monkey Wine:

"Good stuff, drink it!"

Yol hesitated: "If I get drunk, I won't be able to keep watch tonight? I'll take the second half of the night, and you the first half?"

Merlin shook his head: "You won't get drunk. The state of drunkenness is also a negative state, a calamity.

Since it's a calamity, I can absorb it.

Monkey Wine can nourish the body. Drink a bit more, and once you're tipsy, I'll first teach you how to stretch your muscles and bones.

That way, you won't feel too much pain."

After speaking, Merlin glanced at her again and explained: "It's not that I won't let you absorb the calamity of pain, because pain is also part of cultivation. Experiencing pain can make your will stronger."

Yol's expression immediately turned serious:

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

She raised the bamboo cup and gulped it down in big mouthfuls. Merlin's mouth twitched as he complained:

"Can't you drink it slower? Such a delicious, flavorful hundred-fruit wine—shouldn't it be savored slowly and carefully?"

Yol rolled her eyes at Merlin, swallowed the wine in her mouth, and licked her soft, delicate lips:

"I don't know how to taste wine, but this fruit wine really does taste good. I've never had anything like this before.

Another cup."

Yol handed the bamboo cup back. Merlin rolled his eyes and pointed to the groove beside them: "Go scoop it yourself."

Yol's pretty face had unconsciously grown flushed. Now her bright, light-brown eyes shimmered with a moist sheen:

"Stingy!"

But after mimicking Lami's words from earlier, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Then, supporting herself with her left hand on the edge of the groove, she knelt on the ground, leaned her upper body into the groove with her right hand holding the bamboo cup, and scooped up some wine.

At that moment, Yol's body curve was perfectly revealed to Merlin's eyes.

She was one meter ninety-one tall.

But her figure was long and well-proportioned. Without her full-body nun's habit, the blend of a girl's slenderness and exaggerated curves was instantly laid bare.

Especially the firm, full arc of her chest...

Unconsciously admiring the view, Merlin took a sip of wine to wet his throat.

Just then, Yol scooped out the wine, sat up straight, took the bamboo cup with her left hand, and licked the wine droplets off her right hand by her mouth.

Her beautiful eyes, however, quietly turned to Merlin.

"Like what you see?" Suddenly, a gentle, teasing voice came from Yol.

Merlin's eyes showed a hint of surprise as he looked at her.

A smile curled at the corner of Yol's mouth:

"My body is very good—you know that, Merlin. So it's only natural that I'd be a bit sensitive to someone staring at me, right?"

Merlin rubbed his chin and nodded seriously: "Of course.

The connection between a creature's body and spirit is very close.

And a strong body, as time passes, naturally nurtures a strong spirit."

Yol blinked, looking at Merlin with some confusion. Wait—I understand every word you're saying, but when you string them together, why does it leave me a bit dazed?

Her mouth opened slightly, a retort stuck in her throat. Frustrated, she took a big gulp of wine.

After that, Yol went on to scoop and drink three more full bamboo cups of wine in succession.

Merlin watched, the corner of his mouth twitching. While it wasn't exactly wasting a precious gift, her unrestrained drinking style genuinely made him worry she might throw it all up in a fit of overstimulation and ruin the wine.

Yol's eyes were gloomy. She set the bamboo cup on the ground and tugged the V-neck of her short-sleeved shirt down a little, then said:

"Merlin, tell me, how should I stretch my muscles and bones? I feel like my body is full of heat and power right now.

And I'm only a little tipsy—my mind is still pretty clear."

"Clear? In a little while, you'll understand why the aftertaste of wine is called the aftertaste."

Merlin gave her a helpless look. Though Yol had a strong physique and a good foundation, she had never trained before, so her ligaments, muscles, and bones had never been stretched open.

With that, Merlin downed the remaining half-cup of wine in one gulp and set the cup aside on the ground.

He walked over to a flat patch of ground nearby. With slow breaths, he stood straight, tucked in his abdomen, puffed out his chest, and let his shoulders open naturally.

Seeing Yol watching him, Merlin's clear voice rang out:

"The stretching method I'm going to teach you is called Yoga. I'll start by teaching you the simplest foundational poses of Yoga.

The first pose, Mountain Pose, is just standing upright. Feet..."

Merlin began teaching her Yoga. It was a training method he had taught himself in his previous life through an online Yoga course he bought on his phone.

He had to admit, Yoga was indeed a good way to thoroughly stretch joints, muscles, and every part of the body.

In front of Yol, Merlin broke down each movement and breathing rhythm step by step:

"Cat-Cow Pose. Start on your hands and knees, with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips, hip-width apart. Keep your thighs perpendicular to the floor, wrists directly under your shoulders, fingers spread wide, and palms pressing firmly into the ground.

Keep your back flat, your head and neck in line with your spine, and your eyes looking at the floor.

On an inhale, move into Cow Pose. Starting from your tailbone, lengthen your spine segment by segment, tilt your pelvis forward (lift your tailbone), let your lower back sink, lift your chest, and look forward or upward, gradually opening your chest.

On an exhale, move into Cat Pose. Roll your pelvis back, tuck your tailbone in, arch your lower back, push your chest back, lower your head to bring your chin toward your collarbone, and look at your belly button.

Downward-Facing Dog Pose...

Chair Pose...

Hero Forward Fold..."

Equipped with [Lynx], Merlin gained a high degree of physical agility. As he continued the Yoga poses in sync with his breathing, and as he focused on teaching, he gradually developed a deeper understanding of the coordination between breath and movement.

Even though this was his first time practicing in this life, Merlin felt a familiarity as if he had done it thousands of times before.

As time passed, Yol, who was watching and listening seriously, gradually widened her eyes.

As Merlin's words and strange body movements unfolded slowly before her eyes, he gradually seemed to transform into a well-proportioned wild lynx, stretching its body to the fullest.

She shook her head hard, and the "lynx" turned back into Merlin. Yol muttered inwardly:

"Am I drunk? How am I seeing things?"

And as the Yoga poses continued, Merlin's movements subtly shifted without him noticing.

Gradually, they were no longer confined to the framework of Yoga.

Instead, they became smoother and smoother, alternating deep and shallow breaths with each movement. But Yol's eyes grew more and more dazed:

"Didn't he say he was going to teach me? Why is he practicing nonstop himself? Does he expect me to just learn by watching?"

Half understanding, half not.

Yol gritted her teeth and stood up, clumsily trying to imitate Merlin's movements.

But after only a short while, she was completely baffled and couldn't continue.

Because the inhuman contortions of his limbs were impossible for her to replicate.

At that moment, Merlin's eyes had somehow gone vacant. He was on all fours like a lynx.

On the ground, his twists, pounces, and rolls looked simple, but every movement engaged most of the muscles and bones in his body.

A tearing pain spread from his tendons and bones to his flesh all over.

Yet, unnoticed, black flames spread from his hands to cover his entire body.

Merlin instinctively used Disaster Absorption to absorb the pain from his body, preventing it from affecting his current state of mind.

Perhaps it was the aftertaste of the Monkey Wine, but Merlin's consciousness hovered between half-awake and half-dazed.

Guided by the earlier Cat Pose in Yoga, he unconsciously imagined himself as a lynx, entering a strange state of [Synchronization] with the lynx.

Then, instinctively, he merged the various stretching movements of Yoga with the agile form and spirit of a lynx.

At this moment, a quiet joy surfaced in Merlin's heart, because he was gradually completing a method of training to stretch and condition his body's muscles and bones.

After who knows how long, Merlin snapped out of this strange state.

He was drenched in sweat.

He stood up from the ground, his eyes vacant, staring ahead. Yol, standing in front of him, thought he had finally noticed her, and a glimmer of expectation appeared in her eyes.

Too bad!

Merlin was looking at the azure Equipment Slot interface that had appeared before him.

At this moment—

The information of the [Lynx] in the Equipment Slot had also quietly undergone some changes.

[Name: Unconscious Lynx]

[Effect: When equipped, grants you the biological traits of a lynx.]

[Synchronization Value: 1% → 6%]

[Evaluation: A healthy and robust lynx. As an all-around hunter among similarly sized felines, prolonged equipment may grant a permanent chance to acquire this lynx's special expertise.]

Merlin and the [Lynx]'s Synchronization Value had, in this short span of time, shot straight up by 5%.

A dreamlike improvement by any measure.

But it didn't stop there. The Equipment Slot before Merlin's eyes blurred for an instant.

Then, as if flipped over, the image on it underwent a peculiar unfolding.

From the simple two-slot frame display, it transformed into a text-based information format:

Name: [Laplace. Merlin]

Skill Expertise: [Beginner Level Lynx Body Tempering Technique]

Special Expertise: []