A Lone Man and a Lone Woman

Duke looked down at the cliff below. It was over twenty meters high by his estimate. Jumping might kill him; not jumping definitely would.

His physical condition was already far superior to that of an ordinary person. In his prime, he probably would not have died from jumping from this height.

But he was in poor condition now, and whether he lived or died after jumping was uncertain. Besides, he was carrying Vivian on his back.

Duke had no time to think further. The stabbing pain constantly coming from deep within his brain told him he was on the verge of passing out at any moment.

He took a deep breath and mobilized the last trace of battle aura in his body to protect his heart and other vital areas, then leaped straight off the cliff.

The sound of wind, the sound of water, the icy river—those were Duke's final memories before losing consciousness.

The winter snow had only just begun to melt. Though spring was arriving, the chill remained, and many places in Moonlight Forest were still blanketed in white snow.

Occasional patches of fresh green could be seen amid the withered yellow grass. A stream burbled beside the meadow, and two figures lay by the riverbank.

A squirrel crawled out of its tree hollow, stood on a branch, and carefully gnawed on a pinecone held between its paws as it watched the people below.

Pinecone crumbs fell and landed right on Duke's face.

He slowly opened his eyes, feeling pain throughout his entire body, as if he had been beaten senseless by eighteen burly men.

After taking in his surroundings, Duke did not move immediately, lest he had broken bones or some other injury.

There did not seem to be any danger nearby, so he first spent some time examining his entire body.

Duke discovered that he had no particularly serious injuries, nor did he appear to have suffered any fractures.

He could not help marveling at how durable his body had become. He had fallen from such a height without even breaking a bone, probably because his base physical attributes were so high.

Duke's bone density and muscle strength now far surpassed those of ordinary people, and his resistance to blows had increased greatly.

He even suspected that he had passed out entirely because he had overused the Brass Ring. Otherwise, he likely would have remained conscious after the fall.

There was still a faint stabbing pain in Duke's head, but it had eased considerably, and he no longer felt as though he might pass out.

He did not know how long he had been unconscious, but it was probably quite a while. After sleeping, his mental state had recovered fairly well.

After lying there for a while, Duke climbed to his feet and went over to Vivian.

After examining her, he found that Vivian was still breathing, though her breaths were slightly rapid. She did not seem to be in good condition.

The armor over Vivian's chest had been scorched black, and many places had shattered, revealing glimpses of the torn, blackened clothing beneath.

Duke picked Vivian up and carried her onto the nearby patch of withered grass. Lying on the soft dry grass would be more comfortable.

He then began removing Vivian's armor. The set was far too heavy. Wearing it normally was one thing, but wearing it while seriously injured was simply a burden.

The armor's design was extremely ingenious, with many intricate internal mechanisms that made it easy to remove.

Duke carefully removed Vivian's armor and found it even heavier than he had imagined. Fortunately, every piece could be detached separately.

After removing Vivian's breastplate, he felt somewhat awkward. She had been struck by one of the two-headed ogre's lightning spheres earlier. Not only had it scorched her chest armor black, it had also blackened and torn the clothing underneath.

Vivian wore a white undershirt beneath her armor. The front of it had now been completely shredded, exposing the snowy white skin beneath.

With one glance, Duke could see everything. She radiated the vigorous vitality of a young girl.

Duke had not expected Vivian to be so well-endowed. It had been impossible to tell beneath her armor before. Only now did he realize how well she had developed; one hand clearly would not be enough.

In contrast, Vivian had a slender little waist, with beautiful abdominal lines. Her figure was excellent.

Duke did not stare any longer. Instead, he began treating Vivian's chest wounds. It looked as though two or three ribs had been broken.

When Vivian had chopped off both of the ogre's heads with one swing of her axe, she had also been struck directly by its wooden club and severely injured.

If Vivian had not possessed the physical qualities of a knight, she would certainly have died long ago.

Duke searched the surrounding area and, relying on some common knowledge from his previous life, found several common medicinal herbs.

Fortunately, spring had already arrived. In the depths of winter, he would not have been able to find even herbs.

Duke found some thistles, mugwort, dandelions, and the like. After washing them by the river, he chewed them into a paste and applied it to Vivian's abdominal wound to stop the bleeding and reduce inflammation.

After doing this, he realized he could not let Vivian lie there like that. Otherwise, certain sights would be far too distracting, and it would be difficult for him to work.

Duke took off his own linen clothes and carefully dressed Vivian in them.

The clothes were somewhat loose on Vivian, giving her the air of a girl at home.

Duke looked at the helmet on Vivian's head. After some thought, he decided to take it off.

The moment he removed the helmet, he froze for an instant. Beneath it was the girl's breathtakingly beautiful face, her red lips gleaming alluringly.

Duke had seen countless beautiful women online in his previous life, but this was the first time he had seen such an almost perfect face from so close.

He had always heard that Vivian was the most beautiful girl in Jade Province. Only after seeing her with his own eyes did he understand that the reputation was well deserved.

Duke had not expected that Vivian possessed such beauty, yet wore a helmet all the time, hiding it entirely beneath the steel.

He gently laid Vivian on the grass and began removing the armor and shoes from her legs.

Her right leg was clearly fractured. Duke removed the white stocking from her foot, revealing the fair, delicate foot beneath.

Duke looked around, gathered some dry grass and wooden sticks, then set and secured Vivian's broken leg.

He had not expected the feet of a girl who trained all year round to be so delicate and springy.

Her legs were also perfectly shaped, long and full.

After finishing, Duke's stomach rumbled loudly, and only then did he feel overwhelming hunger.

Judging by how hungry he was, he had been unconscious for at least a full day and night.

It was fortunate that he had lain unconscious beside the river for so long without developing a fever.

Duke glanced around and suddenly spotted the squirrel overhead.

The squirrel that had been eating pinecones abruptly stopped. Sensing that something was wrong, it leaped away several times and vanished.

Duke climbed directly up the tree and reached the tree hollow. After rummaging around inside, he found quite a few pinecones and other nuts, as well as some mushrooms.

The mushrooms were all edible. Some had dried out, while others even bore marks where the squirrel had gnawed on them.

Duke did not stand on ceremony. He took everything out and ate some to fill his stomach first.

The squirrel hid behind a distant branch. Seeing this, it immediately began chattering angrily, as though condemning the hateful robber.